Microsoft AutoRoute is a mapping software program capable of A to B routing, multiple-destination routing, it contains various annotation tools for drawing and typing on the map, it is capable of printing maps and trip directions in various pre-defined formats. It is more feature-rich than online map product, yet it is rather inexpensive, as it is targeted for consumer market. There is a business version of the software available by the name of Microsoft MapPoint.

• AR2011

What's new in version 2011

While earlier versions of the software always incorporated a plethora of new features, the current AutoRoute 2011 can be just simply called a "map data refresher". Just like the North American 2011 version of the software, the European 2011 version introduces no new software functionality, but the approximately 1 year newer map data is welcome.

Map Coverage

Version 2011 contains detailed road map of most of Europe: Albania, Andorra, Austria*, Belgium*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark*, Estonia, Finland*, France*, Germany*, Gibraltar, Greece*, Guernsey, Hungary, Italy*, Ireland, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg*, Macedonia, Isle of Man, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands*, Norway*, Poland, Portugal*, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino, Spain*, Sweden*, Switzerland*, United Kingdom*, and Vatican City. The countries marked with an asterisk (*) have the Address Find feature enabled in AutoRoute 2011.

A version of the product which includes road maps of North America is called Microsoft Streets and Trips.

Users who haven't upgraded their version for a while, may be interested what was changed in the previous version:

• AR2010

Navigation View - View the map as the driver views the road. Users can enable/disable this feature in the GPS panel. When enabled, the roads closer to the GPS location appear larger, and those further away appear on the map smaller.

Automatic route recalculation - If you deviate from a plotted route, the software will automatically recalculate a new route for you. Users have the option to disable this feature.

Voice direction prompts include street names - Earlier versions only included distance to and direction of the next turn. The new version will pronounce the street name in addition to the distance and the direction information.

"Pan" and "Select" tools

Driving Time, Next Stop, Distance To End - All this data is now shown in the Navigation pane.

Save custom map settings and reuse them when the map reopens - Users can set the software to save their custom settings upon close.

Import/Export .GPX files - Plan your trip, then move the data to your GPS navigation device, such a Garmin Nuvi, if compatible. The new Import/Export GPX functionality makes it possible to move data in and out of the software.

Send to mobile phone - Send, for example, POI data from the program to a mobile phone.

Show/Hide pushpin set, Show/Hide pushpin information - This feature makes it finally practical to work with large numbers of pushpins and pushpin sets.

Delete visible pushpins inside or outside of a selected area - Select an area on the map, and then delete pushpins either inside or outside of the area.

The 10,000 addresses import limit has been removed - The hard coded limit has been removed. The specifications of your computer are the limiting factor now.

Back/Forward - The Back and Forward menu buttons have been removed, but the functionality is still present. The feature can be accessed via the Main Menu > View, or via keyboard shortcuts Alt+ LeftArrow and Alt+RightArrow.

Rename Route Stops - Right-click on stop in the Route Planner, then select "Rename".

Pause Windows Media Player during spoken navigation instructions - Useful for those using the software for real-time navigation while playing music in Windows Media Player.

Please, read our version 2010 review for more details.

More related discussions, tips, and tricks can be found in our forum.

Questions / Comments?

The AutoRoute 2011 site still says it covers 37 countries but Marvin's list includes 43 countries.
None of the new countries have address-find. Address-find hasn't been added to any of the previously included countries that didn't have it.
AR2010 had "5.1 million miles of routable roads".

AR2011 has "5.7 million miles of navigable roads".

Presumably, most of the extra miles are in the newly added countries.

The road coverage for AR2010 was < 75% for:

Bulgaria
Croatia
Romania

and it was < 50% of population base for:

Greece

(I drove through the < 75% countries in the last two months and I can say that it was significantly less than 75%. Some city centres are covered but they stop abruptly 1 km from the centre, like Constanta in Romania. Out of town only the E (European) routes are shown.

We used a mixture of Garmin and Open Street Maps throughout the Balkans because AR2010 just didn't have the coverage we needed.)

I haven't been able to find any information on the coverage in the added countries or any increase in coverage of the previously included countries.

I haven't even been able to find Marvin's list of included countries. He obviously has sources of info that we're not yet privy to.

The features of AR2011 are listed as:
"Intuitive interface that you've used before" because you didn't update the software, did you!

