Delorme Street Atlas and Magellan Explorest

I have Street Atlas 2005 I use on a laptop in the motor home. I had the
older Delorme GPS unit. I updated from SA 2004. The last time I used the
software it produced more than normal off route errors and showed me off
the road more than the 2004 seemed to do. So I bought a Magellan
Explorest with WAAS for more accuracy then found that SA didn't support
WAAS except on their new unit.        
        A trip last week was full of off route errors and showed me driving in
the fields and over water, turns showed up too late to do, off/on ramps
didn't show up correctly and showed turns off the middle of the bridge
onto the expressway or turn right when the ramp was on the left etc. I
got pretty aggravated with it. I spent some time with my brothers in car
GPS and liked a couple of features it had much better.
        So Im asking is there better software for a laptop and the Magellan
that can use Waas? I would also like a 3d view like most of the In car
GPS's. I also like the auto zoom feature that I have seen on most when a
turn gets near.

Are the Portable Nav systems as accurate as Street atlas?
Any suggestions?

Thanks

It sounds like you need to reposition your receiver as most of the problems
you are seeing are usually caused by weak reception. Also the huge metal
mass of the motor home could be interfering with the signal. The Delorme
software does not to my knowledge have a snap to road function. Most in car
units always snap the location to the nearest road. Also you may have too
much running in the laptop causing it to have trouble keeping up with the
locations. If you have voice control turned on it could be using a lot of
CPU power causing delays. Use the keyword function with it and use the
function key to turn it off except when using it. When using it for GPS I
use msconfig to turn off all startup items. This gives full power to the
program. You don't need Anti-virus, firewall, or anything else while
tracking unless you are tied to the internet through a cell phone and if you
are expect slow response on turns etc. If you can move the receiver outside
to the top of the motor home where it will have a clear 360 degree view of
the sky, Or at a fiberglass/plastic vent. The box front of most motor homes
give less than 180 degree view of the sky. Look at the number of satellites
and signal level while you are experimenting with locations of the receiver.
You need six or so satellites and good signal level for reliable tracking
and a lot of CPU power to run all the functions of SA.......

Woody:
Nothing is running except SA and necessary items. I have been using
Sa since about 1998, first with a Garminn GPS then when the Earth mate
came out I switched to that. I had a Toshiba libretto 200mhz computer.
When they went to the bigger hog interface I bought a 1ghz IBM with 40gb
HD and 512mb ram. I had no problems until I sold the earth mate and
bought the Explorest. My MH is a class B it has the same front end as a
Van in fact its a Chevy G30 Van chassis. The Explorest seems great
outdoors but on the dash it sucks. Its very finicky as to position. I'm
concerding buying a stand alone GPS for navigation. I also think first I
will try Streets and trips. Delorme seems about 5 years behind with
updates as to new roads. I see a new Roadmate 2000 that looks pretty
good and the price is right. any Opinions?
http://www.autonavdirect.com/quote-12500-8l752dn2.html

thanks

Larry

wrote:

It sounds like your car may have a metallic sun screen in the windshield. My
Chevy Venture had one and it blocks the signal. The venture had a slight
greenish tint. The only way to get a good signal in it was to place the
receiver in the top of the windscreen above the metallic shield. Anyway when
the receiver is on the dash it can only see about 50% of the sky. For that
reason I use an outside antenna when I really need the unit. As for map data
you will find they all have their omissions and errors. I have four
different data bases and they all have the problems, not the same locations
but they all have them. I have used SA also for about 8 years and it has
improved a tremendous amount over the years and is one of the leaders in
factuality and improvements. .....

Woody wrote:

I get similar displacement errors from time to time with my Gamin E-Trex
Vista mounted on my bicycle handlebars -- no obstructions. The data
base in the GPS is from Garmin MapSource (NavTech). The displacement
error is maintained when the data is downloaded to the computer, whether
the application is SA, TOPO or MapSource.

Oliver