Over The River And Through The States - Delorme Street Atlas USA Handheld
Written: Feb 05 '04 (Updated Apr 25 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Zoomable Pda maps. GPS connectivity, wired or bluetooth. Address to address directions and route line.
Cons: May crash system while loading maps.
The Bottom Line: All-in-all, the Delorme Handheld Atlas edition is good, that is, once you understand the layout and use. They could fix a few minor gliches to fully satisfy me.
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| shippo225's Full Review: DeLorme XMap Street Atlas USA Handheld Edition Ful... |
The Map Pack Crap:
.....This Version of Delorme is designed for use with a desktop computer along with a PALM OS handheld or a PPC. I have been wanting a mapping program for my Palm Tungsten T for a while now. I went down to COMPUSA this month and looked for one. They didn’t have what I saw last month, but I did happen to come by this one. It was only $39.95. it was within my budget. After I was done, my mom and gram picked me up (they went to the movies while I shopped around at COMPUSA). My quick rating would be a four outta five. I will admit that this program is very non-tutorial. You have to fend for yourself when it comes to this. But hopefully my review will help out a bit. I have pretty much mastered it in no time, but other reviews rate it low for this. I’m not rating on tutorial ness of the program, but what it has to offer.
…..When you purchase this software, you will get a 2 CD set in a DVD case thing. There is also, in mine at least, an insert on the EARTHMATE GPS receiver that can be used for PDAs. I will hopefully get it. It can be used with this version of Road Atlas. And last, you will get the instruction for the software, a sheet of thin cardboard that says to put the CD in the CD Drive and click run. VERY skimpy on the instructions.
In A Nut Shell:
…..To make a long review short, I’ll mention the basics of the software. The desktop software allows you to type in an address or major point on the map – Statue of Liberty, etc. - and pin point it. You can type in two addresses to find either the shortest or fastest route from A to B. You can plan trips; find stores, restaurants and gas stations along the way. Create routes from point A to B and transfer the maps to your PDA with the ability to connect to a GPS receiver. Great for long-distance traveling with street to street directions right on your palm. On the desktop part, you can click anywhere on the map and get local information: global position, local radio stations in AM and FM, zip code and so much more. This program has more to offer if you take the time to learn it.
Crank Up That CD Drive, We Is Installin’ This Bad Boy:
…..The installation takes a while, but you’ll live. You will need to install the desktop software and the Pda software. This all done with the CD labeled INSTALL. Just pop it in the drive and it should start, if not, then go to ‘My Computer’ and click on the SA2004HH icon. The instructions for installing are simple, just follow the on-screen directions and it’s easy. Or you can be like me and keep clicking the YES button unitl it’s done. Don’t bother reading the USER AGREEMENT, no one does. Once it is all downloaded, you don’t need the INSTALL CD anymore unless you need to reinstall the software for either the PDA or the desktop. The program itself will run on the second disc.
…..To use the software on a PDA, you will need to download it from the disc, which should have been done when the desktop software was downloaded. It will tell you to hotsync your PDA to install software. You will need two megabytes of RAM. I would suggest using this on a PDA with at least 16 megs of unused RAM because the maps will take up much space. You can however, install maps on an expansion card if you so desire, but the program itself must be on the main memory.
PC / PALM / PPC Requirements:
~~~~~Desktop System Requirements:
--150 MHz Pentium II
--48 MB of RAM
--380 MB of hard-disk space (install), 530 recommended
--Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, NT4 (sp4)
~~~~~Handheld System Requirements:
Palm OS:
--Palm OS 3.0 or higher, supports OS 5 high-density displays
--2 MB or RAM (plus more for maps, routes, and WPTs)
Windows CE:
--Windows CE 3.0 (PPC or PPC 2002) or later
--ARM or SH3 supported
--MIPS installed available
*Voice-capable for PPC devices
Split Review:
…..To make this as easy as possible, I have divided this review into two parts: The desktop software and the PDA / PPC software. I will give a detailed description of each component within each for maximum understanding on your behalf. And remember, if you ever have any questions about this software, or any other item I have wrote about, you can either email me at shippo522@hotmail.com or IM me at SHIPPO52287 on AOL Instant Messenger.
=============Desktop Software Features: =============
---FIND:
…..The FIND tab allows you to input a street address (123 Sesame St., ME), a city name (Montreal), a place for tourism or popular site (Statue of Liberty), a zip code (29662), or a global position coordinate pair (N43.80782, W 70.16428) When you type in one of these, it will pinpoint it on the map in a zoomed up shot. The only use for this tab is if you live in a city and want to find a place you heard about or something. I really don’t use the FIND tab too often.
---MAP FILES:
…..This is where you can locate all of your map files. A box comes up when you click on this tab that contains the file name and location on the C drive. It tells when a file was last updated. You can open files, create new ones or save current ones. Files outside the program can be imported. You can even email map files from this tab, and of course you need an internet connection. And that’s really all for that tab.
