Win free Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services (Donated by Microsoft)

Microsoft just donated to Laptop GPS World two copies of Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services. For those not familiar with this product, please read our review. Streets & Trips is a very popular trip planning software program. The new "Connected Services" edition comes with an excellent GPS receiver (based on the powerful SiRFstarIII chipset), and a new MSN Direct receiver for providing traffic information and local gas prices.

Everyone is invited to participate in our mini-contest. Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services could be yours just for replying to this thread. If you are not yet a member of Laptop GPS World, you may need to register.

Tell us how you think you will use this product. Why you think Streets & Trips may be better for your specific needs than other software. If you've used a similar product before, why you think switching to Streets & Trips may benefit you. If you've never used any mapping, trip planning, or GPS navigation program before, tell us why you are considering Streets & Trips.

The prize will go to the two people who I think may benefit from the features of Streets & Trips the most.

You may find more information about Streets & Trips in our Streets and Trips forum.

This "mini-contest" ends on February 29, 2008. Two winners will be announced here on or before March 3, 2008.

Thanks in advance for participating!

Marvin,

At the present time I have Streets & Trips 2006 and have been saving my pennies to update the program. Although I now have iGuidance V 4 (thanks to your help on your general forum when I posted a question about Routis) that I use for laptop GPS travel navigation, I primarily use Streets & Trips for trip planning and map printing.

I have used Streets & Trips since it first came out and I find it is a very helpful tool for anyone traveling. Even if you don't travel it makes a great reference program to locate places of interest on the map that a person might be curious about. Much easier than a printed map.

Thank you,

Albert Lason

I have never owned a copy of Streets and Trips and I'll provide some insight about my usage of computer mapping.

I have mounted a Toshiba M200 to a Jotto Desk in my truck with Delorme Street Atlas 2007 on it. I have iGuidance installed also, but I'm not a big fan of iGuidance and their UI. I'm one of the few people that like the Delorme products. One of the key features with Street Atlas is the ability to draw in your own roads. This is great for adding roads the farmers & forestry service added over the years. I use my m200 for various other programs while I'm out traveling for my job and personal usage (Ham radio direction finding) One of my favorite addition to my m200 is my broadband cellular data card, its great for downloading a file for work that needs updated and sending it back without having to find a WiFi hotspot.

I have always wondered how Streets & Trips compared to Delorme. Now that Microsoft has integrated MSN direct services, this makes me want to look even more at Streets & Trips, BUT since Garmin has announced a laptop version of there navigation maps with data connection services for traffic, weather and other services. This makes my decision of what I want to switch to next, but I'll have to wait for a few more months to here some feedback from folks that got the Garmin product, so I can decided if I want to put down the cash to buy the Garmin software. I wish Garmin would offer a trial period for this product to see if it meets the users needs.

Well that's enough of my ramblings

Thank you for a great web site.

tdma134

I am writing an add-on software for S&T named POI Scanner. I would like to own a copy of the connected version to verify settings that are unique to the connected version’s services are taken into account in the POI Scanner. I already own a copy of S&T 2006 and 2008 without the connected services. It’s hard enough to build a software for S&T for yearly versions you don’t have. Many times you have to assume it will be the same on each versions, but you keep finding surprises sometimes. I checked a while back and Montreal, my location, is included in the connected services too. I also checked to buy S&T 2007 and the French Autoroute 2006 or 2007 on eBay, but they are too expensive when shipping is taken into account just to make it easier to write software.

Writing the POI Scanner is not the only use I have for S&T. I use S&T software to plan trips, guide me in parts of the town I’m not familiar with. I love the accuracy of the GPS. I also find driving in an unknown area with a GPS is safer because more time and attention is actually on the road instead of attempting to read street names as one drives by. Every day I cross Montreal’s south shore bridges to go to work. It would be nice to have up to the minute traffic accounts on the commute to work and home.

S&T also comes with us for our summer vacations. We are a camping family with a popup camper and every year we plan trips on the road. We love to travel around to show our kids the country and parts of the US.

My mother of 71 years and 77 year old her husband travel all summer in their Savannah Condo camper. They met a few years after my father died (1996) and married a few years ago. Both are in good health and love camping. I’ve given my old laptop with S&T 2006 with GPS last year. They had tried a GPS they had purchased at Canadian Tire but had to return it. It just was too hard for them to use at their age. I would give them my copy of S&T 2008 if chosen to uprade their 2006 S&T. I am also the author of a few POI files and two were done at the special request of my mother. She absolutely wanted the Canadian Wal.Marts and the Couche-Tard with gas. Wal-Marts because sometimes they sleep in the parking lots in between locations they want to visit. Couche-Tard because they can save 3% on gas purchases. They will use S&T with these POIs to locate them while travelling.

Their copy of 2006 with GPS would then go to a friend that is a professional trucker. He travels all over the province of Quebec and in Ontario. This man is always available to render a service when in need. He’s a handyman type of guy and knows how to fix everything in a house. You can always count on him if you’re in need of help or good sound advice. He’s not the type of man who would go out to buy this for himself, but I’m positive he would appreciate this kind of tool.

