Help choosing GPS within 48h

Creoden · 10-17-2006, 12:13 AM

I am in the market for a GPS Receiver; the problem is I need it within 48 hours, so it appears that I am stuck with buying one from a Brick and Mortar store such as Best Buy. I have looked at what they have available and made a small chart, It appears that the Pharos Igps-500 is the best because of the chipset, but it looks the most cumbersome as it has to have a USB dongle attached to it, and then the USB cable attached to that.

I would like one that just either has a USB cable coming off of it, or just a USB port on it. Along with one that would allow an external antenna, but for that most likely I am looking at some form of OEM one that would be needed.

Here is the info I was able to gather

Pharos iGPS-500 (Comes with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007)
Price: $130
Specs: http://www.pharosgps.com/support/spec_igps500.htm
Chipset: SiRF StarIII GSC3f

Pharos iGPS-360 (Comes with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006)
Price: $130
Specs: http://www.pharosgps.com/support/igps360_spec.htm
Chipset: SiRF StarIIe/LP

Earthmate LT-20 GPS:
Price: $100
Specs: http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELi...minisite=10020
Chipset: SiGe RF chip SE4100L & ST Micro Vespucci STA2051

Garmin GPS-18
Price: $130
Specs: http://www.garmin.com/products/gps18/
Chipset: ??
Note: no NMEA Output

Any help would be greatly apreciated...

I have looked over other GPS threads, and keep getting too confused...

2k1Toaster · 10-17-2006, 12:44 AM

The M$ S&T GPS work really well and the cable is detachable for easy routing. I got mine from Circuit City with instant rebates for about $60 with the software included. Works well. You can hide it in the dash, and all will be peachy.

skuller · 10-19-2006, 12:14 PM

buy the pharos 500, return it after you're done with it.
then buy BU-353

2k1Toaster · 10-19-2006, 03:03 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by skuller

buy the pharos 500, return it after you're done with it.
then buy BU-353

the little pharos that comnes with S&T is wonderful. Always gets a lock from cold boot wihin about 5 seconds. It also has the availability to takie it off the usb cable, and plug it into a bluetooth transmitter, or a compactFlash/PCMCIA slot adaptor. So really 3 different formats. I live in Colorado and there are a quite a few mountains. I live on cheyenne mountain. With all the cloudy skies, feet of snow, 14000 foot mountains and interference from NORAD, it works like a charm. And why not for such a low price. Only downside I have had so far, not magnetic mount. Comes with a suction ciup. But to be able to stick it in a bletooth adaptor and use it on my phone or PDA or bring to anotehr car without hving t take out my propretary cable from routed in m ydash more than makes up for it.

jeffreyd_tx · 10-19-2006, 03:24 PM

The Garmin rocks for me. I get a sat lock by the time iguidance launched. It looks real nice mounted on the car too.

skuller · 10-19-2006, 03:31 PM

bu 353 lowest price I found, $66
well, i don't need all the bluetooth thingy.. $$ matter

2k1Toaster · 10-19-2006, 04:50 PM

pharos: http://cgi.ebay.com/MICROSOFT-STREET...QQcmdZViewItem

$30 + $7s/h

lower than $66. And it comes with the USB cord and Streets and Trips 2006 so you have software too. Also I'm not saying that it is bluetooth, it comes with usb cord and you can buy a bluietooth adaptor. Basically expandable.

Expandable for under $40, not expandable for over $65.... hmmmm

lovingGPS · 10-18-2007, 12:56 AM

If you buy it on Ebay used, can you still use it? I thought Microsoft doesn't allow you to buy software that is used or register to someone else, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. Can the license for S&T be transfered to the new owner? Does this Pharos hardware work with any other software? I searched downloads.com and wasn't able to find anything that works with this hardware.

2k1Toaster · 10-20-2007, 02:27 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by lovingGPS

If you buy it on Ebay used, can you still use it? I thought Microsoft doesn't allow you to buy software that is used or register to someone else, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. Can the license for S&T be transfered to the new owner? Does this Pharos hardware work with any other software? I searched downloads.com and wasn't able to find anything that works with this hardware.

S&T 2006 needs no activation. If you have the disk, then it is yours. I do not know about 2007. I dont have it.

Also the actual hardware is completely independant of the program. It is actually a pharos unit that microsoft is selling.

nst6563 · 10-20-2007, 03:27 PM

anything in that list is better than the Earthmate LT-20. a broken compass would be better. I have one myself that I got from a friend. It @#$$ing sucks. That's being nice too. Doesn't take too terribly long to get a lock...when you CAN get a lock. If the sky is cloudy...good luck. If it's raining... you may as well unplug it and plug a gerbal into your usb port. It's not worth $100...it's not even worth the price of free that I got it for since it's caused so many headaches and time spent trying to get it to work. It's off by a number of yards at times, sometimes it just quits sending data to my pc, I have a 1 in 3 chance of it actually working when I power on the pc (not coming out of hibernate either), when it rains... that's when the real fun begins. Your elevation will be mis-reported...not a big deal really, but your location jumps around...sometimes you'll be a couple hundred feet ahead of yourself...and then the next second, you're a street or two back behind, and not to mention that it reports my speed in wacked out ranges... for example...I'll be going 30mph...yet it says 50-100mph. It's a real treat really...

As long as you're not looking for a reliable GPS receiver, the LT-20 is a great choice if it was cheaper. However, if you're looking for the opposite of what I've described, check out a bu-353 or another unit based off the SiRFIII chip.

Marvin Hlavac · 10-20-2007, 07:04 PM

From your list I would also pick the GPS-500. By the way, rather than buying S&T 06 or S&T 07, why not look around for S&T 08? The new version has been out for a while, and it must be in several of your local stores by now.