Rating: 
Summary: I'd pay hundreds for one that does it all well - where is it
Review: I have been using this software for 3 years and will continue to use it. BUT, I find myself frequently finding ways in which the program could and should be improved. We travel with a pop-up camper for 70 days a year, logging in an average of 6000 mile /year. Plenty of "test" time.
Pros:
- Cheap. A limited version was free and I liked it enough to by the $30 Deluxe 2001. It is now packaged with the StreetFinder which I do not have.
- GPS function is a hoot. It is not always on the nut for coordination with the map, but it works well and it gives my wife something to do in lieu of correcting my driving.
- Mapping a basic route is very simple. Major roads and most secondary highways are right on the money.
- Using the program saved me at least once on every trip by correcting a missed turn to re-routing through detours.Cons:
- Zoom. Maps are primative at low zoom levels and have many errors at high zoom levels, but generally provides "passable" information. It's easy to miss detail on the maps unless you remember to zoom in. It is slow in redrawing a zoomed or re-centered map.
- Missing information. As campers who prefer the more rustic locations we find that some of our preferred campgrounds are missing from the database. For example, there is one listing each for the White Mountains, The Green Mountains and the Alleghany Mountain National Forests. It does not list individual campgrounds of which there are many. Some state parks are missing too. There is little excuse for that as all the information is on the net.
- Commercial. There is lots of info on private campgrounds but not all. I suspect that there might have been listing fee involved and that takes presidence over accuracy. Unfortunate.
- Outdated. One campground changed their name in 1996 and it still was not listed properly in the 2001 edition. We drove past it 4 times before we believed the GPS and went in to check. Many other examples of that.
- Inaccuracies. It was kind of fun to see that we were traveling in the Bay of Fundy. Most of the Canadian and rural areas maps had poorer coorination with the GPS. Recommendation: Extensive review of the reviews does not turn up a program that fulfills the promise of mapping and travel planning software. I'd pay hundreds for the program that does it all. Where is it?
In the meantime, this program provides a service and is more fun than frustrating. Where else can you spend $30 and keep your wife entertained for days on end?
Rating: 
Summary: Used for years
Review: I have used Trip Maker for three years and am considering up-grading to the 2003 version. I have found it interesting and easy to use. My wife and Kids have fun with it when traveling and using the GPS.
Rating: 
Summary: Tripmaker - I do not leave home without it.
Review: I have used tripmaker for a number of vacation and business trips and it has worked extremely well. This is the 3rd version that I have used and all have installed properly and done the job. My wife will not travel more than 6 hours a day and wants a guaranteed place to stay each night. I time each day's stretch and then can reserve a room at the stopover point. I can try different options to get the best fit. It is a great planning tool.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful waste of money
Review: I intended to buy MS Streets and Trips 2005. I'd used the 2002 and 2003 versions and wanted to upgrade.
I saw the SteetFinder and TripMaker Deluxe offering and decided to give it a go. One word can describe this product - AWFUL.
The first thing you notice is the clunky interface. Rand McNally may have a history of making great maps, but they can't write software.
The interface is totally unfamiliar to anyone used to the standard Windows interface. I'm an IT technician, I work with all sorts of different software packages from different vendors, but this was without doubt the worse interface I have ever seen.
The map looks great when the program first opens, but as soon as you zoom in the nice topo detail is lost. There is no option to display the map in topo / road detail as you get with Steets and Trips.
The GPS navigator was a deciding factor in getting this software. If that alone had worked well I'd have been happy.
Unfortunately it doesn't work well at all. Sure it will track your GPS position and give voice prompts as you drive (assuming you have a GPS unit), but it takes so long to enter your destination address you'd probably have already arrived.
The software is buggy too. Several times the map would suddenly change, whole roads vanishing. Zooming out made them appear again but as soon as you zoom in they disappear. Only restarting the software fixed this.
Back to the GPS feature. The software has a GPS window that estimates arrival time and distance to go. I recently drove 250 miles and watched the ETA field increment to the point that when I was ten miles away from my destination the software said it would take 13 hours and 90 minutes to get there. Quite why it couldn't convert those 90 minutes into another one hour and 30 minutes I don't know, but either way it was wrong. The distance to go indicator ended up over 500 miles.
At first I thought the software assumed I was driving somewhere else, so I pulled over and restarted my laptop. I entered all the details again and it correctly estimated time and distance, but after a few miles it went crazy again.
Printing maps is a JOKE. You can only print the current map view, not an entire route to follow.
