Microsoft 2010 which one?

[Poppy]

As above.On Amazon there are 2 one for about £37 and one for about £71.So which one? AND ASCI DVD.Is it worth upgrading from the 2009 to the 2011? Thanks.

[Robinhood]

Can't help you with the ACSI DVD, but as for Autoroute, the software in both versions is the same. The more expensive one comes with a (USB I believe) GPS locator (dongle), which will allow you to use a laptop/netbook you're running it on for real-time location and navigation, much like a large Satnav.

 

Which one you buy will depend on whether you want simply route planning, or you envisage using the laptop for real-time navigation. The latter may be more unwieldy than a dedicated Satnav, but many people have their "co-pilot" use the laptop for just that purpose. If you consider doing so, some way of powering the laptop from 12v is probably a good idea.

 

BTW, if you don't buy the more expensive version, it is relatively easy to buy a GPS locator separately at a later date.

[lennyhb]

We always use a gps unit with Autoroute find it so much better than a satnav on mainland Europe, but still use the satnav in towns.

 

Buy the DVD only as you can get GPS receivers for under £20.

[Brian Kirby]

Not to dispute Lenny's experience, but do be aware that the mapping in Autoroute 2010 is of 2009 vintage, and roads change!  It should be the case that a sat nav bought in, or with maps updated in, 2011, will give more reliable routing.

[lennyhb]

I don't really find that a major problem Brian.

The main hang up I have with satnav's is that it is very difficult to review the route in any detail in this area Autoroute rules supreme.

 

However the new Garmin I brought recently does appear to do a better job of route planning than the previous Navman & it is much easier to enter via's to get the route you want.

What I'll do this year is plan on Autoroute & then using Via's enter my preferred route in the satnav.

 

Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

 

[Poppy]

Portable printer, now theres an idea. Where did you get yours? We do have a good sat nav, it came with the van and only spoke German but we have persuaded it to speak English and its good BUT the autoroute will make planning the tripmuch better.We can plan and work out stops, interesting things to see etc. then use the sat nav to get there.

[Brian Kirby]

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 1:53 PM I don't really find that a major problem Brian. The main hang up I have with satnav's is that it is very difficult to review the route in any detail in this area Autoroute rules supreme. However the new Garmin I brought recently does appear to do a better job of route planning than the previous Navman & it is much easier to enter via's to get the route you want. What I'll do this year is plan on Autoroute & then using Via's enter my preferred route in the satnav. Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

If you sign up to Garmin's lifetime map updates, I think you still get the ability to upgrade the map installer (When I first subscribed it was called MapInstall: not sure if it still works that way, but an enquiry may be worthwhile) to MapSource, that places a copy of the mapping on your PC, with full route planning functionality, and mapping down to full street level detail.  It is not quite as fluid as Autoroute, but is a free download, and provides an alternative way to create and evaluate routes.  Cherry on the cake for me, is that having navigated to an area in MapSource, you can select a "view in Google Earth" pull down, that fires up Google Earth to exactly the same location, and broadly the same zoom level and, if you have a POI file open in MapSource, loads all the POIs into Google Earth as well.  This is highly useful when checking that POIs are, actually in the right place.

Regarding navigating around strange towns, if it looks confusing, or we want to go straight to somewhere, I put the Nuvi into pedestrian mode, tell it where we want to go, and let it navigate us there.  It works well, and isn't that much bulkier to carry than a mobile phone.

[Robinhood]

Poppy - 2011-03-13 2:46 PM

 

Portable printer, now theres an idea. Where did you get yours? We do have a good sat nav, it came with the van and only spoke German but we have persuaded it to speak English and its good BUT the autoroute will make planning the tripmuch better.We can plan and work out stops, interesting things to see etc. then use the sat nav to get there.

 

I believe you have a Hobby Van?

 

Is the Satnav the Travelpilot 500?

