| Author | Message | ||
     ANTONIO DAVIS (Acacia1) New Member Username: Acacia1 Post Number: 24 Registered: 02-2003 |
GREETINGS ALL, WHAT'S THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE (CHEAPEST) SETUP TO ESTABLISH A GPS SYSTEM IN YOUR DISCO? BALLPARK FIGURES ALONG WITH THE ITEMS NEEDED WOULD BE APPRECIATED. | ||
| R. B. Bailey (Rover50987) Senior Member Username: Rover50987 Post Number: 593 Registered: 07-2002 |
../27/26215.html"http://www.topo.com" target="_blank">www.topo.com www.magellangps.com | ||
| Todd Rooker (Tryrook) Member Username: Tryrook Post Number: 68 Registered: 12-2002 |
FWIW IMHO, If you have a laptop, for $130 you can buy the Delorme Earthmate. With software, it all depends on what you want. Their TopoUSA CD runs about $100. TopoQuads are much more detailed and available at the individual state level for about the same price. Alternatively, you can plug it into your PDA and run it that way. If you got the PDA route, there are several other mfgs that offer GPS attachments which are more integrated with the PDA themselves. Again these run $100-$250 plus software. For portability, I prefer the PDAs to the handheld GPS units because you get the benefit of a color screen with much better resolution and simpler map synchronization with your PC. | ||
| Tony DiFranco (Nhrover) Member Username: Nhrover Post Number: 58 Registered: 11-2002 |
I second Todd. Delorme is the way to go! I use mine every day. It's well worth it. -Tony | ||
| Refuse Badminton (Nobadminton) New Member Username: Nobadminton Post Number: 6 Registered: 06-2003 |
I've had a problem with my Earthmate receiver. I got and actually followed the instructions installing it with both Topo4.0 and Street Atlas. It blinked some, seemed to lock on, then went dead. Tried all kinds of variations and on a desktop PC as well as the laptop, still no go. Called up tech support, ran through their tests and he finally said to send it in "we've had some problems with them since they are so new". My PCs would recognize there's a device and knew when I unplugged/plugged it, but the light wouldn't light and the software didn't think there was a GPS installed. I got it back this week and it worked the first time I plugged it in (at least it blinked and then went solid on) but after trying to initialize it with the test.exe they provide, it went dead again and I haven't had a chance to try it again. Time to call tech support again. I like the idea and size of it all, but it's starting to turn into a headache. Even without it, the Topp software is great. | ||
| Todd Rooker (Tryrook) Member Username: Tryrook Post Number: 69 Registered: 12-2002 |
...sometimes it doesn't pay to be at the bleeding edge of technology. The old "big" ones work like a charm. You can probably still find some of them online at a substantial discount now that they have the "better" smaller one. | ||
| Tom Hyslip (007) Member Username: 007 Post Number: 170 Registered: 03-2002 |
I think the Delorme is a good option, but I believe there is better. Get a standard GPS like the Megellan Meridian with Mapsend software (~$120 after rebate) and buy the cable to contect to your PDA or Laptop if you desire. This gives you the best of both worlds. You have a good stand alone GPS for vehicle use, hiking, off road, whatever. But you can also connect it to your laptop or PDA and use it with any mapping software that reads NMEA data from a GPS. This will give you the autorouting / talking features that most people like for on road use. The other nice thing about the Meridian over a Garmin unit is its ability to accept additional memory. I think gpsonsale.com has the unit for ~$120 with mapsend software after rebate. I have an IPaq PDA with a pharos GPS that I use for in car use and love it. But I plan to pick up the Meridian. I wish I had saved the money on the pharos gps and went with the meridian because it will work with the IPaq. |