In short, I’ve tried to show, that if chosen it would benefit directly three persons and indirectly all who will try and use the POI Scanner. When you have the tools on hand it’s so much easier to find, prevent and correct bugs when they happen. Plus, hey, lets be honest, it will be another cool electronic's toy to own. You can never have too many of those. My wife says I'm a gadget lover. She's probably right (as wifes are usually). She sometimes doesn't agree with me when I buy "my" toys, but with time, she uses them and usually loves them. I remember in 1997 her asking why do we need to spend $3000 on a computer? She wasn't too crazy about the two pvr's I bought for the tv too. Just try and take that away from her now. You can also catch her playing card games on my Palm when I'm the one with the laptop. She doesn't know I bought the stand alone S&T 2008 yet. At least she hasn't said anything if she noticed.

At the risk of sounding stupid - just how do you enter this contest? I have tried every link and all I keep getting is this message thread again. HELP!

Hi merryann. All that you need to do is what you just did . Anyone who replies to this thread will be automatically entered to the contest. Feel free to post another reply. Write as much or as little as you wish. Good luck in the contest!

I first became interested in the science of map reading while training at Ft. Belvoir, VA in the Corp of Engineers. Years later, I switched to an entirely different field – that of university professor at the local University of Buffalo, teaching courses in computer programming, statistics, and psychology. I remained there until I retired, 31 years later.

Last summer I purchased my first GPS unit (Garmin StreetPilot 7200) to install in our newly purchased Winnebago motorhome. It was readily apparent that the GPS would be an indispensable navigational tool but I also began to realize that another database/mapping program like Microsoft’s Streets and Trips would add considerably to the flexibility of the GPS.

I tried resurrecting my old copy of Rand McNally’s Trip Maker 1977 Edition but found it to be totally worthless.

If I’m able to find a good match-up between Microsoft’s Streets and Trips and my Street Pilot 7200, I would then enjoy teaching a course at either the University of Buffalo or in one of several Adult Education programs helping others to learn the rudiments of using the Garmin GPS with Microsoft’s Streets and Trips.

I'm a field service tech, and have my HP laptop mounted in a RAM mount in my van. I've been a S&T user for several years, and it has become an vital part of my business.

I had a small stroke a few years back, and besides speech, I also lost my 'spatial memory'. I could not figure out how to get from point a to point b, in spite of the fact I had made the trip a hundred times. I started out with a handheld Magellan GPS just so I could get out of the house and have some hope of getting home. I probably wouldn't have had the courage to get back to work without the reassurance of the GPS in my vehicle. I've regained 99% of what I lost, but I still rely on S&T for every trip.

Rick

I intensivelly use laptop and car driving both for the office full-time permanent job as technical support (nation-widest Internet Service Provider in Romania) intervention IT engineer but as well during all my weekends and holidays expeditions as addicted to travel a lot while driving my own car.
I am also more than 25 years active member and expedition organiser at Romanian Universitary Alpine Club of Bucharest, so I am willing to travel and addicted to discover anytime new wonderful places, various locations and BEST routes to there and back!

So, I need to self-organise any kind relocation in order to cross or reach quickly and safety any european autoroute or destination but also wild destination where needed, while driving my office or own car in any conditions of hour, weather, stress, passing bottlenecks etc.
As a long-term all days traveller both for the office and for my free time, I tried more dedicated devices like MIO-PDAs, mobile with GPS etc to help me doing my jobs better and featured.
Unfortunately, each of them imposed me different procedures, menus, rules to follow in order to reach some useful GPS applications embedded.
On the other hand, it was harldy to take a global point of view like by one-shot quickly while driving fastly with an eye focusing that small screen showing thin lines and few colours only.
At the last but not at least, dedicated PDAs, mobiles etc were not so reliable, after few months of intensive usage, screen or keys have been lost forever, sometimes even more (mainboards or internal contacts failure due to thin china case...).

When I first time tested MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE 2002 more years ago by temporarely getting a laptop from a friend, I was amazed about the possibility to use GPS features in an ordinary PC while handling its features as simply as any other Microsoft Windows today well-known applications!
Starting with larger screen displaying more enhanced and detailed interactive maps taken by one-shot viewingm, very easily to handle by mouse or keys, recently by this amazing tool designed by Marvin /AR-KEYS, laptop solution for GPS become today far more attractive, more reliable and featured than any classic dedicated device solution!

So, I have bought a new laptop and expecially an universal laptop adapter to supply directly from car lighter socket, I have also bought latest USB connected NAVILOCK BU 302 GPS sensor which opened large opportunities for my new wide-area routes.

Since long time ago I was dreaming to my first time crossing the Europe by driving my own car to reach its amaziest locations, especially ALPS routes in highest Switzerland.
I had no experience in doing that before but with a large help of latest MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE (european release of S&T) 2007 bought by my friend within a new laptop, I have succeeded without any failure or damaging even more times during last summer in 2007.
I could planned all my 4 expeditions outside in details and then driving to respect all the route planning settled before starting each new large (5000 km by once!) route crossing Europe from Romania to Chamonix/Mont Blanc-France through Austria, Switzerland via Zermatt.
Sometimes I was locked or turn back by some roads repairing or bridge failure in ALPS during highly stormy weather or night hours but with the help of MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE 2007, I was able to modify in proper (/real-)time! the local routes in order to detour quickly the new interdiction locally found due to the above unexpected road troubles so I didn't have any need to ask anybody to get me out of hazardous routing when I was forced by these problems.
In fact at those nighty hours on tha rainy weather on wild roads there were nobody to advice me how to escape or skip a portion of failed roads in the mountains...