 

I've grown to quite like the one supplied with mine, though I found installing POIs as the manual indicated didn't work, and had to resolve it via trial and error.

 

I now have an SD card with Aires, Stellplatze and Archies Europe POIs on it, which is pretty good cover for the whole of Europe.

 

I also managed to connect the Audio out from the cradle to a jack plug which inserts into the socket in the glovebox, which means I can play MP3 from the SD card in the Satnav, or have the navigation instructions relayed over the radio.

[Keith T]

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 1:53 PM

 

Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

 

Have to say I do not think AR2010 is that good, and loses some of the features in previous version....eg you cannot (at least I have not found how to!) draw a square/recrangle on an area and zoom in. There is a 'hand'which you can double click over an area, but that simply zooms in to what it thinks you want - which I don't find is what I need anyway. Each year I have puchesed a new one over the last 5 years or more, I find that they have made things lesss good!!

 

Lenny - I wonder about the portable printer , and so far can only find ones for small (poscard size) photos. What it the one you have and where did you get it. would be interested in any info on this. Thanks

[lennyhb]

Brian Kirby - 2011-03-13 3:33 PM

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 1:53 PM I don't really find that a major problem Brian. The main hang up I have with satnav's is that it is very difficult to review the route in any detail in this area Autoroute rules supreme. However the new Garmin I brought recently does appear to do a better job of route planning than the previous Navman & it is much easier to enter via's to get the route you want. What I'll do this year is plan on Autoroute & then using Via's enter my preferred route in the satnav. Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

If you sign up to Garmin's lifetime map updates, I think you still get the ability to upgrade the map installer (When I first subscribed it was called MapInstall: not sure if it still works that way, but an enquiry may be worthwhile) to MapSource, that places a copy of the mapping on your PC, with full route planning functionality, and mapping down to full street level detail.  It is not quite as fluid as Autoroute, but is a free download, and provides an alternative way to create and evaluate routes.  Cherry on the cake for me, is that having navigated to an area in MapSource, you can select a "view in Google Earth" pull down, that fires up Google Earth to exactly the same location, and broadly the same zoom level and, if you have a POI file open in MapSource, loads all the POIs into Google Earth as well.  This is highly useful when checking that POIs are, actually in the right place.

Regarding navigating around strange towns, if it looks confusing, or we want to go straight to somewhere, I put the Nuvi into pedestrian mode, tell it where we want to go, and let it navigate us there.  It works well, and isn't that much bulkier to carry than a mobile phone.

Tried to download Mapsource but won't let me, Map install no longer counts as a Mapsource product (we were talking about this on another thread) & you have to have a Mapsource product installed on your PC before you can install any others.As for buying the map updates I can't see the point as my 1490T was only£129 might as well just buy a new one every 3 years as the units constantly improve. I found pedestrian mode not that practical as mine has a 5" screen & you need to keep the unit out in the open to receive signals, a few years ago I had an Acer PDA with satnav that had a flip up aerial so you could put it in your pocket with the aerial outside. Next time I change my phone I'll get one with a GPS receiver that will solve the pedestrian bit. Still nice to browse the maps on a bigger screen with Autoroute like me I believe you are a fan of it for that reason amongst others.

[Big Momma]

Keith T - 2011-03-13 5:23 PM

 

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 1:53 PM

 

Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

 

Have to say I do not think AR2010 is that good, and loses some of the features in previous version....eg you cannot (at least I have not found how to!) draw a square/recrangle on an area and zoom in. There is a 'hand'which you can double click over an area, but that simply zooms in to what it thinks you want - which I don't find is what I need anyway. Each year I have puchesed a new one over the last 5 years or more, I find that they have made things lesss good!!

 

Lenny - I wonder about the portable printer , and so far can only find ones for small (poscard size) photos. What it the one you have and where did you get it. would be interested in any info on this. Thanks

 

I have a HP DESKJET F380, colour portable printer/scanner which I bought from Curry's. Small enough to tuck away in a small cupboard or bedside locker. You can also select the size of photo you want to print.

