Product Description
DeLorme's Street Atlas USA 2008 Plus is the best mapping tool for beginning or seasoned travellers. They've added over 4 million new U.S. and Canadian streets and roads, with accurate all-new waypoints, routes and tracks. Browse through 4 million Points of Interest (POI) -- restaurants, hotels gas stations and many others. When interfaced with a compatible GPS, Street Atlas 2008 Plus will provide verbal turn by turn directions. The Street Atlas 2008 will not only tell you when to turn it will also tell you the name of the street that you are turning on to. With Plus, you can import your own data from Outlook, Excel, text file, and other programs. Make your own map notes, points of interest and planned routes -- or just add notes to pre-existing maps to make them even more useful. Plus also includes a full list of 120 million residential and business searchable phone listings, all located along the maps. Address-to-address routing Pocket PC & Windows Mobile 5.0 handheld software included at no extra charge GPS navigation controls Four million places of interest GPS Voice Commands (you speak, it responds) GPS driving directions announcing street names and exit numbers Load maps onto photo-capable iPods and other portable media players Palm OS support Software and GPS compatible with Intel-based Macintosh notebooks running Boot Camp or Parallels for Windows XP
Amazon.com
Announcing the release of Street Atlas USA 2008 PLUS, for business and custom mapping using your own data with XData. Embed urls, photos, and more.
Windows Mobile 5.0 Support |
Now Bring Static Maps on iPods! |
Advanced and Practical
Everything in the regular version plus extensive data import capability, 150 million U.S. and Canadian phone listings, and higher-end print and draw tools
Produced by DeLorme Mapmakers
Unlike other mapping products that license from the same restrictive mapping sources, DeLorme updates, manages, & produces its own maps and 4 million places of interest
The GPS Leader
Innovative GPS features: voice commands, spoken directions, automatic back-on-track re-routing with off-route distance settings, mobile map colors, and much more
Core Functions
Map Controls
The maps can be controlled using a variety of methods, including the traditional push-button zooming, which drills in/out while keeping the map exactly centered. Also, holding down the left mouse button enables you to drag and zoom, left-to-right, across the map, and moving the mouse in the same manner but in the opposite direction zooms out.
Find
DeLorme employs several powerful search capabilities within the software. The first is a simple box called QuickSearch where you type common requests including towns, cities, lat/lons, ZIP codes, street addresses, colleges, and many more to receive the quickest possible matches. The places-of-interest search offers more advanced parameters and the advanced search is used when locating exact matches requires additional customer input.
Draw
Add MapNotes; draw your own circles, polygons, and squares; measure the area of your draw objects--even draw in your own roads and route on them--these are amazingly powerful draw tools for the money.
Phone
The Phone tab along the bottom portion of the interface allows you to create custom searches for finding either residential or business phone numbers and locations. You can search by yellow-page heading and find all the diesel repair shops and then select only the ones you'd like to display on the map. You can use the phone listings in conjunction with the XData tab to create and save custom data files for frequent retrieval.
Info
Right-click on the map to learn more about what's underneath your cursor. Lat/Lon, names of streets and bodies of water--even local radio station information--can be viewed in this manner. Moreover, the bottom toolbar of the software displays a continuously updated readout of what's underneath your cursor.
Voice
The voice tab of the software is where you train the software to recognize your voice for issuing routing and GPS commands while tracking. Ask common questions such as "How far to my next turn?" and the software answers. Microphone recommended for optimal usage. The software also reads upcoming turn information, including the time to turn, time to finish, and name of the street to turn onto. New voice settings allow you to select how far in advance of your turn you'd like to be prompted. Voice can also be turned off if you prefer.
NetLink and Aerial Imagery
NetLink is your online link to DeLorme for free aerial imagery now included with the Street Atlas USA 2008 versions. Select your areas of interest and download only those grids to the software. Toggle the imagery on and off in a single-screen view. Add notes and draw objects to the imagery to customize lifelike views from space. More recent, higher-resolution imagery datasets available for purchase for select states--please see software's NetLink tab for details.
