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Delorme Topo USA 6.0 National Maps (DVD)

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Delorme Topo USA 6.0 National Maps (DVD)

(13 customer reviews)

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Scout the terrain as if you were there with our realistic 3-D and downloadable aerial images. Automatically create driving and hiking routes based on the most up-to-date data available. Print detailed, customized maps and effortlessly upload your GPS waypoints, tracks and routes to your receiver...then hit the back roads and trails with total confidence. Entire US on one DVD!

List Price:	$99.95
Our Price:	$42.99
You Save:	$56.96 (57%)

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Product Details

Package Length:	9.5 inches
Package Width:	7.9 inches
Package Height:	1.8 inches
Package Weight:	0.9 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 13 reviews

System Requirements

Platform:	Windows Vista / Windows 2000 / Windows XP
Media:	CD-ROM
Item Quantity:	1

Features

Mapping software with up-to-date topographic maps
Automatically create driving and hiking routes
Realistic 3-D and downloadable aerial images
Print detailed maps with terrain elevation profiles
Works with all popular GPS receivers

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 3.0

( 13 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 68 found the following review helpful:

Good for casual map geeks and pre-trip planning Apr 22, 2006 By Gyraffe
Summary: Adequate for armchair map browsing and finding and planning routes to follow when driving or hiking.

I've only been playing with the program for about a week, but decided to get a quick review in since there weren't any others here. It's my only mapping program, so I have nothing to compare it to. The program is rather sluggish in moving around the screen and does not display the billboards (upright labels in 3D mode) with a 128 MB video card, even though it says it needs only 32 MB. Other than that, it appears to be as advertised. I got it because I just like maps and occasionally go out in remote areas for astronomy observing or nature hikes.

What you can do with it:

-Get an idea of what the terrain is like and what roads, hills, lakes, rivers (and some trails) are in the area.

-Create routes for driving, hiking, or biking.

-Print out detailed maps.

-Use it for limited in-car navigation with a GPS receiver (not included) and laptop. Best with a passenger using it, or secure your laptop somewhere to check it if you get lost.

What you can't do with it:

-Get the level of detail contained in USGS quad maps (i.e., no buildings, not as accurate contours and outlines, no bridges or tunnels)

-Expect to find all roads (especially newer ones) and trails.

-Rely on it to give you great in-car directions as you drive using a GPS receiver (no voice option, directionally challenged).

The learning curve for this program is pretty steep considering its accuracy and level of detail are obviously for casual users. I find myself having to check Help over and over to do the same things because they are not always intuitive. The Help file is good, however, and I've been able to find answers to everything I've looked for.

I find moving the map around somewhat cumbersome and slow as it redraws the map (slower with the 3D map). Accuracy seems to be rather poor in spots, as there are omissions and incorrect names here and there. For example, a major highway near my home shows up under a name I have never heard of. A major trail is identified only as a powerline. Another popular trail nearby is missing. Some town names are incorrect in my location, as are town borders, when that feature is turned on. Other users of DeLorme products have noted that they are very slow in updating mapping data (we're talking years, folks). But read reviews of competing products and you'll see similar complaints.

I hooked up a GPS receiver via USB and it works fine (using the GlobalSat BU-353-- you don't have to use DeLorme's Earthmate series). I have to run the receiver's program first to get it to show the correct COM port in TOPO USA, but then once it's locked onto the satellites, I can open TOPO USA and connect. I did a test drive around the area and it tracked pretty well along the plotted roads, a few hundred feet behind my actual position. However, it gave all turn information backward, despite correctly placed "vias". Because of this and the fact that it runs on a laptop, I don't recommend using it for serious navigation in your car, but rather as a check to see your progress and to find your way back to your route if you get lost. Other products are better suited for real in-car navigation.

As for map details, I'm a bit disappointed- all these points of interest mentioned in the advertising seem to be few and far between. Not showing bridges is odd. Having a road go into a gully instead of over a bridge is a bit ludicrous. All of my printed maps show better detail at the same scales (but then, they don't cover the whole U.S., so it's a trade-off).

There are a lot of shortcomings, but it looks like the few competitors are in much the same boat. So for the price it's not a bad deal. Just be sure it suits your needs and do some research before you buy. A good resource is a DeLorme forum (forum.delorme.com), where you can read actual users' comments and complaints and decide for yourself. I personally would have preferred more accuracy and detail to all the flashy 3D and customizing options.

Basically, it's nice to have a full road map for the whole U.S. that also includes topographical relief, but don't expect it to be the answer to all your mapping needs.

33 of 34 found the following review helpful:

decent software Aug 10, 2006 By Sergei
This is a good software for casual use (hiking, biking, geocaching), but not without issues. On the positive side, it definitely beats all non-digital (scanned USGS maps) alternatives. The level of details is good enough(how many of us need to know topography down to 5 feet?). The fact that maps are digitally generated (with vectors I believe) makes all the labels clear at any scale. It has two advantages over its main "digital" competitor, NG Topo. First, all of the US is on one DVD for the price of separate state/region CDs from NG. And second, it is available. I could not even find NG's Northeast edition anywhere on the web! One might think NH and ME are some obscure corners of the globe and not big tourist destinations.

Now the few negatives. The Exchange feature with GPS is flaky. Sometimes it takes several tries of unplugging and replugging the cable and restarting the program before it recognizes my Garmin. Part of it could be that low and mid range GPS still have serial connection and are not truly plug-and-play even with COM-to-USB adapter (beats me why Garmin can't make all their GPS with USB in this day and age). In any case, regardless of whose fault it is, it is annoying at times not to be able to connect the two smoothly.

