Hardware Archives - Page 21 of 33

Garmin zumo 450

January 4, 2007 By Rich Owings 4 Comments

Garminzumo450 UPDATE: Check out our Garmin zumo 450 review.

Garmin today announced a second model in its zumo line of GPS navigation devices for motorcycles — the Garmin zumo 450. Basically, this is a stripped down version of the zumo 550, offering all of its features except for Bluetooth, XM satellite radio compatibility, and text-to-speech (the ability to call out street names).

Here’s a link to the the full press release announcing the Garmin zumo 450, which is expected to be available in March 2007, carrying a sure to be discounted suggested retail price of $799.

Filed Under: Garmin, Hardware

Garmin nuvi 680

January 4, 2007 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

Nuvi680weather
Garmin today announced the Garmin nuvi 680, a new flagship GPS navigation device in the nuvi line. As expected, this new nuvi (couldn’t resist) offers dynamic content from MSN Direct, including traffic, weather, gas prices and movie times. Offering content in 100 U.S. markets, 12 months of MSN Direct service will be included with the nuvi 680. After that it will cost $49.95 a year or $129.95 for the lifetime of the device. MSN Direct service is delivered via an FM signal, and the 680 comes with a receiver for it.

Otherwise, the nuvi 680 seems to be identical to the nuvi 660. Here’s the press release announcing the Garmin nuvi 680 and Garmin’s other new MSN Direct connected device, the Garmin StreetPilot c580. The nuvi 680 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007, at a sure to be discounted suggested retail price of $999.99. I’m including a few screenshots as we get our first look at the nuvi 680.

Filed Under: Garmin, Hardware, Location based services

GPS Wish List

January 3, 2007 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

The items presented here may not rear their head in 2007, though they aren’t so far fetched as to be out of the question. In addition to features listed in yesterday’s 2007 GPS predictions post, my wish list includes:

Personal locator beacon

A personal locator beacon could become a very popular feature for handheld (or even auto) GPS
receivers, with many a worried spouse ready to shell out big bucks for it.

Voice commands

Voice recognition has made major advances in the past couple of years, but the auto environment is inherently noisy, with extraneous sounds coming from the
exterior and interior (music, audio books and conversation). Pioneer and others are trying this out, but don’t look for mass adoption yet.

Filed Under: Hardware, The business of GPS

GPS predictions for 2007

January 2, 2007 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

2007 is here, and since we just reviewed 2006, it seems appropriate to prognosticate a bit on 2007 (and beyond). Though there is not always a strong line of demarcation between the three, I’m going to break this up into three posts over the next few days, covering GPS predictions, my GPS wish list, and GPS fantasies. Today we’ll look at…

GPS predictions

2007 will see major gains in several areas:

Connectivity

Dash Navigation is leading the way here, with their upcoming release of GPS navigators that use (supposedly) anonymous cell phone data to ferret out live traffic conditions. Their challenge will be getting enough users to achieve critical mass.

TomTom already has connectivity via cell phones through their TomTom Plus services. Look for them to expand the capabilities associated with this program and push it more heavily.

Garmin is taking baby steps with their nuvi 670 and 680, but they are bound to be working on something bigger than that. The question is, what will their major connectivity play look like?

With WiMAX a ways away, and users with cell phone data plans being far from ubiquitous, GPS manufacturers are limited in what they can do right now. This is a year for them to get their feet wet and try some things out.

With connectivity comes security risks though. Look for some major holes to appear as navigation software engineers face a steep security learning curve.

Filed Under: Hardware, The business of GPS Tagged With: GPS predictions

Magellan RoadMate 2000 update

November 29, 2006 By Rich Owings 26 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to spend some quality time with a Magellan RoadMate 2000, and I learned some interesting things, like the fact that this is not really a "crossover" GPS unit designed for backcountry use! Check out my Magellan RoadMate 2000 review for the update.

Magellan RoadMate 2200T

Filed Under: Hardware, Magellan

I got my nuvi!

November 29, 2006 By Rich Owings Leave a Comment

Nuvi_660_menu_screen_1
Yep, I finally broke down and bought a nuvi 660. From GPSNow of course (and I noticed today that Amazon’s price has gone back up). I gotta say, I was impressed with the speed of delivery. I ordered my nuvi on the day after Thanksgiving (Friday), and it was here Monday afternoon. Total shipping and handling? $7.55 for USPS Priority Mail. And no sales tax. Man, you can’t beat that!

So far, I’ve been very pleased with the nuvi. As always, Garmin comes through with very intuitive menus. This is one of their true strengths.

