Is there anything better than DeLorme Street Atlas USA?

Hi! Could I please get some recomendations on what to look for in a map/routing software? Currently we are using an old version of DeLorme Street Atlas USA and the routing is done by hand with maps being printed and then highlighted. The owner of the company is spending many, many valuable hours (day & night) preparing maps & routes for the drivers. I'd like to present him with a solid idea to convert & proof the obvious, save time & money. His 14+ hour days could be utilized better. He has tried an upgraded version of DeLorme, but it seemed so different, he could not get a handle on it & get the work done also. Right now we operate in only one state & he knows it like the back of his hand. Any ideas will be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Oma

If the owner hasn't got the time or inclination to learn a new version of Street Atlas, I doubt very much if he will have any more time or desire to learn something that is even more different. Just my opinion based on years of experience supporting people like that. I understand the attitude and I respect it, so this is not intended as a criticism, simply an observation.

I know that Garmin Mapsource is excellent for calculating complex routes. It has a lot of flexibility in how you do routing. I've seen some people who say they don't like the maps it prints out but I think they're pretty good.

I have not done anything more than very trivial routing in Streets & Trips and Street Atlas (haven't had any need to since I have Mapsource and am very familiar with it) so I can't provide a good comparison.

...ken...

Thank you very much for your input. He really enjoys doing the routing by hand, but the company has been growing & more employees means more trips to get ready for them every day....somewhere, something has to give.
Clearly concerned.
Oma

Ken in Regina told me about Garmin Mobile PC, it's very easy to use, and routes the quickest and easiest of GPS software titles. I've tried Streets & Trips, Delorme 2008 and 2009, and researched a bunch of others. In my opinion, as a guy that makes several stops during a day, the Garmin Mobile PC software is one of the better software programs out the there for laptops. The biggest problem I'm having right now is getting a manual, because I know the program does more than I'm doing but haven't been able to get the detailed instructions I want.

Thanks, that is very helpful & good information.

Hi Ideman,

Do you think the Garmin Mobile PC software would be best for my purposes? I too need to see many clients.

Please see my thread: Professional Solution? Laptop and/or Regular GPS

ideman,
Can you tell me if and/or how you get addresses into Mobile PC?
Do you have to use Mapsource?

Is there was a way to import address, from an .xls, .txt, .dbf, etc.. into Mobile PC?

Currently I'm doing this with DeLorme, which plots many addresses inaccurately.

You need to be running outlook to put in your contacts - its really quite simple as long as you are running outlook - if not - I don't know if you can enter contacts.

Oma61:

I'm afraid I agree with Ken in Regina regarding the gentlemens inclination to take the time to learn a new program. I too respect that position.

I use both Garmin MapSource and Microsoft Streets & Trips on my computer. MapSource makes it easy for me to sync with my Garmin GPS. Streets & Trips gives me the opportunity to plan a long trip over many states and view it with more detail than MapSource. I also believe Streets & Trips shows MUCH more detail (Streets, intersections, etc) than MapSource on a short trip. I just compared a 60 mile trip on both. I wish I could send both of those to you, but you would not be able to open them without having both programs on your computer!

If I need to print a map, I always use Streets & Trips, as I believe it gives me a more detailed map. I can also save the map in a Word document and e-mail it to someone or print it for them. I have not been able to find a way to copy and paste the MapSource map.

Regards,
Mike Flannigan

Thanks Mike. So which Garmin GPS Unit do you have?
Oma

An old one; GPS 2610

I quit using Streets and Trips because it could not find approximately 33% of the address I would enter - it was good for routing though.