"Save time by setting your map to always start at a particular location". How? By creating a template? As far as I'm aware AR2010 didn't have a Home option like TomTom amongst others.

"get a list of stops for petrol stations" How?

The price of AR2011 on the MS UK web site is the same as for AR2010 - GBP 44.99.

The price on the MS US web site for AR 2010 is USD 39.95, ie GBP 24.50!!

As per usual as soon as I go to the MS UK store it says "I see you are from Australia. Bugger off."

On the MS US store it waits until you try and buy the product before it gives you the old heave ho.

Ditto on Amazon.

Of course, the MS AU store doesn't have AR available.

I will have to get a US friend to buy it for me as I did last time or run the trial in a virtual machine and renew the VM every 60 days.

The options for buying AR2011 are rather strange:

Buy Download
£44.99
Buy Download + Backup Disc
£44.99 + £8.99
Buy Package
£44.99

If you download it, it costs £44.99.

If you download it and also buy the package it costs £53.98.

If you buy the package it costs £44.99.

So they are charging you £8.99 to download it and use it for a few days before the package arrives.

If I wanted the package I'd order just that and use the trial, assuming there is going to be one, until the package arrived and then register the trial with the serial number in the package.

Going back to the price differential between US and UK at least the Apple App Store has made some allowance for the increase in the AUD. Apps that cost USD 0.99 used to cost AUD 1.49. They have now been reduced to AUD 0.99.

This is better than it was but since AUD 1.00 = USD 1.10 there is still a 10% "you don't live in the USA tax" (YDLITUT).

I understand the price of apps went up on the UK app store because the GBP has gone down relative to the USD.

Even so, they don't have the extortionate 84% YDLITUT that MS applies to AutoRoute.

Andrew,

Often, users would word descriptions of product features differently than marketing professionals. :-)

Andrew, don't know if using something like expat shield to hide your Aus IP address and give yourself a US one would work?

I haven't tried that. I will give it a go.

However, I suspect they will then reject me when I try and use an Oz credit card or a non-USA mailing address.

There is a continual discussion in Oz about why things are dearer here than in USA or even UK and ways to overcome the problem, eg

Why Can’t We Get Better Prices On Goods From The US? | Lifehacker Australia

Does anyone have any knowledge of the GPS receiver supplied with AutoRoute 2011?

AR 2011 is being offered on Amazon UK at a hefty discount compared to MS's own site.

It is the identical "GPS Locator" Microsoft has included with its mapping software for the past couple of years. It's the Navation GPS 168 USB GPS stick. The following are some discussions we've had here at the forum about this unit:

http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/1109-microsofts-new-u-blox-5-usb-gps-stick-others

http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/872-u-blox-gps-technology-power-new-microsoft-usb-gps-receiver

http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/1105-review-u-blox-5-usb-gps-stick-new-gps-locator-microsoft-streets-trips

Thanks Marvin.

I love the marketing-speak "Intuitive interface that you've used before" which means we here at Microsoft haven't given you users any new pesky features or enhancements that you have to learn. What a relief!

I downloaded the trial of AutoRoute 2011 yesterday. By importing a GPX file from a trip I did last year, it appears that changes to roads, at least in the UK, have not been included.

Admittedly, this was only a short section of road which has been bypassed and had been when I made the trip, i.e. my GPS trail appears to leave the road and go off cross country (except that I didn't).

Unless one has a use for the additional country's maps I don't see the point of buying this version.

It says there are still only 37 countries on the page below which is linked to directly from the AutoRoute 2011 Trial Page.

Can someone please confirm that the extra countries are included.

Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Macedonia
Montenegro
Russia
Serbia

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/autoroute/coverage.aspx

Andrew, the information at the Microsoft's web site might have not been updated for this version, yet. Or at least not all the information is up-to-date. Just like the Help file in AutoRoute 2011 / Streets & Trips 2011, may contain some information that was accurate in earlier versions, but may no longer be 100% valid.

The countries you listed, except Russia, are included (I just double-checked). The road detail is limited to only a few main highways, but it may be better than nothing, and it's a start.

I removed the reference to Russia from my first post. That was an error.

Your review of MapPoint says it covers Russia.

Is that an error?

I have been to the countries listed below in May and June and tried to use AR2010 there. There was "limited to only a few main highways" coverage.

Has there actually been any change in the coverage in these countries?