The second problem I noticed was with the 3-D window. It clearly consumes a lot of memory and crashes my laptop if I do a lot of rapid rescaling. I ended up just closing that window, since it is pretty much for "coolness" and does not add any real topographical value.

Finally, I had a problem with Delorme's service. I purchased it from Amazon with a rebate offer. However, a month after submitting the necessary info I received a card from Delorme stating that the bar code I sent was not a UPC code. The box only had one bar code on it so I am not sure how I could have made a mistake. They requested that I send a correct one, but with the code cut out and gone, how do they expect me to come up with one?! I feel a little bit like that was a cheap way out of paying the rebate but $20 is not worth the time arguing with them over it. I would be interested to hear if anyone else experienced the same problem.

27 of 28 found the following review helpful:

Delorme disappoints for the most part, but still is adequate for the topo user with casual needs Oct 01, 2006 By Jerry Saperstein
I've used various Delorme products for a long time. I've stopped buying some of their products, such as their Street Atlas for Handhelds which has become essentially unusable and is increasingly feature impoverished compared to competitors such as TomTom.

Because I have little use overall for topographical maps, I skipped a version and recently went from version 4.0 to 6.0. Despite their advertising claims, not much has changed.

The user interface is distinctively Delorme, utterly unintuitive and very clumsy. Other mapping applications moved toward cleaner, simpler and easier-to-use interfaces. Delorme remains true to their own idiosyncratic idea of a graphical user interface --- and, in my opionion, it is awful.

Finding a specific location is a clumsy process. And beware any misspelled place names: Topo 6.0 will simply report not being able to find the place rather than offering suggestions. There are three maps. A small overview which should allow you to quickly locate the area you are specifically interested in. It doesn't work well at all when you just want to scroll a bit. The default 2D window is, as it is with all the Delorme products, a dog to work with. You scroll from the edges. But when you scroll, the display blanks out meaning you have to guess at how far to scroll. State of the art in the 1990s perhaps, but antiquidated and irritating in 2006. Zooming in and out is also on the clumsy side, either involving repeated clicks or a guessing process. Neither is satisfctory.

Designing your route can be extremely tedious since it is often necessary to essentially create a track of waypoints. In designing a route using secondary roads, the Delorne software often failed to acknowledge the existence of the roads and instead drew a direct path through heavy woods and across impassable rivers.

The online help system, as has always been the case with Delorme, is short on detail.

What saves the software from being a total disaster is that in the topographical arena, it is better than the competition. It is also a better value, including the entire United States on a single DVD. The level of detail is okay for the casual user (such as myself) but would, I think, be very inadequate for someone with more demanding needs.

Overall, I don't know how Delorme stays in business. Their products are not, in my opinion, user-centric. The interfaces are outmoded, non-intuitive and just plain strange. Topo USA 6.0 is okay for the casual user, but just barely. It is a pain to use. However, it is better than the competition in a market that doesn't offer many alternatives, so it wins by default.

Jerry

14 of 15 found the following review helpful:

Compared to the NG product, it rocks Jan 11, 2007 By Cham Green
Does the DeLorme TOPO product show you every building? Every tree? Every chipmunk? Absolutely not. But for the price what exactly were you expecting?

It has more trail data than NG and it will create an trail elevation profile just by clicking on the trail for you without requiring the user to redraw the trail. This way you know what to expect before you leave home. Is the trail data perfect? Heck no, but it is close enough. Anyone who has ever helped maintain a trail knows that trails often get moved and rerouted.

Is this program easy to use? Absolutely not. But if you have some smarts you can learn after a few minutes what you need to know. It would be nice if one could use it to create a road route that is longer than 63 miles but it was never advertised as a street atlas. It is a little annoying to have to plunk down an addition pile of money just to get this data to work on your PDA, just another way DeLorme makes money off its customers.

I like the 3D feature which is helpful when planning a trip. Paper trail maps can be created and one is able to add texts and pictures so you can give specific instructions to your friends and trip participants as in "Make camp near fire tower".

The "find" feature is complex to use and a little tricky, but once one gets the hang of it they will find there is quite a bit of data that can be searched, and it can be quite handy. The route function is also a little tricky and can be cumbersome to use with self created routes as well as one provided through the software as in roads or trails. BEWARE: Route data you create with TOPO USA on your computer may not always transfer to your PDA, you either will not get the route at all or it will be missing more than a few waypoints. Double check your PDA data before you leave home.

36 of 44 found the following review helpful:

Junk Jul 20, 2006 By bukowski fan "Steve H"
As is typical with software claiming to be "topo", it is not. Expecting that the buyer of topos will typically be someone looking for USGS quads this software is not as advertised.

Since I own the other major competing program (for which you need to buy each state in order to get Quads (and for which I can not seem to find Wyoming)), I was eagerly awaiting this package. In five minutes I realized Delorme is essentially useless to the backpacker/mountain biker (et al). You can order quads very simply using the package, but at the zoom level appropriate for making an ordering decision the wonks at Delorme decided they would make the map blank (apparently to force you into buying electronic quads at $2.50 a piece). So, you need to actually know the quad you want before you order it. Well, if I knew that, I would already own the quad, and certainly wouldn't need to buy an electronic version. For 2.50 more I could get it laminated.

Yes, this is a flame, but it is deserved. Delorme might be great software if you know the quad you want; it is ridiculous software if you are trying to explore and area in order to decide where you want to go (and then download, and pay for, the appropriate map).

All in all, a complete waste of money--I only feel it worth my time to write this review so that the suppliers of such software get a clue and discover a more appropriate business model (versus selling blank maps, with a 100 dollar credit for maps that you don't even know will work)

Cheers.

See all 13 customer reviews on Amazon.com