boot

Anyone use 1 of these systems ? Maybe not the best idea in a boat ,but very conveinient (sp) to use in multiple vehicles (and boats ) . And MUCH easier to see with 15- 17 inch monitor ! Would be great for seeing details on a long trip through unknown waterways !

PS. who has a good deal on a lap top ?

boot

Also ,any good ideas for a universal mount for a boat dash would be great !

bluellama

Boot, I use Delorme's Earthmate usb powered GPS reciever, and their Street Atlas software. I also use MS Streets and Trips. I ran 85,000 Kms last year between Ottawa and Halifax, and it worked great. The Street Atlas software is a little more trip friendly, in that it gives you speed, direction, and a reviewable trip function. The Streets and Trips doesn't give you spped, but it's routing function is kick ass if you can be fairly accurate about speed and miles/gallon.
Check out www.delorme.com some of the Earthmate GPS recievers are even blue tooth enabled for wireless use with a PDA.

boot

Thanks blue ! Can you scroll ahead and will it tell you how far away something is ? Like with my Garmin, where ever you stop scrolling ,it says how far away that point is . How about scrollign to a point and push enter ? Will it mark it or give directions to it ? Thanks for the help ! Joe

CMG

http://www.maptech.com/water/Offshor...ator/index.cfm

I use in my laptop for planning and my Ipaq 5555 with Navman sleeve at helm, pretty neat. Think over having your laptop in the cockpit - evrything gets wet at some point!

bluellama

With Streets and Trips they have a "push pin" function, you click on the GPS symbol, (your current location) and drag a line to the next point that you want to know the distance to, and then it gives you the distance...

If you end up using Streets and Trips, drop me a line, there is a patch on the net that sets the reset on the gps location from 15 seconds to 1 second, the 15 second reset is okay on the highway, but no good in the city.

The guys at Delorme are really helpful, they could probably answer any questions you have, the bluetooth version of their GPS receiver might work best in the boat, hooked to a pda...

boot

CMG, Thanks ! When it goes on a boat ,it will be in an enclosed cockpit , (cruiser, or sport fish ).

Blue, I'm liking that Delorme ! You can get them on Ebay for about $75- $85 ! Looks like a real detailed system !

My girlfriends new car has the NAV system and it is real disapointing for $2200 ! It's a new Honda accord . The system has a lot of good stuff and very good detail but is missing a lot of good features I am used to .
The distance thing is one . The other is pinpointing a location by scrolling ,then trying to get directions to it .......YOu have to point to it , click enter, get the address, RIGHT IT DOWN , then type it in manualy ........ Too much like work !

OBVIOUSLY , the system in her car is NO GOOD ON THE WATER !

I an used to the Garmin 3 and street pilot .They are nice ! I also have a big garmin ( I think a 180 or 230 ) in the boat . But the boat hasn't been wet in a long time .....