Sometimes I needed to test new routes to cross or shortcut wildest areas, muddy or top risky roads in deep forests and I used MS AUTOROUTES to record trail in my back that I then used to quickly turn-back safety even in haze evening hours.
When I lost few hours during traffic because of these things, I could easily find a compensation directly assisted by its internal best route computing tool, I was in touch with the time schedule and able to fix it soon as I needed without any efort.
With MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE EXPRESS I HAD FULL TIME CONTROL ON ALL I HAD TO DO FOR LONG AND HIGHLY RISKY PERIOD regarding my large relocation in top stress average!
I was able to know with hours before what area to reach to find a proper hour to accommodate when I lost temporarely the initial schedule.

FINALLY, I PASSED MORE SCARING MOMENTS WHEN I WAS LONELY TRYING MORE MUDDY ROADS BLINDLY CROSSING THE MIDDLE OF WILD ALPINE FOREST AT MIDNIGHT HOURS IN ORDER TO REACH OUT THE ALPS TO GO HOME.
THERE FAR THOUSANDS KM FROM HOME, I PASSED MORE TIMES FEW CRUSHED BRIDGES SO I COULD PROVE THAT MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE EXPRESS REALLY SAVED MY LIFE MORE TIMES DURING THESE WILD OR LARGE AUTOROUTES CROSSING THE EUROPE!
FROM THAT MOMENTS TO FOREVER, A LAPTOP WITH MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP AND MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE EXPRESS (Street&Trips in European version) WITH USB GPS CONNECTION, ARE MY FIRST MUST HAVE FOR ANYTHING REGARDING HOLIDAY PLANS OR OFFICE JOBS NEEDING LARGE RELOCATIONS QUICKLY AND SAFETY IN ANY AVERAGE CONDITIONS.
WITHOUT THESE I WAS NEVER ABLE TO DO ALIKE PERFORMANCES OR USE THE TIME INTENSIVELY WITHOUT EFFORT OR RISK OR EVEN EXTRA-PAYMENTS! JUST IMAGINE TO BE ALONE OR UNSUPPORTED AT VARIOUS HOURS WHEN YOU FIND NO OTHER REFERENCE THAN THE FREE SKY AROUND...
THE GPS SYSTEM BASED ON A LAPTOP EMBEDDING MS SOFTWARE BUT ALSO MARVIN's AND CONTRIBUTOR's AR KEYS START TAKEN DEFINITIVELY THE RIGHT HAND AND PLACE NEAR ME AS INTERNATIONAL SKILLED DRIVER TODAY !
SOME ISSUES STILL NOT FIND IN MS AR:
- speed limit alerts when car reach more settled speed limits /in city, outside etc
-instant pushpin creation but programable (previously TEXT NAME settled and sufixed).
better for your specific needs than other software. If you've used a similar product before, why you think switching to Streets & Trips may benefit you. If you've never used any mapping, trip planning, or GPS navigation program before, tell us why you are considering Streets & Trips.

How do I participate in the subject contest to win.

Triddy

I currently own Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006. We used it in 2006 for our Retirement Trip up the East Coast. My husband loved it. He did the driving and called me his navigator. I operated the laptop and the Streets and Trip Program. I was able to keep him on track by watching where we were all along the way and we were able to make hotel reservations along the way with the program and our cell phone. We are planning another long driving trip and having the ability to see traffic conditions in this wintery weather would really be a plus. I would sure enjoy using this feature.

Thanks,
Triddy

Triddy, you just entered the contest, just like everyone else who posts a reply here .

My wife and I travel full time in our RV. Currently we are using Streets and Trips 2006 to do route planning and with the aid of a USB Navman GPS receiver utilize the laptop to provide real time tracking and guidance. Prior to using Strret and Trips, planning was accomplished using the truckers atlas and more than just a few fold out state maps and campground directories. Now with the resource files I have completed (ie., campgrounds, fueling locations, etc) and those still being compiled, we have been able to almost eliminate the book and map clutter from the cab of the tow vehicle. Trip planning is a whole lot less stressful and time consuming. Navigation with directions from the laptop is so much easier and safer than before. Streets and Trips 2008 with Connected Services certainly would be a very nice update and improvement over the 2006 edition.

Recently I had the opportunity to sit in on a demonstration "sales pitch" of Delorme Street Atlas 2008, it's options and usage. I certainly found the program to be feature rich by comparison but not as user friendly by far. For the future we will be continuing to use Street and Trips for our planning and GPS navigational needs.

Bob

You will not find a more deserving and desperate person for awarding this product than myself. I am normally referred to as the most clueless individual out on the road and many of my family members have refused to ride with me. Considering that I am one of those men with few gray cells, little moral values (my family say none!) and a great passion for garage sales. My psychiatrists and counselors have long given up on my passion and some have referred to it as a disease of numerous vague terms.

I simply love driving through the small country roads at all hours of the weekend starting on Friday around noon or so when the sales are just being setup. I stop and chat and visit and haggle but I refuse to ask for directions - stubborn? Yes! Must be male? Yes!

