Re: Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator vs. DeLorme Earthmate GPS Receiver with Street Atlas USA 2005

From: Jim Walker (walkerjd1_at_worldnet.att.net.net)
Date: 09/21/04 

Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 14:13:24 GMT

The speech cut out is a computer overload issue, and this can happen on some
pretty capable computers. SA 2005 offers an option to specify the number of
trail points or bread crumbs and that can help unload a computer. I am also
going to try de-selecting any routes that I am not currently using in a
given Map File and see if this helps. By un-checking the routes, their
route in dashed lines will disappear and perhaps also help unload the
computer. In SA 2005 without the patch you won't have this question because
you will call up just one route with a Map File. 

-- 
Jim Walker
Northern Virginia
"R. Dale Shipp" <dale@_delete_min.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1bb986bca4953a6a989700@news.md.comcast.giganews.com...
> In article <aVK3d.614266$Gx4.45412@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
> walkerjd1@worldnet.att.net.net says...
> > I don't agree at all that Street Atlas is a toy.  It is a complete
> > functioning GPS navigation program.  I have about six thousand miles of
> > successful navigation with it and I was really depending on it.  I have
used
> > SA 7, 2003, and 2004.  DeLorme isn't perfect, but if there is a better
one
> > out there I haven't found it.
>
>   I recently bought Delorme's SA 2004 and was quite disappointed with it
> for a variety of reasons (which I posted on the Delorme's forum site).
> They just came out with a 2005 version.  I decided to give it a try and
> am quite impressed with the improvements.  Not all of my objections got
> solved, but many of them did.
>
> Specifically, the new " automatic back on track"  feature is very good
> for navigation purposes -- and is something that was noticeably missing
> in the 2004 version.  I did a trial run with the 2005 version, and
> deliberately chose a different path back home than 2005 had set for me.
> As soon as I got a few hundred yards off track, it spoke to me and
> showed a new route home based on where I had gotten to.  This happened
> at least five times (I was doing a significant diversion).  I'll swear
> that by the fourth time I heard an audible "sigh" before Microsoft Sam
> gave me a new course.
>
> One major flaw in the 2004 version was that the computer spoke turn
> instructions based on coming within a threshold distance of the turn,
> even if you had diverted and were coming from a totally different
> direction than planned.  It also got very confused if you had a route
> which doubled back in close proximity to itself (e.g. visit grocery
> store, then back track over part of the route and go to blockbuster).
> That did not happen on my trial run -- which did have a back track
> segment to it.
>
> Another flaw noted in the 2004 version was that often the speech would
> break up in mid sentence.  Once, it quit all together.   In our single
> test of the SA2005 version, we did not detect any broken up directions.
> I'll note that in this test, we did not use voice input commands.  That
> lowers the demands on the computer, which are probably one of the things
> contributing to the early termination of spoken directions (as well as
> the occasional false positive recognition of a spoken command).
>
> The feature of having a "next turn" display at the bottom of the route
> map is very nice.  2005 version added a "turn after that" display, even
> better.
>
> I have also gotten the new MS S&T 2005.  It is good, and I will use it
> for planning purposes.  But it does not come close to SA 2005 for
> navigation purposes.  Basically, all it does is follow your location on
> the planned route on the map.  It does not give you any dynamic next
> turn indications, etc.
>
>
>
> -- 
> R. Dale Shipp
> dale@_delete_this_min.net