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Macedonia
Montenegro
Serbia

You seem to have a "special relationship" with Microsoft. Is there any one you can ask on the AR team who can advise exactly what changes have been made between AR 2010 and 2011?

The reason I ask is that I am away from home (I'm housesitting for my mother) and I only have very limited quota Internet access so I can't download the trials for MapPoint or AR 2011 and check for myself.

Andrew, disregard the "Russia". It's an incorrect piece of information. It took me a while to find the original source of info where Russia was indeed listed, but it is incorrect.

I no longer have AutoRoute 2010 installed, so I'm unable to compare the coverage v2010 versus v2011 of the countries you listed in your last post, but I suspect not much has changed for the better. I really only see a few roads, which are likely just some of the main highways, in those countries.

Expect the same coverage in MapPoint Europe 2011.

Hello,

Has anyone tried this software on a netbook equipped with Windows 7 Starter. Microsoft's site does not mention if it will work on not.

Thanks!

I ran it's older brother AR2010 for 4 months earlier this year on an N450 1.66GHz eMachines netbook with Win 7 Starter Edition without any problems.

I did upgrade the RAM to 2GB.

When I boot the PC it is already using about 0.8GB, even after I use Autoruns and Soluto to remove all the bloatware installed by the manufacturer, so it really needs the extra RAM to work properly.

Even then, if you let the track length build up over several days or if you load too many POIs it starts to slow down. It will eventually choke and repeatedly white out for a few seconds, ie all you see is the white background - the map detail won't be visible.

This can be "fixed" by turning off rotation (not liked by the navigator) to get to the end of the day but sometimes it becomes unusable and you have to start a new file before then.

Last year I ran AutoRoute 2010 on a slightly gruntier full sized laptop T4400 2.2GHz, still with only 2GB of RAM, and it had the same problem.

Windows Experience Index of 3.3 vs 2.3

Processor 5.5 vs 2.3
RAM 5.5 vs 4.5
Graphics 3.3 vs 2.8
Gaming graphics 3.3 vs 3.0
Hard disk 5.8 vs 5.9

The answer is, yes it will work on a netbook. Just don't record too many day's tracks to the same file.

I'm running AR2010 on a Samsung N150 Plus with Win7 Starter and using a USB GPS receiver with GPSGate. Absolutely no problems at all.

I'm running Streets&Trips on an old Acer netbook with Windows 7 Home Premium and it works fine, if that helps. I cannot think of any reason Autoroute would not work on the Starter Edition.

...ken...

Hi Marvin,
How may I download a trip software (as MS Autoroute) for using it with a GPS. I am interested in Europe maps. I had in Canada MS Streets and Trips which I used it with a Garmin Pilot at that time.
Now I am in Romania and traveling in Europe a lot. I would be happy to have the same opportunity to link GPS with my mini laptop.
Thank you, Marvin

Hi Impresario, greetings to Romania, and welcome to the forum. MS AutoRoute is the same software as the MS Streets & Trips you used in Canada, so the installation and usage will be the same, too. If you come across any issue(s) during installation and/or usage, you are welcome to post here, and we'll try to help.

Hi all!

I am a new member and I am planning a bike tour in Europe. I have an idea to use a combination of a netbook + MS AutoRoute + GlobalSat BU-353 receiver for navigation. I am a bit suspicious about quality of the AutoRoute maps. How detailed they are? A while ago I downloaded Open Source Maps for the Netherlands and small portion of Germany, and these two maps took almost 2 GB of space! The whole AutoRoute is about 2 GB. What gives? Are those maps really included? Garmin sells their optional European maps for about $100, MS AutoRoute is $15 at Amazon. Does not make much sense to me.

And one more question. I know MS AutoRoute requires activation. Does it mean it cannot be installed on more than one computer?

Thanks in advance, Larry

I can't answer your questions about map details specifically but I can make one observation. It's really hard to compare open source maps with those supplied by commercial map suppliers like Navteq who supplies both Microsoft's and Garmin's detail maps. Open source projects will, almost by definition, contain a lot of detail content that won't likely filter up to the commercial suppliers for a long time. Or may never get there. Because there is no commercial demand to drive it. And because the information contained in the open source projects often does not meet any standards for accuracy.

That's not a critique of either set of map data. It is what it is. Most knowledgeable users will research and install a product, discover what its strengths and weaknesses are, and then will decide to either live with the weaknesses or try to supplement with something else that covers the weaker areas. Most will usually purchase a commercial product like Autoroute and if they wish to supplement will either use an online site like Google Maps or Mapquest, or use something like Open Streetmaps or similar open source data.

