This was my first experience with mobile GPS. I decided after riding in my mom's Toyota Sienna that her GPS system was excellent. Keep in mind, she had a high dollar system so I expected it to be much better then anything I would buy that is portable.

I bought Streets and Trips 2006 at my local best buy store for $89, it came with the GPS locator. I had my laptop in the car with me so I installed the software and it started to work immediatly, I was impressed that it pinpointed my location as quickly as it did. I typed in my home address and bingo, it routed me onto the interstate and home. That part worked perfectly. I will say that on the way home on I-40 they shifted the road for road construction, the system was so accurate there that it kept saying "OFF ROUTE" because the lanes were temp. shifted about 30 feet onto the shoulder, that was pretty cool. Overall with this I was impressed.

What I was not impressed with was: I live on a major road, about 1.5 miles behind my place is a wal-mart with several roads that go to it. When I used the GPS system to navigate me to the store it tried to route me on a 10 mile trip, apparently some of the roads I normally take were not in the map database. In fact there was a total of 3 missing roads in this one 1.5 mile area that had been in Knoxville since I moved here 4 years ago. These are not brand new roads, they are at minimum 4 years old and SHOULD be in the map database.

Other issues I have with the software include the Pocket PC piece. While the pocket PC does display the maps perfectly it will not create routes for you. Additionally if you try to hook the GPS locator up to your pocket pc you will find that it does not ROUTE or NAVIGATE you. The GPS locator simply shows you on the map where you are, in my case it was about 1/4 mile off, this was a  huge problem for me. The reason I bought it was so I could put my pocket pc in my truck and use that as my navigation system. Not so, it doesn't speak, it doesn't route, it doesn't navigate. It's just a picture with a moving dot that represesnts your current position.

Speaking of, speaking. The program does offer verbal turn by turn guidance, however do NOT expect this program to announce the names of the streets you are to turn on. It simply says "TURN LEFT", I would have liked it to say "TURN LEFT ON MAIN STREET" for example.

North, south, east or west??? One more thing I don't like about this program is lack of detail in directions. I punched in to go from work to home and it routed me via interstates. When I left work and neared the on-ramp it said "TURN RIGHT in .3 miles", the screen showed "TURN RIGHT ON I-40", it didn't tell me east or west. Then on my way home I take the I-75 split, it said "STAY RIGHT" but it didn't display if I needed I-75 North or south. Had construction been going on and lanes shifted, etc I would not have known what road to take because it didn't say the direction to go in. Simply not enough information.

Another gripe, re-route is not an automated feature. I wish Microsoft would have put an option on the program to "AUTO RE-ROUTE" if you are off of the designated route when using your laptop and the locator. Instead it says "OFF ROUTE" and you either have to drive back on route or press the F3 button or click the "RE-ROUTE" button. Seems silly it can't do this automatically.

And one last gripe, there is an offramp here in knoxville where you can not make a right turn, it is posted and illegal. This software when I am on my way to work constantly tells me to make that right turn. That is one big issue.

Overall, the product works as expected for a $90 GPS solution. It would have received 5 stars if the Pocket PC piece actually was useful and if a few of the roads around me that had been around were in the database. It works decent, but not good enough. This is a good "test" program to use to see if GPS is for you. I have since stopped using the GPS locator part and simply use streets and trips at home to plan my trips, figure out mileage, etc. I now use a Magellan Roadmate 760 which I purchased here at Amazon as my in car navigation system.

I would have expected Microsoft, the large company they are to have a more up to date, hi-tech program. This thing doesn't speak street names, doesn't tell which dirction to go when approaching freeways and interstates. It will get you where you are going, but the lack of updated roads make take you well out of your way to get there.
This was my first experience with mobile GPS. I decided after riding in my mom's Toyota Sienna that her GPS system was excellent. Keep in mind, she had a high dollar system so I expected it to be much better then anything I would buy that is portable. I bought Streets and Trips 2006 at my local best buy store for $89, it came with the GPS locator. I had my laptop in the car with me so I installed the software and it started to work immediatly, I was impressed that it pinpointed my location as quickly as it did. I typed in my home address and bingo, it routed me onto the interstate and home. That part worked perfectly. I will say that on the way home on I-40 they shifted the road for road construction, the system was so accurate there that it kept saying "OFF ROUTE" because the lanes were temp. shifted about 30 feet onto the shoulder, that was pretty cool. Overall with this I was impressed. What I was not impressed with was: I live on a major road, about 1. 5 miles behind my place is a wal-mart with several roads that go to it. When I used the GPS system to navigate me to the store it tried to route me on a 10 mile trip, apparently some of the roads I normally take were not in the map database. In fact there was a total of 3 missing roads in this one 1. 5 mile area that had been in Knoxville since I moved here 4 years ago. These are not brand new roads, they are at minimum 4 years old and SHOULD be in the map database. Other issues I have with the software include the Pocket PC piece. While the pocket PC does display the maps perfectly it will not create routes for you. Additionally if you try to hook the GPS locator up to your pocket pc you will find that it does not ROUTE or NAVIGATE you. The GPS locator simply shows you on the map where you are, in my case it was about 1/4 mile off, this was a  huge problem for me. The reason I bought it was so I could put my pocket pc in my truck and use that as my navigation system. Not so, it doesn't speak, it doesn't route, it doesn't navigate. It's just a picture with a moving dot that represesnts your current position. Speaking of, speaking. The program does offer verbal turn by turn guidance, however do NOT expect this program to announce the names of the streets you are to turn on. It simply says "TURN LEFT", I would have liked it to say "TURN LEFT ON MAIN STREET" for example. North, south, east or west??? One more thing I don't like about this program is lack of detail in directions. I punched in to go from work to home and it routed me via interstates. When I left work and neared the on-ramp it said "TURN RIGHT in. 3 miles", the screen showed "TURN RIGHT ON I-40", it didn't tell me east or west. Then on my way home I take the I-75 split, it said "STAY RIGHT" but it didn't display if I needed I-75 North or south. Had construction been going on and lanes shifted, etc I would not have known what road to take because it didn't say the direction to go in. Simply not enough information. Another gripe, re-route is not an automated feature. I wish Microsoft would have put an option on the program to "AUTO RE-ROUTE" if you are off of the designated route when using your laptop and the locator. Instead it says "OFF ROUTE" and you either have to drive back on route or press the F3 button or click the "RE-ROUTE" button. Seems silly it can't do this automatically. And one last gripe, there is an offramp here in knoxville where you can not make a right turn, it is posted and illegal. This software when I am on my way to work constantly tells me to make that right turn. That is one big issue. Overall, the product works as expected for a $90 GPS solution. It would have received 5 stars if the Pocket PC piece actually was useful and if a few of the roads around me that had been around were in the database. It works decent, but not good enough. This is a good "test" program to use to see if GPS is for you. I have since stopped using the GPS locator part and simply use streets and trips at home to plan my trips, figure out mileage, etc. I now use a Magellan Roadmate 760 which I purchased here at Amazon as my in car navigation system. I would have expected Microsoft, the large company they are to have a more up to date, hi-tech program. This thing doesn't speak street names, doesn't tell which dirction to go when approaching freeways and interstates. It will get you where you are going, but the lack of updated roads make take you well out of your way to get there.