Autoroute 2009 - Mappoint 2009 Europe

[ossie]

Microsoft have dropped Autoroute for 2009 however they have just brought out Mappoint 2009 Europe.

microsoft.com/mappoint/en-us/Features.aspx

This is the professional version of Autoroute and uses the same interface.
Downside is the price!

Doing a www.Froogle.co.uk search (Google Product Search) brought up these results.

Microsoft Mappoint Europe 2009 B21-01113 £250
Microsoft Mappoint Europe 2009 (Educational) B21-01129 £52
(No idea if educational version is available to us)

There is an FREE Drivespeed addition for Mappoint that allows you to input your max speed so its now more accurate for trucks!

mapping-tools.com/drivespeed/index.shtml

P.M. me for more info if required

[arronls]

I upgraded to this from 2006 a couple of weeks ago. So far I’m quite impressed, but remember this was originally a mapping and routing program that’s had GPS functionality tacked on as an afterthought (this is Microsoft remember!)

It’s had the vista makeover to make it look all pretty:

The maps have been updated to (I believe) 2008 versions, so include the M62/A1 junction:

But not the newer stuff further south (if you can think of anywhere else you want checking…) Lots of Europe has now got more detail (Greece off the top of my head)

There’s now a full screen navigation mode (You can also see the new and ambitious time to arrival at the bottom right):

but it means losing the speed and compass from the side (I was stopped - honest ):

(As a side note, that’s a good reason not to trust the sat-nav through speed cameras)

There’s a sat-nav style navigation mode (next to top down otherwise you can’t really see the difference):

As well as the old map style views - centred:

And turn based modes (my favourite, it zooms as you get closer to the turn-off):

There’s also a new search function which uses a (very minimal) local database and (supposedly) vast online database to find business results - as you can see the offline version is a bit pointless (although I’m sure if you’re into that sort of thing you can refine the search slightly):

Other new features include reverse route (I think that’s a new one), automatic re-routing (saves having to sit there hitting F3 everytime you disagree with her - turn around, turn around “SHUT UP WOMAN”!), Google maps style dragging (rather than the old drag a box and zoom), and best of all - text to speech road names (I’ve had a few good giggles at her attempts )

ossie:
Downside is the price!

Even if you pay for it, it’s comparable with a quality sat-nav (and how many have 14"+ screens?), and if you don’t, all it costs is £35 for the GPS dongle. (Not that I’d condone that sort of thing ) And how many sat-navs have mp3 players, tv, video players, internet, games (the list goes on) all in one box?

ossie:
There is an FREE Drivespeed addition for Mappoint that allows you to input your max speed so its now more accurate for trucks!

mapping-tools.com/drivespeed/index.shtml

Thanks for that, I’ve been looking for it for ages

[simon]

So do you like it arronls ■■

I’m considering up-grading from AR 2007, on my steam powered lappy.
Do you think it’s a worth while up-grade?

[arronls]

It’s the best I’ve come across so far, I tried PC navigator for a little while, but couldn’t really get on with it. I don’t normally like Microsoft (he says running vista while typing on an M$ keyboard!!), but they are making some good improvements with this one - and amazingly they haven’t added Microsoft Bloatâ„¢.

Simon:
I’m considering up-grading from AR 2007, on my steam powered lappy.
Do you think it’s a worth while up-grade?

Depends whether or not you plan on paying for it - the new features aren’t really worth the money, they’re just extra toys to make it a bit more like a standalone sat-nav, so it’s down to the value you put on having newer maps. I wouldn’t pay full price, but if you can get the educational version it’s probably worth it.

If you’ve got uncapped broadband and no morals though, it’s worth every penny!

[ossie]

There is only a limited amount of symbols in Mappoint 2009

This small utility will allow you to add the missing custom symbols to MapPoint in “batch mode”

support-pc.com/LoadCustomSymbols.htm

Download Symbols from

microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/deta … laylang=en

[gezt]

Been trying mappoint 2009 for a couple of weeks now.seems much the same as before but havn’t used it as satnav mode.looks ok tho.

[simon]

gezt:
Been trying mappoint 2009 for a couple of weeks now.seems much the same as before but havn’t used it as satnav mode.looks ok tho.

I use mine in sat-nav mode usually, with an old 2004/5 receiver.
That sat-nav style looks useful. A lot better than zooming in as you reach a crucial junction. The problem being, you often don’t realise it’s crucial until your too late .

They’ll always be using this years mapping, at best.
They can’t use next years because it hasn’t been drawn up yet.

For a lot of useful info and a very good little plug-in (for Autoroute at least) have a look at http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=129.
The plug-in is called AR Keys (or ST Keys for the US version, called Streets and Trips).

[gezt]

well im just about to get a tomtom 520t for a “surprise” christmas present so will be using that ,but i use autoroute with low bridges to check the route and destination BEFORE i set off. it’s a gloriefied map book for me but using tomtom/autoroute and the internet it helps make sure im going to the right place but not needing to carry tons of mapbooks. with it