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Rand McNally StreetFinder & TripMaker Deluxe | 
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| From: Topics Entertainment
Category: Software
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $45.00
You Save: $4.99 (10%)
New (1) Used (3) from $10.99
Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 6130
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 95
Media: CD-ROM
Operating System: Windows ME
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.4
Model: CS-163
UPC: 781735801949
EAN: 0781735801949
ASIN: B000066JBL
Release Date: May 15, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: new never used ships promptly J2
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
With more than 130 years of experience, Rand McNally knows what travelers need and want in mapping and travel planning products. StreetFinder & TripMaker Deluxe offers routing, travel planning, organizational tools, and area attractions to users--all in an easy-to-follow design with helpful guides and tutorials that make planning and finding directions easy. This is the ultimate routing and travel planning suite for the business traveler and vacationer.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 Worthwhile but no longer updated June 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've found the really bad reviews in this list to be... curious. Especially when the "reviewer" states that the software won't do certain things which I have done with it many, many times, and which is obvious and intuitive.
Oh, and ESPECIALLY when the reviewer keeps mentioned, repeatedly, a specific "competing product" in his review. That sort of "review" is nothing more or less than ADVERTISING for the competing product. So please bear that in mind.
This software is no longer produced by Rand McNally, and as such is no longer necessarily "up-to-date" (the area I live in is a high-growth area and the maps show areas as open country which are now shopping malls, just for example). If you live in an area which hasn't changed significantly in the last six years or so (like I used to) however, you won't notice that at all.
It DOES print "entire trip" map sets...the reviewer who stated that it won't was either not capable of reading basic english, or was outright lying. What it gives you is a "trip package" consisting of a top-level map showing the entire route, along with a series of "zoomed in" maps showing each leg (zoomed to whatever level is necessary to show what you need to do). It includes your itinerary, scheduled stops, etc, etc. I STILL USE THIS TODAY.
I also own a Garmin GPS, which I normally use for my on-the-road navigation these days. However, before any trip, I always plot out my information on paper, just in case the GPS happens to die on me (which did happen once with another model). It's worth pointing out that my GPS can connect to a laptop, which when running this software, will show my driving path on screen as well (or it can operate with a GPS receiver antenna without built-in navigation software as well).
Bottom line... there is newer, and more "state of the art" software out there now. But if you have this, it's still very useful (despite what the Microsoft Marketing guys who posted here tried to fool you into thinking). If you want to spend a lot more, buy something new (but not Microsoft, necessarily!) If you need totally updated maps, buy something new. If you have a 100%-of-the-time-connected computer, just use Google Earth or NASA WorldWind or MS Earth 3D or whatever. But if you need LOCALLY-INSTALLED MAPS (which I often do when I'm traveling... in the middle of the Arizona desert, you don't get much WIFI connectivity!), this is a fine tool, even six years after it was last produced!
 rand-mcnally tripmaker July 17, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a piece of crap. You'll be better off with a CAA map and a pencil.
Awful waste of money February 3, 2005
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
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!
 Tripmaker - I do not leave home without it. January 31, 2005
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
Don't bother, stick with paper November 9, 2004
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Have you heard the joke, popular in Maine, where the lost tourist asks the rural resident how to get to a popular landmark, and the old codger replies, "well, you can't get there from here"! That is what this software tells me every time I try to use it. Not only does it make wildly inaccurate and completely baffling guesses at the addresses I enter (MapBlast or MapQuest come up with the right option every time), this software seems incapable of joining the dots I do get entered. I live outside of Philly, and these are major roads. I fear for those who might rely on this junk in a rural area. Until I can afford a fancy GPS unit for my car, this CD that I bought with this crapola software on it will be used to mark pages in my ever reliable road atlas. Thanks for nothing, Rand McNally!
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