Rating: 
Summary: A bike rider from Maryland
Review: Save your money and buy MS Streets & Trips 2004 if you are looking for a good road mapping program. I use mapping software to plan bike rides that range from 25 to 100 miles in length. I used to swear by the Street Atlas program, at least up through Version 9. Now I find myself swearing at the newest versions such as 2004, which has what can only be described as a "clunky" user interface that does not support wide carraige printing and contains errors in the routing of roads here in Maryland that have been changed years ago. If MS Streets and Trips can get these roads right, why can't Street Atlas.
Rating:
Summary: Keeping Older Versions
Review: SYSTEM: Win ME, 1.7G system with 500+Meg memory with a 17" screen. I have always liked Street Atlas and it is the best on the market; in fact, I have used this product through almost all of the version changes - I think as far back as Version 2. Each time, it was better and better, and for the price, nothing compared! I tried many others, but nothing was as good! ... that was until I purchased the Street 2004.... There are too many issues with this version and, as a result, I will keep the older versions. 1. Speed: Significant drop speed during in map re-draw, when changing magnification or simply moving around.
2. Tabs: Tabs occupy space on screen and must be 'maximized' to use. There is no way to get rid of the tabs. I prefer the menu drop downs and the pop-up windows when I need the functions. One must click on "MAX/MIN" button with the tabs to use the functions. Also, I do not want to give up screen real estate. Tabs also slow down start up of program. 3. Map tools with arrows for moving around the map on the right hand side. Seem to not be able to get trid of these. More screen real estate given up. 4. MAJOR ISSUE: RESOLUTION
On Street 8, when I got down to 1-2 mi views, major streets are clearly identified.
• Mag 11: 2Mi scale, the towns can be seen
• On mag 12 2 mi scale, major streets are identified and it becomes easy to follow a path you were taking.
• Mag 13 1 mi scale: Major streets are clearly visible and easy to follow routes
• Mag 14: 0.5 mi scale: Street Detail was available. This give enough room to get a more global perspective of where you are and when you are that close to the target, you do need the detail names.
Easy to plan routes. On 2004 version, I get lost.
On the Data Zoom 10, 1 mi, Only MAJOR Highways are identified.
Mag 11, 4000 ft scale; a few more really major streets come in, but you really cannot follow any level of detail on any of the secondary roads.
On Mag 12, 2000 ft (!) scale: STILL no minor street identifications!
FINALLY at Mag 13 Now down to 1000 ft, I start getting streets identified. At this point, I am too close to the map and it is trouble to 'follow' a route that I was planning and I get lost - too close to the map! 5. Help Menus: Difficult as usual with Help Functions and not the way I think about things. For example, I can't seem to find the right combination to search "Change the Magnification for displaying Street Names" or even find out if I can change or not. 6. Any program that ships with a Help Tutorial CD, I am leery of! In the case for the Street Atlas showdown, I will remain with Street 8. Maybe find a copy of Street 9. But Street 2004 is dropped. All in all, I do not think that the 'enhancements' are worth the trouble, loss of usability and loss of speed.
Rating:
Summary: Delorme Street Farce 2004
Review: The actual product name is "Delorme Street Atlas 2004 USA". I checked out Dallas-Fort Worth because I had a business meeting there. Sad thing about it - they completely left out the George Bush Tollway! They didn't show it "under construction" even. Topo 4.0 was a great product, but it's getting a little out of date now. Too bad - because my brand spanking new Street Atlas is missing data! Get your act together, guys..I'm getting my money back.
Rating: 
Summary: Used with GPS for a 2 week vacation, worked great.
Review: The software/GPS system is excellent once I got accustomed to using it. It did take me some time to learn how to use effectively; however, once I got familiar with the operation of the software I was very satisfied with the functionality and operation of the software. I have some problems with the GPS system in one of my cars (perhaps the windows have a film on them that filter GPS signals), however, in the other car the GPS rarely gets lost. I will not leave for distant lands without this software.
