Rating: 
Summary: 3D Feature does not work
Review: Don't buy this product if you want the 3D feature! It simply does not work, and tech support has been awful/non-existent. I wish I had read the reviews before I bought this...
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Work on New Systems
Review: I bought an earlier version of Topo on DVD. I was satisfied with it but then I upgraded to Windows XP and my DVD will no longer work. Delorme doesn't support the older version and suggests I buy a new one at full price. They didn't offer a lower cost upgrade. So beware if you buy this software. It may not work with Microsoft's next OS upgrade!
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Work on New Systems
Review: I bought an earlier version of Topo on DVD. I was satisfied with it but then I upgraded to Windows XP and my DVD will no longer work. Delorme doesn't support the older version and suggests I buy a new one at full price. They didn't offer a lower cost upgrade. So beware if you buy this software. It may not work with Microsoft's next OS upgrade!
Rating: 
Summary: powerful program for the money
Review: I found this software to be a great buy. I had no problems with the 3D features. I was worried because I installed it on a computer that was about 2yrs old but it worked fine. I did have to read the manual that comes on the disc to get to know all the features and how to use them to full advantage. (it would have been nice if it came with a hard copy but you can print it out). This program is very powerful for the money. For a quick example, by just clicking on the screen you can get distances or even acreage computed. Considering the cost and features of this program I would give it 5 stars. To get better software you would have to spend many times the cost of this program.
Rating: 
Summary: Great promise, but doesn't deliver
Review: I purchased this direcly from Delorme based on the information on their website. While the software promises a lot, it doesn't really deliver. As a side note, I have the version with the whole country on 1 DVD, instead of a group of CD-ROMs. I believe, though, that the dataset is the same between the two products.First, this program is difficult and confusing to use. I have used a number of mapping products for many years - including ones that do similar things to the Delorme product, and all of them were easier to figure out than this one. As another reviewer here has said, it feels like a version 1 release, as opposed to something that has gone through a number of revisions. The second, and much more significant problem for me - is that it is very innacurate. Now, I certainly can't speak for the whole country, but in trying to plan a number of outdoor activities here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I found dozens of innacuraces, especially in the placement of roads. Now how does that matter - you may ask - when planning hiking and other outdoor activities. Well, some of the road locations are off by a significant amount (for example the map has a road on the North side of a hill, when it is actually on the South side of the hill), and a number of the smaller roads aren't even on the map at all. It seems clear that they used some sort of automated procedure to put the road layer into the software, because in many places that I've looked closely, the roads don't even connect to each other, or they connect in a way that is obviously wrong to any person that looked at it (groups of dead-end roads connecting only ot each other, roads branching off in bizarre ways, etc.). And that leads the the problem. One of the features that I was keen on using this software for was to create routes on my desktop and then download them to my handheld GPS as navigation tools for my hike. Well, if the roads are in the wrong places, and the trails don't connect properly to them - the routes either won't be accurate, or can't be created at all. That's a real problem for me. While it's pretty easy for me to look at a map and figure out that the roads are incorrect, it leads me to question whether any of the data in the program is correct - which is of course a much larger issue if your using the software for anything beyond 'just for fun.' I certainly wouldn't trust it to produce GPS routes and have those as my only means of navigation. So, clean up the interface (important), and clean up the data (very important), and you'd have a great product. Version 4 just doesn't cut it.