Forget pushpins - if you like that feature in MS Streets and Trips you'll be disappointed with this package. Addresses are stored in an 'address book' - sounds logical right? It doesn't work very well at all. You have to look up each address, you can't type in a partial name and find it like you can with Streets and Trips.
I ended up getting the MS Streets and Trips 2005 package and I'm very happy with it. It doesn't have voice prompted GPS navigation, but I quickly realized I didn't really need that feature.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!
Rating:
Summary: I'd give it less stars if I had the option
Review: I was so very disappointed with this program. I regularly use Rand McNally's website to get directions. I thought that buying this program would get me away from having to do that while I was on the road. WRONG!!! You need an Internet connection to use the software. I'm STILL looking on the box to see where it might tell a consumer that BEFORE they bought it. I'm out $...and have a useless piece of software that I cannot use. If you need to use a streetfinder program while on the road, this is NOT for you.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't get this puppy off the ground
Review: I wasn't able to install this software and my machine exceeded all the requirements. I am very frustrated and disappointed with this product. I chose this over MS's map software because it was Rand McNally, a respected map maker. Apparently software is not their forte. I now have to make a trek back to the store to return this product and buy the MS software. A waste of time, a huge aggravation, and a big disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: It's Better Than Others In Important Aspects
Review: I'm not sure why people are bashing this software. There is something that TripMaker does that I have yet to see in other mapping software products. You can avoid and prefer road segments. This is really important to me. I live near New York and if I use MapQuest, it always routes me through New York. I don't want to go through New York. With TripMaker, I can say avoid the Washington Bridge, and recalculate route. I have also found the algorithms used for finding optimal routes to be very good. Optimal is loose term in this problem domain as routing problems can be computationally excessive without doing simplifying heuristics. Near optimal is a better term. TripMaker seems to find better routes than MapQuest at least in terms of distance. You can adjust driving speeds in TripMaker. Over time, I have adjusted my driving speeds in the software to be more realistic. You can adjust the speeds for four different types of roads. Now with the adjusted speeds, time estimates are pretty close. In MapQuest, you can not do this. I also find the points of interest to be of value. I ofter "cruise" over the land looking for density of points of interest, hotels, and dinning facilities. This techique has helped me find driving vacation spots for my family since I am new to the East coast.
Rating:
Summary: Not so good. But worth it for 40 bucks.
Review: It's not as good as the advertisements and the description on the box say. The map itself is better than Microsoft's. But the information like POI is horrible. There is almost nothing you can find in suburb area near Chicago. And even I use PC ver. I can not locate my apartment correctly. But it's PDA ver. is better than Mapopolis' PDA ver. Mapopolis' PDA ver. even cannot show the street right. The biggest drawback is the marker can not adjust its position on the screen and let you see it all. If the marker is not in the center of the screen, it will just be cut out by the screen and you have to scroll the map just to read the whole marker. It's stupid. To PDA user, this software's map selection function is funny. There are 4 methods, the part shown on the PC screen, point to point rectangle area, areas around 2 points and areas along the route between the 2 points, areas around 2 points and the route only. It doesn't seperate the maps into small areas and let you select by area like other mapping softwares do. A big drawback to GPS user, it doesn't have alternative font option. It's not that easy to read the street name in small font while you are driving. Especially for Clie user. If Rand McNally can add street to street routable function in it's PDA ver. and enforce it's POI finding function I think it will be close to perfect. I ordered Xmap 3 days after I bought Streetfinder. It's on the way. After I test Xmap, I will write my review. Now I'm think to sell the title.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time!
Review: Like most people, I too have used on-line mapping services for sometime, usually with mixed results. It seems as though every single result I received varied from one site to the next - generally taking me in a route which wasn't even the best (or fastest!) The final straw was when trying to map out directions from my office. No mapping service, including a few different software programs, even recognized my offices street address - & we've been in this location for over 2 years! Finally! A program that actually knows where I'm at! Rand McNally is the only program I've tried so far that has given me accurate & efficient directions to every destination I've tried to find. I didn't even realize it at the time I purchased this set, but it also included a (fold up) road atlas (very cool) & a bonus CD for my PALM PILOT! I honestly never thought of being able to use my PALM as a portable GPS system. As an outside sales rep, I cannot tell you how many times this has helped out! If you've ever been frustrated with results you've been given while trying to map out directions to some unknown destination - I would strongly suggest you give this program shot. I think you'll be quite impressed. Not only for the accuracy, but the additional features alone - are worth it!
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of my hard earned money!
Review: Microsoft Streets & Trips is much easier to use, more flexible in planning routes and does not require access to the internet to get turn-by-turn instructions. I'm very disappointed in this product.
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