[lennyhb]

Keith T - 2011-03-13 5:23 PM

 

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 1:53 PM

 

Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

 

Have to say I do not think AR2010 is that good, and loses some of the features in previous version....eg you cannot (at least I have not found how to!) draw a square/recrangle on an area and zoom in. There is a 'hand'which you can double click over an area, but that simply zooms in to what it thinks you want - which I don't find is what I need anyway. Each year I have puchesed a new one over the last 5 years or more, I find that they have made things lesss good!!

 

Lenny - I wonder about the portable printer , and so far can only find ones for small (poscard size) photos. What it the one you have and where did you get it. would be interested in any info on this. Thanks

 

I use 2007 with the 2010 maps installed if you do a search for Autoroute you will find how to do it it's come up a few times on other threads.

My wife always uses the keyboard short cuts for zooming whilst we are on the move, I agree I tried 2010 & missed the box zoom function.

 

Printer is an HP deskjet 460 picked up a refurbished one on eBay for £35 works a treat, only ever charged the battery once. Newer version I think is a 470 they are about £170 new.

[Poppy]

I think it is the travelpilot we have and yes its pretty good.Just got to make sure it has slovenia and croatia on it.

[Robinhood]

Poppy - 2011-03-13 6:27 PM

 

I think it is the travelpilot we have and yes its pretty good.Just got to make sure it has slovenia and croatia on it.

 

 

....a limited amount only. :-(

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Poppy - 2011-03-13 9:54 AM

 

As above.On Amazon there are 2 one for about £37 and one for about £71.So which one? AND ASCI DVD.Is it worth upgrading from the 2009 to the 2011? Thanks.

 

To be honest I don't find the ASCI DVD very good at all for route planning or much else to be truthful, and to be honest think I wasted my money on it especially having the book guide and a Satnav. My take is that unless your going to link up to a GPS receiver the "standard" version of Autoroute should suffice. I note one poster uses his laptop combined with a GPS receiver, and Autoroute, but for myself I would not trust the missus with "my" laptop on her lap. :-S

[Brian Kirby]

Keith T - 2011-03-13 5:23 PM ............eg you cannot (at least I have not found how to!) draw a square/recrangle on an area and zoom in. ...............

Oh yes you can!  :-D  Draw the square with the right mouse held down, then left click inside the rectangle.  The only thing I have so far found that one could do in earlier versions and now really cannot, is to set vehicle average speeds for different types of roads.  I have found that selecting the slowest option on all the slide bars for driving speeds gives an approximation to motorhome speeds, but it ain't as good.  :-(

[Brian Kirby]

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 5:25 PM ............Tried to download Mapsource but won't let me, Map install no longer counts as a Mapsource product (we were talking about this on another thread) .......

Ah, it was you!  Could remember posting similar before, but not who to.  Just looked again and it seems it is now only available if you buy a map on CD/DVD, so not available with downloads or SD cards.  It also seems unavailable as a straight purchase which, as they seem to trying to stitch-up access to it, appears a rather pointless exercise.  Very odd.

[lennyhb]

Robinhood - 2011-03-13 6:33 PM

 

Poppy - 2011-03-13 6:27 PM

 

I think it is the travelpilot we have and yes its pretty good.Just got to make sure it has slovenia and croatia on it.

 

 

....a limited amount only. :-(

 

We went to Slovenia in 2008 our new at the time Navman stopped at the border & Autoroute 2007 only had a few major roads had to buy one of those paper things.

 

If you are going via Slovenia & going to visit Lake Bled & not in too much of a hurry don't bother forking out for the vignette as after Bled you can go to the top of the Soca Valley and have a superb drive down the road of a 100 hairpins don't be put off it's a good well surface wide road.

 

Autoroute 2010 appears to have full mapping for Slovenia but only main roads in Croatia.

