Microsoft - streets and trips Review

I love microsoft streets and trips. My husband and I bought it the first time we went to florida about 4 yrs ago. I will not take any long distance trip without it now, It tells you if there is construction you need to avoid and can reroute you from current position. should you come up on construction that was not in the updates for it. It allows you to search your route for rest stops, resturaunts broken down by food groups such as fast food etc gas stations, and more. It also can give you other information such as calculating your trip gas expense, how long it will take you to get there and more. You can set the map to show keep your position centered, rotate map to follow travel direction or use dynamic turn view. You can adjust the map view to bring it in closer such as 3 miles or you can take it out to 40 or 200 miles or more. I recommend this product to anyone who does a lot of traveling. You do need a netbook or laptop to go with it. We found the netbook works much better as the screen is a bit smaller and takes up less room but it is still bigger than the tom tom and those types of gps units. We also bought a mount specifically made for our type of vehicle from Ram mounts. which is removable when we are not traveling. It takes up little room and keeps the gps where the driver can see the map and hear the voice directions.  We just now purchase the 2009 version of microsoft streets and trips. The software will update the road construction etc for years. You do not need to buy a new version every year. The main thing with microsoft streets and trips is there is no monthly fee like you get with on star and some of the others. For the person who takes 2 or 3 trips or less a year micrsoft streets and trips is perfect. It also lets you reroute from current position so if you get off an exit for gas or food and forget which way to go to get back on the route you can tell it to reroute from current position. You do need to watch the gps sensor and make sure it does not get bounced around too hard or too much as it will lose connection from the usb port. When your not using it place it back in the plastic container and then in your glove box to keep it protecte and in good working order. We always update before we start the trip so it has all the current road construction and detours, only once in the years we have been using it did we find and exit was closed. We went to the next exit and told it to reroute us from there the exit on the other side was open so microsoft steets and trips took us back to that exit and into the destination we wanted. It will start telling you in 3 miles take ramp left and it will continue down to so many yards to tell you to take ramp left or turn left or right. If you need to have it repeat you just push the space bar and it will repeat the spoken directions. It is easy to find the things you need on the road with microsoft streets and trips, when we get to between a half and quarter of tank of gas one of us tells it to look for gas stations and it will show us a list of several and how far they are before we get to them same with food or rest areas. When you calculate your trip you can tell it to add rest stops and set them for a certian amount of time such as 15 minutes or a half hour every 3 hours etc. When it calculates your trip time it includes your built in rest stops. I like the calculator for trip gas and what it will cost you as well. That is a great feature. It also allows you save your trip for later use, which is also a great feature as we visit friends and family in NC a couple times of year. It will tell you your speed and altitude. I just love this gps program one of the few things microsoft actually got right!! It does require an inverter for long trips as your laptop or netbook battery will only last so many hours. The inverter allows us to plug into the cigarette lighter and plug the netbook or laptop into the inverter. You can also plan for quickest route or stay off major highways for your trip. I prefer the quickest with the interstates but it allows you set your choice of travel as far as road type, interstate or local roads. I even used it when I took my mother an hour south of us for her eye surgery. I will absolutely not travel without it. It makes finding places so much easier. There is no need to be counting redlights, miles, or watching for landmarks it will tell you in .5 miles reach your desitination, in .3 miles turn  right or left and reach your destination.  I will always have microsoft street and trips.