[Ti] OT - mac & gps

[John Griffin]

I have a Garmin Nuvi 650 for driving and for walking (it has settings  
for both). It has a wide, bright screen and works really well IMHO.  
For a $100 or so more you can get a Nuvi 660 that can handle hands- 
free Bluetooth phones (Cell phones are something I have decided to  
stay away from and try to keep my brain cells intact). These Nuvis  
have SD card slots that you can upload music and pictures to (it has  
a music player and photo display). You can also upload POI. special  
interest data and maps to the card. Also you can use a traffic FM  
unit that for a monthly fee will direct you away from traffic problems.

For hiking I use a Garmin eTrex Vista handheld. This little sucker is  
a very powerful unit that keeps track of where you are, where you  
have been and where you need to go. But to use trail maps, you need  
something like RouteBuddy or MacGPS to work with your unit. It is a  
serial unit so you need a Keyspan USB/Serial adaptor, and unless you  
have BootCamp and Windows installed on your computer, you will find  
it quite frustrating to to get data in and out of it.

If I was starting over, I would ditch the eTrex Vista and get one of  
the newer eTrex colour units with a USB interface and an SD card slot.

jg

On 23-Jul-07, at 10:08 AM, Jean-Paul Thuot wrote:

> As a surveyor I've used both Garmin and Magellan handhelds.  My
> suggestion is to just go into a shop and take a look at both.
> Magellan tends to have larger screens on their handhelds, but the
> interface is clunkier than Garmins.  Overall I prefer Garmin.
>
> Whichever you get, make sure you get one that is USB, not Serial.
>
> One other option is to get a Palm pilot that has bluetooth, and a GPS
> unit to go with it.  They have bigger screens and you'll have more
> options in terms of software to go with it.
>
> For software on the Mac, take a look at GPSBabel+.  Works great with
> just about any GPS unit you'll buy.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jean-Paul
>
> On 7/23/07, alexandre <mac at kapellos.com> wrote:
>> hi
>>
>> i'd like to buy a gps device to use while i'm driving but also as a
>> pedestrian. i'll be travelling to hong-kong and japan next month and
>> i was thinking of taking one of theses devices along…
>>
>> do any of the existing devices work in "pedestrian" mode?
>> which manufacturer is mac-friendly?
>> which device would allow me to log my position/time so as to be able
>> to tag my photos?
>>
>> any links are welcome, off-list too…
>>
>> sorry for the off-topic post…
>>
>> alexandre
>> :: 17" 2.33ghz ic2d macbook pro / 2.0gb / 160gb / X.4.10 ::
>> :: 24" 2.33ghz ic2d imac / 2.0gb / 250gb / X.4.10 ::
>>