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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / July 2005Need help choosing Mac GPS vs PC GPS
I plan to go on some extended motor trips around the US starting sometime next year. A friend of mine is using a PC laptop connected to a GPS unit in his vehicle for navigation, locating camping spots, etc. For him, it works very well, he can leave it on as he drives and it tracks his every move, and even directs him, turn by turn to his destination. I am looking for the same thing for the Mac. I have been doing some google searches for similar products for the Mac, in these groups and others, and the pickings seem rather slim. I find MacGPS Pro, GPSy, Route 66, etc., but it is not clear at all that they can do the same things. What I can't find is anyone who has compared any of these Mac products to what is available for the PC and give the pros and cons of each product. Although I am a Mac person and have never owned a PC, it is not beneath me to buy a cheap PC laptop just for this application, if there are no really good GPS packages available for the Mac. Does anyone have any experience in this area? I am looking for software and GPS hardware recommendations, for motor travel use.  Signature-Ernie- "There are only two kinds of computer users -- those who have suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure, and those who will." Have you done your backup today? Try placing your post on either of these groups: alt.satellite.gps sci.geo.satellite-nav Steve >I plan to go on some extended motor trips around the US starting > sometime next year. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Does anyone have any experience in this area? I am looking for software > and GPS hardware recommendations, for motor travel use. > Try placing your post on either of these groups: > > alt.satellite.gps > sci.geo.satellite-nav Thanks, I'll google them first, maybe I'll find some good info. Signature-Ernie- "There are only two kinds of computer users -- those who have suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure, and those who will." Have you done your backup today? > I have been doing some google searches for similar products for the Mac, > in these groups and others, and the pickings seem rather slim. I find > MacGPS Pro, GPSy, Route 66, etc., but it is not clear at all that they > can do the same things. For a road trip, get Route 66. We used that with our iBook and Garmin GPS to drive from San Francisco to Austin and back one summer. I was considering these three applications, and I emailed the guy who onws MacGPS to ask his opinion on his program for a road trip, and he said get Route 66. So I did. :-> My limited understanding of MacGPS is that it's aimed at people who need to use topo maps -- hikers, mountain bikers, geocachers, and the like. I understand that you get a program which will let you use your own maps in appropriate formats. It does not come with maps. If you look at the list of maps they sell, the list includes only topos. GPSy is also a program to connect your Mac to your GPS; you then obtain maps from the vendor of your choice. If you want street maps, you end up buying a street atlas from a company that makes programs to give you directions on driving -- a la Route 66. Note that GPSy does not run under OS X. SignaturePhil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily. > I was considering these three applications, and I emailed the guy who onws > MacGPS to ask his opinion on his program for a road trip, and he said get > Route 66. So I did. When the author of software recommends the competition I guess it's a good bet :) > GPSy is also a program to connect your Mac to your GPS; you then obtain > maps from the vendor of your choice. I am guessing that it is/was needed for converting from serial to USB through a converter? There are several GPS units on the market now that interface to USB or Bluetooth, and since I don't yet own a GPS unit, it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for the input. Signature-Ernie- "There are only two kinds of computer users -- those who have suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure, and those who will." Have you done your backup today? In article <eckleinspammenot-716AD7.15581620072005@news1.west.earthlink.net>, > I plan to go on some extended motor trips around the US starting > sometime next year. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Does anyone have any experience in this area? I am looking for software > and GPS hardware recommendations, for motor travel use. I have all of the above except Route66, and use Delorma Street Atlas Mac Version 6.0 instead. MacGPS is ok for GPS with USGS quads, but doesn't do roads. GPSy is similar but does a better job of GPS interfacing. For RoadTrip Navigation, I use Delorma's Mac version 6.0 of Street Atlas (discontinued support a couple of years ago) and I also have used the PC version (still supported) running under VirtualPC 6.01. I have also messed around with NG Topo Mac, and Topo PC as well and they are ok for some things but not RoadTripping. Me who doesn't come down to civilization, all that often.... > In article > <eckleinspammenot-716AD7.15581620072005@news1.west.earthlink.net>, [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > of Street Atlas (discontinued support a couple of years ago) and I also > have used the PC version (still supported) running under VirtualPC 6.01. The more I look into this, the more I find that other than Route66, almost all of the currently supported road map software either requires a PC or VPC; there is very little Mac support. I have also found that the leading manufacture of GPS equipment, Garmin, doesn't support Mac at all. Their old units had both a serial and USB connector. Only the serial port, via a serial to usb adaptor would work with a Mac at all; the USB won't work because Garmin won't make a Mac USB driver for their product, but 3rd party drivers work if you use the adaptor. The _new_ Garmin units no longer have a serial port, only a USB port so they won't work at all. Even worse, they no longer support a standard protocol for downloading data to the GPS, but have their own proprietary protocol which only their software supports which, of course, won't run an a Mac. Signature-Ernie- "There are only two kinds of computer users -- those who have suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure, and those who will." Have you done your backup today? > Even worse, they no longer support a standard protocol for > downloading data to the GPS, but have their own proprietary protocol > which only their software supports which, of course, won't run an a > Mac. You'd think that they would release the documentation so that someone could write the interface software even if they didn't want to shell out cash. I would think that anything that increases hardware sales for them would be a good thing. But hey, I only have a degree in engineering and not business, so what do I know SignatureDavid Magda <dmagda at ee.ryerson.ca> Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, _The Prince_, Chapter VI > > Even worse, they no longer support a standard protocol for > > downloading data to the GPS, but have their own proprietary protocol [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > for them would be a good thing. But hey, I only have a degree in > engineering and not business, so what do I know Sometimes I really wonder how the minds of these decision makers work. Even though I have a PC laptop at home it's highly unlikely that I would buy something that isn't supported on other OS/hardware combos. Greg >Sometimes I really wonder how the minds of these decision makers work. Cost of developing and distributing the product vs. the anticipated potential for shareholder-approved profit. >> Sometimes I really wonder how the minds of these decision makers >> work. > > Cost of developing and distributing the product vs. the anticipated > potential for shareholder-approved profit. Except that they're a hardware company: they make more money the more hardware they sell. They'll sell more hardware if it works on more computers. They don't have to support OS X (or Linux, etc.) themselves--all they have to do is document how to talk to their hardware and some resourceful and bored person will write the software for them. The cost to them is mostly the bandwidth to transmit the PDF describing their protocols. SignatureDavid Magda <dmagda at ee.ryerson.ca> Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, _The Prince_, Chapter VI >Except that they're a hardware company: they make more money the more >hardware they sell. They'll sell more hardware if it works on more [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >The cost to them is mostly the bandwidth to transmit the PDF >describing their protocols. The company provides hardware and software. It switched to a proprietary system to force Windows users to use the company's software. If the company makes public the proprietary settings, other people will develop software for the Windows machines. The company would regard that as dangerous to its software sales in the Windows market (ie - people buying updated maps... people buying upgrades to the software, etc). Maybe some resourceful and bored person who figures out a business model to develop and sell a Mac version of the software -- provided he cuts a deal with the company to get a license for the protocols (and signs a NDA, etc.). In comp.sys.mac.apps Ernie Klein <eckleinspammenot@pacbell.net> wrote: : I have also found that the leading manufacture of GPS equipment, Garmin, : doesn't support Mac at all. Their old units had both a serial and USB : connector. Their old units had ONLY serial. I've never seen a Garmin device with both USB & Serial. Otherwise, yeah. A royal pain and the reason I still have a windows box running at home... :-( -Charles SignatureCharles Robinson Minneapolis, MN charlesr@visi.com http://charles.robinsontwins.org |
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