I have tried the dumb lost look with numerous innocent housewives just trying to sell years of trash with even more miserable years of bad memories attached to such trash - but I find few takers. Ok, no takers actually - none of them believe the short, fat, brown dude could actually be dumb, lost or evenly remotely blonde....

So I continue down the wrong roads, making the wrong turns, and hiding from the state troopers in the wrong garage - especially when the husband is home! It is so stressful and so distressing and I go to sleep dreaming of my lifetime wish -ever since I was a little boy of four starving in Nigeria that LaptopGPSWorld would give that free gift of Microsoft Street & Trips.

I would be tripping forever and ride happily off into the sunset........

Thank You,
Athar Rafiq

There are others who have entered this contest who deserve to win more than I do but I'll give it a shot anyway.
I would really like a copy of S&T 2008 with the connected service because I am the kind of guy who has to keep pushing to the limit. I have S&T 2008 without the connected service but I have since found out that connected services are available for my area. At least the Microsoft website says MSN direct is available here. I think connected services would be the cats meow and intend to buy it as soon as I can get the scratch together. Be nice to win it though.
Our city has grown susbstantially in the past few years and our younger friends and relatives are moving to new area's of town that are so new that they are not included in some programs. Trying to find their homes is a challenge and of course their directions usually include a mistake or two. On top of that our city is playing catchup with street repairs and re-routing has become almost the norm. The connected service would give us a head start.
We like to take trips around town and the laptop with S&T gives us confidence. Recently we had to take a trip to Lethbridge, AB, S&T was a big help. We are planning a trip to Medicine Hat soon and even though we go there every couple of years, we always get lost in that town.

Well,,good luck to all the others.

Marvin,,next contest, you should try to get enough copies for all members so no one is disappointed.(just joking)
Please keep up the good work.

Ed

I'm in ... maybe its I travel all the time.. I am on the road about every week and get lucky sometimes and get home for a weekend so if I would happen to win it I can garentee it will be used a lot ... thanks for the chance .. Johnny

It is almost spring travel time for me and all the connected features would sure make life easier while traveling.

I have been a Streets and Trips user for many years and have become dependent on it for planning trips and as my chief map source while on trips. Unfortunately, S&T 2008 stopped working after a week or so and I have been unable to make it work again in spite of hours of Microsoft Tech Support help.

If I win, don't bother to send me a new S&T 2008, it won't work. Instead send me some assurance that S&T 2009 will work, and if you can do that, how about a patch for S&T 2008?

For now I will stick with S&T 2006. It works!

This summer I am going on a 4 week trip throughout the USA with my granddaughter. I have had access to look at S&T 2007 and love it. If I win S&T it will be used as a teaching tool for my granddaughter creating a photo blog. Having a GPS and S&T will allow us to plan where we are going to go and help keep track of our experiences to share with family and friends. Last but not least I will not get lost. If I do I'll have S&T too save the day!

Leaving from Westcoast to Eastcoast from North to South. Traveling to see the USA. Visiting many National Parks and small towns.

Although I have been crazy about maps for years, I still can get lost in my own back yard. No sense of direction and I get turned around in minutes.

My first GPS was one of those yellow things from Delorme that took 3-5 minutes to initialize every time you turned it on. I used it in BC with a Phillips Velo 500 PDA using maps from Teletype (the only PDA map provider at the time with BC roads) and Delorme Street Atlas on a laptop in Washington.

Next was a Garmin eMap and then a Garmin SPIII with which I travelled extensively. When that forgot how to read data cards several years ago, I tried a Garmin cfQue on My Axim X5. Unfortunately that was a real piece of junk (the cfQue, that is). I got a Garmin GPS 10 and use it with a Toshiba E800 with a Bluetooth cf card.The only problem is if I try to use routing the Toshiba locks up at inopportune times.

I got an ASUS UMPC last year and tried iNav on it. Love the layout and simplicity (especially V4) but the device is cumbersome and I am not impressed with the built-in Sirfstar III chip (the GPS10 obtains lock 10 times as fast - could be location in the vehicle though). Also Navteq doesn't yet know where Ladysmith BC is. Garmin Canada maps V4 (DMTI) does but hasn't been updated in years and nRoute isn't UMPC friendly (Garmin says they have no plans to offer a UMPC version). Delorme, since they added Canada knows Ladysmith too but finds addresses by block (clumsy).I haven't really tried it on the UMPC as I haven't been on a long trip for over a year.

I have used Streets & Trips since it came out. Unfortunately, it changed to Navteq after V11 and lost local information. S&T claims to be UMPC friendly (a 2007 copy shipped the ASUS) but I don't see it.

Looking at the latest maps on the Garmin site leads me to believe Navteq has finally resolved this oversight and I may see local data on later units. I would buy the latest Garmin maps but they now limit them to one device.
Maybe I'll get a nuvi 750 when I can spare $500; or maybe a new IPAQ 210 for the GPS 10.If you are going to pay that much money, it should do more than help you find addresses and tell you how inaccurate your speedo is!

I also have a Garmin GPS 18 serial which my son-in-law uses on his boat with an old Dell laptop and some weird nautical GPS software.

