streets&trips-Mexico

If you are still in the states you can buy one before you leave . . .
http://www.amazon.com/GlobalSat-BU-353-S4-USB-Receiver-Black/dp/B008200LHW . . . for under $35 - only 8 left.....

Unfortunately I do not think you can buy a GPS receiver for S&T in Mexico - unless you can get someone to ship one from the states. Microsoft does sell a version of S&T for around $80 that comes with a GPS receiver - plug into a USB port on your computer. Other companies make GPS receivers and some people like Global Sat. Go to the Laptop GPS World website to see what others say. I have used the Global Sat BU-353S4 as well as the Pharos GPS500 - and the MS receiver. All seem to work well. But the only place I have found them is online. We find our S&T to be extremely accurate following us - or leading us - all over Mexico - as well as the US and Canada.

I just checked Amazon to see the poor ratings . . .

3.8 out of 5 stars . . . . 357 reviews

5 star . . . . 148

4 star . . . . 99

3 star . . . . 47

2 star . . . . 19

1 star . . . . 44

Not bad by my reckoning.

briansue: Thanks for the information. First off, I am computer challenged. Never been able to use the computer effectively. Email and searching is my level of ability. I have a 2012 S&T on a lap top. Our planned Mexico trip is set up on it. Used your tutorial to get started on S&T. It has been very helpful and will go back to it for a refresher before we leave for Mexico.
I am familiar with driving on Mexico highways so won't depend too much on the devices. We have a 2011 Roadtrek that came with a TomTom. So far using it here in the states has worked out pretty well. One thing I would like for the S&T to do is follow along while we are driving like the TomTom does. Is there a device that we can by in Mexico that will give a live map as we drive?





Hopefully you have S&T 2013 as each year improvements are made. We find it to be very useful in Mexico. Don't leave home without it. S&T has a great many useful features but it takes time to learn them all. After using it for about 7 years we are still learning. A few years ago I wrote a tutorial . . .
http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/electronics/gps_streets_trips.htm . . .
which may be of use though somewhat outdated - and about the US and not Mexico. But the basics are the same.

There are POIs in S&T for Mexico so you can find a few Pemex stations and ATM machines and things like that. I think they got their campgrounds locations from Woodalls and they are not very accurate - if you have the Church Guide to Mexican Camping use the Lat Lon numbers in there.

Planning a route in S&T can be very useful but any GPS mapping program can make mistakes and S&T is no exception. Best advice is plan a route but check it carefully to make sure it does what you want it to do. Any route can be corrected by using stops (waypoints) and the Avoid Area function. Never trust any GPS to by 100% correct.

I know a lot of tricks with S&T so if you have specific questions ask here and I may be able to help - or not.

Some Garmin GPS devices can be used with S&T. Plan a route using S&T and then transfer that route to Garmin for use on the road. Depends on the Garmin device. We use the new 7" one that sells for about $220. Much improved over previous versions and also very good in Mexico.

I think S&T get poor ratings on Amazon for a number of reasons. Mostly what I hear from people are things having to do with not knowing how to use it. There are no real instructions anywhere and many people cannot figure out the intricacies. They also changed a few things in 13 that I personally wish they hadn't. I think overall 13 is an improvement - but it takes time to learn what all the improvements are.

I have some files I created in 2010 showing POIs of campgrounds in Mexico and each time I open it 13 says it is an earlier version and it has to update something to work - I click and it works - no problem.

One of my primary reasons for preferring S&T to a device such as Garmin is the ability to work on a computer instead of a small screen and the various drawbacks that go along with that. I also like many of the features and things I can do with S&T. Not a primary but I like that I can create maps and routes and then print them out or email them to others. I also post our trips in our blog showing our routes. Just some fun stuff for me.

Seems every year there is a period when you can get a new version for around $20 so we get a new one every year.

There is a website www.laptopgpsworld.com where there is a lot of info and a forum where questions are asked and answered and a great deal can be learned. How do you do this and how do you do that etc.

I create routes from point A to point B and name them and save them to my S&T routes folder and can then call them up and use them anytime. I can travel a route with the "Create GPS Trail" feature on and then name that route and save it to show exactly where I have been. I do not try to save entire trips or weeks or months but more like daily diaries of travel days.

We also use the new Garmin as it has some features S&T does not. Admittedly, having some of this stuff we just do for fun and may not be necessary. But then again we find many times when we are glad we have it.

I was a truck driver through the 80s and ran 48 states with well over 100,000 miles a year and there was no GPS (or computers or cell phones) and I found my way everywhere I had to go. Now I can hardly go down the street to the grocery store without checking a GPS. Is that sad?

You can also import/export in the GPX file format, if the new mapping software will handle that. GPX will import/export waypoints (retaining their numerical position, so you can regenerate your track line) and POI's with all the attached data. What it won't import/export are the icons. You will have to re-assign them.

I've never had trouble opening older trip files with S&T 2013 - including files created with 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

What I do get is a warning that the 2013 is a new version of the map, and the old file has to be reconciled and matched against the new map.

Some custom items don't come through, and some routings don't come through correctly because they used new roads in 2013 which are not in the older versions. Occasionally waypoints/ POI are unrecognizable and left out, or moved due to new data.

I ordered S&T 2013 yesterday...perhaps against my better judgement - but we will see.
It's Amazon.com ratings are very poor. . .and you cannot import your trips from earlier versions according to reviewers AND a friend to whom I sent a trip made on S&T 2011 - he could not open the 2011 trip file.

Forgot to mention - see our blog linked above to see our route maps made using S&T.

Streets & Trips is Microsoft and iPad is Apple - and never the twain shall meet. We think Apple products are great but we have MS computers because there are too many things we want to be able to do that Apple does not do. Streets & Trips is but one example. If Apple ever comes out with good maps we will consider getting one of their products. Yes, I know you can put an MS OS into some Apple products. Sue has extensive experience with Macs and we want to buy something Apple so someday we will probably have both.