GPS on Lap Top in Car

Colin, I use a Garmin Etrex - inexpensive and does everything you need.

goodday colin
yes the mouse will do, when i thought my gps had packed up i was looking into the mouse style and it will work with the oziexplorer software and transmit direct to the maps

steve

A can of worms Colin. There's a multitude of options!

You can use your laptop. You can get the gps signals in via GPS mouse, via conventional GPS with a data lead, via a bluetooth gps mouse sitting on your dashboard (Lucy will shed some light on the benefit of these gadgets).

OziExplorer is a well respected program that will display digital maps (obtained seperately), will allow you to create/manipulate etc waypoints, tracks etc etc and it will accept data from your gps and be used as a moving map. It won't give you turn by turn directions.
There are other programs available, but this is the one I use, and like.

Maps in a digital format are a bit . . . varied, but certainly available.
In my limited experience, the Natmap Raster map of Australia is a good general map of the entire country. Have a look through the store here at exploreoz, also try gpsoz, the oziexplorer australian website or google: digital maps site:au
and you will find maps which vary in detail. More and more are hitting the market all the time.

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I favour a BT338 bluetooth gps sitting on the dashboard. It's small, doesn't require cables to talk to the laptop or pda. It does need charging, but gets ~ 12 hrs or more per charge.
I sometimes use a Garmin II+ with external aerial, but it gives me the curries because there are cables all over the place (aerial - gps, gps - laptop - power outlet).

I have picked up off ebay a 10" touch screen monitor, so the laptop can sit somewhere else (and most importantly, not have space around the dashboard used by keyboard).

The laptop gives a bigger viewing area which is good if I'm in new territory, but cumbersome and rarely used.

The pda is easy to mount & use. This gets a lot more use.

Hopefully this has been of some help. A bit ambiguous, but I didn't want to get into specifics (too much), and get bogged down.

If you are not too interested in the features on the GPS itself, then the GPS really does not matter - so buy the cheapest best option that will run the laptop. I have a Garmin III+ I got it cheap from a friend who never used it. I run OziExplorer and the software interfaces with heaps of GPSs. My GPS has an antenna attached and in all my travels I have only lost "contact" on afew occasions (there again in WA we dont have too many mountains and trees)
I have hard wired the unit, so I dont have to worry about batteries and the cables are out of the way
!MPG:10!

Colin,
If you only want to use it on your laptop, a USB mouse is a cheap option, unless you want to go walkabout with it. They can be had on ebay for under $100 and if you get one with the latest Surf chip, they do 20 satellites at once. I am running one on my car PC and it never drops out, even when I’m parked in the shed. It’s positioned under the windscreen and velcro’d to the dash mat.

GPS mouse is a great option when using a laptop, they are cheap, they dont need batteries or a additional power plug becuase they are powered by the usb port. When you turn the computer on the GPS turns on at the same time. I got mine on ebay for $70 and it works great even in my garage which surprised me. It gets a lock very quickly
Cheers

Mouse style GPS will work well with moving map software if you have it on all the time and your software records your track. If you are like me and don't want to have the laptop running all the time but still want to record your travels or sometimes need to find where you are and how you got there then a normal GPS is better. Just have the GPS running on the dash and download the waypoints to the lappy when you are ready or need them. I maybe wrong but i don't believe mouse GPS units record waypoints.

Cheers Jim

Lots of questions for the experts.
I have an old Magellan GPS 4000XL plus external antennae and data communication module. ie it isn't a mapping unit. Is it possible to connect this to a laptop with maps installed and get a mapping/tracking outcome?
I note from previous posts on this thread that a GPS mouse may not store waypoints? Can these be stored on the computer however when the mouse is connected to the computer?

Thanks experts.

Many thanks John R. I will give this a go.