Terry

Boy I would sure love to win that fancy new S&T you have there, especially since I'm better at computin' than I am navigatin'. If I win and they send it to me I will lower myself to asking for directions home to go get it...

I stumbled across this thread while researching GPS options for my newly acquired Samsung Q1U UMPC. I have resisted the temptation for years to buy a GPS nav unit, due to my inability to purchase any technology that has less than every available feature. I feared that a purchase of a $700 Garmin unit or something would depreciate in my eyes as soon as some new feature was implemented in a future unit (let completely alone my inability to afford one). Anyways back to the topic at hand, I still have a copy of Streets & Trips 2004 (from back in the day) and it is all but useless now. I have been running off paper printouts from Google Maps for the last few years which is fine for point-to-point directions, but as I am sure you can all relate to: I actively avoid, if not fear, exploring or finding a restaurant in the vicinity of my destination due to inherent concern of not being able to find my way back to roads that I have return directions for. Now that I have my UMPC, I can finally have a near-as-makes-no-difference fully upgradeable GPS unit. I would love to get my hands on Streets & Trips 2008 and realize the potential awesomeness my UMPC has locked away behind its disappointingly underpowered processor. Please help this broke college student (pardon the sad but true cliche) turn his barely usable computer into a fantastic GPS nav unit.

I'm using MS S&T 2006 and have found it very usefully on trips where the roads and highway don't make sense, like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Here simple directions are hard to follow.

I'm planning a trip to Europe and want to know "Can you get European maps for MS S&T or do you need to buy the entire European version AutoRoute?"

ghaue, welcome to Laptop GPS World. Yes, you'd need to buy AutoRoute for that purpose - there is no way to use MS AutoRoute map data within MS Streets & Trips (even though the two programs are so very similar).

We used Microsoft AutoRoute on our European vacation a few years ago, and it worked perfectly.

Hi,
I`ve never used this program before but have several friends that have it, as a matter of fact I just bougth a laptop and I have intention of installing this program as soon as Ican get it. This seems to be a graet way of getting the program, Dont you think? byeee

It's great to know this contest. I'm considering MS S&T as I'm planning to turn my eee pc into a gps navigation unit. In fact, that's one of the main reason I purchased the eee pc. I've had some experience with earlier MS mappoint, but 5 years ago it simply wasn't good enough for real navigation assistant. Not mentioning the fact that most laptops aren't shock resistant.

Given the small storage space on eee, S&T may be the best fit.

I have both MS Streets and Trips and CoPilot. I like both of them, and use both.

I will be using this product for pleasure. My husband will be using this product to arrive at his destination. In my younger days on my day off from work I would became with a cup of coffee at a restaurant studying over a map to determine my destination. When I was finished I would fold up the map and off on my motorcycle adventure for the day. If needed I would check the map if I was unsure of where I would end up.

My husband is a construction worker. He worked for a builder in a large city for several years. I joined him at work on several occasions. On the days I joined him, he usually ended up needing to visit the builders office. The first visit we got off the exit and proceeded south for about 1 mile. Headed west for about 1 mile (passing some beautiful homes that he had worked on). Turned north for about 1 mile, and ended up at the builders office.

We took this route each time. I ventured to introduce a new route for the next time and he agreed. When we exited the interstate we headed west for about 1 mile. He was amazed at how close the office actually was.

As we are out and about on any adventure he usually asks if we should turn left. It has become "code" now that if he thinks we should be turning left, we just automatically turn right and head on our way to the destination. …this is why we will be using this product. When he will be out on new job sites this will become an essential tool.


We have not entered into the GPS field as of yet. Based on the reviews that always came up when we googled “laptop gps review”, I found this product to have the least amount of negatives for the laptop. Marvin’s reviews have been very informative as well as his colleagues. Thank you for having this forum for those of us never having treaded before.

Hello everyone. I enjoyed reading everyones response so I thought I would share my story as well.

Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 seems like a great product that would suite me very well. I am only in second year engineering but I was just offered a summer job with an oil company. I am very excited at this opportunity because it will be great experience for me, and the pay is great too. However, the catch is that I have to move out for the summer and go live in a very small town (population 40), completely by myself. I come from a big city, so this is will be new for me.

This will be the first time I have ever driven such a long distance by myself and to a remote place that I have never been before. Being only 19, I cannot consider myself as a professional driver compared to some of you because I still have alot to learn. I am a bit nervous that maybe I will miss an exit or something like that, then be completely lost! I wish I could just pick up a paper map like my dad and be able to go anywhere perfectly, but realistically I am no where near that good. Also, my cell phone probably wont work out there, so I am completely on my own if anything happens. Having a GPS assisted navigation unit by my side this summer will be immensely helpful for me compared to if I had to find my way around with a traditional paper map. It would also be much safer since I can keep my eyes on the road more often by listening to the voice prompt and not have to juggle my paper map in between my legs while trying to keep my car going straight at 100km/h. Not only will Streets and Trips help to better prevent me from getting lost, but it could probably help me get back on my way in the event that I do get lost. I could install Microsoft Street and Trips 2008 onto my laptop, plug the laptop into my car, and it could aid me in navigation. Not only will the GPS unit help me on my drive up to this small town (which I have never seen before), but it will be very useful once in town if I ever need to find a place to fill up, buy groceries, or stuff like that. During work, I will be going to remote oil sites by myself in the company's truck. Having a GPS unit in this situation would also very helpful for obvious reasons. Perhaps it can save me from getting lost then having my boss yell at me!