Mobile Device Mapping
Pocket PC, Windows Mobile 5.0, and Palm OS Compatible
Included at no extra charge is the DeLorme Handheld software, which now includes support for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. Access the maps you want from the desktop software and hot-sync to your PDA. Add a DeLorme Bluetooth GPS for use with Bluetooth PDAs and navigate wire-free.
The DeLorme handheld functionality provides address-to-address routing, spoken directions, mobile map colors to reduce in-vehicle glare, and four million places of interest. Finding what you need is easy using the powerful search capabilities. Now you have powerful desktop mapping software and PDA software all conveniently provided in one Street Atlas USA 2008 package.
Maps on iPods
Using a tool similar to how MapShare works, now you can select the maps you want from the desktop software and send them to your photo-capable iPod. These map http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/software/detail-page/ are static (e.g., cannot be manipulated once on the iPod) and come across in the order you select them, same as with photos. Once on your device, you can access the ones you need, when you need them. Due to the small screen size of iPods, we recommend these maps for urban walking situations where you can discretely reference the maps you need. (Not GPS compatible.)
Ease of Use
E-Z Nav Toolbar
This handy toolbar runs along the top of the interface and offers access to commonly needed routing and GPS options, especially useful for in-vehicle navigation on a laptop PC with the Earthmate GPS. In the 2008 version--right-click on the top toolbar and select the various icons you want.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Set your own keyboard shortcut preferences for optimum control when using GPS. The key-bindings function is very powerful and advanced so you can design your ideal in-vehicle navigation solution to your personal specifications.
Right-Click Routing
The easiest way for many to create and alter routes is to use the right-click feature. Select the route on your map and add new stops or vias, delete the route, all by simply right-clicking the object of interest. You can also add your own MapNotes or view the many pre-populated tags provided by the software.
Routing
Routing
Create automatic routes using the quickest (time) or shortest (distance) routes. Add VIAs to force the routing to take the roads you prefer. Turn on one-way indicators; select major areas to avoid; or select roads based on driving speed preferences. Add Stops and reorganize their order and the routing automatically recalculates. Create and manage routes either in the Route tab or by right-clicking on the maps.
Add Local Roads to Routing
A DeLorme exclusive, this is the best way to update local roads when new developments are planned or added between DeLorme software releases. This tool is located within the Draw tab and lets you draw in the road segment, connecting it to another local road within the database. Assign a name, save it, and when you create automatic routes, the software is smart enough to include these new local roads in the routing calculations and also update the directions.
Personalized Routing with Address Book
Create and save commonly-used names for places you visit often, such as "home," work," or "Dad's." Once these names are assigned, the routing Starts, Stops, and Finishes also display these names making retrieval easy for repeated usage. Customize routes using your own names and save them within MapShare for others to see--they'll be amazed. You can also include up to 200 names from your address book to be recognized using this system.
Importing
XData
The XData Import Wizard is the key to viewing your own data on the map, automatically placed. Easily import your own data from ACT!, Goldmine, Excel, text files, or databases. Select different symbols to represent the locations of your information. Or, create your own custom symbols to use on the map; any 24x24-pixel bitmap image can be easily added as a draw symbol using the intuitive XSym module. Street Atlas USA 2008 PLUS best matches your records with a specific address, ZIP code, or latitude/longitude coordinate on the map. NEW tools allow you to symbolize the level of accuracy of your geocoded data.
- Quickly and easily view the location of each record with a mouse click
- Add lines, shapes, and text to mark a sales territory or a property boundary
- Highlight a region to show the untapped market and sales potential
- Use symbols to mark different accounts or your competition
- See the city streets and surrounding population centers near your customer locations
- View concentrations of customers or accounts in specific geographic regions
- Find new accounts or customers by seeing your business in a new geographic light
Map & Travel Information
Map Data
Because all DeLorme map data is created, updated annually, and owned by DeLorme, we are able to provide many features typically reserved for expensive in-vehicle navigation systems. Free from the license restrictions and third-party dependencies of other publishers, we can also evaluate customer-submitted revisions and implement these changes after triple-checking all submissions. We currently have an enhanced commitment with staff in place to make as many customer revisions as possible.
