GPS Receivers
Garmin GPS Models
Here’s the main page for the receiver only products (so called “OEM”)
10x (BlueTooth) - this is the one Andrew and I have
- I finally got it to work well with my WinXP BlueTooth stack by turning off “AUTO CONNECT” checkbox buried under the BlueTooth virtual serial port properties
- Andrew has always said it works well with his HP WinCE based hand held
- Runs on a rechargeable battery so you do have to tether it (with included USB cable) every once in a while to recharge
- Garmin also included the cigarette lighter power adapter in my package… Pretty sure I wound up with two of these due to a screwed up initial shipment so I have a spare in case you don’t wind up with one… cigarette lighter to mini-usb is kindof a handy thingy to have in general these days… would charge other USB power based stuff like MP3 players etc.
- $107 retail
- The annoying thing is I managed to find an actual Garmin.com link where it was posted as $50… BUT I DIDN’T SAVE THE DANG LINK <ARG!>
- Cheapest new street price I’ve seen is around $80 (from reputable vendors like TheNerds.net, etc)
- eBay has a refurb for $50 at the moment
I still wonder if USB might be slightly easier to deal with than waiting for BlueTooth to connect, especially if you’re primarily using in a static environment like a car and it avoids the rechargeable battery dance so here’s a couple of those…
20x (USB)
- $70 retail
- this seems to be the one Garmin “recommends” for their PC oriented mapping products
18x (USB)
- $85 retail
- says it’s magnetic to hold onto your dash or something
Mapping Software
- There’s a handy bundle with City Navigator North America NT and either the 20x for $150 or 10x for $100 which is a good bargain.
- MobilePC is the more fancy faux 3d map interface that looks like most of the car GPS units UI’s everybody has these days
- nRoute is the flat 2d birds eye view map interface… it’s not as slick but it shows more map detail because less space is wasted on looking fancy
- I can show you where to get the software & maps for “very cheap” ;)
- Gamin software update downloads
Maps
- The main thing to get for the car is “City Navigator North America NT” (retail $100)… looks like there’s already a 2010 version out
- Garmin of course has all kinds of trail/topo maps too
