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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / December 2005Need recommendation for GPS/Mapping software, please
I also posted this on comp.mac.system.... Help me out here, please. The only thing keeping me from leaving my ThinkPad at home and traveling with my trusty Pismo is the complete lack of up-to-date and funcitonal GPS/mapping software for OSX. Or at least nothing I can find. I've been using DeLorme's StreetAtlas for a couple of years now, with the usb Earthmate GPS puck. Works like a charm. Trip planning functions work very well, gps tracking has saved our butts numerous times when roaming through strange territory. I would prefer to bring the Pismo along, just because I like OSX better. Went hunting for a replacement for DeLorme, and came up empty. First, emailed DeLorme who told me they had taken a look at an OSX version and decided that it wasn't worth the cost and effort, so they scrapped the idea. Found references to Route66, except that it hasn't been updated since 2004, and they have no plans to update it (at least I can't get a reply from them) since they seem to have decided that they will concentrate on keeping the cellphone version current instead. And reviews by people who have used it and StreetAtlas say I will be disappointed if I'm used to DeLorme's functionality and performance. Nothing supports my Earthmate, which sucks, because comparisons have shown it's more reliable than most laptop-based receivers. If I could find good software, I'd consider eating the cost of another puck. But I can't. Any suggestions? Anyone? Thanks. Paul > I also posted this on comp.mac.system.... > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Paul I use my WallStreet 300Mhz running VPC and Street Atlas with my Earthmate. Works for me. I also have the last version of Mac Street Atlas for MacOS 9.2.1 on another partition and that works as well with my GPS3+ Garmin. I have used GPSy, and MacGPS as well. All that said, it REALLY wuold be nice if DeLorema would write or release a driver that allowed Earthmate to communicate directly with the USB/Serial I/O systems of OSX and MacOS Classic.......... Bruce in alaska  Signatureadd a <2> before @ Entity Bruce in Alaska spoke thus: > I use my WallStreet 300Mhz running VPC No 300Mhz Mac can run Virtual PC. No way. Maybe if you are running Windows 2000... -- Gnarlie > No 300Mhz Mac can run Virtual PC. No way. Maybe if you are running Windows > 2000... > > -- Gnarlie It all depends on the version of VPC and the version of Windows. VPC was first released way back before computers were running at 300 MHz so a 300 MHz Mac can very definately run VPC. I used to run VPC on my 250 MHz Kanga (first G3 Powerbook) it it ran quite satifactorily for most apps that are not CPU intensive. Many GPS programs are not terribly CPU intensive for the most part. There is certainly no need for them to be as they are only reading a very low data rate NMEA stream comming from the GPS receiver. Nothing happens very fast in real time. > Entity Bruce in Alaska spoke thus: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > -- Gnarlie Well, you come up here and look at the venerabal Wallstreet G3 running MacOS 9.2.1 with VPC 6.0.1 running Win2000Pro and then Street Atlas 2004 ontop of that, with my Earthmate plugged into the Belkin PCMCIA Card that sits just above the 802.11b wireless Card in the bottom PCMCIA Card slot. Like I said, it works for me, your milage may vary...... Bruce in alaska Signatureadd a <2> before @ >> Entity Bruce in Alaska spoke thus: >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Bruce in alaska No thanks, I don't think I'll be taking a trip to Alaska at this time of the year just to see your setup, impressive though it sounds. I confess it did not occur to me anyone was running VPC in OS 9, so you proved me wrong. -- Gnarlie >I use my WallStreet 300Mhz running VPC and Street Atlas with my >Earthmate. Works for me. I also have the last version of Mac [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >release a driver that allowed Earthmate to communicate directly with the >USB/Serial I/O systems of OSX and MacOS Classic.......... OK, you now officially have my attention. Are you using the serial Earthmate or USB? I'm running 10.3 on the Pismo, and I have a copy of Win2k to use (actually, that's what I'm running on the ThinkPad anyway.... If I could run VPC 6.1 on that combo with my hardware, I'd be thrilled. The requirements for VPC;7 state a 700MHz chip at the least... but then, you've proven "requirements" are often BS. It does state it needs a native processor - wonder if upgrading from the G3/400 to the G4/550 I was thinking aboout still qualifies? Maybe they're talking about a 604-to-G upgrade, not a G-to-G upgrade. Hmmm..... paul >>All that said, it REALLY wuold be nice if DeLorema would write or >>release a driver that allowed Earthmate to communicate directly with the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >If I could run VPC 6.1 on that combo with my hardware, I'd be >thrilled. I too am a DeLorme fan and was not happy when they discontinued SA for the Mac. I used the Mac SA program with the USB-powered Earthmate (along with the drivers, which I had to order on a CD from DeLorme) but ran into problems when I migrated to an iBook that won't boot in OS 9. I have a PC laptop with SA 2005 for PC and have used it in the past, but I'd really like to not have to lug the PC laptop around and use my iBook. I've just installed VPC 7 with Windows XP home, and I'm wondering if I could run the PC version of Street Atlas with that Earthmate using VPC. If I could, I'd be a happy camper. I'm sure I can install SA onto the virtual machine, but getting the Earthmate to function might be problematic in the PC emulation mode. Any tips??? SignatureTo reply by e-mail, remove the "restrictor plate" > >>All that said, it REALLY wuold be nice if DeLorema would write or > >>release a driver that allowed Earthmate to communicate directly with the [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Any tips??? I find that the best way for me to do that, is to not use the MacOs USB drivers at all. Instead use the VPC USB and the USB Drivers for the MicroSquash OS that I loaded on top of VPC. I use Win2000Pro as XP is so trashy as to be unusable for configuration problems. this works for me, on my Wallstreet G3 running MacOs9.2.1, VPC 6.0.1, Win2000Pro, Street Atlas 2004, Earthmate USB. Bruce in alaska Signatureadd a <2> before @ |
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