[X4U] GPS requirements clarified

[Stroller]

On 17 Jun 2006, at 18:33, Jim Warthman wrote:

> In my experience with Garmin units, you need to run Garmin's Mapsource
> application to download maps. I think there are many other  
> applications that
> will let you upload & download waypoints, etc. - but only Garmin  
> software
> can download maps to a Garmin GPS. I believe that's fairly standard  
> in the
> industry, too.
>
> For the time being, Garmin software does not run on the Mac OS.

If Mr Laubenthal is correct in his assertion that it will be running  
on Mac OS X shortly, tho', a Garmin might be a very good buy.

I haven't really looked closely at GPS in a while, but as a  
paraglider pilot & instructor I used to be quite well exposed to  
different manufacturers & models. Garmin were always the best - well  
made with a very easy to use interface. They always had the best  
features and were a manufacturer of "dedicated" units rather than the  
Pocket PCs with some mapping software installed you sometimes see  
nowadays.

There used to be alternatives to Garmin's software, and I'm sure  
you'd find an open-source one if that was your sort of thing. But an  
old PC might be useful as a stop gap - I have Pentium IIIs here that  
I don't have the heart to throw away - they'd probably be powerful  
enough to run Garmin's software as a stop-gap until they release  
their OS X version and I'm sure you could pick one up on your local  
Freecycle list <http://freecycle.org>.

Stroller.