Why I buy this one ?
- Turn your laptop PC into the ultimate GPS navigation system
- The #1 best-selling travel and map software
- Includes a GPS locator plus an MSN Direct receiver
- Free 1-year subscription to MSN Direct service
- Get back on track with automatic re-routing

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What our customer's say!

"Need for Street Names", Microsoft Street & Trips 2008 GPS with Connected Services

It would be extremely helpful if the spoken directions also included the street name as displayed in the written directions. Some other GPS software already includes this feature.

Otherwise the software worked as promised. We are very pleased with the product.

"Just not a very good product", Not only am I a gadget addict, I have a GPS jones as well. It all started with a Magellan RoadMate, then a Magellan Maestro 4040, then a Verizon Navigator on my LG VX 9900 cell phone, then Microsoft Street & Trips 2007 GPS, on to S&T 2008 with Connected Services, and on to a Tom Tom, and lastly to a DeLorme Earthmate GPS BT-20 for my Gateway laptop with a 17" screen.

For quick and easy across town, Navigator is a good bet. I've got the phone with me most always anyway, so it is very easy to use it for short trips.

For long trips, DeLorme is hands-down my favorite. For one thing, the maps are ACCURATE. Not so with the Microsoft product.

When you zoom down very close to the weeds with Microsoft, the streets flat disappear! My Maryland house, my mother's Connecticut house, my sister-in-law's in Georgia, all are not on the Microsoft maps. S&T brings me close, sort of in the vicinity, a street or two away, then says brightly, "You've arrived!"

This is OK when going to my own house, of course (what better way to test a map than see if it can find a place you already know); however, if it can't find your house, how can you rely on S&T to find somebody else's?

The other real drawback of Microsoft S&T, though mapping inaccuracies are big problems, is its GPS device. The S&T software fails to detect it too often to make it practical. I have tried resetting it numerous times, but the button is extremely small, and difficult to get to. Plus the device has to be plugged into three cord/adapters which makes it seem very slapdash, thrown together who cares about the customer fashion.

I like the Magellan Maestro, for longer trips when I'm travelling alone, but when I have a "co-pilot" using a strong mapping program combined with a solid GPS device and a (comparatively) big laptop screen and fat memory I really prefer the DeLorme Earthmate product.

"Not Happy", On a two thousand mile trip I was not once able to use the Connected Services. Basically I would say it is worthless.

"Mixed bag", I've had S&T connected for about a week now and will probably keep it. Til now I've been using DeLorme software, which I like a lot but it doesn't have the connected features I wanted to try.

The downsides to S&T:
1. I bought it for use on a car computer installed in my vehicle. It's probably not up to the task but is easier to use than DeLorme. One major drawback for S&T is that DeLorme has voice input which makes for a nice hands off experience. So far S&T is easier to use, has a better display but is distracting if I have to use the mouse.
2. So far it's on a par with DeLorme for accuracy of maps. However, DeLorme provides regular updates (for a year) but Microsoft does not. Doesn't seem fair for Microsoft to aske for error reports when the only benefit to the customer is to get fixes when they buy the next version. Shame on you Microsoft! See if you get any error reports from me!
3. Connected services seems to work fine. Two major drawbacks though. Services are very limited. Here in Oregon only the Portland area is covered. If I go south to California I have over 600 miles of uncovered area! At least DeLorme has good coverage on services across the country, albeit not real time. Second is price. First year is free, but after that you pay; I'm not sure it's worth it.
4. I'm concerned about more than just the map updates. What about 2009? Will I have to buy the connected version to retain those services? Does that mean I have to pay for another GPS and connected device? You've really got to do better Microsoft on cleaning up your upgrade path for this product Microsoft or I won't be buying it again.
5. The GPS device and connected services weren't easy to install. Connected took more work than was necessary for this device. GPS was a royal pain. I'm an old hand system administrator and did all my tricks to get it working. You would think with S&T being Microsofts product, the hardware being Microsoft, and the operating system Microsoft's as well it would be a snap. DeLorme took a little work to get a 3rd party Bluetooth GPS to work (which is potentially a riskier proposition). Ironically the 3rd party GPS worked fine on S&T and it took hours playing with drivers to find the problem. Not very positive Microsoft!
6. S&T has crashed twice now. DeLorme never gave me a problem in over a year.
7. The install offered to create a link to Outlook, which would be a really nice feature. Unfortunately this part of the install failed. It gave instructions on where to find more information but I've been unable yet to find them.