Places of Interest (POI) Data
The DeLorme database contains over 4 million annually updated places of interest across the U.S., with additional ones in Canada, including restaurants, lodgings, gas stations, travel services, RV stops, malls, shopping--just about everything you could ever need on the road. The software settings let you choose the magnification level to display the various POIs to avoid cluttering your map views. The POIs can be accessed using the many Find capabilities or by right-clicking on the map and selecting places based on type and distance from map center.
GPS Features
GPS Radar Search
Now you can travel with GPS and have the software find upcoming travel services based on their location from you. Find gas, hotels, shopping, and much more in your direction of travel and then easily make detours to these desired stops along the way. It's like having your personal travel concierge with you at all times.
Automatic Back-on-Track GPS
Using the Earthmate GPS LT-20, which turns a laptop PC into a powerful GPS navigator, it's possible to have the software offer new spoken and visual directions when you stray off course. Within the GPS tab of the Options section of the E-Z Nav toolbar, you can select or type the off-route distances you want to travel before the automatic recalculations kick in. Select short distances for city travel and longer ones for highway travel where you may exit frequently for roadside travel services.
GPS Spoken Directions
The software can offer voice directions indicating upcoming turns and street names. It also can be set up to respond to your voice and answer common travel questions--a very powerful capability for mapping software within this price category. Several different voice types are included.
Printing & Sharing
Print
Print crisp color or black & white maps that you control to best match what is seen on screen. Also print Travel Packages containing strip maps and directions to bring on your trip. Don't want to use a lot of ink and paper? Then print just the Turn Details which show thumbnail maps of each of the decision points along your route.
MapShare
MapShare makes it easy to share your customized maps and directions with family, friends, and business associates. You create exactly the content you want and then post within our online MapShare library, which includes private administrative tools for you to manage. Similar to some of the better online photo resources, MapShare allows you to provide controlled access to your important maps without worrying about email and spam filters.
Eartha Community Atlas
DeLorme has created several online communities for you to network with other customers looking to share travel information. You connect through the software interface into an online social network where you can add photos and forum postings to specific geographic locations.
Demos & Tutorials
Getting Started Tutorial
This tutorial provides a guided tour of the main capabilities of the software. It is also included within the software along with a comprehensive Help section with links to online discussion groups where DeLorme customers can help you.
Data
Included
Street Atlas USA 2008 PLUS contains the DeLorme produced and managed United States and Canadian street-level network, as well as highways and major roads for Mexico. The included 4 million U.S. places of interest (POIs) are updated annually based on phone book information and DeLorme's own research into exit services. Canadian POIs are also included, many with phone numbers. When you factor in the 150 million included phone listings for the U.S. and Canada, you have one of the most extensive POI databases available anywhere.
Street Atlas USA 2008 PLUS DVD allows you to import your own data from text, Excel, Outlook, and other sources. It does not, however, allow 3rd-party supplementary data to be imported.
What's New?
- Extensive street and highway updates for the U.S. and Canada
- 150 million updated phone listings, all searchable and locatable on the maps, ideal for creating custom databases or for finding friends and services across the U.S. and Canada
- Improved overall map readability, with more detail now provided at magnification levels 7-10
- Ability to delete duplicate records in the phone data when there are multiple phone numbers for the same yellow-page locations
- National Grid System support
- High-resolution, recent imagery for many states available for purchase
- Highway and major road routing now available for Mexico
- Pinpoint locations, with updated names for 150 pro sports and NASCAR venues
- 40+ new or updated GPS-accurate chains added to the 4 million places of interest, including Wal-Mart, Chili's, Denny's, Walgreens, Exxon/Mobil, and many more
- Airport access roads updated
- Connect online for geographic social networking with other DeLorme customers
- 900+ malls and access roads updated
- Truck Stop data with extended information about service offerings
- Translucent route highlights for seeing map data beneath routes
- Map transfer to PDAs improved with support for Mexican maps
