GPS Primer for newbies?

[Joe_Momma]

Hi all, done a thorough browse of GPS topics in this forum, and would love some advice given in a newbies direction.

I've heard some complaints about certain hardware not being able to acquire a fix properly. I've hear certain issues with some software NOT being very OS 5 compatible with serial loadling libraries, etc.

So, in summation, can anyone mention the most compatible and well-designed hardware and software for doing GPS on a T|C? Good software is primary with fast compatible hardware being secondary. Anything available as demo would be quite handy too.

A couple other things. I live in Australia, so Australian maps, even if only cities, are sort of required, or at least a means to easily create them. Also, I'm on Mac OS X. I can hit my Virtual PC if ABSOLUTELY necessary, and it's the only way, but would REALLY prefer not to.

[Joe_Momma]

Would also love to know software that supports the built-in address book's Quick Connect feature.

And would also love to know hardware supported by NetChaser.

[thenorth]

Hope this helps.
Mapopolis 1.12 supports using street addresses from the address book. Not quick connect though. Demo available, also with maps don't know about Australian maps.
Works fine with the RadioShack DigiTraveler.
The DigiTraveler also works fine with NetChaser.
As far as I know are most of the GPS units equipped with the same NEMA 4800 baud specs.

[Joe_Momma]

Thank you! Is the RadioShack DigiTraveler one of the units that takes a long time to sync?

[RichNY]

I've got a Digitraveler working with Mapopolis. It works great and, after the initial sync (which took about 10-15 minutes), it seems to connect in a decent amount of time. 2-3 minutes.

For $39.99, tough to go wrong.

Hope this helps!

[Joe_Momma]

Thanks Rich! Can anyone with any other devices offer some connection times to compare?

[SGosnell]

My Digitraveler with Mapopolis took a couple of minutes to sync the first time, and now it averages about 15 seconds, as long as it's close to where it was shut down, if not it can take up to 30 seconds, but that's about the longest I've seen. The DeLorme software that comes with it is close to useless - the user interface is terrible, & it crashed my Zire 71 regularly. Mapopolis works perfectly.

I have no experience with Australian maps, but a quick Google search turned up several companies with Australian maps.

[Joe_Momma]

Thanks Stan. Any other experiences and/or devices? Has anyone played with Palm offered GPS car kit?

http://store.palm.com/product/index....ductId=1381618

[brighthand_frey]

Another vote for Digitraveler and Mapopolis. Everything works OK, for cheap money too.

The voice prompts are fun and will be more fun when they give us other voices to load.

The OFFICIAL mapopolis forum is a key resource:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?CAT_ID=5

[meballard]

Originally posted by Joe_Momma
Thanks Stan. Any other experiences and/or devices? Has anyone played with Palm offered GPS car kit?

I believe that one is the same as the one that I had before, it seemed to work fine, but it relies on a 12V plug to power it, although mine ending up breaking down.

Personally I prefer using a handheld device that can be used independently, but also connect to my Palm, specifically I use the Garmin Geko 201. I find it works quite well, as I like that I can use it independently (like if I want to use Geocaching), plus I can get more information on the screen of the GPS device while using Mapopolis on my Palm.