I have tried iGuidance 4 as well as Destinator, but those programs seem a bit too simple and featureless compared to Microsoft Streets and Trips. I love how Microsoft Streets and Trips has more features than I could ever use compared to these other two programs, such as the wifi based location finder, the better route planning system, distance measurement, etc... It even has more features than Google Maps! The professional looking and customizable map is also a nice touch. When it comes to navigating new roads, common sense is still the most important, but I feel like I can rely on Streets and Trips when I need it. For example, on a trip to Vancouver with my family, we were lost for about 30 minutes circling a poorly mapped area trying to find my aunt's house. So remembering that I had Streets and Trips (an old version) installed on my laptop (no gps reciever though), I simply typed in the address and we realized that the house was just 5 minutes away!

Not only would Microsoft Streets and Trips be suited for me, but I think it would be very well suited to other drivers as well. Having any GPS device/software is terrific upgrade over a traditional paper map, but I prefer Streets and Trips for its abundant features.

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone else in this thread.

I'm a Geocacher. I use streets and trips to route me to a place to park near the cache. It works very well.

Well, I'm a newbie here, but I just got a Samsung UMPC and a car mount. I would really like to try this software for driving since I go on many sales calls and am still getting to know the area and all the alternate routes. My car does not have a built-in navigation system. Also, I would really like to test the GPS/software combo whenever I go on vacation.

My wife has always been the navigator, but now that I'm driving alone, I really need assistance. I have no other GPS navigation software or devices. Thanks.

Another UMPC owner here..

For business I frequently travel to many new destinations.. I already have a 'cheep' GPS that provides the bare necessities and helps save on fuel, but want something more powerful.

First I'd like to take advantage of my UMPC's touch-screen and mini keyboard to enter destinations more quickly.

Second I'd like to be able to plot a days worth of trips in one shot..

Lastly and more fun is that I'm a member of a car club that organizes many 'drives' over the course of the year, each one being a little different but mostly rural with lots of curves, relatively safe from things like intersections and pedestrians. S&T could help us plan routes more easily (we could zoom in on questionable areas and decide when to alter the prospective course).

At the end of it all we'd post a map on our forum that shows the planned course from a bird's eye view!

Thanks!

As a frequent traveler (Continental awarded me their Platinum Elite booby prize) I am often in situations where I need directions.

I have a Wibrain B1H UMPC (12 volt), but I do not have a GPS. Together they would make an effective portable guidance system, no matter what rental car I get stuck with

Help me make my meetings on time!

So, basically, it boils down to, my wife won't let me buy GPS software because, according to her, it's not a neccessity. Being newly married, I can't really blame her. Though, this doesn't stop her from being angry with me when I don't know how to get where we need to be but, that's neither here nor there. (End sob story). I've never used any GPS software or hardware and I've been hoping to put an old laptop in my vehicle and use it in conjunction with Road Runner (a freeware carputer frontend). This could really help me out as I do have to travel a bit at times both for work and leisure.

My wife and I are separating from the military to become college students. I did two tours in Iraq; she did one. While I was in Iraq, I used GPS every time I traveled. I became so dependent on the amount of quick information that a laptop coupled with GPS gave me. It has probably saved my life and made life a little more convenient in a very stressful situation. We could find friendly bases without driving up and down the streets of Baghdad. We could find alternate routes if we suspected terrorist had booby trapped a certain route. We could instantly find where a local informant was talking about using the maps with GPS. I just saw how beneficial GPS is when used correctly. There is so much more we could do with it than "where am I now" which is why I need something like MS Streets and Trips.

Since my wife and I were military and my family is all military, my family is spread across the United States. My mom and dad live in Buckeye, Arizona. My brother lives in Midwest City, Oklahoma. My grandparents live in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Kokomo, Indiana, and Okinawa, Japan. My great-grandmother lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My sister lives in Austin, Texas, and my wife's family lives in Oregon and Washington State. So, you can see how much traveling we must do in order to keep in touch with family. I have traveled quite literally from one end of the country to the other in our car in a single trip. I've driven from North Carolina to California and from Texas to Idaho. Next month (March) , I fly from Japan to Arizona, then drive from Buckeye, AZ to Austin, Texas, stay for three days, and finally drive from Austin, Texas to Seattle, Washington with a stop in California for 1.5 days.

I like traveling by car, but there some things that just frustrate me. I always go to mapquest and print off directions to where I am going; so when construction requires I make a detour, I get all screwed up. I hate trying to guess when I should stop for gas. I always seem to make the wrong decision. "Should I wait until I cross into Missouri to get gas or get gas on the Illinois side?" "Which state charges more in fuel taxes?" "Should we stop to eat in this city, or the next?" "Do you think they have this particular restaurant in this city? It seems large enough, but where would it be?" Things that when you drive across the country for many days, you cannot plan. These are things mapquest just does not tell you. This is where I wish I had a good GPS system.

