[GeoStL] Re: MapPoint 2004 vs. Street Atlas 2004 Plus

-
Jim, I just wanted to add that there are many plug ins for MapPoint and
there are none for SA2004. Programmers can write all sorts of apps using
MapPoint extensions. A good example of this is AGPS which has voice
navigation and route correction. True, MapPoint is much more expensive and
not really the greatest for "On the Road" but you can list businesses, get
updated construction info and what makes it much nicer for Geocaching is the
ability to import caches and group them however you want. I don't feel that
you covered the fact that you can take a GPX file and load it in based upon
the cache type. This allows you to assign different pushpins based upon
type. IE red for multis, green for traditionals, etc... Another great
feature is dragging a box around a group and caches on the map and then
optimizing a route to all those caches.

MapPoint was designed for businesses to plot sales regions and focus areas.
It was never meant to be "Travel Map"

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Bensman" <jbensman1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 10:16 PM
Subject: [GeoStL] MapPoint 2004 vs. Street Atlas 2004 Plus


> -
> Well I have both programs and will offer some observations.  Overall, I
> think Street Atlas 2004 Plus is much better than MapPoint 2004.
>
> I will have my laptop with both programs on it in JC this weekend.  I will
> be happy to show people how they work.
>
> I tried MapPoint 2004 and did not like it.  While it was pretty easy to
get
> the cache files into the program, I did not like the way it navigated when
> you were on the road.  I had used Street Atlas for quite a while and had
> loved the way it navigated you on the road.
>
> MapPoint simply highlights your rout on the map.  It also does not have an
> option to orientate your map with your direction of travel.
>
> Street Atlas highlights your route on the map.  It also has a big pane
where
> it tells you things like your next turn, how far and how long to your
> designation. They are in big easy to read letters.  It also has two
separate
> parts of the screen that show where you are at.  One is zoomed out much
> further.  I really like that feature.  It also speaks to you to tell you
> when you are approaching a turn, where you turn and all that kind of
stuff.
> It also will accept voice commands so while you are driving you can
operate
> the computer  by talking to it.  (It works too, but you have to train it
to
> your voice).  It also has a night vision mode.  It will also search for
gas
> stations, stores and the likes ahead of you.  MapPoint has none of this.
>
> The one problem I had with Street Atlas 2003 was everyone in a while the
> program would lose contact with the GPS.  It would rotate as you turned,
but
> it did not move.  I switched the interface from Garmin to NEMA and did not
> have any problems after that.  I have not used Street Atlas 2004 Plus very
> much on the road so I do not know if that problem is there.
>
> One of the problems with Street Atlas 2003 was there was no way to get the
> geocaches into the program.  The best I could come up with was to load the
> waypoints into my GPS and then download them into the program.  It worked,
> but it was a royal pain and only the cache number was in the program.
>
> Street Atlas 2004 Plus (not Street Atlas 2004) solves that problem.  Like
> MapPoint 2004, Street Atlas 2004 Plus will not directly import the loc or
> gpx files.  The best way I have found to get the files into the program is
> to use GPSbable and convert the loc file into a TopoMapPro Places file and
> save it with a .csv extension.  Street atlas will import it (just don't
> import the first field).
>
> When importing the file, you can chose whether to have the number or name
> displayed on the icon.  I chose the name to make it easier to find with
> Watcher.  You can select different colors or icons for different sets of
> caches (caches you found could be one color, ones hid another, and ones to
> look for another color).  You can also turn off and one which sets of
caches
> to display.
>
> One of the neatest things is it creates a hyperlink to the cache page on
> each icon for the cache.  So when you are at home, all you need to do is
> click on the icon and the cache page pops up.  There is also a feature
where
> you can click on the icon or the name of the cache and it will display the
> cache number.
>
> MapPoint 2004 is similar, but I like the way Street Atlas displays the
data
> better.
>
> So my recommendation is Street Atlas 2004 Plus (not Street Atlas 2004).
>
>
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