What else have I noticed?

Filed Under: Garmin, Hardware

Bushnell GPS to feature aerial photos and satellite imagery

November 27, 2006 By Rich Owings 5 Comments

Bushnell_gps_with_aerial_photo

Bushnell has announced two new handheld GPS receivers that can accommodate aerial photos and satellite imagery (and apparently USGS topo maps). This comes hot on the heels of Lowrance announcing their iWAY 600C auto receiver. Assuming someone else doesn’t beat them to the punch, Bushnell will have the first non-PDA, consumer handheld GPS with this capability. Outdoor enthusiasts have been waiting a long time for a ruggedized GPS with this capability.

There are two models — the Onix200 and Onix200CR — the only apparent difference being that the CR has a color screen with higher resolution. Amazon says that the Bushnell Onix200 will be available sometime after December 22. The Onix200CR is due in February 2007.

Bushnell is hyping a screen layering feature, but it appears to only layer a navigation compass on the screen, rather than allow you to blend topos and aerial imagery. I’m a little disappointed that you can’t layer topo maps and aerial photos, but another concern is cost.

At first glance this doesn’t look too bad — $1 per map or photo, 25 for $20 or an unlimited annual subscription for $79. Which begs the question, after a year do I own the imagery or do I have to download it again every time I want to change images?

And consider this quote: "The ONIX200 series unit will store up to 12 photography (satellite or aerial) downloads at one time. Choose images of the same land at different levels of zoom, or broaden your coverage area by storing photos of separate areas."

With only 32 MB of user memory, the Onix200 series will accept only 12 images. And from that quote, and the layout of the download site, I assume that each time you change zoom level, it’s a different image and therefore another map or photo you are charged for.

Sounds a bit limited to me. Maybe Garmin will bring this capability to CES.

Filed Under: Aerial imagery, GPS News, Handheld/Sport, Hardware, Other handheld GPS

Garmin zumo 550 review

November 20, 2006 By Rich Owings 15 Comments

UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For a look at current models, check out our GPS for motorcycles page. The Garmin zumo 550 GPS is designed especially for motorcycles. The zumo comes pre-loaded with maps of Europe or North America, and Bluetooth allows for hands free cell phone calling through the cyclist’s helmet. This high-end unit includes the SiRFstar III chipset for excellent reception, an MP3 player, and optional XM radio, traffic and weather. TMC traffic alerts are another available alternative. read more

Filed Under: Auto, Garmin, Garmin auto GPS, GPS Reviews, Hardware Tagged With: Garmin zumo 550

GPS for geocachers

November 13, 2006 By Rich Owings 32 Comments

Etrexhmap Last updated December 16, 2009

Geocaching is an extremely popular sport, and I’d venture to say that over 99% of geocachers use a GPS. But which one to choose? I’ll narrow the field, look at choices in multiple price ranges, and delve into other uses, mapping software, etc. By the way, all the units below have a high-sensitivity chipset for superior reception under canopy and in natural or urban canyons.

Budget GPS for geocaching

The Garmin eTrex Venture HC has a sunlight-readable color screen and the ability to accept detailed maps, such as the free Garmin-compatible topo maps available for most states. It comes with a USB cable for transferring waypoints, tracks and routes to and from your computer. The retail price is $200, but I typically see it selling for about $115 to $130.

A lower cost model, the Garmin eTrex H, has a monochrome screen and you lose the cable and the ability to load maps. The eTrex H is available for around $80 at the time of this update. I highly recommend getting the Venture HC instead.

Another budget model worth considering is the Geomate.jr, which comes with 250,000 caches pre-loaded!

Filed Under: Hardware

GPS with MP3 players

November 10, 2006 By Rich Owings 4 Comments

Nuvi_660_center_mp3_1
Many auto GPS receivers come with an integrated MP3 player, allowing you to control musical selections in your car via the GPS. Some even work with Audible audio book (.aa) files, or come with XM Radio receivers. Typically, playback is paused when navigation directions are announced; some units even rewind a couple of seconds when the music starts back.

There are a number of things to consider when purchasing a GPS receiver with an MP3 player; speaker quality, whether or not you can import playlists, the amount of disk storage available for files (if the unit doesn’t use an SD/MMC card for storage), how intuitive menus are, etc. The variations are too great to delve into here. Our GPS reviews link to many user reviews, so dig deep and check them out, or find a message board for the unit you are interested in, and search or ask.

Filed Under: Garmin, Hardware, Lowrance, Magellan, TomTom