Microsoft streets and trips gps receiver

#Microsoft streets and trips gps receiver how to
#Microsoft streets and trips gps receiver update

Entering a street address takes too many steps - it's easier to click on a rough location with your mouse. $40 for the software-only release both require Win 98 or newer.) But its utility fades once you set out on the road: Its directions come in the form of too-small text, coupled with detailed maps that will be hard for a co-pilot to read - assuming he or she doesn't get carsick from the effort.ДeLorme's trip-planning screens are almost laughably cluttered, with four panes and 11 tabs to click through. (Its GPS bundle, including a compact, Microsoft-brand receiver, costs $129, vs. Microsoft provides a more intuitive interface for trip planning, even with the addition of a pane for GPS data. Both programs can search for nearby points of interest, so you won't wander aimlessly looking for the next crab shack or Tex-Mex joint. With GPS enabled, these programs can track your position and use the satellite-linked system to plot and recalculate routes instantly - very useful if, despite all the navigational assistance, you make a wrong turn. But they free you from this old-fashioned approach: Streets & Trips and Street Atlas also come in versions that bundle Global Positioning System receivers, ready to be plugged into laptops for use on the road. Lastly, both programs print directions in a variety of clear, simple formats.

#Microsoft streets and trips gps receiver update

Unfortunately, neither one can update these listings they can't learn about new roads, restaurant or hotels - a major shortfall compared with the free mapping sites. (Streets & Trips can also get updates on road construction from a Web database.)Д«oth programs include a wide, but not exhaustive, listing of such points of interest as restaurants, lodging and attractions. They can process such variables as estimated gas mileage, projected speed, fuel costs and hours driven per day to schedule travel time, rest stops and overnight stays.

#Microsoft streets and trips gps receiver how to

But these two Windows applications provide more information about where you're going and how to get there, as we found on a test drive from New York City to the Delaware shore.Д«oth include encyclopedic road maps of the United States that can zoom in and out and easily handle directions for trips with multiple destinations and stops.

Microsoft's Streets & Trips 2005 and DeLorme's Street Atlas USA 2005 aren't free, which would seem to put them at a disadvantage. Instead, they can just type in start and destination addresses and print out crisply labeled, turn-by-turn directions, with the only cost being some printer ink. Thanks to such free mapping sites as MapQuest and Yahoo Maps, it's been a while since road warriors have had to sketch out a route with a yellow highlighter, guessing which shortcuts to take or avoid.