Earthmate®
GPS Receiver with Street Atlas USA 2008
The GPS Leader
Loaded with innovative GPS features including voice commands, spoken directions,
automatic back-on-track re-routing, & mobile map colors
Produced by DeLorme Mapmakers
Not licensed from 3rd party companies, the updated maps and 4 million places of
interest are produced by experienced mapmakers at DeLorme. Includes customer
revisions.
Core Functions
Map Controls
The maps can be controlled using a variety of methods, including the traditional
push-button zooming, which drills in/out while keeping the map exactly centered.
Also, holding down the left mouse button enables you to drag and zoom,
left-to-right, across the map, and moving the mouse in the same manner but in
the opposite direction zooms out.
Find
DeLorme employs several powerful search capabilities within the software. The
first is a simple box called QuickSearch where you type common requests
including towns, cities, lat/lons, ZIP codes, street addresses, colleges, and
many more to receive the quickest possible matches. The places-of-interest
search offers more advanced parameters and the advanced search is used when
locating exact matches requires additional customer input.
Draw
Add MapNotes; draw your own circles, polygons, and squares; measure the area of
your draw objects - even draw in your own roads and route on them - these are
amazingly powerful draw tools for the money.
Info
Right-click on the map to learn more about what’s underneath your cursor.
Lat/Lon, names of streets and bodies of water - even local radio station
information - can be viewed in this manner. Moreover, the bottom toolbar of the
software displays a continuously updated readout of what’s underneath your
cursor.
Voice
The voice tab of the software is where you train the software to recognize your
voice for issuing routing and GPS commands while tracking. Ask common questions
such as “How far to my next turn?” and the software answers. Microphone
recommended for optimal usage. The software also reads upcoming turn
information, including the time to turn, time to finish, and name of the street
to turn onto. New voice settings allow you to select how far in advance of your
turn you’d like to be prompted. Voice can also be turned off if you prefer.
Netlink and Aerial Imagery
NetLink is your online link to DeLorme for free aerial imagery now included with
the Street Atlas USA 2008 versions. Select your areas of interest and download
only those grids to the software. Toggle the imagery on and off in a
single-screen view. Add notes and draw objects to the imagery to customize
lifelike views from space.
Ease of Use
E-Z Nav Toolbar
This handy toolbar runs along the top of the interface and offers access to
commonly needed routing and GPS options, especially useful for in-vehicle
navigation on a laptop PC with the Earthmate GPS. In the 2007 version --
right-click on the top toolbar and select the various icons you want.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Set your own keyboard shortcut preferences for optimum control when using GPS.
The key-bindings function is very powerful and advanced so you can design your
ideal in-vehicle navigation solution to your personal specifications.
Right-Click Routing
The easiest way for many to create and alter routes is to use the
right-click feature. Select the route on your map and add new stops or vias,
delete the route, all by simply right-clicking the object of interest. You can
also add your own MapNotes or view the many pre-populated tags provided by the
software.
Routing
Create automatic routes using the quickest (time) or shortest (distance) routes.
Add VIAs to force the routing to take the roads you prefer. Turn on one-way
indicators; select major areas to avoid; or select roads based on driving speed
preferences. Add Stops and reorganize their order and the routing automatically
recalculates. Create and manage routes either in the Route tab or by
right-clicking on the maps.
Add Local Roads to Routing
A DeLorme exclusive, this is the best way to update local roads when new
developments are planned or added between DeLorme software releases. This tool
is located within the Draw tab and lets you draw in the road segment, connecting
it to another local road within the database. Assign a name, save it, and when
you create automatic routes, the software is smart enough to include these new
local roads in the routing calculations and also update the directions.
Personalized Routing with Address Book
Create and save commonly-used names for places you visit often, such as “home,”
work,” or “Dad’s.” Once these names are assigned, the routing Starts, Stops, and
Finishes also display these names making retrieval easy for repeated usage.
Customize routes using your own names and save them within MapShare for others
to see -- they’ll be amazed. You can also include up to 200 names from your
address book to be recognized using this system.
Map & Travel Information
Map Data
Because all DeLorme map data is created, updated annually, and owned by DeLorme,
we are able to provide many features typically reserved for expensive in-vehicle
navigation systems. Free from the license restrictions and third-party
dependencies of other publishers, we can also evaluate customer-submitted
revisions and implement these changes after triple-checking all submissions. We
currently have an enhanced commitment with staff in place to make as many
customer revisions as possible.
Places of Interest (POI) Data
The DeLorme database contains over 4 million annually updated places of interest
across the U.S., with additional ones in Canada, including restaurants,
lodgings, gas stations, travel services, RV stops, malls, shopping - just about
everything you could ever need on the road. The software settings let you choose
the magnification level to display the various POIs to avoid cluttering your map
views. The POIs can be accessed using the many Find capabilities or by
right-clicking on the map and selecting places based on type and distance from
map center.
GPS Features
GPS Radar Search
Now you can travel with GPS and have the software find upcoming travel services
based on their location from you. Find gas, hotels, shopping, and much more in
your direction of travel and then easily make detours to these desired stops
along the way. It’s like having your personal travel concierge with you at all
times.
Automatic Back-on-Track GPS
Using the Earthmate GPS LT-20, which turns a laptop PC into a powerful GPS
navigator, it’s possible to have the software offer new spoken and visual
directions when you stray off course. Within the GPS tab of the Options section
of the E-Z Nav toolbar, you can select or type the off-route distances you want
to travel before the automatic recalculations kick in. Select short distances
for city travel and longer ones for highway travel where you may exit frequently
for roadside travel services.
GPS Spoken Directions
The software can offer voice directions indicating upcoming turns and street
names. It also can be set up to respond to your voice and answer common travel
questions - a very powerful capability for mapping software within this price
category. Several different voice types are included.
Printing & Sharing
Print
Print crisp color or black & white maps that you control to best match what is
seen on screen. Also print Travel Packages containing strip maps and directions
to bring on your trip. Don’t want to use a lot of ink and paper? Then print just
the Turn Details which show thumbnail maps of each of the decision points along
your route.
MapShare
MapShare makes it easy to share your customized maps and directions with family,
friends, and business associates. You create exactly the content you want and
then post within our online MapShare library, which includes private
administrative tools for you to manage. Similar to some of the better online
photo resources, MapShare allows you to provide controlled access to your
important maps without worrying about email and spam filters.
What's in the Box?
* Earthmate GPS LT-20 with 5' attached USB cable
* Street Atlas USA 2008 DVD-ROM software
$69.95




