Notebook and handeld GPS units

B

BrentB

New member
Anyone using MS Streets and Trips with the included GPS unit?
or other software/GPS units?

THe next gen portable GPS units are out? Anyone purcashed one?
Does any of the units include a desktop app for trip planning?
How well does these units work on a boat?

Sorry for being so lazy! but there is boatload of techies on this site.
 
IMHO S & T for GPS is LOUSY for navigation. But I do like the maps and preplanning my road trips. For road trips I would probably opt for Mapopolis or TomTom. My cable to the puck broke on the S & T GPS. Plus I managed to destroy the Compact Flash adapter I had for it when the laptop slid to the floor on my cross country trip last year. I haven't bothered to replace it as the puck just wasn't sensitive enough. I hear the second gen units are better but I haven't tried one yet.

For navigation on the boat there are several options but most cost $$$$$. I still like the Coastal Explorer product and will likely get it as a back up to my to be determined Lowrance unit.
 
I grew up using AAA service for maps and guides but the cutsom printed personalized Trip travel booklets were the most useful. Far more information than a Maquest printout.
 
I am on my second MS S&T package. It has its limitations for highway navigation but it is sure easy to carry, since I have to take my laptop on every trip. The biggest problem is watching the laptop screen while it rests in the passengers seat. Of course if you have a navigator to watch the screen then that problem is solved. Also, if it the laptop is resting in the seat and you need to hit the brakes.......Goodbye laptop.

I do use a Tom Tom One that I purchased from Best Buy for $199. It gives almost identical directions as the MS program, but it sits on the dash board so glancing at it to get directions while driving is not a distraction.

I wouldn't use either of them for navigation on the boat.
 
I picked up an IPAQ 5915 Pocket PC with internal GPS, WIFI, and Bluetooth. It comes standard with the TomTom navigation software with all US maps loaded in internal memory. You can't plan on your PC and load to the TomTom software, but it is easy to use with large buttons and a touch screen. The 3D elevated view is really pretty nice. The database in Anchorage is respectably accurate, it get's lost in Fairbanks quite a bit especially as you get out of town, doesn't have a clue where highways are in relation to water along the Turnagain arm. but knows about the Whittier Tunnel.

The Pocket PC with WIFI is nice when you find a hotspot since you can get into the internet, check e-mail and weather, and for the adventurous place a VOIP call. I haven't loaded the Pocket PC version of Fugawi yet to see how it does. That will come next summer. I can load National Geographic topos and I will probably load a copy of Delorme Street Atlas.

I've used the Delorme on my notebook, and the routing setup is kind of clunky in relation to Streets and Trips. I go mobile tomorrow with it and will see how it works.

Tom
 
I have been using DeLorme Street Atlas or Topo, instead of Microsoft. The LT 20 GPS reciever works fine for me. I can get satellite fixes thru a vertical window. I use it mostly for planning, and occasionally on the road.

Most of the time on the road we use an older 6" Lowrance GPS, with Create a map, or a Garmin 350. Occasionally I will refer to the laptop and the latest edition of maps. For planning I use the AAA (which is same as DeLorme) and also the web site:
http://www.truckmiles.com/ This a a commercial truck routing site, and when towing the boat, it gives me some other options, on routes where I won't have problems with a larger load. I also like to keep the latest edition of Rand McNally trucker's Atlas, looking for low bridges and various areas which might be a problem when off the freeways.
 
I have both MS Streets and Tips and Fugawi on my laptop. I use Fugawi for navigation, but MS S&T comes in handy for locating marinas and fuel facilities, who will often give their street address in boating facilities guides, but not their latitude-longitude. I'll use the street address to locate the marina in MS S&T, then use the GPS coordinates shown by MS S&T to place a waypoint in Fugawi, locating (approximately) the marina.

It's amazing how little marina staff are often familiar with GPS. In the Florida Keys I once was having trouble finding a repair facility while traveling in my boat, and called them on my cellphone to ask for their coordinates. The lady that answered the phone turned on a handheld GPS unit and read me the coordinates, which turned out to be those of her house, since that was the last place her boyfriend had turned the unit on, and she didn't know it can take a minute or two for the unit to locate itself after you turn it on.

Another marina wouldn't give out their coordinates, for fear some skipper would try to make a direct-line course to their location, and sue the marina when they ran aground.
 
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