Laptop GPS World

• Start: Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, QC, Canada
• End: Montréal, QC, Canada

Indeed, I can see the problem now, Alain. It looks just like the first picture you posted. The issue is identical in both Streets & Trips 2009 and also 2008.

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

I have the same problem often...It will try to send me a route that is not as good as an alternative route I would prefer. In Google Maps - Driving Direcitons, if you want a diff route than the one they show you, you can drag the points to the alternative choice & it will re-route you accordingly. Great tool for compating traveling scenarios. Now, if S&T would do that...

True, cooknkpl, very true. But the above routing issue is an obvious bug. It may be related to map data error, or routing algorithm issue, or something else. Over the past several years of using S&T, I have never experienced this kind of routing issue personally, but I've seen two or three other users (like Alain today) experiencing this.

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

You got it...

When you are in a unknow area that may become a big problem...

The deviation may not be always so wide, but you will get more millage and bad road...

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Alain
S&T 2008 + GPS Deluo SiRF Star III
Garmin Mobile PC (GPS 20x)+ Garmin 250W
Titanium 32E37DSD 2007
GMC 2500HD Duramax 2005
Full Timer
Base d'opération : Québec (la ville)
Quartiers d'hiver: Mission, Texas

Hi Marvin,

I expected that problem many times last year during my long trip across Canada and US ( 35 000 km.). I had to check carefully the road before each time I lived…

But the bigger problem is in the re-routing, I don’t trust it because it made many bad routing and I don’t use it anymore. By the way I don’t like the U turn with my 52 feet rig…

My solution for the future is the use of 2 GPS in same time S&T and Garmin 250W …

Tanks for the answer.

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Alain
S&T 2008 + GPS Deluo SiRF Star III
Garmin Mobile PC (GPS 20x)+ Garmin 250W
Titanium 32E37DSD 2007
GMC 2500HD Duramax 2005
Full Timer
Base d'opération : Québec (la ville)
Quartiers d'hiver: Mission, Texas

Personally I always run iGuidance in the back ground, not because of bad routing but because S&Ts always has a nasty habit of crashing just when I need it most.

I was using Garmin Mobile PC in the back ground but that updating fubar kinda ticked me off.

Okay, I downloaded ST 2009 onto my main desktop (no GPS) for evaluation. I immediately noticed a lot of work done to make the icons prettier. Most of the other features are the same as 2008.

I checked a few areas around my home where 2008 was missing a road or an on ramp or off ramp. SOME of the construction was included in 2009, while other things were not. I searched the program for the ability to DRAW IN missing roads and such, but I haven't found any tool which will allow me to make minor corrections on my own.

I'm going to dump my trial download onto a thumb drive and install it on my truck PC for evaluation using the GPS which is my main concern. I see that the breadcrumb trail function is still there, but can S&T 2009 navigate across those trails I create? I wonder.

The Click = Drag, Right-Click = Zoom function is nice.

I especially like the PRINT MAP function. It seems the program assumes a landscape paper orientation, and ONLY prints what you see on your screen, meaning if you squash the window down to 1/10th of the screen's height, you will print a very narrow map, just like you see on the screen. THAT is a nice feature!

The assortment of pushpins is sadly lacking, but I must assume that is because this is a TRIAL version. I am guessing that more pushpin selections become available upon registration.

The CREATE DRIVE TIME ZONES feature needs a bit of tweaking. It is nice for the computer to assume a jagged boundary based on a set driving time, but I played with this extensively and found it to be woefully inaccurate. Perhaps if the user could select a series of points around the target region, and define them AS (n) minutes based on real world traffic conditions for that area, the computer could then use those reference points to draw a more realistic drive time zone.

Also, I would DEARLY love to set up a color-coded zone map showing 15, 30, 45 and 60 minute drive times from my base, but rather than flood the map with a solid primary color that basically obliterates the map, it would be better to lay a 5 or 10% screened color UNDER the roads, so that the zone could be identified visually, but the map could still be seen. I used the lighter, less harsh pastel colors to create splotches UNDER the roads, and that looks ... okay, but I guess we need some less intense colors, softer shades of blue, green, yellow and red, etc., so we can make a distinction without creating a distraction.