Some simply purchase two, or more, competing products to get everything they want covered.

Regarding the $15 purchase price for Autoroute off the shelf, that price likely means it's really old and the vendor is just trying to blow out old stock. If something seems too cheap, there's probably a good reason ... good for someone else but probably not for you.

I can't speak to pricing decisions by Garmin or Microsoft but I can assure you that from many many comparisons by many users the detail maps supplied to both companies by Navteq are virtually identical for all practical purposes.

Any differences in "accuracy" are typically due to one or both of two things. First is the vintage. Microsoft only updates theirs once per year. Garmin makes quarterly updates available for theirs. So to compare fairly you need to identify the correct vintage of the Microsoft data and compare it with the same vintage Garmin maps.

The second difference comes from the "packaging" activities of the two companies. The detail data as supplied by Navteq will be in a fairly generic format which then needs to be "converted" into the format Microsoft and Garmin use to deliver their maps. This conversion process is different for each company because their formats are different, from each other and from the standard format Navteq will be using. The conversion process, like any computer programs, is never bug free. So there will be minor differences in how and even whether certain types of data displays.

You can discover the answers to a couple more of your questions by looking at Autoroute on Microsoft's web site. First, you can look at their license agreement. It allows installation on a desktop computer and a portable computer simultaneously.

And, most importantly, you can download a 60-day trial version and discover whether it has the coverage and accuracy you require. This is the real product with all data and features enabled. The only restriction is that it quits working after 60 days if you do not purchase and enter a license key for it.

...ken...

Hi Ken,

First of all thank you so much for your super prompt reply. It seems, I did not do my "homework" and asked stupid questions instead. In fact, I did. Microsoft.com does not offer trial version of AutoRoute, only purchase - $40. If you know how I could do it, I would highly appreciate it.

If I could afford “simply buying two or more competing programs” I would not ask stupid questions. I am on a tight budget that’s why I try to make sure everything I buy will work.

As for the maps, yes, it’s a quite plausible explanation what you said.

Thanks again, Larry

P.S. I just contacted MS via live chat. They do not offer any free trials. Who does then?
P.P.S. $15 for this program at Amazon disappeared, a glitch or something? It's now "respectable" 40 bucks

Hi Larry,

No such thing as stupid questions. .. Except if you don't ask you stay stupid.

Sometimes you just don't know what to look for when you are on a site. A company like Microsoft has such a gigantic web site that it is hard to know exactly what to look for when you are there.

For instance if you don't know they have a free trial until someone tells you, you would not know to look.

Microsoft does. See the link in Terry's reply. They have free trials for Autoroute and for Streets&Trips.

It is unfortunate but not unusual for staff who answer the phones at call centres to not know what they are talking about. We encounter this all the time. Garmin and other large companies are as bad as Microsoft for this.

That's the reason that web forums like this one are busy all the time.

It is not unusual for "deals" like that to sell out really fast on Amazon or eBay. It's almost always old stock. But that is very often all that the buyers need. The large roadways do not change very much from one year to the next. Sometimes an exit is added here and there. But for someone who stays on the main roads a map that is two or three years old is not a big problem, especially if it's really cheap.

In fact it might be much newer than the old paper map in the glove box that they have been using happily for the past 15 years.

I still carry paper maps in the car as backup. I'm embarrassed to admit that the newest one is nearly 5 years old. The rest are older. .... I'm not really sure why I think I need Garmin's lifetime map updates with quarterly updates for my Nuvi GPS.

...ken...

Well, live and learn! I am downloading files as we speak! That's great! Thanks a bunch!
It's a pity though, I could buy it for just 15 bucks, whether it's old or new. Whatever...
I never rely entirely on any navigator. It's just a gadget with not much brain. Basically during a bike tour the only navigational question I usually have is "where I am". The rest (routing and such) I can do myself. Paper maps work and does not require batteries :-) Actually this is for the first time I decided to "indulge" us (me and my wife) to a "real" navigator during a bike tour. I am in the States though, and I guess, until I am in Europe I won't be able to really try the program.

Anyway, thanks guys you made my day.

Larry

While in North America, you can try Streets & Trips.


