In a world where portable G.P.S. navigation devices cost less than US$200 and free mapping software from Google, Microsoft and AOL is available online, is there any reason to buy a trip-planning program for your computer?

Apparently, Microsoft and DeLorme still think there is. Both companies offer extensive trip making programs updated for this year. Microsoft’s Streets & Trips 2008 comes in various versions, but the basic US$40 package includes road maps of the United States and Canada, as well as 1.6 million points of interest, like A.T.M.’s, hotels, and restaurants.

DeLorme’s US$40 Street Atlas USA 2008 includes similar mapping and planning features, and the company says it has more than four million points of interest, as well as highway maps of Mexico and the ability to transfer maps to an iPod.

To picture how these programs are supposed to be used, just recall how mom and dad used to spread out maps on the dining-room table to plot the family vacation weeks in advance. That’s who these products are aimed at: people who enjoy planning ahead and then printing out maps of their route.

To compete with satellite navigation systems, both products can be decked out with an optional Global Positioning System antenna to deliver live, spoken, turn-by-turn directions, albeit from a laptop computer in the front passenger seat.

Nevertheless, neither can compete against the portable navigation devices available from Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. It’s just much easier to spot an approaching turn on a small screen perched on the dash than it is to glance at a computer on the seat — or at a map in your lap, for that matter. (via The New York Times)