Need GPS

me ^ | 5/8/6 | me

[theDentist]

I must ask: why would you need one? I can understand it in a car, an airplane, on a missile... but why do you need one on a laptop?

[trashcanbred]

What do you want it for? Driving? Hunting? What?
I have had a number of GPS's from the Garmin 2620 to a lowly old Magellan from long ago.

[HairOfTheDog]

We have a mobile unit for trail riding in the woods.

Why do you want GPS in a laptop?

[theFIRMbss]

[Mad Dawg]

Seriously. What are you planning to use this for? I'm on a Search and Rescue team and I have a little handheld that works wonderfully for what I need it to do. I can load local topo and highway maps on it from my confuser. Total cost, not counting confuser, about $500.

BUT it's not terrific to use when driving. It can lose the satellite in some cars unless you hold it by the window, and besides you ought to be watching the (*@#_(*@# road. But if you want to search a grid or if you have somebody riding shotgun it's pretty good.

If you don't need it, I'd suggest holding off. The price is going to come down, I'd wager.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Depends on what you use it for. The map ones are nice for driving and boating. I use mine for hiking in the mountains. I either mark waypoints in the unit and download them to topo mapping software to record where I went, of if there's something on the map that I want to go to I load it's location in the unit and use it to guide me there. I have a Garmin 76, having retired a 38 last year.

[LouAvul]

For driving. My new job (probably) will require me to find (probably) obscure addresses in a city (where I've recently moved), the addresses of which I'm totally unaware.

BTW, I have a terrible sense of direction. If I weren't so old I would have been diagnosed as ADD. As it was I was just diagnosed as stupid.

[HairOfTheDog]

If you want to find your way around the city... printing out directions from Mapquest is better. Otherwise, the little handheld units (and you can get a stand for them that goes on the dash) are a LOT easier to use on the move than a laptop.

[texan75010]

I bought a Garman for $129.00 that runs on my laptop and it has paid for itself in the gas I would spend roaming around Dallas. The software is excellent. You need a DVD drive to load it on to the laptop and you need sound.

I love how it tells me when the turn is coming up, I can see the maps clearly and it even tells you when to change lanes, like "Keep left and take exit left."

You can map out your route before hand and the maps are loaded with area landmarks, stores, gas stations, points of interest, etc.

The software is very user friendly. With the standard GPS unit you are pretty much buying a cheap laptop for the cost, but with no benefits of running any other software other than GPS software.

If your GPS breaks, you dont have to throw away the laptop and vice versa.

I use mine for camping a lot. I plug my laptop in to a power converter which runs off of the cigarette lighter. Power converters are inexpensive. I can find my camping destination with ease.

If I miss a turn, it remaps the route automatically.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to stop and ask for directions trying to find some remote campsite.

I have also mapped out places that I frequently travel and I have found some valuable short cuts that I was unaware of.

I have saved time, gas money and the embarrassment of having to stop and ask for directions.

My only problem I have ever had was when the GPS cannot find a satellite....and that is rare and passes quickly. Drive about 10 feet and you find a signal.

It has worked regardless of the weather condition too.

No, I am not a sales person for Garman, but when a product works, I am not shy about singing its praises.

[Mad Dawg]

What you said.

+1

[LouAvul]

I bought a Garman for $129.00 that runs on my laptop and it has paid for itself in the gas I would spend roaming around Dallas. The software is excellent. You need a DVD drive to load it on to the laptop and you need sound.

Garmen is software? Or is it a device that plugs into a laptop?

[texan75010]

It is a GPS disk that plugs in to your laptop via USB port and the software.

[LouAvul]

LOL! You guys! You're too funny!

After work let's all go down to the hospital and loosen the bolts on the wheelchairs.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

The profit to the company is in the software, the database, that you will need. The whizz-bangest hardware is a low grade boat anchor without an adequate database. In my experience this is the major expense and headache and inconvenience.

GPS is only a fancy radio receiver. Its utility depends on computers and data.

[r9etb]

Garman is the receiver. I imagine it comes with software that allows you to interface your receiver w/ your laptop. You might need to buy a connector to actually hook the two together.

BTW ... if you ever plan to take one of these into the woods and hills, be sure to take a topo map with you. The shortest route can sometimes be a lot more difficult than the longer one that doesn't take you across steep terrain.

[lOKKI]

At the risk of pointing out the obvious - if you get one that works as part of your laptop, and you're going to be driving around a lot... don't forget that you're going to have to disassemble and remove it every time you leave the car, or it's going to get stolen.

That's not a maybe... that's a WILL-HAPPEN.

I know 4 people who've left laptops on their carseats and had them stolen.

[eastforker]

For driving. My new job (probably) will require me to find (probably) obscure addresses in a city (where I've recently moved), the addresses of which I'm totally unaware..............................Just get yourself a good keymap.

[Ramius]

I just got a Jeep Commander with the built-in GPS navigation system.

It has already turned out to be surprisingly handy... anytime I need to find an address, which has seemed to be more often than I thought. For what you discuss it is a really good thing, built-in or otherwise.

The software makes as big a difference as anything, I'm guessing. Most GPS units should be accurate and reliable enough for this sort of thing. What may vary a great deal from unit to unit is the ease of use and clarity of directions, mapping, and so forth.

[texan75010]

I think the fact that you CAN take your laptop out of your car is a benefit and not an inconvenience. There are removable face plates for car stereos that you take with you. If you take it with you, it does not get stolen.

I don't use my GPS every day, but when I do and my laptop is in the car, it slides easily under my car seat. I have had not problems with that.

A hand held GPS unit can be stolen just as easily if left in plain sight in your car.