Terry

Terry, "Streets and Trips" is a similar program, but not the same. It covers USA and Canada only.
Like I said, MS USA does not offer AutoRoute as a free trial. Whatever the reason...

Larry

Larry, the reason Terry suggests downloading the Streets&Trips trial is that the user interface is identical. It's the exact same program except for the maps.

That will give you the opportunity to learn the program before you need it by using it locally. That way you can find out what it does, how it does it and decide which features you will probably find most useful on your trip. Streets&Trips/Autoroute is loaded with features and functions. We each only use a quarter of them. But we usually each use a different quarter!

And, of course, that will give you the opportunity to ask questions here while you've got lots of time to digest the answers rather than discovering some nifty feature that would be hugely helpful ........ after you get back from the trip.

When you say "bike" trip, do you mean bicycle or motorcycle? I'm a recovering biker. I rode motorcycles of all sorts for over 30 years, took 16 off and just started riding again summer before last (2010). I also have a mountain bike but haven't done any trips with it since I got back on a motorcycle. Mostly use if for exercise around home, when I'm not on the golf course or the motorcycle.

...ken...

Absolutely! I did not know I am THAT dull. That’s aging… :-)

Ken, I am sorry, but I meant bicycling trip, not motorcycle trip. We, I and my wife discovered Europe for ourselves two years ago and it was a total bliss. Traveling on a bike is like nothing else. We got addicted immediately. Funny, but we are former Europeans, just lived on the other side from the wall. :-)

Larry

I have a reasonable amount of experience with both AutoRoute and Streets and Trips. Terry's suggestion of trying S&T in the US is a good one because its layout and operating protocols are exactly the same and it is almost certainly a good idea to get used to the product in the US before landing in Europe. The level of map details are very much equivalent. That is not to say that every bike path will show up in AR, however. It, like S&T, is a road-oriented application so off-road trails or paths will probably not show. But having said that, I have found AR to be very thorough in showing existing roads, streets, and highways.

But I would caution against buying an out-of-date version of AR "on the cheap." Actually, AR evolved more substantially than did S&T in the past 6 or 7 years. AR's most recent version has many countries that earlier versions did not (in contrast to S&T which has had everything for a long time). Also, the most recent version of AR has in-town street details that earlier versions did not. It used to be that some, even quite large, cities only had the main arteries shown in AR. However, now the newest version has very good detail of all the places I have been to. I would think this would be super-important on a bicycle.

This is a really important piece of information. I did think of buying an old version of AutoRoute, although the price difference between 2010 and 2011 versions is not big enough to justify it. Your info reassured me that it really would not make any sense.

As for getting used to the program prior to the planned trip, I’d say it’s not just a good idea, it’s a brilliant one. Imagine: spend a sleepless night in a plane, hastily assemble the bikes at an airport, and being in a zombie-like state try to figure out how that bloody program works, if it works of course J!

Thanks a lot!
Larry

Yeah, it is a bit like buying a new camera and opening the box on the first day of your vacation trip. At least in the old days, when you had to worry about things like lens caps, loading film, and exposure meters!

I should clarify something. It is not necessary to actually be in Europe to play with Autoroute.

Neither Autoroute nor Streets&Trips have the slightest idea where you are if you do not have a GPS connected. Without a GPS feeding current location data to them, they are both quite braindead regarding your current location.

So you can just as easily explore Europe in Autoroute from the comfort of your living room/computer room as you can explore the US in Streets&Trips on the same computer. You can just pan/zoom the maps to look at the details or you can plan and save complete and detailed trips. In either one. While sitting in any location. As long as neither of them knows where you are.

So don't connect a GPS and keep your location secret from them and you can play with both to your heart's content.

Where location becomes important is when/if you want to learn how to use the active navigation functions, like using the software to interactively follow a route in real time. But I suspect that on a bicycle this will not be an issue. Probably not a lot of room to set up a GPS and laptop on the handlebars what with all your gear hanging on the bike.

I use an eTrex Legend HCx for realtime navigation on my mountain bike and my motorcycle. Or just stop and pull a paper map out of my pannier. Paper maps are very light. And they never need recharging.

...ken...

Hi Ken, my assumption that AutoRoute won’t let me play with routing is based on my very limited experience with a Vizio tablet. I don’t remember which app I use for navigation, but it did not allow me to prepare any routes for Europe, because my location was, well, pretty far from there. Naturally, the tablet had a build in GPS receiver and a lot of issues along with it, so I returned it three days after buying. Nevertheless, it let me feel how good it is when your location is shown on a map. Other than that I personally don’t need much more from a navigation device. But since you say I can do some routing in the MS programs, I’ll try. I just ordered a GPS receiver from Amazon, it will arrive in a few day, so I am “safe” to give it a try.