- Support for multiple monitors
- Convenient DVD-ROM edition
Navigating on Updated Airport Access Roads |
Optimizing Delivery Routes |
Importing Listings |
Navigating to Properties |
Business Location Analysis |
Avoiding Roads for Storm Planning and Response |
Embedded Diagrams |
Searching |
Finding Phone Numbers in Canada along a Block |
Finding Educational Attractions |
New High-Resolution Recent Color Imagery |
Find Places of Interest |
Finding Nearest Gas Stations |
College Visit Tour |
Routing to a Mall |
Planning a Truck Route |
Avoid Urban Areas |
Traveling Through Mexico |
Visiting a Client in Toronto |
Calculate Fuel Stops |
Printing Maps |
Using Imagery |
Add Your Own Roads |
Sharing Maps Online |
Mobile Device GPS Sky Views |
Handheld Maps |
Mobile Device GPS |
Mobile Device Directions |
Mobile Device Search |
Mobile Map Colors |
Mobile Device GPS Settings |
|
Customer Reviews:
This software should still be in beta!.......2007-12-09
I have seldom been as disappointed in a product as I was with Street Atlas 2008. I have used a number of other mapping products over the years including previous versions of Street Atlas. This one is a definate step backward. The interface is cumbersome and the mapping is terrible. Took a look at my home town (Parker, CO). It found the town and identified several of its restaurants. Unfortunately it drew them all South of town rather than North. It shows driving from my home location down main street to the main intersection, but then shows a left rather than a right turn. Tried to download the free aerial data set. Clicking on any item under "Netlink" resulted in a "error has occured, line one, character one". I thought this might be a function of the computer, so loaded it on my laptop. Same error messages. Also found mention of these errors on their forum, without resolutions. Spoke with their tech support and their response was that it must be an Internet Explorer problem. Asked if they could explain why it occured on two separate computers, one runing v. 6 and on running v. 7. Their response was "well then, it must be something in between your location and our server". No help whatever. Buying this was a grievous mistake and one that I will not make again with a Delorme product.
John Waterman
Delorme is Great for Business Travelers.......2007-12-08
This software is getting kicked around quite a bit in the reviews, but I've found it to be very reliable. If you use a GPS reciever with the software... it isn't 'perfect' but it is very very good. The routing features work very well... here's a tip though... you have to change your off route setting from 300ft to about 1500ft or it will drive you nuts. Most roads are very accurate, however, you will find some that are off.
I work in sales and cover about 7 states. I imported in all the prospects from our company's DB with Xdata and it worked perfect. It's an invaluable tool for me and my travels. I've tried MS streets and trips and it is good, but Delorme seems to have a brooder range of features. It's powerful software and I highly recommend it.
If you are going to use GPS with the software though. I would NOT use the Earthmate reciever.... The Globalsat GPS reciever with SiRf Star III technology works much better.
longtime DeLORME customer.......2007-11-28
Works very well on my Palm T5 with maps off SD card with zooming being very responsive. Works very well on my P3 laptop. Works well with my bluetooth Holux GPSlim 236 GPS and my Holux M-1000 GPS. Activating the GPS on my Palm was very easy. I like the interface to create/print maps (yes I like it better than some of its competition, but I admit there is a slight learning curve for the "I use Windows only Point-and-Click" crowd). Map accuracy seems better than previous versions. Map updatedness seems acceptable. The extra phone data helpful. Ability to use satellite maps interesting, they allow a free limited download for some. Customer support is responsive and knowledgeable. Community message forum support is likewise helpful. Product is priced competitively and offers great value. NO PRODUCT ACTIVATION required.
DeLorme continues to disappoint.......2007-11-27
I have used DeLorme products for years. Their state by state atlas/gazeteers were unique and excellent. Their Street Atlas USA programs were also excellent for years.
But around 2000 things began to change, and not only did this company fail to update maps in a timely way (while purporting to have done so)-- I bought Street Atlas 2006 several years ago and sent it back because the maps were out of date -- but the software actually became less intuitive, harder to use, and, with this iteration of Street Atlas, nearly impossible to use or understand.
You have to understand that I wanted this program to work and work well, because I have been frustrated in trying to find a decent GPS over the past 4 months. I have found their whimsical, weird routing extremely frustrating. If, as nearly all of them do, they make serious mistakes in my home town, what are they going to do when they are routing me through an area that I am not familiar with?
