I got a matchbook-sized Bluetooth GPS receiver about the size of an XM
antenna (60 bucks) and subscribed to TeleNav on my Treo 650. As long as
you have a scent of a cell signal, you can get postion, directions,
compass... it's $10 a month. We also use it on my husband's BlackBerry.
We have two Garmins on our boat that give position only, and one mapping
Lowrance we use both in the car and the boat. The Lowrance has downloadable
mapping to an SD card. I personally prefer my phone's dynamic mapping
capability, even though it has a small screen. It will zoom up to be quite
useable.
If I want a more detailed map, I also have Google Maps on the phone.
(you'd never believe from the equipment that the boat never actually gets
out of sight of land)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne Dernoncourt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 8:42 AM
Subject: [CGUYS] GPS advice
I got mildly lost a couple of weeks ago, a phone call to my
sister (lives in the area) provided no real help (rush hour
and construction). I use the term mildly lost in, I knew
where I was approximately but not precisely how to get where
I wanted to go. I was also looking to get a car but was
reluctant to spend $1,000-1,500 for an integrated GPS in the
car since a top of the line portable GPS is ~$1,000.
Last weekend I went shopping for a GPS and tried one out in
Circuit City. I was in southern Maryland (Waldorf) and
picked out an address in Annapolis. It generated a route
that took US 301 to US 3 to MD 450 to the final destination.
This is at least 6 miles longer than taking US 301 to US 50,
which is a little longer than US 301 to MD 214 (MD 450 is
a two lane road, US 50 is 4 lanes and goes across the Bay
Bridge). The other GPS receivers didn't seem to get a
signal, there didn't seem to be a lot of sales help there,
so I left. Yesterday I went to a Best Buy, repeated the
experiment and the units there couldn't find the satellites.
Of course not, they're in a big steel building!
So is there any advice out there about what to get and what
to avoid? I go on trips typically once or twice a year where
this would be useful, so I don't see this as being big on
features, but it shouldn't be stupid either.
--
Take care | This clown speaks for himself, his job doesn't
Wayne D. | supply this, at least not directly
I used to have a handle on life, then it broke.
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