70 of 75 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing layout overshadows convenience and quality of maps, Aug 18 2008
By Annie - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Rand McNally Large Scale United States Road Atlas (Spiral-bound)
I agree that the spiral binding makes the large atlas more convenient to handle, but a *glaring drawback* of having each page a separate leaf bound together by a large plastic coil is that all the maps are split down the middle by more than an inch. When you're following a big highway and you've reached the edge of the left-hand page, it's relatively easy to find it on the right-hand page after the jump (over the page margins and the space the coil takes up), but if you're looking at local and city streets, forget trying to match them up quickly and easily and in lots of cases, at all. Plus, a large majority of the detailed inset maps (which I've always found very useful) are placed right in the center of the binding, so they get cut in half too, rendering them less readable and less navigable. Seems like no one at Rand McNally has actually used this version of the atlas...or else they might have noticed how frustrating and confusing the current layout is in combination with the spiral binding.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Up to Date Atlas, Aug 2 2008
By Darryl - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Rand McNally Large Scale United States Road Atlas (Spiral-bound)
Rand McNally 2009 The Road Atlas Large Scale: United States (Rand Mcnally Large Scale Road Atlas USA)
Great to have an up to date Atlas with many bonus features. The list of hotel chain 800 numbers is especially useful.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hard to read, but good reference, Aug 15 2008
By StoneyPA - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Rand McNally Large Scale United States Road Atlas (Spiral-bound)
A bit disappointed in this atlas as their choices of highway/road colors make it hard to discern all but the small state/county roads and bold interstates. Those in-between are all pink... some skinny lines, some a wee bit thicker. Greatly prefer the easier-on-the-eyes American Map series after using one of those in the past.
Other than the ugliness of the maps, it's a very good reference but can't give it more than 3 stars due to the shortcomings.