Gps mapping programs

[JimDromi]

I have Streets & Trips 2013 (with GPS) on my laptop.

http://www.microsoft...r=GO25486877769

I was thinking of buying this overlay -> Truck Stops Plus. Welcome to Truck Stops Plus

Has anyone tried this combination?

Jim

[az99]

Looks like most of that RV usable info is available free here- http://www.discoveryowners.com/cginfolinks.htm

[moisheh]

Save your money. I bought it but never use the program. Poorly designed. There are lots of apps that are either free or low cost that do a better job. Pilot/J, TA/Petro and Loves all have excellent apps. Allstays is a good app but is about $10.00.

[PyrateSilly]

Try downloading MyDAT Trucker Services app, cost is free.
Apps for Truckers: Making Life Easier | CDLLife
Truck Stops, Rest Areas, Truck washes, etc. Oh wait did I mention it's free.

[Triker56]

Allstays is FREE to use on a laptop with Internet service.

You can get a FREE S & T POI Mega File at link

Only con if you make a lot of trips to save using it.
It eats a lot of memory up.

[Moonrover]

AllStays is my number one go-to trip planning crutch. Wife has it on the iPad setting on the dashboard in front of her. She switches back and forth with another app that follows our route in real time. Its called SpeedoMeter GPS+. Also there is an app called "Measure" for getting map distances easily. That darned little iPad is incredibly useful when we are in travel mode.

[Wayne M]

Originally Posted by az99

Looks like most of that RV usable info is available free here- http://www.discoveryowners.com/cginfolinks.htm

X2 and the Mega POI database is awesome.

[gMw]

Also there is a lot of information available from the POI Factory web site,

URL: POI Factory | new & interesting places for your GPS

CSV files can be imported into Streets and Trips... And some/most of files from POI Factory the can be loaded onto GPS'...

[JimDromi]

Originally Posted by moisheh

Save your money. I bought it but never use the program. Poorly designed. There are lots of apps that are either free or low cost that do a better job. Pilot/J, TA/Petro and Loves all have excellent apps. Allstays is a good app but is about $10.00.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Stan.Birch]

We have used MS Streets and Trips, one version after another for over a decade, most of those years as our only GPS navigator; and it did a really good job for 2002. The problem is: the usefulness of the program hasn't improved in a decade. Only the year designation changes.

1. Routing capabilities are SOOOO bad, as to be useless. It will take you hundreds of miles out of your way for a mere ten mile trip, so you have to do all of the navigation manually.

2. Points of Interest are so limited and brief, that they are totally useless.

I also have a $$$$$!! GPS on my 2009 Lincoln, which is a vast improvement over MS Streets when it comes to navigation, but when it comes to POIs, it's rather useless.

Then, a couple years ago, Canadian Tire was featuring a 5" Garmin Nuvi 50 for $120. Wow!! What MAJOR improvement over anything I have used previously. Routing is pretty much flawless, and their Points of Interest data is amazing!! For instance, at the end of the day I arrive at a WalMart posted with an RVers-Go-Away signs , Gamin not only has ALL of the WalMarts in their data base, but you can have them listed for the direction you are travelling. So . . . if you are headed north, it will list all the WalMarts along the route as you head north, including the distance to each one!! MS Streets has almost no WalMart info.

But not only WalMart. Plug in any kind of store, park, or whatever, Garmin's POI data base is absolutley amazing!! And for RVers, unlike past models, the voice directions on this one are really loud and clear!

A really great GPS!!

*** One caveat: When setting it up, DO NOT instruct it to avoid toll roads!! It will take that instruction literally, and route you 500 miles out of your way, merely to avoid a toll road!

While we no longer use MS Streets for navigation, it is still a great program for planning a trip.

I have fond memories of our trip to Alaska, with the laptop running MS Streets, bouncing an inch or two off the dash. When it bounced more than 2" my co-pilot would shut it down until we encountered more hospitable road. Had to get a new disk drive when we got back!