GPS

What do you want to know?

Peter.

Loads on uk.rec.walking and some are also Landy owners. There is also a proposal out for a GPS newsgroup atm.

I've fitted a few into my company motors but would not bother now - Just buy a TOTOM GO unit

I'm looking for a system that..

I'm considering one of those laptop pluggy in things working with either autoroute and/or memory-map. The only thing I have against that idea is that the wife will have to sit with the thing on her lap or it'll be sat on the seat and I'll have to look along way from the windscreen to check progress. I'm going to have a laptop with me pretty much all the time.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

You need a GPS mouse, plugs into a USB port and will work directly with the two progs you mention. Anothre latrnative is TOMTOM or Ipac with GPS addon.

Peter

Good value? I've just bought a PDA with built in GPS, and included navigation software (falk) for £290. Does everything the tom tom does, and then some.

Hi all the TomTom Go units are they really good ? what is the mapping like does it go right down to street level and do you get the road names and numbers displayed on the screen? Does any one know where I can see one demonstrated ?

Rich

Dixons are selling them now - they go to postcode level let alone street and the 3D mapping is abosulutley superb and the voice prompts make sense - i found the VDO ones I used to have to be a bit confusing at times.I also like the POI warning system which warns of speed cameras etc.

I prefer the "does what it says on the tin" aproach of the GO as PDA's have the habit of locking up if you fill them with other stuff - the tomtom just does sat nav and does it well. also the speaker is much better and it has a stereo mute O/P.

Steve

How important is the location of the GPS mouse thingy? could it be fixed to the laptop and so work in any rotation/location? or does it need a nice dashboard-location?

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

It needs a place where it can see as much sky as possible, this is true for any GPS antenna. If the car has one of those fancy quick clear front screens it wont work properly as the wires in the screen cut the signals too much. The roof is the best place, they are generally speeking waterproof.

Peter

How good is the mapping for rural areas? If it's at least as good as autoroute then I can work with that.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

What do you want to know?

It's as good as Autoroute if not better and has dynamic reoute calculation, i.e. if you wander off route it will recalculate which AR will not do.

Full reviews on our website.

No single solution will do all that, if you intend to use a laptop then consider InfoMap Navigator as a cheap and usable voice solution for road navigation and Memory-Map for the OS stuff. You could get a laptop mount from RAM-Mounts but you need a lot of space to use them.

For a PocketPC solution, again Memory-Map for OS maps and TomTom Navigator with the excellent (and free) UKPostCode Plug-In from

All the above and many more options reviewed on our site. I have recently taken delivery of a 04 Disco and kited it out with three Brodit Mounts

Happy to supply impartial advice if you need it.

In a Landrover it needs to be on the dash as far forward as possible, GPS receivers need clear line of site to the sky for optimum satellite reception. I have one Bluetooth GPS on the dash and another wedged in the sunroof edging. Both work fine even with the heated windscreen.

Bluetooth are by far the most adaptable solutions, with no wires you can place them wherever is best, CF are not prectical in many cars so GPS Mice are the next best although wires can become an issue.

No problem with my Disco's heated windscreen. Also worth pointing out that few GPS Mice are waterproof these days.

The problem with GO is it is a dedicated road nav device so you would not be able to load up Memory-Map or other off road apps on it unlike a PDA.

Can any one tell me what a GPS mouse thingy is and would it be of any use for a tomtom go??

Rich