My dad always jokes about getting my a TomTom or some other GPS system, but they are just too expensive for both me and him. Especially, now that my wife and I are both college students. I've had to purchase computers and scholastic software in order to get going into classes which gets pretty darned expensive. Besides, using another device like TomTom when I already have my laptop is a waste. I mean MS Streets and Trips is software plus a USB device. Sadly, the GPS I want just has to wait until after college, but we will still be traveling. I've been trying to convince my wife that having a GPS unit connected to our laptops would make the trip so much more peaceful. We would gain all the benefits of that I have described above and then some, but she uses those things called "logic" and "good financial planning" to counter my points.

Maybe, I'll see you on the road,
Brandon

Let's get down to the root directory. I need real time gas price information to save money to feed my gadget habit. Plus, living and driving in Washington, DC, real time traffic would be a god send. Maybe I could avoid traffic jams instead of surfing while I'm stuck in them. I've even got the perfect car computer for it - an OQO 02.

I've used your Streets and Keys for some time now and I'm looking forward to maybe winning your mini contest! I have 2007 now and didnt' get 2008 yet.

Thanks for the invite on the newsgroup, Rich

Thanks to GottaBeMobile for the heads-up to this awesome contest and forums. The Short & Sweet is that I'm in the 3rd year of medical school. I have to travel for many of my rotations and, soon, interviews. Also, I just moved to MI, and have trouble getting to my clinical sites. This would be a huge help. -Brian "M.D."

Hi Marvin,

This will be my first post on this website. I stumbled across this website while searching for a GPS device that could hook up to a computer. It's been hugely useful for reading about hardware/software.

If I were to win your contest and receive a Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008, I would be extremely happy because this would actually be my first GPS machine. The reason why I want a external device that hooks up to a computer and not just a miniature GPS machine is because of the versatility of it hooking up to my computer (will elaborate below) or my laptop which I always carry around with me anyways. I also like how I can get more functions and performance out of an external device.

A couple of years back, I traveled around western side of North America in my car for around 2-3 months. It was a great opportunity and I saw a lot of interesting sites which included cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton, etc...) and national parks/monuments (Yellow Stone, Mount Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Banff, Jasper, etc...). It was a lot of fun, but also very frustrating to navigate around. I didn't use a GPS machine and did all my navigating and planning through papered maps. Needless to say, I got loss a few times.

Having had so much fun, I plan to do a similar trip this year, but instead of travelling around the western side of North America, I plan to travel around the eastern side. That was why I was researching for a GPS device and that is why it would be great if I won. Also, with the software provided, I would be able to thoroughly plan out my trip and help enormously with the task of driving around.

Other than using the machine for the trip I just talked about, I do drive around my city all the time so it would be nice to have a GPS machine so I don't get lost. Seeing as how this model has connected services, it would also speed up the driving time.

Finally, in my first paragraph, I mentioned a computer, after reading about what this guy did to his car (http://www.geardiary.com/2008/02/24/my-car-pc/), I couldn't resist wanting to try this out myself. So I started on a project of adding a computer to my car. I have most of the parts already, but am still missing some vital components. Currently, this includes a touch enabled screen (might just buy an Asus EEE pc screen and the touch screen attachment), a CPU (the one on the motherboard I have is broken), some kind of wireless (EVDO maybe?) + Bluetooth card, and a GPS receiver (!). The monitor will be mounted where the cd-player/radio is now. It's a very ambitious project, but I think the end result will be something that I will be proud of. Knowing that I can switch between this computer and my laptop when I am out of the car is what makes this Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 a must have.

That basically sums up why I want the Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 and how I would be using it. Thank you for having this contest and I hope you enjoy reading my post.

-Michael

Marvin,

Thanks for offering this mini contest. My reason for replying to this thread is to try to obtain a replacement copy of S&T 2008 with connected services. Based on my use of S&T 2003 and 2004, I purchased 2008 with connected services. Since I am one of the individuals to have the bad luck of the programming not running any more (I am sure it is the activation verification portion of the code), I returned the product and purchased 2007 with GPS. For my personal use, which consists of nearly every weekend trips to the Metro and Baltimore areas to visit family and grandchildren, 2007 version has worked ok but I miss the connected services features of 2008. During my original ownership of 2008, I spent over 200 hours of testing the connected services feature of this product with one of the engineers at Pharos (James Chin) to resolve some of the issues of living outside of a service area during the week and reentering the area on weekends. I am convinced that the 2009 version of this product will contain the same connected services issues of 2008 unless there is more user feedback to resolve some of the inherent integration issues. In addition, after downgrading to 2007 without connected services, I realized how much I missed and previously utilized the traffic status of connected services while I tried to navigate the congested metro areas of Baltimore and Washington DC weekly. As a Navy fighter aircraft flight test engineer for over 33 years, I have become very familiar in efforts in to trying to resolve hardware and software issues in a constant changing environment. If provided another product from MS, I would reformat my laptop hard drive and reinstall the 2008 version of S&T and concentrate in trying to isolate and try to resolve with Pharos and MS the connected services issues that will likely impact allot of users. In my opinion, the current version needs some major troubleshooting to become a highly successful product for users entering and leaving the connected services areas.

Steve

The mini-contest is now over. Thanks very much to all who posted to this thread. Please, allow me a couple of days to make the decision. The two people who will receive their Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services will be announced here on or before March 3, 2008.