 

 

 

[lennyhb]

Brian Kirby - 2011-03-13 6:52 PM

Keith T - 2011-03-13 5:23 PM ............eg you cannot (at least I have not found how to!) draw a square/recrangle on an area and zoom in. ...............

Oh yes you can!  :-D  Draw the square with the right mouse held down, then left click inside the rectangle.  The only thing I have so far found that one could do in earlier versions and now really cannot, is to set vehicle average speeds for different types of roads.  I have found that selecting the slowest option on all the slide bars for driving speeds gives an approximation to motorhome speeds, but it ain't as good.  :-(

Useful to know but probably wait until they bring out the next version before upgrading.

[Klyne]

1footinthegrave - 2011-03-13 6:36 PM

 

To be honest I don't find the ASCI DVD very good at all for route planning or much else to be truthful, and to be honest think I wasted my money on it especially having the book guide and a Satnav. My take is that unless your going to link up to a GPS receiver the "standard" version of Autoroute should suffice. I note one poster uses his laptop combined with a GPS receiver, and Autoroute, but for myself I would not trust the missus with "my" laptop on her lap. :-S

 

Personally I find it very useful for planning trips. I download it onto my laptop for use whilst away in Europe. It does contain all ACSI inspected campsites not just those that accept the ACSI Card. I don't use it for route planning but find it useful for searching for sites near to where I want to be. You can also use a filter so you only see the sites accepting the ACSI Card. Given that its only a few pounds its hardly breaks the bank!

 

David

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Klyne - 2011-03-13 10:22 PM

 

1footinthegrave - 2011-03-13 6:36 PM

 

To be honest I don't find the ASCI DVD very good at all for route planning or much else to be truthful, and to be honest think I wasted my money on it especially having the book guide and a Satnav. My take is that unless your going to link up to a GPS receiver the "standard" version of Autoroute should suffice. I note one poster uses his laptop combined with a GPS receiver, and Autoroute, but for myself I would not trust the missus with "my" laptop on her lap. :-S

 

Given that its only a few pounds its hardly breaks the bank!

 

David

 

No it doesn't break the bank, you find it useful, I don't. It's not about the money £12 is no big deal, but given that this has after examination sat with my charity shop giveaways to be dropped of in town, for me at least it was a waste of money be it £12 or not.

 

In addition you don't get the ASCI card with it, so you still need the book which comes with a site map to take advantage of the discounted rates if that is what you want to do. Not sure why that is considering the DVD would cost far less than the book to produce.

[Klyne]

1footinthegrave - 2011-03-14 5:01 AM

 

 

No it doesn't break the bank, you find it useful, I don't. It's not about the money £12 is no big deal, but given that this has after examination sat with my charity shop giveaways to be dropped of in town, for me at least it was a waste of money be it £12 or not.

 

In addition you don't get the ASCI card with it, so you still need the book which comes with a site map to take advantage of the discounted rates if that is what you want to do. Not sure why that is considering the DVD would cost far less than the book to produce.

 

Perhaps you should contact ACSI and suggest the card comes with the DVD? Maybe the reason it does not is that the DVD always comes out much later than the ACSI Card Directory. There is also a risk of confusion because the DVD contains all ACSI inspected sites and you could imagine that people would want the same discount on any of the sites on the DVD. Given the nature of the scheme when many people decide as they go along where they will stay that perhaps a book is easier to deal with. I explained my reason for liking the DVD but clearly it does not suit all.