Rating: 
Summary: Look Elsewhere
Review: This software is a genuine POS! I purchased this based upon a recomendation from someone who used previous releases of this product, I guess Delorme lost thier way for the 2004 release, terrible user interface, no documentation to help get you started, very innacurate unless you create a stop point at every intersection, which kind of defeats the purpose of the software! I played with it for 2 hrs and could not get an accurate route from NY to Wash DC. I purchased Microsofts Streets & trips the following day, it was cheaper $19.95 after rebates, and far easyer to use whith minimal user input! I'll try using delorme again, It has a few features MS doesnt have, But in my opinion it is just too difficult for the average user.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Prg
Review: Total waste of money. I gave Up on their product after version 3 Deluxe. Large portions of the map are missing on later versions, they told me it was because they changed maping companies. It is a shame to see what was one of the best maping companies go down the tubes.
Rating:
Summary: Street Atlas USA 2004, what a PAIN!
Review: VERY poor maps, VERY poor interface. A huge pain to find addresses or points of interest. This is one of the poorest programs (not only maps) I have seen in the last 12 years. The interface is sooo[...] needlesly complicated and ineficent that makes this program unusable. What a shame! Delorme has been in the mapping business for many years. It is really a puzzle to me how Delorme makes this mapping program so difficult to use. You are supposed to use it in your laptop with their earthmate gps receiver too, right? It takes 10-15 minutes to find the addresses or points of interest. This program makes Street and Trips look really good. If you want to put up with its interface and only want to spend 30-40 $ it may help you. Otherwise there are MUCH better alternatives but for a higher price.
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Summary: We don't want to drive on dirt roads!!
Review: We are retired and part-time RVing throughout the US and Canada and have been using Delorme Street Atlas USA 2004, which has a lot of great features. However, they are of no use to us in unfamiliar areas when the created route sends us onto dirt roads, which happens on a daily basis. Some of these roads are so vehicle unfriendly that the turns onto them are easily missed and the "road" can usually be mistaken as a ranch "driveway." Occasionally, the beginning of the road is paved, but then turns to dirt. Frequently, we've had to find a place to turn around and find another way to get to our destination. We've tried using the filters to "avoid" certain roads and even contacted Delorme Support, which is unable to offer us a solution and blames the local maps they use for the program directing us onto dirt roads. We can't use a program we can't trust. Since discovering this frustrating and sometimes dangerous "flaw" in the program, we only use it w/GPS to show us where we are on the map. We are definitely going to replace this with another program before taking off on our next trip.
Rating:
Summary: We don't want to drive on dirt roads!!
Review: We are retired and part-time RVing throughout the US and Canada and have been using Delorme Street Atlas USA 2004, which has a lot of great features. However, they are of no use to us in unfamiliar areas when the created route sends us onto dirt roads, which happens on a daily basis. Some of these roads are so vehicle unfriendly that the turns onto them are easily missed and the "road" can usually be mistaken as a ranch "driveway." Occasionally, the beginning of the road is paved, but then turns to dirt. Frequently, we've had to find a place to turn around and find another way to get to our destination. We've tried using the filters to "avoid" certain roads and even contacted Delorme Support, which is unable to offer us a solution and blames the local maps they use for the program directing us onto dirt roads. We can't use a program we can't trust. Since discovering this frustrating and sometimes dangerous "flaw" in the program, we only use it w/GPS to show us where we are on the map. We are definitely going to replace this with another program before taking off on our next trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Street Atlas 2004 works very well for me
Review: We have used the latest Street Atlas versions for the past three years at home, on short trips, and while traveling cross-USA several times. We have found them to be very flexible and convenient. The latest version is greatly improved in map handling and "feel" - especially handy for use in a moving vehicle by the passenger using a portable PC with only a touch screen mouse. We use an older GPS detector connected to the portable by wire. I suspect that the new Bluetooth GPS unit would be much more convenient. The ability to transfer maps to a PDA has made it possible for us to use the maps with the PDA attached to the center of the windshield next to the mirror for quick orientation and route following by the driver. The timely oral instructions from the map software on PC or PDA have been most helpful in following complex routes. As a driver, I find the oral instructions very handy. And always correct - as contrasted to passenger instructions on complex city streets.
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