The AVOID AREA function should not only work with the rectangle draw tool, but also with the oval and the free form tools as well.

That is about all I can determine upon initial examination of ST 2009. I'll know more when I put it in my tow truck and put it through its paces.

At this point, ST 2009 is a "might buy."

Joe, you can add more pushpin symbols by following the instructions in Tips & Tricks for Microsoft Streets & Trips, (tip # 21).

The following may be of interest: u-blox GPS technology to power new Microsoft USB GPS Receiver

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

I got a problem similar than Alain this summer on Highway 20 in travelling between Quebec and Montreal. I have stopped somewhere and used the reroute function and route got me out of the highway going deep away from it making a very nice turn (many km) to return me later to the highway 20 (a simple route of a few km would have get me onto the highway). I didn't notice at first, followed the route by using the guidance tool, than i have found by zooming out the map that i was going to ride for nothing . But it was not as bad as we can see in Alain route! Unfortunatly, i didn't remember exactly where it was...

Hi,

As I said before, re-routing is really a problem, often it head you for a cross country… That why I don’t use it (the re-routing) any more… I turn it off!

My experience with my Garmin 250W is not really long but I made many tests and each time it was OK.

But S&T is better to plan a long trip… If we carefully check each part of the road !

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Alain
S&T 2008 + GPS Deluo SiRF Star III
Garmin Mobile PC (GPS 20x)+ Garmin 250W
Titanium 32E37DSD 2007
GMC 2500HD Duramax 2005
Full Timer
Base d'opération : Québec (la ville)
Quartiers d'hiver: Mission, Texas

Yes, that's what I personally love about GPS navigation on laptop computers - it is just so easy to quickly zoom out, and switch to 2D, to see the whole route, and to instantly check visually if the route appears to make sense. Pretty much any laptop GPS software can do this well. But it may be a lot more difficult, or time consuming, or even impossible to do the same on a PND (personal navigation device), especially if it has a small screen.

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

Tried S&T 2009 yesterday and there is no way it is ready for release. It wanted me to go all differant routes from where I needed to go. On some of the streets and roads it would only state " turn left or right on local road" and not say the name of the street or road.
Again, I'm glad I knew where I was going. I would not use it to go to a place I didn't know. You would get lost!
TomP

Tom, is this reproducable? Could you provide Start and End locations?

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Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

That sounds to me like you need to click Route Planner, the More Options button at the bottom of the Route Planner pane, which will bring up the More Route Options dialogue box. Then in the More Route Options dialogue, click the Directions tabs and then set your preferences for which kinds of roads you would prefer Streets & Trips to route on. Of course, this usually takes a little experimenting with the slider controls until you get Streets & Trips to route the way you prefer it to.

After you have Streets & Trips set up to the way you prefer it to route, there is also a Segment tab in the More Route Options dialogue where you can tell Streets & Trips to route via Quickest or Shortest routes by clicking the Quickest or Shortest buttons. There is also a Preferred Roads button that will present you with a Preferred Road Types button that you can click to bring up a Preferred Roads dialogue box where you can select the different type of roads you Like and Dislike in order to experiment with different routes.

On top of that, you can always drag and drop your routes if you don’t like the route to the route you prefer, you can also add stops, to force Streets & Trips to route a particular way, and finally you can also strategically place Avoid Area Rectangles to force Streets & Trips to route the way you want it to, and then if it is a route that you will repeat on a regular basis, even save the Avoid Area Rectangles permanently in your .stt Template file.

Trust me, when it comes to routing, Streets & Trips is very flexible once you learn and understand the ins and outs and how to use the product. No routing and navigation solution will route in one ideal perfect way that is going to be universally perfect for everyone because not everyone is the same or has the same requirements. Thus the best solution will allow for a high degree of flexibility and in that regard Streets & Trips is excellent.

I downloaded and installed the trial version of Streets & Trips 2009 but it won't run. It gives me a lengthy error message that starts out "A removable device or network share cannot be found,". I first installed it from the C drive, then uninstalled it and reinstalled it from a flash drive, but it still won't run. Does anyone have any suggestions? Microsoft seems to have no support at all for this trial version.