 

David

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

I notice Vicarious books NOW make a point of telling potential customers it does not come with the ASCI card, so guess I'm not the only one disappointed that it does not. Having already got Autoroute, the ASCI guide book, the Camperstop book, all the POI sets for most campsites in Europe for my satnav, perhaps on reflection it was a bridge too far. Oh well. :-|

[Guest JudgeMental]

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 5:25 PM

Brian Kirby - 2011-03-13 3:33 PM

lennyhb - 2011-03-13 1:53 PM I don't really find that a major problem Brian. The main hang up I have with satnav's is that it is very difficult to review the route in any detail in this area Autoroute rules supreme. However the new Garmin I brought recently does appear to do a better job of route planning than the previous Navman & it is much easier to enter via's to get the route you want. What I'll do this year is plan on Autoroute & then using Via's enter my preferred route in the satnav. Another good point with Autoroute is you have effectively a street map of every town in Europe & combinded with a portable printer we have in the van makes a useful tool.

If you sign up to Garmin's lifetime map updates, I think you still get the ability to upgrade the map installer (When I first subscribed it was called MapInstall: not sure if it still works that way, but an enquiry may be worthwhile) to MapSource, that places a copy of the mapping on your PC, with full route planning functionality, and mapping down to full street level detail.  It is not quite as fluid as Autoroute, but is a free download, and provides an alternative way to create and evaluate routes.  Cherry on the cake for me, is that having navigated to an area in MapSource, you can select a "view in Google Earth" pull down, that fires up Google Earth to exactly the same location, and broadly the same zoom level and, if you have a POI file open in MapSource, loads all the POIs into Google Earth as well.  This is highly useful when checking that POIs are, actually in the right place.

Regarding navigating around strange towns, if it looks confusing, or we want to go straight to somewhere, I put the Nuvi into pedestrian mode, tell it where we want to go, and let it navigate us there.  It works well, and isn't that much bulkier to carry than a mobile phone.

Tried to download Mapsource but won't let me, Map install no longer counts as a Mapsource product (we were talking about this on another thread) & you have to have a Mapsource product installed on your PC before you can install any others.As for buying the map updates I can't see the point as my 1490T was only£129 might as well just buy a new one every 3 years as the units constantly improve. I found pedestrian mode not that practical as mine has a 5" screen & you need to keep the unit out in the open to receive signals, a few years ago I had an Acer PDA with satnav that had a flip up aerial so you could put it in your pocket with the aerial outside. Next time I change my phone I'll get one with a GPS receiver that will solve the pedestrian bit. Still nice to browse the maps on a bigger screen with Autoroute like me I believe you are a fan of it for that reason amongst others.

I have not got around to signing up for lifetime map updates yet, so seeing the above thougt I would check with my Garmin tech contact first...this is what he said:"Lifetime Map Updates (LMU’s) are only available as downloads, not as DVD’s. Map updates are released up to four times a year which will be added to an account as and when they’re released from an active LMU. Once the download is available, the user will have three installation options: 1. Install to device only2. Install to device and PC3. Install to PC only As you can see, if you wish to purchase the LMU it will provide you with the option of installing the mapping to your PC. Once installed you will have full access to the latest mapping in MapSource."I must say on our trip to Belgium the other week our new 775 (770 replacement) behaved very well, some really improved functions including the lane change, which shows precise positioning at complicated junctions (telling you what lane to get in) will come in very handy around the Paris Périphérique :-S

[Keith T]

Brian Kirby - 2011-03-13 6:52 PM

Keith T - 2011-03-13 5:23 PM ............eg you cannot (at least I have not found how to!) draw a square/recrangle on an area and zoom in. ...............

Oh yes you can!  :-D  Draw the square with the right mouse held down, then left click inside the rectangle.  The only thing I have so far found that one could do in earlier versions and now really cannot, is to set vehicle average speeds for different types of roads.  I have found that selecting the slowest option on all the slide bars for driving speeds gives an approximation to motorhome speeds, but it ain't as good.  :-(

Thanks for this, Brian. I've saved it to a permanent file, as i shall never remember how to do it!As far as speeds/timings are concered, I think AR2010 isVERY optimistic, and comparing to the Tomtom, cna be almost 20% too fast - even after reducing the speed levels - which it seems you have to do on each and every occasion - it is still a long way out!