Rich Owings, Author at GPS Tracklog

Using Garmin nuvis for fleet tracking

May 7, 2012 By Rich Owings 1 Comment

Did you know you can use a Garmin nuvi or dezl for fleet tracking? Yes, you can dispatch and message vehicles, track them using a Web interface and more. In order to do this though, you’ll have to turn to one of Garmin’s Mobile Resource Management (MRM) partners. These companies have taken Garmin’s Fleet Management Interface toolkit and built an end to end solution around it. So in addition to the cost of the navigation unit, you’ll also be paying for a transponder, data usage and access to a fleet tracking Web interface.
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Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS Tagged With: Fleet tracking, GPS Tracking, Telematics

DeLorme inReach 1.5 for iOS and Android clears the FCC

May 4, 2012 By Rich Owings 2 Comments

This one is for you iPhone toting backcountry types. It looks like the DeLorme inReach two-way satellite communicator is finally going to see an iPhone version. Or to be more precise, there’s actually a new model, the DeLorme inReach 1.5 that will be compatible with both iOS and Android.

Filed Under: DeLorme handheld GPS, Featured, Handheld/Sport Tagged With: DeLorme inReach, iOS, iPhone, Satellite Communicators

Garmin Forerunner 910XT

May 3, 2012 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

The Garmin Forerunner 910XT is a multi-sport watch, aimed at triathletes. It updates the 310XT and, as Garmin’s top-of-the-line sportswatch, is ideal for running, swimming and cycling. It is also available bundled with a heart rate monitor.
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Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, GPS Reviews Tagged With: Garmin Forerunner 910XT

Geomate.jr to be revived after latest acquisition?

May 2, 2012 By Rich Owings 11 Comments

The geocaching one-trick-pony Geomate.jr may be about to get a second life. We reported back in January that the product had been discontinued, but if you login to update your Geomate.jr today, you’ll get a message saying the page is temporarily out of service. The interesting part is that the page is “signed” by Brand 44.

Filed Under: Featured, Geocaching, Handheld/Sport, Other handheld GPS Tagged With: Geomate.jr

Top 10 GPS for April 2012

May 1, 2012 By Rich Owings 26 Comments

It’s time to look back at our reader’s favorite reviews for the past month (which seems to be a good indication of what folks are researching for purchases). With few new releases out there, the rankings were once again pretty static; one thing worth mentioning though, is the arrival of the new Garmin nuvi 3590LMT, debuting at number five on the auto chart. And for the second month in a row, Garmin makes a clean sweep in both the auto and handheld categories, with the nuvi 1450LMT and eTrex 20 continuing to hold the top spots. On to the charts…

Filed Under: Featured, More GPS News, Top ten GPS

Garmin Montana shutdown issue

April 24, 2012 By Rich Owings 32 Comments

I’ve been trying to do some barometric altimeter field testing for awhile now, and I keep running into problems on nearly every outing. On the last foray, my Montana 600 shut down twice. I’ve had this happen before and it seems to be due to vibration. This time it was while mountain biking, but I’ve had it happen when hiking too. read more

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

Garmin Trailhead Series–Appalachian Trail review

April 23, 2012 By Rich Owings 4 Comments

I started using the Garmin Trailhead Series Appalachian Trail map soon after it came out last year, so it’s high time I posted a review. It includes a routable, 1:24,000 scale topo map of the entire AT, complete with a searchable points of interest (POI) database. read more

Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport Tagged With: Appalachian Trail, Garmin Trailhead Series

Garmin trail map downloads now work in BaseCamp

April 18, 2012 By Rich Owings 4 Comments

While prepping a review of the Garmin Trailhead Series Appalachian Trail map, I wanted to verify that it couldn’t be used in BaseCamp. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did indeed work! The screenshot above shows a route on the AT in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. read more

Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport Tagged With: Garmin BaseCamp, Garmin Trailhead Series, Rails to Trails, US TrailMaps

Does Garmin have a new PND pricing strategy?

April 16, 2012 By Rich Owings 12 Comments

Last month ABI Research issued a report saying that Personal Navigation Device (PND) manufacturers seem to be “moving away from mass market consumer goods to becoming low volume, high value.” While I take issue with their analysis showing that “nearly one-third of all products offered on the market are above the US$500 mark,” I do think they are onto something.

The fact is, we’re already seeing this trend. Garmin may be stepping up enforcement of their minimum advertised price (MAP) program — I’m not seeing PNDs discounted very much, especially at the high-end. We’re still seeing the upper-end of the Advanced nuvi series selling at their list price on Amazon, a full six months after these units started shipping. Significant discounts are mostly relegated to prior generation units. read more

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS

Garmin nuvi 3590LMT review

April 9, 2012 By Rich Owings 270 Comments

Hands on review

The Garmin nüvi 3590LMT is the company’s new top of the line auto navigation unit. As part of their Prestige series, this model basically offers the same feature set as the nuvi 3490LMT, but with a larger 5″ screen. Which means you get a bevy of customization options, the new Exit Services feature, HD traffic and a large glass capacitive touchscreen.

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS, GPS Reviews Tagged With: Garmin nuvi 3590LMT