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Waypoints — May 30th, 2010

May 30, 2010 By 1 Comment

Waypoints_iconWaypoints is a weekly link roundup of (mostly) GPS related odds and ends. To get many of these stories as they break, follow me on Twitter.

Got WAAS?

There are a lot of happy Garmin Dakota and Oregon owners today, following release of beta firmware for those units. The majority of testers are finally reporting successful WAAS acquisition, though you may find that it takes 10 minutes or so the first time. This is a beta release, and while I haven’t heard of it breaking anything, it does happen. Here’s the links:

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Filed Under: Featured, Waypoints

Hands on with the Garmin GPSMAP 78s

May 27, 2010 By 163 Comments

Garmin 78s screens

UPDATE 2: I’ve now posted my hands on review of the Garmin GPSMAP 78s.

UPDATE: GPS City now has the 78s and 78sc in stock.

I’ve had my grubby little hands on the Garmin GPSMAP 78s for a few hours now and I wanted to give you a sneak peek at what you can expect from Garmin’s newest handheld platform, which seems to be a hybrid — taking the best features of the Oregon line and marrying them with the oh so popular 60/76C(S)x series. Before I go any farther, let me say that handheld units are complex beasts and can be very challenging to review. So I have a request; add your comments below and let me know what you want covered in my full review. Some things I’ll be able to answer right away in the comments here; other things might just be beyond my experience to be able to answer at all. But hey, please do chime in.

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Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport Tagged With:

First looks – Garmin nuvi 295W

May 27, 2010 By 2 Comments

Garmin nuvi 295W front

UPDATE: Read my hands on review of the Garmin nuvi 295W.

I’ve had the new WiFi-enabled Garmin nuvi 295W (Amazon) in my hands for 24 hours now and I thought I’d give you a sneak peek ahead of my full review. I don’t have a whole lot to say yet, but I will note the following:

  • The menu looks similar (in places at least) to that found on the forthcoming nuvi 3700 series
  • The hardware does indeed appear to be repurposed from the nuvifone G60, in design if not substance
  • WiFi and email setup are drop dead easy
  • The nuvi 295W has a powered mount, always a welcome addition

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Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS Tagged With:

Garmin nuvi 1100 for the frugal navigator

May 25, 2010 By 12 Comments

Garmin nuvi 1100
UPDATE: I’ve now posted a Garmin nuvi 1100 resource page with links to hands-on reviews.

It was bound to happen. A couple days after my nuvi series disambiguation post, Garmin quietly rolls out another model, the Garmin nuvi 1100. This appears to be a response to $59 Black Friday specials and the everyday ubiquity of $79 PND deals. ‘Tis basically a Garmin nuvi 1200 minus text-to-speech, so you’ll just have to make do with “turn right” rather than “turn right onto Commoditization Boulevard.” There’s no price listed yet, nor does it seem to be available for sale at this point, either online or at brick and mortar retailers. But you can bet a rock bottom dollar that this 3.5” navigator will be hitting store shelves long before Black Friday.

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS Tagged With:

Dissecting the Garmin nuvi series

May 24, 2010 By 41 Comments

nuvi 3790 group It seems that Garmin is trying to create a nuvi for everyone, but with so many models in the marketplace, they’ve also created quite a bit of confusion. So here’s the low down on the various nuvi series available in the US. I’ll go through each series in numerical order; below that is a chart which breaks them down by date of introduction. These are fairly broad strokes — for more details, see my Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

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Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS Tagged With:

Waypoints — May 22nd, 2010

May 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Waypoints_iconWaypoints is a weekly link roundup of (mostly) GPS related odds and ends. To get many of these stories as they break, follow me on Twitter.

All the news that doesn’t fit

Looks like it’s a little bit of everything this week, so I’ll lead with my catch all category for once:

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Filed Under: Featured, Waypoints

Garmin GPSMAP 62 series first pics

May 21, 2010 By 39 Comments

UPDATE 5: Check out my hands on review of the Garmin GPSMAP 62s. I’ve also got pages posted for the GPSMAP 62 and GPSMAP 62st.

UPDATE 4: For a sneak peek at the 62 series interface, check out my hands on review of the Garmin GPSMAP 78s.

UPDATE 3 – It’s official!

UPDATE 2 – I’m now doing hands on testing of the GPSMAP 78 series, which seems to be the same platform as the forthcoming 62 series.

UPDATE – Here are specs (and a new pic above) from Bass Pro. They are showing a price of $499.99 for the 62st and $399.99 for the 62s.

  • Incredibly sensitive and easy to use
  • Preloaded Worldwide DEM basemap plus Topo 100K
  • Brilliant 65K color TFT display
  • Crisp 160×240-pixel resolution
  • 1 GB internal usable memory
  • Includes a variety of essential outdoor apps, including compass, altimeter, and wireless
  • High-speed USB serial interface
  • External GPS output
  • MicroSD card slot (card not included)
  • Runs 18 hours on two AA batteries (not included)

Garmin-GPSMAP-62S The king is dead, long live the king. We now have visual evidence of the existence of the Garmin GPSMAP 62 series, including the successor to the long-reigning 60CSx, which has served as the gold standard for handheld GPS receivers for several years. read more

Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport Tagged With:

Magellan rolls out spring lineup

May 19, 2010 By 2 Comments

Magellan-RoadMate-5045

UPDATE: Read my hands on review of the Magellan Roadmate 3065

Magellan has quietly rolled out ten new RoadMate navigators, including some models bundled with one-time or lifetime map updates. A few are already available at Amazon. Magellan has been steadily improving their interface with recent models, so I’m looking forward to testing at least one of these and reporting back here with a full review.

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Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Magellan auto GPS Tagged With:

My Tracks for Android

May 17, 2010 By 13 Comments

My-Tracks My Tracks is a free Android app that allows you to record and share GPS tracks. Incredibly easy to use, it layers your track onto Google Maps or satellite view (as shown above). Getting the track off your phone is as simple as saving the track, selecting the drop down More button and then Share with Friends, which gives you the options shown below at right. The GPX and KML options attach the file to an email; I love how easy it is to send a track to my computer this way. You can also create waypoints (“markers”) with the app. My Tracks is not a navigation app, but it is a great way to share locations and check the GPS accuracy of your Android phone. I’ve included the QR code below, so you can use a bar code scanner to download the app.

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Filed Under: Android, Android apps, Featured, Mobile, Mobile apps Tagged With:

Waypoints — May 15th, 2010

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Waypoints_iconWaypoints is a weekly link roundup of (mostly) GPS related odds and ends. To get many of these stories as they break, follow me on Twitter.

Handheld GPS news

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Filed Under: Featured, Waypoints
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