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Thoughts On MS Streets and Trips


rjo

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Good value for the money. The maps offer good coverage in Canada as well as the US which is rare. When used in conjunction with Pocket Queies and GPSBabel it's an excellent resource for geocaching.

 

GPSBabel will convert the GPX files from Pocket Queries into a format that is easily imported into S&T which gives you clickable (will open up the cache page if you're online)icons for each cache.

 

PDOP's GPS Pages

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We use it with waypoints plotted and a GPS hooked to it. It works well getting us closest to the cache before we jump out. It works really well getting us to parks that involves quite a few turns or non-obvious ways getting in.

 

It's not a magic bullet as it will take you places where you still can't get to the cache and you will have false starts, but it's a heck of lot better than relying on paper map, GPS maps, or anything else.

 

I don't know how it compares to other mapping program as this is the only one we've used, but it works pretty good.

 

CR

 

72057_2000.gif

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If the original poster had phrased the question more precisely. the odds of getting a useful answer go up. I appearently read it with a different accent than all the posters so far. Let's try it this way:

quote:
Anyone with thoughts on the new SnT?

Streets and Trips 2004 hit the shelves a few weeks ago. I've seen a few fluffy reviews of it, but I have yet to see a geocacher's review and even on the GPSBabel list - where S&T support topped the request list for a long time - nobody's mentioned S&T 2004 which either means that GPSBabel still works fine or that nobody's upgraded yet.

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Picked 2004 up the other day. A little disappointed that the program itself did not seem updated much. They say the maps are updated. Also added was a seemingly useless although somewhat amusing feature? called DriveTime Zone - which calculates how far you can drive in all directions from a point in X amount of time. It still makes me laugh. Not sure how it would be useful - especially in a a busy urban area.

 

The could have added something usefull like allowing you to change the coordinate system.

 

I really didn't see any difference(other that map data supposedly updated).

 

I REALLY have extensively used previous versions of the program and except for the unflexible coordinate system it works GREAT the way I use it . It just requires a couple extra steps to dump the caches data in.

 

I just returned from 2 weeks out west with a GPS connected to a laptop. I had ALL caches for about 10 states loaded in one saved map so we were able to head to caches along any route we happened to choose on a given day.

 

The program includes a lot of VERY small roads - including some that probably could not actually be called roads unless your in a horse drawn wagon or a monster truck. I was quite impressed with the 'backroad' data it includes. Got us closer to a lot of caches that we NEVER would have even found parking for. We never would have been able to stop at as many caches as we did, 130+ in 13 days, without the laptop and MS S&T. The toughest part was gathering the cache data. It took a couple week of daily queries to fill up the map for states we were headed to.

 

Love the program but from what I've seen of the 2004 version i'm not sure I'd update if I already had a previous version .

 

Have fun with it. I do. Have several caches loaded in laptop now for tomorrow.

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I upgraded a few weels ago from 2002. The biggest advantage is the 1 second GPS update on the laptop, and the 1-2 second update on the PDA.

 

Older version had 15 second updates for both (hacks where available to lessen the PC update to 2 seconds).

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

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So those of you that have it and compared it to earlier versions aren't bowled over, eh?

 

I was hoping for some pretty minor changes like being able to over over a pushpin instead of playing that weird "whack-a-mole" game to see _which_ cache I'm looking at or the ability to set multiple icon types during one import. (I'll make GPSBabel do the "smart icon" thing as soon as S&T gets this.)

 

Since GPSBabel has been called out here a few times, let me highlight the detailed instructions for importing with linky links from GPX

 

Oh well, it looks like if I drag into CompUSA today (8/30) after printing their idiotic online coupon and I win at the rebate game, I'm looking at a cost of $14 so I guess it's pretty pointless to overstudy this.

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It belongs to Bill Gates...and as such it is a very good program. Bill makes good programs.

 

Also as such it denies the ability for anyone else to improve on it and make it compatible with anything else. "Fall down in reverance to the Lord Bill Gates".

 

It is an excellent program....but proprietary to a fault...and therefore extremely limited on the evolving world of computer users needs.

 

the BEST news is hackers and pirates who may figure out a way to take a GREAT program, Bill's, and get around the BS. I'm not sure that will happen, I hope it does. - JamesJM

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quote:
JamesJM: It belongs to Bill Gates...and as such it is a very good program.
Ironic! S&T is the only MS program I like, being the only one I've ever seen that is worth the money and not a pain in the arse to use.

 

I concur on its proprietary nature being the sole aggravation.

 

---

LDR.

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The question was asked unspecificly for a reason. I was looking for a varied bunch of responses. Some for geocaching, some for driving, etc, etc.

 

You all can be a tough audience sometime, its a good thing I've been modding forums for years and understand your desire to take shots whenever you can at people icon_wink.gif

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I picked it up and we'll see how it holds up in the car today during my travels.

 

Thanks muchly icon_smile.gif

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MS S&T apparenty shows lat/long as ONLY degrees decimal.

 

Anyone done any hack/patch to change this.

 

Deg Min.mmm would be great but even UTM would be an improvement.

 

It does not seem that it would be that difficult(easy for me to say) to make this coordinate conversion display optional as several other Geo Utilities seem to handle it with GREAT success.

 

Just hoping.

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

Does the new version _really_ show your position in real time?

 

If not, I'll wait to upgrade until the tweak comes out.

 

CR

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/72057_2000.gif


 

I'll play with it tomorrow. Kicked myself for not having it on my laptop(with 2003) today and overshooting a couple turns. Usually pretty good at 'leading' the turns a bit because of the lag time but was cruising solo today.

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Heres a question: How does MS ST2004 compare to Delorme StreetAtlas USA 2004? I live in Canada (like rjo) so im trying to figure out which one has better canadian maps....Delorme just added canadian support in this version, so it may not be as full as MS S&T 2004. Any comments? Thanks!

 

Cybo

VE3SWF

 

[This message was edited by Cybo on August 31, 2003 at 08:41 AM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by maleki:

quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

Does the new version _really_ show your position in real time?

 

If not, I'll wait to upgrade until the tweak comes out.

 

CR

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/72057_2000.gif


 

I'll play with it tomorrow. Kicked myself for not having it on my laptop(with 2003) today and overshooting a couple turns. Usually pretty good at 'leading' the turns a bit because of the lag time but was cruising solo today.


 

Upgraded the laptop to 2004 last nite. Gave it a try today. Real time? I suppose, if 1 second updates are real time. Driving thus a residential area with lot of close streets and intersections, at a speed of about 20 - 25 mph, it seemed to track quite nicely. Sort of expected a litlle smoother movement of the car icon. I sort of drove the same route last nite with 2003 still loaded and the improvement is quite noticeable.

 

On a nearby highway, doing about 60, the car icon still had a 'hopping' effect. It tracked much closer than before but still beat it thru intersections doing 60. Not by much though.

 

Not sorry I upgraded as I use the program a lot for geocaching. I'd say the 'improvements' are minimal at best. I am still VERY amused by the new 'Drivetime Zone' feature. Not sure how this could ever be useful, but is certainly is amusing. If you have 2004, try it, you should get a laugh!

 

Hmmmm! I have an extra 15 minutes, I'm gonna create a Drivetime Zone to see how far I can get from home. Any compass direction will do. LOL!

 

Perhaps it is my old P266 laptop which has pretty much been dedicated to GPS use.

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Originally posted by maleki:

 

Upgraded the laptop to 2004 last nite. Gave it a try today. Real time? I suppose, if 1 second updates are real time. QUOTE]

 

Well the GPSr only updates once per second, so you can't expect any better than that.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

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