Microsoft Streets & Trips

[jazzer]

Hi,

I've been using Microsoft Streets & Trips to plan road trips for a few years. Is anyone else using it? It seems to work well, but has a few frustrating things about it. It would be great to pick your brains.

Thanks,

Ken

[goldenrev]

Originally Posted by jazzer

Hi,

I've been using Microsoft Streets & Trips to plan road trips for a few years. Is anyone else using it? It seems to work well, but has a few frustrating things about it. It would be great to pick your brains.

Thanks,

Ken

Hi Ken,

I have also been using it for many years. I am very happy with it & I like it being "off line" so that I do not need to have an internet connection. I like to plan the routes and see what the miles come ut to one way or another. I have often used while camping to put together the next days route. I like to have a paper map as well, but they often do not have the back-roads listed, but the software does.

I am using it right now to plan cross the US, up into Canada, over to Skagway trip this summer: 12,000 miles over 3 months.

I have used

[sennister]

I am using it for planning for my SS1K. While I normally like Mapsource, I like S&T for rough route planning and then go to Mapsource. This is because it has construction info along the route and I can easily see what an adjusted start time does to hitting key areas. For instance if you have to pass through a city along your route you can see roughly what time you will be passing through there in an effort to avoid rush hour.

I have been a long time user of it. I first started using it with a GPS that would plug into the serial port on my laptop.That was before the portable GPS and smartphones took over. Now I rarely use it for navigation.

[jazzer]

Some times S&T may send me through a city or road that I want to avoid so I have to create stops around it. Do you guys know if there is a way to "pull" a route to another road?

I also use a paper map and make comparisons. It's too bad that S&T does not have a version with unpaved roads included.

Ken

[Eyes Shut]

I use paper maps first, then go to Streets & Trips to get accurate mileage. The route then gets plugged into the GPS. (I figure out the route first, and my SO likes to have the route in the GPS.) Been using S&T for about 3 years.

[svejkovat]

Been using it for almost 15 years. Use to feel so james bond like with a 12in screen laptop sitting on a platform between the car seats watching the little icon move about the map. So cool. Never failed to blow minds when anyone saw it in action. Almost a shame that it's gotten so commonplace that the thrill has worn off.

When they finally addressed my longest standing frustration with the piss poor auto centering response I was overjoyed. God that was frustrating. Car icon would wander just barely off the edge of the map before recentering and in order to keep a close watch on what was coming up on you.. say you were anticipating an important off ramp, you had to constantly be tapping one or another arrow button. That went on for years with no hack or fix (that I could discover).

Now'days it's an HP 10" mini with 2011 on it. I made a RAM mount adapter plate that slips into the little glove box recess in the middle of my car dash and holds the PC screen in perfect position just below the visible bottom of the windshield with the keyboard right above the automatic shift. I adhered 1/8 inch round dots of fuzzy side velcro to half a dozen of the most important keys so that I can easily locate them without taking my eyes off the road or in the dark. I've become spoiled enough by the utility of being able to connect to any open wifi along the route, email and surf, check out local info, and have a full keyboard for interaction with the map software that I've never even been tempted to shop around for any of the stand alone pocket sized gps units out there.

Never use GPS on my motorcycle. If I ever went on a truly long, especially foreign locale, adventure tour I would definitely do so. But for some reason I prefer to be in full 'adventure' mode when on a bike. For me that includes a bit of mystery about just where the hell I am at any given moment.

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by jazzer

Hi,

I've been using Microsoft Streets & Trips to plan road trips for a few years. Is anyone else using it? It seems to work well, but has a few frustrating things about it. It would be great to pick your brains.

Thanks,

Ken

Happy to answer any questions... but laptopgpsworld.com/microsoft-streets-trips is an outstanding resource.

[jazzer]

Originally Posted by stevejonesmo

Happy to answer any questions... but laptopgpsworld.com/microsoft-streets-trips is an outstanding resource.

Awesome, Thanks Steve!

Bye the way, I'm using 2009. It it worth the couple of bucks to get the new version?

Ken

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by jazzer

I'm using 2009. Is it worth the couple of bucks to get the new version?

2010 was a MAJOR improvement over 2009. See this review for details.

2011 was pretty much just a map update to 2010, no other significant changes.

2012 could come out any time now, or could be another 6 months. They never give us a clue. Also no clue whether there will be significant changes - beyond updating the maps.

Whether it is better to wait for 2012 or upgrade now is impossible for me to say... but I can say I would not spend much time using 2009 with the improvements (not to mention fresher maps) available in 2010 or 2011.

[wibornz]

Is there a way to save a trip that can be accessed with my garmin gps?

[OH_Wahoo]

Originally Posted by wibornz

Is there a way to save a trip that can be accessed with my garmin gps?

Yes. I export routes to my Nuvi 765T regularly.

I could not export routes to my old Nuvi 360, so I bought the 765T.

[sorebutt]

Originally Posted by wibornz

Is there a way to save a trip that can be accessed with my garmin gps?

You can plan a route in Mapsource and then transfer it to your gps. You can also get a track from someone. I think the newer versions of Streets also have gps cordinates.

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by wibornz

Is there a way to save a trip that can be accessed with my garmin gps?

Yes, with v2010 and later there is a "send to GPS device" function.

I have never used it, but I understand that transferring the route directly from S&T to a Garmin GPS requires using the "Garmin Communicator Plugin" which I hear requires that you have a viable internet connection at transfer time, even though the GPS is connected directly to your computer.

Personally, I do my route planning in S&T, export to GPX, open that file with MapSource (Basecamp is an alternative but I know nothing about it), recalculate, visibly check my route for weirdness, then transfer directly from MapSource to my GPS. That method works to my satisfaction.

A bit of warning no matter which method you use. If you have laid down "via" points to force certain route choices in S&T, try not to have them be on freeways or near intersections if you plan to export to a GPS.

S&T and Garmin use completely different maps - which are often a few yards apart between the same point on each - such that, for instance, a routepoint in the eastbound lanes of a freeway in S&T might be interpreted as being in the westbound lanes instead. Hijinks ensue.

So strive to put your "via" points down in locations from which they could not be misinterpreted as belonging to a nearby road.

Good luck!

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by stevejonesmo

Whether it is better to wait for 2012 or upgrade now is impossible for me to say... but I can say I would not spend much time using 2009 with the improvements (not to mention fresher maps) available in 2010 or 2011.

Not sure if this changes anyone's mind about what to do, but I just read that Amazon has 2011 w/GPS puck on sale for $24.99, free shipping if you find a way to spend another penny to bring it up to $25.

And 2011 without the puck for $19.99, also free shipping if you get your order up to $25. The Best Buy website has it for $19.99 too.

This could mean that 2012 is right around the corner and they are trying to blow out old inventory.

2012 will probably be $40, and obviously will have 1 year fresher maps. Who knows if it will have any new features.

What to do? Like Christian Slater said in True Romance, "You're gonna have to come to terms with your fear and desire."