BlackTahoe26s

Which is better? Is it user preference or does the laptop GPS far outweigh the regular GPS? I had a chance to test the Magellan Roadmate 700 and it was very nice with all the voice features etc...I searched and read up on laptop gps software and the USB GPS stuff since I am not going to waste money and buy it and then decide the regular GPS is better....however....I would just like to know....what do you prefer? I am trying to make a decision to keep the laptop and get GPS for it......or just sell/trade the laptop for a GPS unit.....Thanks a lot!

The negative I see with the laptop is mounting is somewhere in my truck....what would be nice is if I could get some kind of extender cable for the screen and mount that in one location and then mount the actual laptop on top of the center console or flush in it so the keyboard etc would show.

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blessani

I prefer my standalone TomTom. It seems that most pocket PC apps are far superior to that on PCs (which is a bit backwards).

I use TomTom, I-Go and Navman software on my Navman 510 - it beats all the laptop derivatives by miles. But I do have Freedrive on my carputer.

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depend what your looking for really. The standalone GPS is probably better in some respects, that said you can run Tom Tom an a laptop via an emulator. The Pc is far more versatile tho and expandable. All I want is for GPS to get me from A to B without me getting lost and they are all highly capable of doing that. I dont care if Mr Spok or the terminator tells me to turn right or left so long as I can understand what is being said. That said I have loads of different voices for free drive so its still an option. The PC stuff also fits in with everything else I want like MP3 and all that which you will never get with standalone.

BlackTahoe26s

Thanks for the replies. I would like ot keep the laptop and use it as only a GPS unit since I have 2 thinkpad's I can use one just for GPS. I am currently reading up on removing the LCD and getting and extension cable to I can have the LCD in one area that is nicely visible and the bottom part of the laptop in another area that is reachable to type on... I just want something with great GPS and Voice. I know the laptop sound is not that loud so I was thinking of just getting some small external speakers which I can hide easily but will be loud and run from the speaker jack on the laptop.

If anyone is interested in checking out my truck this is going in you can see it here: http://blacktahoe26s.tripod.com/

If you know any good areas to mount it let me know....I would like to maybe put it in the front part of the center console where the cupholders etc are....or maybe just remove the front part of the console and make something to fit in....I love projects but I am the kind of person that's like ot have everything done in one day which I know will not happen with this.....but I shall begin this project...I can see how I want it to look, but I think the hardest part will be removing the LCD from the laptop and getting the extension cable.

skuller

damn man, that's a hot looking tahoe

i tried magellan roadmate 700, 760, 800, and tom tom go 700 for a roadtrip
my overall best, magellan 800. millions of POI which is extremely useful on roadtrip

for gps on laptop, i tried street n trips 06, iguidance 2.xx & 3. street n trips totally sucks

if you don't want to put a monitor to fit nicely on your tahoe, go get a roadmate800.
laptop gps have a lot of benefits compared to the stand alone gps. but if you have all the benefit from carpc already, don't bother

installing a carpc to make it looks good is pain in the a**, I'll pick roadmate if gps is the only thing im looking for

BlackTahoe26s

Thanksfor the comments skuller.... I can get a Magellan 700 which I used for 3 days for $290.00 which I think is pretty cheap. I just need to find someone to buy this laptop now

I don't have a carpc which is why I wanted to do the whole laptop GPS since I get the best of both. I am just worried if I buy the software and gps stuff for the laptop that I may be disappointed compared to the Magellan 700 I tested... I just don't want to end up buying 2 things ya know?

skuller

290?!? is that new?
that's pretty cheap

you won't find anything superior from laptop if you only need the gps

roadmate 700 for 290 is much better choice, just thinking how to mount the monitor makes me tired already

BlackTahoe26s

Yeah I know 290 is cheap. It is the one I used for 3 days. It is 2 weeks old...I am buying it from a guy down the street who just bought a Range with navigation in it so no need for this any more....so he offered it to me...


I dont mind the custom work being as though I did all the wiring and installing of the stuff currently in my truck....when I do stuff like this myself it makes it that much better and I can say I did it....but I think I would rather just go with the GPS unit and I guess the 2nd laptop I can just.....I dont know.....I'll find something to do with it. Thanks to all of you who replied!

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skuller

i can pm you my address to send your second laptop
good choice with the gps

BlackTahoe26s

Hahaha

BlackTahoe26s

Well guys,

I broke down and got the Magellan Roadmate 760! I love it!!!

Now I have 2 IBM Thinkpads....I only need one!!

tfgbd

Just so you know, the newer Magellen RoadMates like the 800, 3000T, 6000T, etc all run Windows CE (4.2 or 5.0). The OS is actually easily "unlocked" with a built in service menu accessed by pressing ++--+- on the device's keypad. Once you have hacked your device, you can do pretty much anything you want with it. Many Pocket PC and other Windows CE OS programs should work fine either out of the box or with a bit of hacking around with compatability dlls.

If would be interesing if the motherboard had some place where you could solder a CF slot or standard USB connector. Its also possible the HD itself is already in an internal CF slot... I'd love to see if it would be possible to connect a larger USB touchscreen or USB HD to this. If so, it would be a great base for a carputer! (TOMTOM!)

Really, this is almost as customizible as a full x86 carputer as it will run most Pocket PC software and of course there is much better Navigation software for WinCE than desktop Windows. You should be able to easily install TomTom on the Roadmates if you do not like the built in navigation program from Magellen. Best of all, you could run TomTom Navigator without the performance hits of a freaking emulator!

For more infomation on hacking your Roadmate and some screenshots, check out this thread here:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...TOPIC_ID=45432

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