[l008com]

Has anyone ever set one of these up in their car? I know there are lots of USB GPS receivers out there and lots of navigation shareware and normal software. I wonder if anyone here has actually pulled it al together and made a workable turn-by-turn navigation system in their car?

[ChadC]

My dad had a delorme GPS with whatever software it came with that worked great with OS 9. He got a new PB about a year ago and hasn't been able to use it since b/c he hasn't been able to find software that runs on X and supports his GPS. He bought a Garmin PDA GPS recently b/c he just couldn't stand waiting for someone to develop somthing. I dont think this is gonna help u, but I figured i'd let u know about some of the problems he had.

-Chad

[Ronanmd]

I have been successful at using my GPS on my laptop in the car. I use Route66 2004 Canada version while on road and Oziexplorer or Delorme Topo quads under VPC when offroading in the truck. You will need a USB adaptor to hook up to the PB. Email for more info or questions.

Jason
jlord4@hotmail.com

[l008com]

Originally posted by Ronanmd:
I have been successful at using my GPS on my laptop in the car. I use Route66 2004 Canada version while on road and Oziexplorer or Delorme Topo quads under VPC when offroading in the truck. You will need a USB adaptor to hook up to the PB. Email for more info or questions.

Jason
jlord4@hotmail.com

Does that route66 program give you interactive directions as you drive ("turn right ahead") or does it just give you a list of directions like mapquest does? What GPS devices does it work with?

[djohnson]

I am wondering too. I would love to receive a GPS system for my new PowerBook from my wife.

*hint hint*

[jboeskool]

Originally posted by l008com:
Has anyone ever set one of these up in their car? I know there are lots of USB GPS receivers out there and lots of navigation shareware and normal software. I wonder if anyone here has actually pulled it al together and made a workable turn-by-turn navigation system in their car?

Did a lot of research 2 years ago. Seems like all you needed was a GPS receiver (Delorme seemed to be popular) hooked to a computer with working software AND a way to download mapping info.

I remember finding only one software app that worked in system 9, but can't remember what it was now. So the answer is, yes... it can be done... at least in system 9.

I went in a different direction though. Making the whole thing work seemed problematical what with finding and buying the right software, making it work, buying the right gps, keeping the whole thing powered in the car, and keeping the laptop open and vulnerable worried me because of sudden stops/swerves/fender benders, etc.

I went with a Garmin Street Pilot III. Not cheap though. About $650 when I Froogled it.
The thing is great though. It will navigate you right to your destination reliably (right down to the correct driveway of a street address!). I have used it to go across country (Michigan to Alaska) and it did great. It even took me through a confusing part of Chicago that normally messes me up. With the car unit, I cruised through with no problem. Even in cities I know, I use it to find stores or other places I've never been to. I just type in the address, choose "route to it" and the unit takes me right there. It has a turn-by-turn voice directed mode, or you can get rid of the voice if it annoys you and follow the visual on-screen turn by turn directions and large directional arrows. You do need to get some mapping cd's, and the only way to download them is on a PC (and then into your Garmin chip) or onto a Mac using Virtual PC.

I think the new version is even better and uses compact flash cards instead of the proprietary chips that my older version uses.

[skybolt]

There is a group at Yahoo that discusses this very topic. Macmaps@yahoo.com, I think. But if you will go to Yahoo groups, you will find Macmaps. Good luck!

[Rayming GPS]

Hello,
Rayming Corp manufactures a USB GPS REceiver that does in fact support Mac upto OS 10.3. The most popular Mac Navigational title is Route66 for Mac.

Originally posted by djohnson:
I am wondering too. I would love to receive a GPS system for my new PowerBook from my wife.

*hint hint*

[l008com]

Too late. I just ended up getting a Magellan Roadmate 500, it was only like $700 or something.

[Macpilot]

I want a GPS for my car, but I was torn between the really nice looking Garmin c330 which comes out soon, or getting Route 66 and the Delorme bluetooth GPS receiver or similar receiver.

The stand-alone Garmin solution is far more expensive, but does not require the carrying of a laptop around. I don't know if I want to haul around my Powerbook, have it open, worry about it's battery, etc.

I think that it won't be very practical with a laptop since it will sit on the passenger seat, prone to wobbling all over the place. The nice thing about the stand-alone units is that they are small enough to mount on the dash, much closer to where you are already looking, and therefore much safer I would think.

Another drawback of the laptop solution is theft. Much harder to hide your laptop than to unhook a GPS from its cradle and put it in your glove box so it does not get seen.

So I guess I have decided against the laptop solution.

Can someone change my mind? Is the larger screen on the laptop worth all the hassle?

[subego]

A search for "mac" and "gps" on google gives this as the first hit:

http://www.macgpspro.com/

Says its OS X native.

edit: and its fugly™!