[X4U] Self Contained GPS Mapping?

[Simon Forster]

On 13 Mar 2009, at 11:44, Joe Sporleder wrote:

> I've been considering one of the portable GPS mapping systems for  
> our corporate vehicles. I hear names like Garmin and TomTom. I  
> realize that one would might need to occasionally update the data on  
> these devices via a personal computer. Has anyone heard of any  
> particular brand that is more Mac friendly than others for updating  
> the GPS device?

FWIW, I bought S.O. a Garmin Nuvi 760T for Christmas. She's been very  
happy with it. Not looked at updating the software on it but we've got  
Parallels running XP something on one machine, VMware running Vista on  
another and S.O. has a PC for work so I guess we could always co-opt  
that if need be.

Actually, I've use VMware/Vista on my machine with to update a Sony  
Ericsson M600i and, more recently, a Nokia E71. It's worked flawlessly  
- so I no longer worry about these sorts of things :-) Seriously,  
VMware seems to work out what to do with USB connections and pass them  
on to the (virtual) PC without issue. And Windows is much better than  
it was about loading drivers etc. (It wasn't so long ago that one had  
to struggle with comm ports, IRQs and all that on dedicated PCs. Now I  
plug a USB cable into my Mac and the right thing happens on a virtual  
PC. Amazing).

> An iPhone with Google Maps would be sufficient for what I need, plus  
> it'd be great for when I go biking on the back roads of Kansas.  
> Unfortunately, AT&T wireless only serves the major towns and cities  
> along the Interstate Highways here in Kansas. Alltel, soon to become  
> Verizon, is the best (and sometimes only) cellphone signal in my  
> part of Kansas and to the areas of Kansas I travel to. I hope that  
> when 4G networks become commonplace, that Apple can offer iPhone  
> beyond AT&T. Verizon is talking 4G sometime in 2010, but I don't  
> know how widespread the initial roll out will encompass. I'm  
> guessing 4G might be several years away from my rural part of Kansas.

The parts of Europe I visit tend to have good mobile coverage so I  
rely on my mobile (M600i with a bluetooth GPS receiver, more recently  
the Nokia E71) coupled with Wayfinder <http://www.mywayfinder.com/>.  
It's a good service and perfectly adequate for my needs. Even though  
data rates are quite expensive when roaming, my phone bill isn't  
extortionate.

FWIW 1, the E71 is much easier to use than the M660i as it has built- 
in GPS. Got lost? Whip out E71, fire up software and find out where  
you are in a few seconds. Works well.

FWIW 2. I like Wayfinder but having seen S.O.'s Garmin in action, it  
doesn't really compare. The Garmin is far more polished in pretty much  
every regard. Wayfinder suits my ad hoc requirements, the Garmin  
better suits S.O.'s requirements - so all to the good really.

HTH

Simon