Plan your journey using Windows Vista - 5 tips

It's human nature to want to get to your destination five minutes before you even left. Yet, usually when we rush out the door and leap into the car, chaos is usually hot on our trail. We forget to go to the toilet or bring some sort of drink, and then plough straight into the tail end of a five mile traffic jam. Figuratively speaking, hopefully.

Therefore, if your travelling a large distance this holiday, take note of our five top fips to help save both your finances and your health.

1. Get directions

Congestion, roadworks, the price of petrol – all part of the joys of driving in Britain today. You can minimise the pain by carefully planning long journeys in advance, though, and there are plenty of web sites around to help. Streetmap displays a detailed map for any town, postcode, London street or more; 192 can locate people for you and show a map of where they live; while the AA Route Planner plans a complete journey from your start point to your destination. Open each site in a separate Internet Explorer 7 tab, then click Favorites > Add Tab Group to Favorites to save them all for easy recall later.

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2. Use GPS

For smoother journeys, why not turn your laptop into the ultimate satellite navigation system? Add a Bluetooth GPS receiver from £29.95 for instance, and it’ll keep you updated with your current position. T-Mobile’s data card can get you online anywhere for £29.95 a month. A program such as GpsGate shows your location on Google Maps or you can go for Microsoft AutoRoute 2007 with GPS Locator and get the receiver and software in one package.

3. Check the news

Detailed directions and satellite photos are all very well until you discover that a key road has been closed. It pays to check the traffic news before you leave. The RAC has a section dedicated to traffic incidents and roadworks and the Highways Agency has an even better idea – install free application on your PC or laptop and it displays the latest traffic news in real time, no browser required. Alternatively, Frixo gives up-to-date information every 3 minutes from sources including the official Highway Agency and is worth looking at.

4. Get online easily

If you need to change your plans en route and have a laptop, access to a Wi-Fi network such as The Cloud can make it easy to get online and research your new trip. Better still, as we write Windows Vista users can register for free access.

5. See the landmarks

To actually see where you’re going, you need a tool such as Microsoft’s Virtual Earth or Google Earth. With both tools you can enter a city or town name, address or landmark, and you’re taken straight to a satellite photo of the place to explore.

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