Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Sports and Fitness GPS : GARMIN 010-10644-00 Speed/Cadence Sensor



The handlebar mount and cadence and speed sensors went on quickly and worked flawlessly. However, when I first received the package in the mail, I was concerned I had ordered the wrong item. I have a Forerunner 305 wrist-mounted GPS, and all of the packaging for this product references the Edge GPS sensor, so I didn't know whether or not this would even work with the Forerunner. There are very slight differences in navigating the menus to set up the cadence sensor between the Forerunner and the Edge, but the cadence sensor does indeed work very well with the Forerunner, so Forerunner owners order without fear!


Mobile and PC GPS PDA : GiSTEQ GPS USB Dongle



Purchased on June 20, received today. I got the black version of this item. Plugged in and installed the drivers that came on the included CD without any problems. I bought this item to use with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009. S&T requires GPS receivers to operate on NMEA 2.0 standard and at 4800 baud rate. The 4800 baud rate is a must if you are going to use this with S&T. That's where my problems started.

Marine GPS Units and Chartplotters : Garmin Premium - Heart rate monitor



This heart rate monitor has a soft fabric strap and is more comfortable than ever before. Plus, it's optimized for use in congested areas like gym classes and starting lines.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Handheld GPS and Navigation : Garmin GPS 60CSx Handheld GPS Navigator


The first reviewer didn't really do his research before he purchased this or else he would know that it only comes with basemaps. The other fact he would know is that that's how all GPS vendors work. They want you to buy their maps separately and only their maps will work on their hardware.

Now, I previously owned a 60CS which I loved after trading in my Vista. With the newly upgraded 60CSx you get a couple of additional functions that make it much better than the 60CS. First, there's the SiRF III chipset. It is by far the best chipset out there right now. It's super sensitive and super fast. You can lock onto satellites even in your house in many cases! No longer will you loose reception in tricky situations. Most of the time you can even keep the 60CSx in your backpack and it will still track your movements.

The other highly requested function for many years is the expansion memory, now in the form of a microSD. Now you can load almost half of the U.S. into 512mb of microSD. Later, larger capacity microSD cards will be released that will allow you to loan the entire US! That's awesome!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

GPS Trackers : Magellan RoadMate 1700 7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS


Perfect for SUVs, trucks and RVs, the Magellan RoadMate 1700 boasts a generous, ultra-thin 7-inch touch screen ideal for large vehicles and easy viewing on the road. Premium features include: OneTouch favorites menu, AAA TourBook and Member Roadside Assistance, QuickSpell with SmartCity search, highway exit POI, spoken street name guidance, plus so many more!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

GPS System Accessories : Garmin A/C Power Cable for n?vi Portable GPS


The Garmin Nuvi AC charger comes with adapters for various voltages. It works as you would expect. I think it should have been included with the unit as standard.

I bought this for my wife who travels every month. She often has to stay in hotels, so this lets her to charge her GPS in her room

I was happy with this product, the shipping time was quick and the price was great! When I searched for this product in several different stores, it was never available and if I wanted any of the stores to order it in for me, the price was much higher than what I paid for it on Amazon.

Monday, October 12, 2009

GPS Mapping Software : Magellan 2009 One-Time U.S. Map Update for


Easy update by inserting SD card into Maestro 3250 SD slot and resetting unit. It now takes about 20 seconds longer to reboot the unit. Once the SD card is read, GPS asks to sleect your region (Lower 48 SD), etc. If you check your User Options/Map info, it will display Map version 7.0.

NOTE: you must backup using another SD card. I tried backing up the addresses and the Update SD will not let me. You cannot copy the update to a larger 4gb SD card from the original 2gb card.

Update your software to v. 3.12 first from Magellan website. Remove old sd card,install new card,hit reset button.That's it.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Vehicle GPS : Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator


I received this GPS system about a week ago, and I haven't found one thing to complain about yet. The features are great, and all entirely user friendly. No need to read the manual, just plug it in and go! The Garmin Nuvi 255W connects to satellites extremely fast--So when I get in my car and turn it on, we're pretty much ready to go immediately. The new display posts speed limit signs of major roads flush left on the screen, which is a new feature that is also really helpful, if you're driving in an unfamiliar area. The widescreen display makes it possible to view the names of roads that you are passing on the screen--which makes it much easier to differentiate between which road to turn on when there are two streets on your right (not clearly labeled) that are only one house apart...which has happened to me twice... Also, the fact that the Garmin Nuvi 255W speaks street names is also helpful in times like these. In addition, another feature I find to be immensely helpful is how fast the Nuvi 255W recalculates your position if you do miss a turn. I love the detour feature, it saved me a ton of time when I heard there was an accident on the highway and took back roads that I would have never known existed! I would recommend the Garmin Nuvi 255W to anyone looking for a fast, reliable, and easy to use GPS system.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Sports and Fitness GPS : Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart


I like this thing quite a lot. I've had it for about three weeks, and have used it on 12 workouts so far. I use it primarily for running, with biking a secondary usage. The main reason I wanted it was for the instantaneous readout of distance, running pace and heart rate, the latter needed for the speed work I want to do this running season.

The core functionality (distance and heart rate monitoring) works perfectly. There's none of the signal drops I've had with other heart monitors. Once the satellites are initially acquired, I've only had one dropout when I was outside. The initial acquisition of the satellites can be quirky and can take some time. The accuracy (according to the readout) is +/- 25ft, depending on how many satellites can be found. I've compared the distance measurement on the GPS with a known, measured distance on one of the trails I run on (the Chicago lakefront path). The GPS always increments a mile when I'm within 5 or 10 feet of the mile marker sign on the path. Well, I guess that's the least I should expect from a $350 GPS unit! Of course it's bigger than a normal running stopwatch, but that hasn't bothered me at all. The heart rate strap is also very comfortable and well-designed.

The display is crisp and has one outstanding feature: The information presented on the various pages can be completely user-customized. The default screen layout is rather poor, but in just a few steps I could replace it with the information I wanted to see while I run. There are almost 40 different data fields you can choose from for display. Examples: current pace, average lap pace, average run pace, heartrate, distance.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

PDA, Mobile and PC GPS : GiSTEQ GPS USB Dongle


Purchased on June 20, received today. I got the black version of this item. Plugged in and installed the drivers that came on the included CD without any problems. I bought this item to use with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009. S&T requires GPS receivers to operate on NMEA 2.0 standard and at 4800 baud rate. The 4800 baud rate is a must if you are going to use this with S&T. That's where my problems started.

Although this item is NMEA 2.0 compliant, the default baud rate was set to 38400. S&T 2009 kept saying that either the data being sent/received by GPS receiver was not NMEA 2.0 compatible or the baud rate was incorrect. After a lot of browsing through different GPS forums did not help, I visited the GiSTEQ website. To my surprise, the Forums on the GiSTEQ website have no discussion area for the GPS USB dongle - even though there are (at the time of this review) discussion areas for other GiSTEQ products.

Marine GPS Units and Chartplotters : Garmin GPSMap 76 Handheld GPS


Before my GPS purchase, I considered a number of Magellan units in addition to some in the Garmin E Trex series. I finally decided on the Garmin Map76.

In addition to being relatively easy to use, I preferred the slightly larger screen of the Map76 over the other units. Since I was purchasing the unit to use while sea kayaking, I found the screen on the Map76 was much easier to read in the sunlight than the smaller screens on the E-Trex models. In addition, you can upload map data into this unit. (Although the unit includes a basemap, Garmin also manufactures a number of optional mapping products which cover roads, waterways and topographical features in more detail). For kayaking, I use the optional BlueCharts which is essentially like having Nautical maps at your fingertips. (These are sold by regions and tend to be a bit expensive however).

Friday, October 2, 2009

Handheld GPS and Navigation : Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With


I like this thing quite a lot. I've had it for about three weeks, and have used it on 12 workouts so far. I use it primarily for running, with biking a secondary usage. The main reason I wanted it was for the instantaneous readout of distance, running pace and heart rate, the latter needed for the speed work I want to do this running season.

The core functionality (distance and heart rate monitoring) works perfectly. There's none of the signal drops I've had with other heart monitors. Once the satellites are initially acquired, I've only had one dropout when I was outside. The initial acquisition of the satellites can be quirky and can take some time. The accuracy (according to the readout) is +/- 25ft, depending on how many satellites can be found. I've compared the distance measurement on the GPS with a known, measured distance on one of the trails I run on (the Chicago lakefront path). The GPS always increments a mile when I'm within 5 or 10 feet of the mile marker sign on the path. Well, I guess that's the least I should expect from a $350 GPS unit! Of course it's bigger than a normal running stopwatch, but that hasn't bothered me at all. The heart rate strap is also very comfortable and well-designed.

My Blog List