Share your SA2009+ success stories!

[west3man]

I started a similar thread, last year. http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=13599

I thought it'd be nice to see people's success stories or just seeing people wax enthusiastic about their SA experiences. Sometimes it's good to see some of the good that balances out the less-good. Besides, this way, my lady won't have to suffer through my endless "blah blah blah gps, blah blah blah, SA, blah blah blah, even better route!" rants. Maybe some of you can relate.

If so, hopefully we can do that here. If not, maybe I'll just rant alone. (It wouldn't be the first time.)

[west3man]

I love the added level of control I have with this software on my laptop (11-inch Sony). My dad's neighborhood isn't represented on SA's maps. I guess it's still too new. Anyway, I'd never been to his new home before, but when I happened to be in town, I tried to find my way. Between SA and Google Maps, I was successful. (GM provided up-to-date maps and SA provided much better functionality.)

To make things easier for myself in the future, I drove through his entire neighborhood, then pulled over, and used the gps log to draw the roads that make up that neighborhood. Now, to some of you, maybe this is no biggie, but I really dug the fact that I could add that neighborhood to my maps (on the pc, anyway). Dunno when/if I'll ever go back, but at least I won't have to try so hard to get my bearings.

I dig having that level of control. And I really, REALLY dig the peace-of-mind that I get from 1) having navigation help and 2) being able to adapt that system to my needs.

I hear that you can do some or all of this with a traditional gps device like a Tom Tom, but I can't imagine it'd be as easy as it is with SA.

[ChoochCharlie]

I use SA2009 every day to map and plan my day.
SA makes my crazy, multi stop day possible.
And this place lets me get really geeky about it, and no one makes fun of me. My wife just shakes her head.

I set up an old Fujitsu in my truck with SA2009 and Topo7 and an LT40. Got another the other day, and when she saw it asked what it was for. When I told her it was for her van she did not get excited. That was kinda disappointing. She just shakes her head.

[foxtrot_xray]

Okay, here's mine:
On my road trip last fall I was going to take some old US highways. Being both a road geek and a map geek, I needed USGS Topo maps to follow for the old highway ROWs. With a little tweak, I was able to get SA2009+ in my passenger seat, connected to my PN-20 in the 'Nav Mode' as I got to drive on USGS Topo maps.

I swear, at some times I felt as if I was looking at SA2009+ more than the road.

[west3man]

Nice ones.

My lady's eyes kinda glaze over, as well, CC. And I've only so many nav-conscious friends (and even then, there's a limit to how much one wants to hear).

And I definitely know what you mean about watching SA a lot - at least in inclement weather. I've been in very dark or very rainy conditions where it was easier to know where to drive by looking at the laptop, because visibility was so poor. Or street signs are obscured, so SA becomes my eyes, so to speak. There have been a few times I didn't know where a road was or which road it was (by sight, anyway) but SA saved me some headaches.

[Jim_Walker]

I have the same success story about SA 2009+ that I have had with all of the previous versions, except that the features added over a number of years make it easier to use. I navigate my motor home with SA which is a special case that some of you know well. Making a wrong turn in my motor home is a bad idea especially when I am towing my car. I can't maneuver that well compared to a car and I can't back up at all when I tow my car four wheels down. I depend on SA nearly totally. I still over ride SA occasionally but the 99+% of the time it is right on is good enough for me. The rest of the time common sense does the trick.

[west3man]

I hesitate to bring the Handheld version of SA into the discussion since this is a different forum, but it shouldn't be a problem. I hope you'll agree. (For the record, I'm typing this on my handheld device.)

The Handheld version is less robust but it sure comes in handy. I saw that there's an iPhone app which tells you where you parked. I do that on my Treo with my SAHH software. No more wandering around wondering if the car was stolen or if I'm just forgetful. This is especially useful at MEGAmalls and big theme parks... or just at unfamiliar, out-of-town places.

I also find it useful when I'm biking (bicycle, not motorcycle). It's great to have a palm-sized device to show me where I am or where to go.

[west3man]

I don't think I shared this one, yet.

I wondered if there was a better route to take between two familiar locations so I set up the "shortest" route between them, using SA2K9+. At a couple of points, I was lead to dead-ends. (That happened in Maryland, a couple of months, ago, too.) One of those mismapped roads was also wrong in Google Maps, by the way.

Anyway, I wasn't upset. I did, however, make the necessary corrections so this would never happen, again. Using Google Maps, though, (as far as I know) there's no way to avoid being misrouted over and over again between the same two locations.