I considered buying a Garmin eTrex, but it’s hard to justify the cost of the unit plus maps if I am going to use it once a year.

As for paper maps here is what I do. I design my routes in Google maps, down to smallest details, and then just print screen shots, piece by piece. It allows me to vary scale as much as I need, do not print unnecessary areas, etc. Cost – next to nothing. As I go along the routes I get rid of used pages. Google maps are not ideal, last year, in Europe, their maps led me to nonexistent roads several times, so having a GPS of some sort definitely helps. But at present it is too early to rely on a GPS entirely.

Larry

Re not relying completely on a GPS, you are a wise man, Larry.

One of the things I dislike about trying to use the Microsoft programs for realtime navigation is that the routing functions have no sense of "Here" when you are setting up a route. Not even when there is a GPS receiver connected and the software is displaying your actual location on the map!

The Visio nav app you played with works like a typical personal navigation device, e.g. TomTom, Garmin, etc. It is aware of where you are and makes the assumption that any route you set up will be starting "Here" ... "Here" being either your current location if the GPS receiver is active and has a fix or your last known location if it's not. They make it difficult to do advance planning where you want to go from some starting point that is somewhere other than where you are right now.

The Microsoft programs are exactly the opposite. Even when there is an active location fix the routing functions refuse to use that information. They force you to always enter the starting location. Always. No way to avoid it.

In your case that's a good thing. Even if you have a GPS connected with a solid location fix at Point A, you can still ask it to calculate a route from Point B to Point C, where the starting Point B could be halfway around the planet from where you are (as long as it is a location the the program knows about, e.g. an address in its address database, a POI in its point of interest database or a pushpin that you have created).

...ken...

AutoRoute and S&T can be used in a variety of ways, so I can understand where you are coming from, Ken, when you are saying that. But it all depends on how one uses the software. When GPS tracking has been enabled, and when you have entered your destination address to the program, there's no need to enter a starting point address, instead just simply hit the F3-key and the program (re)calculates a route from your current location to the set destination. The F3 is a keyboard shortcut built into both AR and S&T.

Thanks for the tip, Marvin.

That's good news for me. The good news for Larry is he has a choice. So he can still plan routes in some far off country even if the GPS is connected and telling the program he's Here and not Over There.

...ken...

I looked at that Vizio tablet and it looks quite nice. However, what operating system runs it? Android? Windows?? Unless it has Windows, I don't think you, Larry, will be able to run AR or S&T on it. It is not clear to me if that is what you are intending.

There are devices of about the same size as the Vizio tablet that run Windows and, therefore, AutoRoute such as the Viliv X70EX. Long-time readers of this forum have endured my favorable comments on its little brother, the S5, for some years now. My attitude and product loyalty remains unchanged.

The Vizio tablet runs some version of Android. Don’t remember which one, but definitely not 3.2, something older. No, I did not mean to run AR on it. I used some Android app for navigation, which app don’t remember either. But that’s irrelevant anyway. The tablet worked well as a navigational device, but it had lots of other issues, which were well described in many reviews. I hoped those were isolated cases, but I experienced most of the described problems. So, I returned the tablet. Instead, I decided to try a netbook – AR – GPS receiver combination . It should give me way more flexibility and better performance, for the price of more weight and bulk. So, it’s a trade off after all.

Larry

OK, I am glad you confirmed NOT going with the tablet. What size is the netbook display; AR not happy if too small....

It is not that it won't install or work, just that the navigation section takes up so much room. If you just need it for tracking or confirming your location, that size screen is ok.

I included some screen captures of S&T 2011 on a Toshiba W100 - that's a 7" screen running 1024x600 as do most netbooks.

Terry

Attached Images

1024x600.jpg (76.3 KB)

Route.jpg (65.4 KB)

I agree on the issue of screen real estate, Terry, but I was thinking too of screens with less than those pixels. Note that the vertical sidebar of your screenshots can be shrunk by dragging its right border to left. The fonts will not be shrunk, however, and some of the info might be lost. For instance, on a German autobahn it looked like I was doing 14 MPH when it was actually more like 145.