DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 2008 U.S.A./Canada Map DVD-ROM (Windows)
by Delorme Mapping
|
List Price: Our Price: $18.00 You Save: $51.95 (74%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 2008 U.S.A./Canada Map DVD-ROM (Windows)
Customer Review: My mistake
Summary: 2 Stars
This product is not bluetooth, but USB. Either I didn't read the description well enough, or it was not clear in the product info. I didn't need another USB GPS sender, as I already have one that came with Microsoft Streets and Trips. I returned this product because of the misunderstanding.Customer Review: Two & 1/2 years of giving it a nationwide test--very cumbersome & marginally reliable
Summary: 1 Stars
I have all 50 of the DeLorme State map books. They have good topo features and decent references to parks, points of interest, etc. When DeLorme put the maps on a disk with a GPS connection I thought navigating would be a breeze. I cannot tell you how much time I have wasted plotting routes on this software. I used it on a 22,000 mile road trip/photo shoot in 2005. I work in out-of-the-way areas. The database maps (both street and topo)have no detail in national or state parks. They generally do not even show where the visitor centers are located.They do not show the points of interest in the parks. They are just big green blobs on the screen with a line running through showing the basic road that transverses the park land. The maps have absolutely no topo features like the books. That is another software subscription. The Topo map program (which I also bought for the 2005 trip) did not have the trip planning functionality that the road atlas program has and does not provide worthwhile topo features in the public lands. The topo program is almost amatureish in its renderings and if you want to use the split map and see an elevated view, you get very little useful information for planning. Certainly, with national lands and the trails in them being absent from the data bases of both the street and topo products, it offers minimal help to the hiker.
Notwithstanding my dissatisfaction with the 2005 street and topo products, before I embarked on the current journey (I have been on the road 2 1/2 months as I write), I bought the 2008 street map disc (it is not an upgrade, you buy new each time). As with the 2005 version, the GPS periodically tells me that I am off route, as the cursor shows me tracking across farm fields, etc., maybe where the road used to go years ago. Frustrated by all of this, I went back to my Garmin Quest. It also leaves a lot to be desired but it is more reliable. If you get the DeLorme gps, spend at least a day learning the basic functions. There is little intuitive about its operation. Spend another day in your computer setting your waypoints (roads, towns, addresses, etc.)that you may be traveling the next few weeks and run a couple tests to see how well the program maps your route. I often have to go into the route and force the most direct route by adding via/waypoints along the way that simply looking at the map makes clear. If you try to do this while traveling, you will spend more time on your computer than driving. I am on a 6 month journey right now and have simply removed the DeLorme programs from my computer and only rely on the Garmin to get me through or around metropolitan areas. Otherwise the paper DeLorme state atlases and basic state maps guide me. Finally, don't rely on the program to have up to date comprehensive info on lodging, points of interest, etc. All have some, but in the last month none of the programs have guided me to one location where I ended up spending the night. For every one RV park that showed up from the data base, I saw one or two more in the same area that were better. And if you have an "air card" for your laptop, you can use the Google maps and get traffic info along the way.
Customer Review: Route Errors are a safety problem
Summary: 1 Stars
I installed this on a new laptop and did not change any program settings. On the first trip I used it on I was driving through high speed rush hour traffic after dark in downtown St. Paul, MN. The program inexplicably directed me to get off the interstate and re-enter a few blocks later. Seeing no reason to do so, I stayed on the interstate, expecting the program to re-calculate the route. Instead, it displayed "ROUTE ERROR" and quit tracking altogether! Fortunately, I knew my way around enough to get out of downtown safely without having to stop, but the program had to be restarted to resume tracking.
Tech support was little help. When I reported the error, they said there must be a "break in the data" and it shouldn't happen "very often." I replied it is unacceptable and unsafe for the program to shut down rather than continue to try to recalculate in heavy traffic, and asked if there was a program change in the works to resolve the problem. Instead of addressing my question, they told me to try re-installing the program.
BETTER KEEP A MAP IN THE CAR IF YOU'RE GOING TO USE THIS PROGRAM.
Customer Review: Hard to use - intermittent GPS - wrong directions
Summary: 1 Stars
I have found this package to be very disappointing. It is very user unfriendly and counter-intuitive. Basic directions should be easy to figure out without having to search help menus. It doesn't use common sense to create directions from one place to another. It's an arduous process to find an actual address and import it into the directions program. My GPS device only works intermittently. Directions recommended are wrong. I was told to turn on a couple of streets that didn't exist in my neighborhood. The GPS doesn't show my accurate location on the map. It doesn't recommend most efficient ways to travel. Everything is just difficult, and the program/GPS unit simply doesn't work properly. The seller (JDHines) refused to refund me, so I have wasted over $100 dollars on something that will be going into the trash. I will look into buying the Microsoft version of this next.Customer Review: Beware Tracking Problems and Out of Date POIs
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this unit in anticipation of using it with my laptop on a long road trip. The software loaded fine and worked with the GPS receiver included with it. While using it a few times, however, I've found some serious limitations. First, the user interface is completely unique and requires some getting used to - it's not really bad but I'm the only one in my family that's taken the time to figure it out. Second, the points-of-interest (POIs), like gas stations, restaurants, etc., are very sparse and out-of-date. Third, and perhaps most disturbing, is that the GPS receiver loses lock on the GPS satellite signals in overcast skies. This might not matter if you're cruising along on a highway, but not when your trying to find your next turn. For these reasons, I recommend looking elsewhere for a laptop-based GPS unit.