Google Earth vs DeLorme Products
Google Earth compared with DeLorme TopoUSA 5 & Street Atlas 2006
Our company bought TopoUSA 5 for mapping purposes. Naturally, I was directed to DeLorme's Street Atlas 2006 when I needed a navigation software for my own personal travels.
The following coordinates were measured from the same location using two GPS receivers: Garmin's Vista Cx and US Global Sat BU-353 USB.
US Global Sat coordinates: N 27'54.8190', W 082'21.1250
Garmin Vista CX coordinates: N 27.91365, W 82.35202
The US Global Sat receiver was connected to a laptop using Street Atlas 2006 for navigation.
These coordinates were taken on my parents' driveway. The following images represent what the three products under test are displaying when feed the test coordinates. Click on them to see a bigger size.
Google Earth
DeLorme Street Atlas 2006
DeLorme Topo USA 5.0
The bold, colored route / tracks shown in the Street Atlas 2006 image is part of my GPS log when I used Street Atlas 2006 for street navigation. The red circle represents my parents' driveway. The whole time I was traveling from my place to my parents' house Street Atlas 2006 kept telling me that my next turn was coming up in 10 seconds even though I already passed it one minute before.
Results
As you can see from the images above, Google Earth seems to display the accurate location of the test coordinates. On the other hand, the two DeLorme products were completely off.
Comments
In the meantime, I will be limiting my use of DeLorme products until this issue is clarified and fixed. It is not professional to show GPS coordinates on a map not representative of the actual location. I wish I would've have invested my $99 on something else than Street Atlas 2006.
It is a bummer since I only got this product on July 28, 2006. I was going to use it for navigating during my vacation in PA and NJ, but good thing Hertz had a NeverLost system in our rental. That device was very accurate! It even had the turns right on the spot.
I also wanted to use Street Atlas 2006 for an upcoming trip, but I guess I'll just leave it home.