Is the Delorme Earthmate better than the Ebay "GPS mouse"?

mykolJay · 06-22-2004, 10:21 AM

From experience, do u think it's worth it paying more.

Reliability?
Locking with sattelites?
Anything else?

I have some gift certificates to Staples so I was thinking on using them for the Delorme.

Thanks for your input.

hijinks21 · 06-22-2004, 11:21 AM

i can lock on to satelites in around 25 seconds with the earthmate.. i would recommend it to anyone.. at least the USB version

jpelzer · 06-22-2004, 11:25 AM

And I've had good luck the the eBay mouse... BUT... It takes freakin' forever for the eBay mouse to arrive... I waited almost 3 weeks. So the Earthmate has the fact that you can pick it up on a store shelf going for it.

GPS technology is not complicated... At this point the market has settled down, you're not going to find much differenced in these low-end receivers. You'll be happy with either one.

Cheers!

Sensor · 06-22-2004, 12:00 PM

I hated the Delorme Earthmate. Under my steep Dodge Intrepid's windshield, I'd often lose signal while driving, and it wouldn't have enough time to lock even at traffic signals. My spite for the item was only increased when I found that it wouldn't work on a Wake-from-Standby unless I disconnected and reconnected it, so I had to have my computer shutdown completely while I had it. Therefore, when I started my car I had to wait a minute-or-two for it to boot up, then I had to wait a minute-or-two to get a signal lock, and if I left my driveway before that it'd often not lock on my entire 30-minute commute to work.

Admittedly, using Delorme's specific GPS drivers and Street Atlas 2003 would work after coming from Standby, but Street Atlas 2003 may be the only thing I hate more than that stupid yellow Delorme. Without street-road locking, I was always 10 feet off the road (which I didn't know was a problem with the maps or with the GPS), which made all the directions it may have given me incorrect, and just didn't seem friendly with a Xenarc touchscreen.

Admittedly, I've read of others who have modified the Delorme to take power from another source to alleviate certain problems, but why should it be my job to make their product work? The only thing good about the Delorme was that the multi-colored LED on it let me know just how badly it was receiving satellite signals (Green, Yellow, Red).

Since then I've switched to Deluo's GPS mouse, powered from the PS2 keyboard and sending data through the COM port, and I highly recommend it. Satellite signal locks come faster, are lost less often, and it doesn't require special drivers to work (with the COM port, I haven't used the USB portion, though I'd assume the same wake-from-standby problems exist on Deluo's USB). Furthermore, it's weather-resistant nature lends itself to an external mounting, if I someday find a nice way to put it on my roof (by the way, does anyone know a nice way to externally mount these? Like the plastic cover that I see on my friend's Honda Accord?).

Given the similar price points (Actually, I believe Deluo's is cheaper than Delorme's), I'd recommend Deluo's GPS to anyone who asked. Sorry I don't have more advice regarding the generic black eBay ones that are available.

rgardjr · 06-22-2004, 12:18 PM

I've got an Earthmate and it works great, but I had the same experience that Sensor had with hibernate not working. I modified a USB cable to provide constant power to the Earthmate, but it still wouldn't come back from hibernate some times. Eventually I solved my problems by purchasing a serial cable from Delorme and not using USB with the Earthmate. I have absolutely no problems now running via the serial port. I think the cable was an extra $30 dollars from Delorme, but you can also hack up the USB cable to make your own. I think the Delou mouse is cheaper and I've read elsewhere that they are running a sale right now. I just checked their site and they've got a great deal right now on the serial mouse bundle with Routis for $139 plus shipping (USB cable is $10 more).

http://www.deluoelectronics.com/cust...&cat=17&page=1

The site shows $149, but when you add it to the cart it comes up as $139. A great bonus is that you'll get a free upgrade to the new version of Routis which is coming out any day. Hope this helps!

Supermike · 06-22-2004, 12:40 PM

I have the earthemate and hate it - does not work properly with Streets and Trips (though that is not what I will be using it with). I also have the wake up problems that everybody esle has noted - IMHO it is a pain to use and I would never wire it into a carputer since it is so flakey. There is just something wrong with a USB GPS that needs a USB to serial driver to work (at least with Streets and Trips)- might as well use a serial GPS which seems to be what Sensor found the least troublesome. I think that I will get the Deluo's GPS mouse like Sensor has since he seems happy with it.

wi77iam · 06-22-2004, 01:04 PM

Just one word - WAAS (is that a word?) Earthmate has it, DeLuo doesn't (at least they don't list it in their specs, which means they probably don't have it).

With the newest drivers, the Earthmate works with every program that I've tried - SA, Routis, Mappoint, etc.

MoFo · 06-22-2004, 01:11 PM

The Earthmate has been working pretty good for me. If i let it lock before I start moving I have no problem. Even if its after hibernation. I usually initialize it with hyperterminal on start up also. Then I use it with Routis 2004 (thanks to Curiosity's Xport software).
Every once in a while it will lose lock for a moment. I have it sitting on the rear deck towards the corner. Theres another guy that is covering his with plasti dip to make it weather proof. I'm waiting for him to give more info on how its working out and then I may do it to mine. I'm pretty sure that if mounted outside the car, the Earthmate would work flawlessly.

Supermike · 06-22-2004, 01:35 PM

Wi77iam, thanks, I am planning on using Routis if it gets embedded in Frodo or MediaCar, will hang onto the Earthmate till then and give it a 2nd chance

My experiences with it to this point however are still frustrating.

veetid · 06-22-2004, 01:38 PM

I love my Earthmate... I purchased the serial cable from delorme and now its a standard NMEA serial devices... No drivers to install and it works with all GPS software and standby, hibernate.. I also used some "Plasti-Dip" and dipped my Earthmate and covered it with black plastic.... This made it 100% waterproof and also not yellow... Now that it is waterproof I put it on the top of my car and usually get 10 sats and lock on in seconds...

rando · 06-22-2004, 02:19 PM

You can take apart the connector on the supplied USB cable and turn it into a serial cable. Total cost about $5.

mykolJay · 06-22-2004, 03:31 PM

Thank for the input. But now I'm more confused.

Anyone else have experience with the GPS mouse?
Does it lock quickly?
Does it stay locked?
How is the accuracy? is that a software or hardware problem? I really want to be accurate (100 feet off may bother me if I miss the intersection).

MoFo · 06-22-2004, 11:48 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by mykolJay

Thank for the input. But now I'm more confused.

Anyone else have experience with the GPS mouse?
Does it lock quickly?
Does it stay locked?
How is the accuracy? is that a software or hardware problem? I really want to be accurate (100 feet off may bother me if I miss the intersection).

When inside my car, most of the time it locks within a few seconds or max 2 minutes. When outside it locks within a few seconds always.

Stays locked for the most part. Every once in a while it will lose lock for a few seconds.

Great accuracy. With Street Atlas it would be off but that was a software problem. With Routis..its perfect.

Supermike · 06-23-2004, 11:05 AM

Rando, thanks for that info, did not realize that it has serial and USB, will look up the hack on that in Google.

Talon · 06-23-2004, 07:49 PM

I just picked an Earthmate up at Compusa a couple days ago... so far it seems to lock within 1/2 minute or so max (generally less), although I have had it drop lock a once - just for secs