[OT Kinda] GPS for laptops...

You need a GPS that can connect to your laptop and suitable software. The choice of GPS will be determined in part by the interfaces availble on your PC. There are serial (RS232), USB, CompactFlash, PC Card and Bluetooth GPS units available so there's lots of choice. Serial/USB units are cheapest, Bluetooth permits you to locate the GPS where it can see the sky without dangly wires getting in the way. Haicom make a unit that is a CF card which fits into a "slipper" case so that it can work as USB, Bluetooth, CF or PC card. It's a good unit with a SiRF chipset and it's a good price.

OTOH if you already have a handheld GPS such as a Garmin then it is probably already fitted with a serial interface and with the right cable can be plugged straight into your laptop. I use a Garmin 12XL this way.

There are also several GPS capable mapping applications. For example Autoroute, Mapsource (Garmin), Fugawi and others. Your choice here depends again on what you want from the software. Fugawi is the basic type of software that will display your position on a map. However since it uses digitised maps (it will work with scanned maps for example) it can't determine recommended routes.

Mapsource and Autoroute use (their own) vector maps and can do routing between two points. Autoroute is typically Microsoft these days, it works, does good routing, but it crashes frequently. Usually just when you don't need it to crash. Mapsource is more reliable and has a good clear display but routing is a bit crap.

There are even freeware mapping applications such as Gartrip that work with scanned maps. If you just want to try something out, these are a good idea.

Following on from what Steve said, if you have usb ports

is where I got mine from.They do a good selection, and you can get a GPS/software bundle, but I=20don't know whether it does europe. If you want something free to try it with, it doesn't do routing but,=20 is free to try and register, to get a feel for=20things like speed and maps. I would avoid Autroroute, Mappoint is better but a lot more expensive.=20 if you buy/aquire it then buy Agps(google for it) as a =A320 add on it=20 adds routing with voice commands.

Or have a look on the MP3car.com site. There is a project called=20 V.O.I.C.E.S they are building two versions, one a full incar system with=20 Audio/video/radio/navigation, the other is a standalone navigation front=20 end with voice routing, both will eventually have voice input with a=20 suitable microphone that uses Mappoint as it's backend.

Also look at Infomap Navigator, and Destinator 2 europe, both do voice=20 routing. Infomap is not bad, and very cheap, and can be made to run on Linux,=20 Destinator is expensive, and it's maps can be displayed in the psuedo 3d=20 to get an idea of where things like overpasses and bridges are. Biggest=20 problem with destinator is that if you route akes more than one map, you=20 have to break your route down into seperate chunks. When destinator 3=20 finally appears it will fix this.

--=20 The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

And following on to what the other guys have said, I can always tell you where to go and I'm just a 'phone call away... :)

You need hardware and software. Software can be free, but the best stuff tends to be copy protected these days so you will generally get what you pay for, even on kazaa and the like. Literally knowing where you are and what speed you are going, you can find out with simple utilities (lat, long, time and speed are all available from the NMEA messages.)

Hardware varies quite a bit, the accuracy is consistent but certain types of hardware are markedly better at keeping a lock in towns and wooded areas. There's little variation in price, but be sure and obtain a receiver that is capable of both SIRF, and something called Egnos or WAAS.

Good place to browse:

Hardware reviews: If you want something pretty cheaply to see what it is all about, I can flog you sommat second hand, is yer email there, just remove the word spam?

Yea that should work, but remove 405 as well just to make sure...

Cheers dude :D

Right, i have USB and i thought i had Bluetooth built in, but this may not be the case, so i think i'll just go via the USB route.

No hand held GPS at the mo...

I like the look of this Infomap one that has voices -

Maybe this would be a good place to start just to have a little fiddle...

Cheers for the help Steve :D

This must be worth a download so i can test with it.

Oooh noted, but i do like the look of that InfoMap one that talks to me straight out of the box and is only £35....

Running on linux is no concern to me ;) I like the look of Infomap tho...

Further research is needed i feel!

Yea, but if i have GPS, i'll actually be able to find to meet to kick your ass ;)

Have a look at

They generally have the best range of all of the GPS suppliers. Even if you don't want to shop there, it's a good place to look for a sumamry of the features and typical prices of a wide range of GPS kit and software.

Cool cheers :)

Liking the look of - Bundle - InfoMap Navigator GB and HI-204E GPS Receiver USB - price: £99.99 (inc VAT) on

Appears to doeverything i would desire.... Anyone got any comments/abuse of the above gear?

Not really a direct answer to your question, but if you're ever in the big cities, I could highly recommend Memory-Map Navigator, by the A-Z map company. Mine was around the £35 mark, and has a basic nationwide map, and a very detailed map of Greater London, all the way out to the M25 (sometimes a bit beyond, like it includes Slough), plus the higher detail Central London map, with one-way streets etc. I think they do similar digitised maps (and fully searchable) for other major cities, see

It's got decent features to hook up with GPS (and PocketPC as well) and is a brilliant alternative to scrabbling about from pages 83/84 to pages 101/102 just by pressing the down key.

Peter

Yep, got that setup (well, got that software and a cheap GPS off ebay), mate has the software with the hicom.

Software is OK, bit odd but cheap and does voice nav OK. GPS receiver is fine but remember to ignore the drivers in the box and download the latest from prolific, especially if using it with XP.

Gets fix really quickly, magnetic base holds it on car. USB powered too.

Infomap Navigator has a good reputation. I'd check around ofr prices before you buy ISTR that there were some offerings of GPS+Navigator for about 70-80 quid.

Infomap is one of the best, but don't buy the Haicom 204E receiver, it's significantly inferior to the 204S because it uses the NMEA-only "Evermore" chipset. The Sirf plus NMEA models which are based on the SirfStarIIe chipset are an awful lot better.

Well i have some dude offering me a 202S for what i hope to be much cheapness ;) So i'll see how i get along with that :D

Yeah, well that's me anyway... ;)

It is the better type, but USB is going to be a problem. Still, once you know how, it's not too much of an issue to do it that way each time.

Well, yea :)

Aye, turn it on, install drivers, reboot, plug GPS in. And plug GPS in after its on each time :)

Easy peesy!

And now i have a GPS verified 3 figure speed in the 405 :) Didn't notice how far out the speedo was, i'll go for another look with someone to read the figure for me later :)

100 kmh is 62 mph...