Software Review of:
Street Atlas 
Road Warrior Edition 

Road Warrior is especially great if you use a GPS system since it will mesh with most of the most popular ones on the market and, if you want one, DeLorme will give you a special price on one of theirs. (Wish I had one but — Christmas is a loooong way away!)

You also have the opportunity to install the voice recognition system as well when you first start the process. More about this a bit later.

This program installed easily using the install disk and there were no unusual choices to be made. Everything went quite smoothly.

If you have Street Atlas 8.0 and you do not plan on using either voice recognition or GPS, then this program is not for you. 

Having said that, I find that this program has some features that are superior to version 8.0 and that I like better. Both versions will let you set up a map and driving directions from Point A to Point B with stops in between. It doesn’t have the shortest/scenic route option which is fine with me since that means no routing on tiny, twisting roads that save you 12 miles but add three hours to the trip.

Road Warrior installs much faster (5 minutes versus 22 minutes) and doesn’t seem to clutter the maps up as much. It is designed to let you move rapidly along the fastest route and allows you to zoom in/out on the features that you are interested in. 

The map shows a portion of San Antonio with my house indicated. The street level detail is not evident but the wider area would allow you a better chance to figure out how to get there. Map two shows the street level detail and shows how I’m on a cul-de-sac on a street that is hard to find.

The data in the package seems much more up-to-date than that I obtain on Yahoo maps for example and has a few streets that the paper copy of the Ferguson doesn’t have. (Ferguson is the book of maps used by most police, post office employees, cab drivers, pizza delivery, etc. and is a bit expensive).

I used the GPS system in a rental car in the Washington DC area and fell in love with it. Washington streets are not only laid out in a rectangular grid but have numerous diagonal streets as well so you can just imagine navigating there in the dark. The system I had used a map display and voice commands so I was told to “move into left lane — left turn in three blocks”. This was absolutely wonderful and worked without a hitch.

If you have a notebook computer or one of the Palm-type ones, you can extract a portion of the navigation database and import it into your device for use in that area. Street Atlas 8.0 required a huge transfer of data whereby Road Warrior only requires a transfer of data for your area of concern.

I used my brother-in-laws house in Hixton, Wisconsin as a “target” for route information. The map showed the way that Road Warrior chose which is the most efficient way to travel there under normal circumstances. The Internet update and warning feature warned me of IH 35 construction which I think we all recognize as a hazard to driving.

I found the program to be easy to use and effective so I don’t have any hesitation at recommending it to you. You can purchase it by mail from DeLorme or download it from their web site or watch for it at CompUSA or Best Buy since they often have it as a loss leader. Retail price is $49.

Good luck and Good Driving!