Rating:
Summary: Great promise, but doesn't deliver
Review: I purchased this direcly from Delorme based on the information on their website. While the software promises a lot, it doesn't really deliver. As a side note, I have the version with the whole country on 1 DVD, instead of a group of CD-ROMs. I believe, though, that the dataset is the same between the two products. First, this program is difficult and confusing to use. I have used a number of mapping products for many years - including ones that do similar things to the Delorme product, and all of them were easier to figure out than this one. As another reviewer here has said, it feels like a version 1 release, as opposed to something that has gone through a number of revisions. The second, and much more significant problem for me - is that it is very innacurate. Now, I certainly can't speak for the whole country, but in trying to plan a number of outdoor activities here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I found dozens of innacuraces, especially in the placement of roads. Now how does that matter - you may ask - when planning hiking and other outdoor activities. Well, some of the road locations are off by a significant amount (for example the map has a road on the North side of a hill, when it is actually on the South side of the hill), and a number of the smaller roads aren't even on the map at all. It seems clear that they used some sort of automated procedure to put the road layer into the software, because in many places that I've looked closely, the roads don't even connect to each other, or they connect in a way that is obviously wrong to any person that looked at it (groups of dead-end roads connecting only ot each other, roads branching off in bizarre ways, etc.). And that leads the the problem. One of the features that I was keen on using this software for was to create routes on my desktop and then download them to my handheld GPS as navigation tools for my hike. Well, if the roads are in the wrong places, and the trails don't connect properly to them - the routes either won't be accurate, or can't be created at all. That's a real problem for me. While it's pretty easy for me to look at a map and figure out that the roads are incorrect, it leads me to question whether any of the data in the program is correct - which is of course a much larger issue if your using the software for anything beyond 'just for fun.' I certainly wouldn't trust it to produce GPS routes and have those as my only means of navigation. So, clean up the interface (important), and clean up the data (very important), and you'd have a great product. Version 4 just doesn't cut it.
Rating:
Summary: Delorme Topo Products
Review: I purchased Topo USA 3 and was very disappointed with the maps and the features. Delorme does not use maps that are even close to USGS topos. I would not recommend any of their mapping products. For the best in real USGS maps get MapTech's Terrain Navigator. It does all the things Delorme products do and it uses REAL USGS 1:24000 Topos.
Rating:
Summary: Makes pulling a large RV much easier.
Review: I tow a large travel trailer and was tremendously interested in what Topo 3.0 offered. Topo 4.0 has all the improvements I wanted and more that makes navigating a large tow rig much easier, especially in the mountainous west. Loaded on a laptop mounted between the front seats and connected to a Magellean GPS, I am able to see exactly (within 60 meters) where I am on a 2D map on one side of the screen, and an adjustable 3D screen on the other. I can choose a segment of roadway and display a cutaway profile of it, showing what hills to expect ahead of me... good to know when towing. I can vary the levels of zoom from one side of the split screen to the other. USGS 7.5 minute topoquad maps can be displayed instead of the standard 3D map, but I'm going to try out the Satellite imagery to get another view of the area I'm traveling through. Place the cursor on one map on the split screen and you will see the corresponding point on the other screen, even if zoom levels are different. Monitor your location via GPS while underway and you can record the trip and play it back later. For my application (towing), this is an awesome and fun tool. Yes, some of the maps seem to be terribly dated (according to the map I live in a boy scout camp) but the roads are mostly current and I have had no complaints with that part of this program. I use the DVD disk, which puts the whole application on one disk, plus one installation CD. Delorme did make one big mistake... the DVD wouldn't zoom in when I got it but they found the bug and fixed it immediately with a download patch followed by a new installation disk. A great tool for my use. If I'm hiking, I'll still use paper maps.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun software
Review: I used my friends 2.0 version and liked it, but it had problems downloading from my Garmin e-trex unit. Good things: 3D, profile building, different zoom levels and covers the whole U.S. The funnest software package I have. I can go out and map a mountain or road bike course and get an idea of mileage and elevation gain and loss before I go. I print out the maps to take with me. Bad things: Don't expect it to give you the detail of a 7.5 minute Topo map. For life and death dependancy on a map then buy a more detailed map before you head out. Also don't depend on a GPS because it's batteries may die on you.
My Garmin downloads but it doubles up on my tracks. I have called Delorme about it and they are suppose to look into it. Bottom line: For $100 to get this much information on the whole US with all of it's features, I am amazed. Sure this is not a perfect program but in my opinion it is a great one. Great for area overviews and in most cases it will get you there and back.
Rating:
Summary: Stopped working and NO support from Delorme
Review: I used the product for about 2 weeks and thought it was OK. The 3-D was WAY over rated. There are some nice features like elevation and cordinate values by just pointing to a location. My biggest problem with the product is that it just stopped working one day and all of the information I had stored there became unaccessable. I attempted to contact Delorme through sales and support areas and got NO response. Microsoft didn't have any ideas to help either. I don't know if this is a XP bug with the software or a software problem but either way - I have a $100 program that I can't even use. If you have XP - don't bother!
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