XMap Business

Rating:
Summary: A Most Appropriate Find!
Review: Literally, a find indeed. I have used several of the more popular Mapping and Phone listing programs for what I use this software for, and I have even used previous versions of Street Atlas and Phone Disc, but this is by far the best as a combination. In comparison the mapping is superb, and the phone listings have not let me down yet. The ease of use for a package of this caliber amazes me. You get so much for a reasonable price! I can't say enough about the product. If you are looking for Business, Personal or Census Info. This one is Very Good! And it doesn't take Big Blue to run the program! I'm happy with it.

Rating:
Summary: xMap does it all !!!
Review: This product allowed me to map my business customers and develop maps for routing from one to another systematically. If you need a product to help you cold call or develop routes, this is it.

Rating:
Summary: OK, but beware, this is a multi-disc product
Review: This product has 8 different discs for different regions of the country. Unlike Street Atlas USA or microsoft's Streets Plus, you can't just pan from one region of the country to another. Well, actually, you can do so at a low maginifiction, all the discs contain the few large scale maps. But once you want to zoom in on an area not covered by your disc, the software will advise you to change discs. It's relatively painless, but not as nice as not having to do it at all. I haven't yet tried to get it to switch drives in a multi drive machine; my guess is that that wouldn't work. I note that there is a dvd version that does not require switching discs. I didn't know about that one; I might have bought it instead, but I don't have a dvd on my home computer, so maybe not.

I didn't know this from the editorial or user reviews when I bought, otherwise I think I'd have gone for a different product. Now that I have it, I think I'll keep it but that's only because my state of Illinois is the only state that's on two discs, which makes it a little more convenient for me, if not for you.

I haven't yet checked this out precisely, but I get the feeling that it doesn't show as much detail for the zoom level as StreetAtlas. In other words, to get all the street names, you have to zoom in further than on Street Atlas, and thus have to print off more maps.

I find the product much more cumbersome to use than Street Atlas, but it also has the routing features of MapnGo, but not, I hasten to add, the all-North American coverage, which you'd think they could provide with 8 discs. Canadians and Mexicans beware. It has phone numbers of local business establishments like Microsoft STreets plus, which my '95 version of Street Atlas doesn't, and as far as I can tell, is fairly up to date. It has some streets near me that are new, but one of them is inaccurately portrayed. Some of the dashed lines, however, I know to be trails while some are gravel roads. It doesn't show all the gravel roads, however. The accuracy and thoroughness at high magnification is questionable.

It comes up fairly fast, depending on your drive speed, and has much nicer and more regular-map-like colors than either Street Atlas 95 or Microsoft Streets plus 97. It comes in a little loose-leaf notebook that keeps the discs orgainzed; the plastic sleeves that contain them are easy to get the discs into and out of for quick changing. I like the notebook but it does take up more space than most newer software. There are some business features that I'll never use that may be important to some people.

On balance, It's probably worth the $[money], but just barely. In my mind's eye, I'd like a product that covered the whole world with at least 14 really different (not just maginification) zoom levels, hiking trails in public areas, and street level detail for the US and Canada for less than $[money]. I'd be willing to live with a multi-disc product in that case. I don't know why no one produces such a product.

Have fun-

Wayland