The positives? Easier to use than others. Connected services has huge potential. Support responded fairly quickly. (However, by the time they responded I had already gone through most of the steps and fixed the problem. Their suggestions were not for the faint hearted and were the right steps to take. Unfortunately, the problem was one that would have taken them another step to find. I know what the problem is, but I'm not telling them! When they give me updates during the life of the product I will!)

Bottom line - better than before, still not a threat to Garmin.

"No Updates.", This product is amazing for the price ($150): the features that it has and the fact that it turns your laptop into a GPS map with a very large screen. The GPS locater is extremely accurate. I did not find the software features intuitive but they worked well once I figured them out. However, the mapping software(ie names of streets) was not up to date and I discovered to my distress that it is not updatable until the next version (2009) is released. Microsoft has this in common with several other GPS mapping hardware and software systems. I returned it to Microsoft.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Streets and Trips 2008", Microsoft Street & Trips 2008 GPS with Connected Services
This product is very good at drawing maps to where you are going or finding where you are with the GPS. The connected services which are
for 100 large cities did not appear to be live. There was traffic delay on our trip which did not show up. As I mainly got it for a trip to Canada I am giving it to then to get better. The software did not have a loud enough voice to overcome the highway noise. I purchased small speakers hoping that will help on my next trip. Would really like an update for that. It does not have a choose of voices. It only has one women's voice. It could be that a man's voice would have been a little better. I like it over the smaller GPS's as I like to see details that my laptop can provide. I wish it had software to answer my telephone on my laptop as the GPS stand alone systems have. I'm not sure if I rated it
correctly based on the above. You can decide for yourself. I like drawing out the maps, printing them for planning ahead, knowing where I am at a given momement and the big screen. Of coarse I'm not the driver. If there is only one person in the automobile or mobile home a GPS would be better.

"Think twice before purchasing this version", I drive an airport shuttle van in San Diego. I've used earlier editions for three years, I've purchased the new programs as they are released as new features are added and I've been delighted with the upgrades. I was (past tense) looking forward to the addition of real-time traffic input. Sadly, I was unable to use the "Connectwed Services" aspect. I followed the instructions in the installation guide to no avail. It seems as if you have to "activate" the receiver on at least three different sites, none of which tell you that you are actually activated and none of which seemed to activate the receiver. I could not find ANY technical support anywhere. I gave it 4 stars as the basic program is still a delight to use and extremely useful for my application.

"An annoying curiosity", I've owned several of the earlier versions of S&T including 2007 and have used them extensively on road trips throughout the Western US. While my previous reviews have had issues with S&T I still really like S&T. I just wish that the development team owned cars and tried their product.

Then along comes 2008 with Connected Services. I tried it out in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. The traffic information is completely unreliable. I was stuck in stop and go traffic in green zones in S&T. A zone is a traffic direction on each side of a freeway on the map. The red and yellow zones rarely show at all. Instead you have to guess what may be happening when there is a gap in a green zone. Is it supposed to be red, yellow, or no data? So the strategy is to look out the window and figure it out as you drive along. That may sound similar to what you do now without S&T CS.

The incident markers are consistently outdated. Rarely is there any sign that an accident ever occurred there. Don't bother re-routing away from accidents because so far they don't exist and usually traffic is flowing as well as could be expected for the time of day.

The GPS unit is a pain and loses the connection somewhat frequently, like twice in a six hour drive or more. The 2007 model is much more reliable and I've switched back to that unit except when I want to test my humor. Hint: You have to reboot not just the computer to get the 2008 CS GPS unit to work again, but you have to pull the cable from the unit and switch it on and off with a pocket knife point. Try that on an LA freeway late in the afternoon.

I do recommend S&T but pass on Connected Services for at least this version unless you are an early adapter who loves self-abuse with innovations.

- jim




"Not Reliable", I had purchased and used Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 for a few months; my experience was excellent. Then I saw that the 2008 edition was being released and that it offered MSN connected services; I expected the same experience.
I was wrong. The first unit worked for a week and then stopped. I ordered a second unit and it never worked at all. I took my laptop to the computer repair shop and had it checked; it was working fine. I could not get a GPS signal on 2008 in the same areas where I received signals using 2007. I spent two days trying to get this to work, and am now returning both 2008 units to Amazon; it is not worth the money or the trouble.
I do not recommend this product. My experience may have been an anomaly, or it may not. But two units failed to work, so I find that troubling. This does not appear to be a reliable product at this time. Purchase Streets and Trips 2007 and let Micrsoft work the bugs out of 2008. In addition, MSN connected services are not available everywhere; you have to check online to see if they are available in your area.