I drive a large vehicle, and do not enjoy making mistakes that involving turning around, navigating narrow, tiny streets, etc.
I have tried Garmin (Nuvi 350 and Streetpilot 330), Magellan (3250, 4250) and TomTom (One). All very disappointing and unreliable. Granted that any map program or any navigation program will have quirks, make serious errors, etc. This is an imperfect world. But, given that mistakes appear to be the rule rather than the exception in my GPS experience, why not allow the user to set up his own route using Vias, Exclude/Avoid, Prefer, etc.?
Because, theoretically at least, you can create your own route using Street Atlas 2008, you can get your GPS to do what you want it to, instead of vice versa. (I bought the Street Atlas program together with the Earthmate GPS, so that I could use my laptop instead of a self-contained GPS.
But the reality is far from this simple and satisfying. I spent hours trying to put together routes in SA 2008 and found the process totally unintuitive, the menus confusing, and though it is theoretically possible to do it, it became so much trouble that I finally just threw up my hands. A route that would have taken me 20 seconds to put together in Street Atlas 8.0 took me half an hour with SA 2008, and it still wasn't right!
I ask you, how is it possible for a product like this to get worse and worse over the past 7 years? I am sure that DeLorme has had lots of feedback on what is right and what is wrong with their software. It looks to me as if they just don't care. A sad commentary on what,IMHO, was once an excellent company.
And all this doesn't even mention the maps that can be way out of date, the inadequate and out of date POI's, etc, as other reviewers have mentioned.
From what I have read, the Garmin GPS 18, a similar product containing a GPS and a mapping program, is not much better than this one.
Disappointed.......2007-11-17
I was disappointed in this product because of the outdated map data. Now, I'm not talking about a new street in town that wasn't on the map; I'm referring to a well-known, main street in town that has been there for years that wasn't on the map.
I bought the product for a countywide project on which I was working. For the most part, it was acceptable, but there were entire areas of subdivisions that had not been updated.
I wouldn't buy it again unless I was assured of more accuracy. Delorme should put out some updates to get this right. There's quite a bit more they could do to the product to make it better. I'd even be willing to pay a little more if I was assured of a better product.
Product Description
The DeLorme Street Atlas 2008 Plus DVD is ideal for laptops, desktops, PDAs, iPods®, and GPS units. It's more powerful than online mapping with comprehensive tools for traveling using the latest gadgets. It includes a variety of GPS features plus extensive data import capability, 150 million U.S. and Canadian phone listings, and higher-end print and draw tools.
Customer Reviews:
Delorme Review.......2007-12-25
I am very pleased with the 2008 Delorme Street Atlas. I particularly like the telephone listings available. I'm still working on how to use this program, but I like what I can do so far.
Product Description
The DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 handheld GPS is a laptop GPS solution utilizing chipsets from STMicroelectronics and SiGe, as well as firmware and software provided by DeLorme. It's easily powered by the USB port of laptop PCs, drawing minimal power in the process. It's loaded with innovative GPS features including voice commands, spoken directions, automatic back-on-track re-routing, and mobile map colors.
Cheap Consumer Electronics:
- Delorme Street Atlas USA 2008 Plus
- Disney Mix Stick High School Musical
- Earthmate GPS BT-20 2008
- Earthmate GPS PN-20
- Epson GT 2500 Plus Document Imaging Color Scanner with Network Card
- Fujitsu Imaging CG01000-507001 Scanaid Cleaning & Consumable Kit for FI-4120C/FI-4220C
- Garmin 12-Volt Car Power Cable for eTrex, Legend C and Vista C (010-10563-00)
- Garmin 160C Portable Fishfinder (Dual Beam)
- Garmin 8-Foot Antenna Cable
- Garmin Automotive Mounting Bracket for GPS 60 Series (010-10457-00)
Cheap Consumer Electronics List
Cheap Consumer Electronics
Mapping
|
Education & Reference
|
Categories
|
Software
Delorme Topo USA 6.0 National Maps (DVD)
Delorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 2008
Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008
Delorme Topo USA Mapping Software 6.0 West Region
Delorme Topo USA Mapping Software 6.0 East Region
