Getting Ready To Get There Is Half The Fun!
A Review of AAA Map'n'Go
Rich Cunningham
When planning for a trip, what is the first thing you do? If you are in my family, it is to check the supply of batteries for the Gameboy, and finding all the games for it. For others, it is making sure the car is ready to go, change the oil, and check all the fluid levels. But the most important thing to do before going on a trip is to make sure that you know where you are going.
(Whoa, you say, "Where I am going". What do you mean? It's a vacation, I KNOW where I am going).
Actually, many people start off a vacation by hopping in the car and going. Off to visit relatives, to go to tourist spots like Disneyland or SeaWorld, or to just go camping. I used to be that way with my family trips. But that all changed when we visited relatives for the first time. The distance from Portland, Oregon to Carson City, Nevada makes it a long drive in both distance and time. But it can be enjoyable. One thing that I did to make it enjoyable was to prepare for it weeks in advance (that's when we got the Gameboys). I also went to the American Automobile Association(AAA) and got a trip tick. A trip tick is a customized map/itinerary of a tip that a member is taking. It outlines the ending and beginning points, and all the spots in-between. Rest stops, restaurants, tourist attractions, all the important items one needs when going through unfamiliar territory are adequately described.
One problem I had, however, was that it could take a few days or weeks to get one. That seemed a long time. I often wished it could be sped up, but that wasn't always possible. At least until now that is. A new program from DeLorme, in association with AAA, gives any computer user the ability to create customized trip plans from the comfort of their own computer. The program, called AAA Map'n'Go, has many features that make it the premiere program of its kind, with many of them unavailable elsewhere. Using this program can not only make trip pre-planning easier, it can make the actual trip more enjoyable.
The actual program planning is very simple. A user enters a starting point, an ending point, and decides which route is desired: the shortest, the quickest, the most scenic, and the preferred. The beginning and ending points can be selected by zip code, city/state, or telephone area code. For review purposes, I selected my home in Portland Oregon as a starting point, and my in-laws in Carson City as an ending point. I have been driving this route for over 15 years, and am already quite familiar with it, so I feel I can be objective about the options I am given. The quickest route gave a driving distance of 604 miles, with a driving time of just over 11 hours. The shortest route had a distance of 555 miles, but a driving time of over 13 hours. The routes taken were not always interstate freeways or highways, but were a mixture, including some locally traveled roads that may or may not be affected by seasonal weather conditions. In my case, some would be open in summer but not winter, which could have a major impact on my travel plans.
There is the ability to add details to the map. You can have anything from restaurants to historical sites to your local (or any local) AAA office listed on the map. This database of information, containing 76,000 items, is truly remarkable in its depth and accuracy. A nice feature is the exit services database, which includes food, gas, lodging, rest areas, auto service and many other types of services. There are over 1,000,000 miles of routable roads, with detailed street maps of over 240 metropolitan areas. The program also has a direct interface with Street Atlas USA (from the same publisher) and can directly import information from it as well.
What good is a program that presents all this information unless you can take it with you? I'm glad you and I are thinking along the same lines. You really don't want to take a computer with you on vacation. After all, it is a vacation, right? So the next best thing to do is to get a hard copy print out. That is accomplished with very little effort, and can be printed in several ways. Among the print options available are a route summary, a North Up map to accompany the directions, a detailed map with your directions (that can be scaled by distance on each page), and a travel plan with strip maps. Printing can be done in either color or black and white, depending on your printers' limitations. One word of advice, if you are using a color printer, you may want to limit the amount of detail on the map. Otherwise it can get confusing to find the road on it ( from the "Been There, Done That, Got the T-shirt to Prove It" department).
A nice feature that is available for users, but one I was not able to test, was the GPS interface. (Sorry, I don't have one...yet). This program has direct compatibility with DeLorme's Tripmate Hyperformance GPS receiver. GPS is the ability to find one's position based on receiving information from many satellites. It has accuracy that is amazing, sometimes to within feet of the actual position. The use of satellites to help find where one is located is mind-blowing to me. This is one of the most beneficial by-products of the space program that I can think of. No more going in the woods and getting lost, heading for a national park and not finding it, or traveling to a large city and not being able to find a parking spot. Okay, well, maybe two out of three isn't so bad. But you have to admit, it is still a great use of our modern technology (and modern tax dollars).
The program installed and ran with no problems. It worked without any hang-ups or bugs under Windows 95. Use of the program was very intuitive. I was able to plot my first trip without any problems, and didn't waste too much paper in the process. There are helpful training card tutorials available on line for help, which is good because with so many features, it can be slightly overwhelming until one gets used to the program.
This a very intuitive program that one can purchase and feel that they are getting a good value for their price. The AAA has a very solid reputation for over 85 years, and it shows in this product. I am sure their name would not be all over it unless they were committed to having it be a good item for consumers. This program will be a welcome addition to any home computer software library.
MultiMedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: | AAA Map'n'Go |
| Company: | DeLorme |
| Cost: | $39.95 |
System Requirements:
IBM:
Intel 486SX-33 or greater processor or 100% compatible,
Windows 3.1/DOS 4.01 or greater,
including Windows 95/Windows NT 3.51,
8 MB RAM, 9 MB hard drive space,
ISO 9660-compatible CD-ROM drive,
MS Windows compatible VGA card (256 colors recommended),
MS Windows-compatible mouse, sound card optional,
MS Windows compatible printer.
Macintosh:
Not available.
Breakdown:
Entertainment Value 3
Educational Value 3.5
Concept 5
Depth 4
Interface 4
Overall Score:
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