Thanks very much to Microsoft for donating 2 copies of Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services, and thanks to all the participants in this mini-contest: amlason, tdma134, toyfountain, merryann, hkight, kcflyer, tonimarcus, Triddy, ktrack, rafiqathar, edh, bigtyme, TechnoGuy, tenbear, ch0ices, tcassidy, GrahamNet, Qucifer, ghaue, abraxxas, fatterwolf, Phil, akunkel96, nobb, HuntingKnightSM, jkim, Vood, Chuck, navmaxlp, Battousai2k, Dave P, richbenn, drb, 314pi, and Kapinossa.

Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services will go to the following two people, who I think can both add value to the Streets & Trips user community:

• toyfountain, to help him with the development of his new free add-on for Streets & Trips: POI Scanner. He recently spent his hard-earned money to make sure he has all the recent versions of Streets & Trips 2006, 2007, and 2008 just to test the compatibility of POI Scanner. And I heard he was just bidding on eBay for MS AutoRoute 2007 over the weekend - he is not planning a trip to Europe, he just needs MS AutoRoute 2007 to insure compatibility with his freeware. For the same reason he would like to have the "Connected Services" edition of S&T.

• Kapinossa actually bought the Connected Services version when it was first released, and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with engineers at Pharos, trying to help identify a cause of an issue related to his usage of the MSN Direct receiver and Streets & Trips. However, he returned the product within the 30 day money-back period. He writes: "I am convinced that the 2009 version of this product will contain the same connected services issues of 2008 unless there is more user feedback to resolve some of the inherent integration issues". He would like to continue working with Pharos on the issue.

edh jokingly said: "Marvin, next contest, you should try to get enough copies for all members so no one is disappointed.(just joking)" . I agree ! Laptop GPS World is giving away one copy of S&T 2008 w/GPS, and two copies of software-only version of S&T 2008 to the following people:

• Battousai2k became very dependent on the amount of quick information that a laptop coupled with GPS gave him while in the military. It has probably saved his life and made life a little more convenient in a very stressful situation. Now that he and his wife are separating from the military to become college students, a small wish of his is to have his own laptop set up for GPS navigation. Your wish is granted, Brandon, and thanks for the service you and your wife did overseas!

• hkight first became interested in the science of map reading while training at Ft. Belvoir, VA in the Corp of Engineers. Years later, he switched to an entirely different field – that of university professor at the local University of Buffalo, teaching courses in computer programming, statistics, and psychology. He remained there until he retired, 31 years later.
  
  Last summer he purchased his first GPS unit (Garmin StreetPilot 7200) to install in their newly purchased Winnebago motor-home. It was readily apparent that the GPS would be an indispensable navigational tool but he also began to realize that another database/mapping program like Microsoft’s Streets and Trips would add considerably to the flexibility of the GPS. If he is able to find a good match-up between MS Streets and Trips and his Street Pilot 7200, he would then enjoy teaching a course at either the University of Buffalo or in one of several Adult Education programs helping others to learn the rudiments of using the Garmin GPS with Microsoft’s Streets and Trips.
  
  I think it would be fabulous if you could do that! In the past I've heard some public libraries had offered MS Streets & Trips classes, too.

• Vood already has a 'cheep' GPS that provides the bare necessities, but he wants something more powerful he could use on his UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC). He'd like to be able to plot a days worth of trips in one shot. He is a member of a car club that organizes many 'drives' over the course of the year, and S&T could help them plan routes more easily (they could zoom in on questionable areas and decide when to alter the prospective course). At the end of it all they'd post a map on their forum that shows the planned course from a bird's eye view.

Thanks to Whitney Tenold of Edelman for making this Microsoft promotional giveaway possible.

WooHoo!

Thanks Marvin, Laptop GPS World, Whitney & Microsoft for sponsoring this contest. It didn't hurt that so few of us signed up!

Pat

Congrats, Pat, and everyone! I'll be sending PMs to winners later this evening (requesting your mailing addresses).

Thanks to all that made this giveaway possible. Congrats to the winners.

choices

Marvin, thank you very much for the second place prize. Also, thank you to Microsoft for donating the software/hardware, to GottaBeMobile.com for linking to this website and contest, and to anyone else who helped put this contest together. And, of course, a very big thank you to everyone at LaptopGPSWorld.com.

Sincerely,
Brandon

Congrats to all the winners

Marvin,
Thanks for the contest, it was great reading all the posts to the contest.

Thanks everyone.

Marvin and Microsoft, thank you very much. I will keep and try to maintain the POI Scanner compatible with as many versions as I possibly can. Every add-on increases the value and usability of S&T. I'm hoping to test it with Autoroute too.

Five copies in all, WOW, I'm impressed. Thanks for putting this web site together and all the hours you must have put in your Keys add-on.

Congrats to the winners

Congratulations to the winners and to Marvin for running this informative website.

Ed

Let me add my congratulations to the winners also! And thanks to Marvin for being a great Moderator and host to this site. I've been helped quite a bit, and have only been here a short while.

toyfountain...hope you come up with some more innovative ways to use this software to help out all of us users...

And you too Marvin...your S&T keys work very nicely

Ted

Congrats to all the winners! Maybe this sort of thing could become an annual, semiannual or maybe even a monthly event.

I do know the forum has been very helpful to me. Everyone keep up the good work.
Albert