From that perspective, I'm very happy with SA. And now that I know how to make these map edits so quickly and easily, it's a simple matter to record the change and then to allow the software to reroute me using the new information.

Love that.

It may have taken me longer (hard to say because traffic can make "quick" routes not so quick) but I love learning about connecting back roads and I dig having the opportunity to make my maps more accurate.

[Postnsons]

I use SA 2009+ everyday in my 1987 Freightliner, with GVW of 98000#. I am constantly going to new to new destinations in the Pacific NW. The program has tried to send me down some "non navigational" roads, but you just have to use some common sense as what roads to choose.

I use it with a 17" screen on an HP laptop. At night I'm concerned I'll get into trouble, as commercial trucks aren't supposed to be viewing something as distracting. However, the program saves me a lot of time finding new locations. Since the speedometer in the truck doesn't work, I use the speed indicator in the program. I especially like the ETA determinator. Also, the two turns in advance helps as well.

If I need phone numbers of truckstops, etc. along my route, I use the program to look those up as well. I'm waiting for the next version to be released so I can have some updated maps.

[flood]

Postnsons
you should be just fine with the laptop open and running. i've been using delorme on my laptop for 5 years now and the bears have never said a word about it. i do close the screen when i go into the scales sometines.

AZ. was the only state that ever when after a driver for a laptop being open and OOIDA went after then HARD. AZ tryed to say a laptop was a TV...? didn't work.

the company i work for put 8" screens in all 8000 truck's running computer based co-pilot (junk). running a gps in a cmv is not illegal.... unless it's a windshild mount (in CA.)

as you are using the laptop for your gps check and see if your company will let you use Drivers Daily Log. DOT loves it, it's legal, and gives you another reason to have your laptop running.

[west3man]

Nice. Thanks a lot (both of you).

And welcome to the forum, P.

[MikeB]

I handle the IT for our small, family owned solar business. I/we have been using Street Atlas for about 15 years at home, and I've used it for nav for about 6-7 years now.

We have now started trying Street Atlas 2009+ XData for mapping our customers. We currently have our customer file in an MS SQL database, which I imported into an XData dataset.

What a wonderful tool. Over the 35 years in business, we have about 2600 customers in the NY/NJ/PA area and keeping track of them (from a geographic standpoint) was getting difficult. It is wonderful to lookup a last name in XData and jump to that customer's house right on the map, on the laptop, in the truck, if we need to go out for a repair or other service visit. We are running this on an Acer Aspire One netbook, so it makes an incredibly powerful and compact tool, so much better than the 300 page printed lists and then trying to find the address on the Delorme NJ Gazeteer and Atlas.

We also have started using it as a sales tool... when we are seeing a prospective customer, we can go right to their zipcode and they can visually see other customers in the area that have solar energy systems installed, and we can pull names and phone numbers for references right on the spot. This has had an incredible "wow" factor with people we see.

I can only see use making better use of this technology in the future. Being in a service industry, we spend all our time going to houses, and time spent looking for something is money lost. We can respond to calls on the fly, and even in some cases call in and get messages while on the freeway, only to realize that we will be driving right past someone's house.

[west3man]

That's pretty doggone cool, MikeB!

You certainly use your copy better than I use mine. I suppose necessity is what would make me learn all the XData stuff in a way that would actually stick in my brain. You folks seem to have mastered it.

Congrats and thanks for sharing a success story. (It's nice to focus on the positive stuff, sometimes.)

[robertsmellis]

Like this application. We are RV-ers (fulltimers) and we constantly use 2009 SA+ which makes life easy and pleasant.
We do get a little stressed when we come to a bridge that is lower than 12 feet since that would peel off our air conditioner units!!!!
But this software has been a godsend as we have traveled more than 20,000 miles across and around North America. I am left in a state of constant amazement that it places us anywhere and everywhere.
Well worth the money. And I like to support system.

[west3man]

Like this application. We are RV-ers (fulltimers) and we constantly use 2009 SA+ which makes life easy and pleasant.
We do get a little stressed when we come to a bridge that is lower than 12 feet since that would peel off our air conditioner units!!!!
But this software has been a godsend as we have traveled more than 20,000 miles across and around North America. I am left in a state of constant amazement that it places us anywhere and everywhere.
Well worth the money. And I like to support system.

This post is a pleasant surprise. Congrats on the success of your adventure!

I'm leaning on my phone's nav system more these days, but I still appreciate the value of a web-independent solution.