--ROUTE:
…..This is the important tab if there is one. From here you will Type in a start point and a stop point. They can be addresses, city names, zips, etc. etc. etc. Once you tpe in your two points, you can click calculate to find the shortest or the fastest route from point A to B. After calculation, the map will be draw at deepest zoom that can withhold both points. There will be a golden line running along the route to follow.
…..Within this tab you will find a button that has the route’s street to street directions. Some streets it will name by their actual name, others will name it by it’s rode code. There are always little signs on he sides of the road that tell the code name but most of us don’t realize it.
…..The PLAN TRIP tab is also in here. You can insert average number of hours a day you plan on driving, or number of miles. By adding your car’s average MPG rate, the software can estimate how often you will have o stop for gas and how much it will cost. You can really go all out with this if you wish for such.
--INFO:
…..This particular tab will display any information for any given point you click on the map. Receive instant info bout everything like: zip code, city name & state, county, country (USA of course), pinpoint global coordinates of mouse-click location. If you are zoomed in enough, you can get info on the local radio stations along your route. If there are any popular attractions, they’re named. Basically any local info on any point in the map will have everything necessary to satisfy you.
--HANDHELD EXPORT:
…..This is the most important area in the software. This is where you select what maps get sent to your PDA. Once you have put in your route, you can come to this tab and select what to send. By clicking on the SELECT button, a grid will appear on the map. You just click on the blocks that contain your route, or wherever you want to go and then click save. Depending on your computer and how many blocks you chose, the time to load the maps from the disc will vary. For an average size map for me, it takes about twenty minutes. Yes, that is a lot. Once it is done downloading, you can hotsync it to your PDA. By clicking exchange, you can choose to either export the route, the map, or the Points Of Interest to your PDA. Then you just click hotsycn on your PDA and you’re ready to go.
=============Palm/PPC Software Features: =============
--MENU:
…..The PDA software does not have tabs, but there is a drop-down menu. It is layed out as this:
Data
…Maps = Displays a list of all maps stored on PDA. Maps can be copied to expansion card. Get info on maps – size, where stored. Beam maps to other PDAs.
…Routes = Displays downloaded routes. A map mst be downloaded to use a route
…Wpts = List of End points on map and and other added ones.
…GPS Logs = When you start a log, while GPS is connected, a golden line appears over the path you went, recording your position every other second.
GPS
…Connect = Connects pda with a GPS recieving unit. Earthmate is a great one, you can use the bluetooth model Earthmate if you have bluetooth capabilities on your pda. I use the SEIDIO SGR-300 GPS receiver and it works well.
…Disconnect = Disconnects from GPS reciever.
…Settings = GPS settings
…Logging = starts tracking where you've been
…Monitor = states your coordinates, direction in which you are traveling at the moment and your speed in MPH. Kinda like a speedometer
…Sky View = A 360 degree arial view of all satallites in your open sky (most always three or more)
…ChannelView = when you are connected to GPS, each satallite is listed with it's number, elevation, and a bunch of data that a genius can decipher
…Sun/ Moon = states time of sunrise in you location, along with moon phase, percentage of illumination and more semi-interesting facts.
Tools
…Add Wayponit = Add a point on map
…Find = Find a global position on the map, search for a road or city, a restaurant, park, etc.
…Go To Position = Go to a global position with coordinates.
…Tracking = No info available
…Distance = Distance traveled
…Create Direct Route = Put two dots on a map and it will make a straight line to one another. Any purpose? Yeah, if you are using this software in a plane or arial machine and don't want road maps
…Create Road Route = Quite a POWERFUL feature I must say. Also like the direct route, you put two or more points in and the pda will generate a ROAD route from point to point, either the quickest route or the shortest.
Options
…Preferences = Alter display properties: Font size, grid, scrolling information, yada yada
…Help = Very non-informative help instructions. (don't bother with this one)
…About = Creator, Version (year), other company info.
Map Detail:
.....The maps on my Tungsten T are beautiful and ful of color. With the preferences set to high quality, which i recommend, the maps are very fine tuned, looking like a fine paper map. There are no bad graphics with rigid lines, but smooth road lines. Zooming is also a valuable feature. By presing the up button on the PDA, you can zoom out and see a larger map with less detail. Or press down to get deeper into the map with labeled streets, restaurants, interstates, parks, forests, city names and so on. With a GPS, the map moves on its own with the dot on the screen. To move the map and get another part of it, just put the stylus somewhere on the map and drag iit across the screen to reveal more. Each time, it will rewrite the map, which takes a couple seconds depending on your zoom level.
.....The maps show street names, points of interest, Interstates, railroads, lakes, forests, city names and many other things. To see information on a specific spot, just tap it and the info will show at the black bar at the bottom with coordinates or railroad name and whatever else.
Time To Wrap:
.....Well, its been great sharing my toy with you, please feel free to rate or leave comments. In the end, I like this program. There are things that many people would gripe about, but they are easy to deal with. It's fast, easy, a little non-intuitve, and runs great. I think its worththe $39.95.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
shippo225
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Location: Left @ Albuquerque
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