Thread: 2004 Suzuki XL-7, ***FIRST ATTEMPT***

Good luck!

Can't wait to see pics!

Red Thanks for the words of encouragement.

UPDATE - 8/15/2006

So I got home yesterday and there it was my Holux GPS receiver. Purchased off Ebay for $40 including S&H. Like a kid with a new toy I had to play with it.

First I installed it on the IBM Think Pad. It took me a few to get Delorme to see it, just a matter of changing the Com port. And I was in business. Shortly there after I got a call from a customer who was having problems with his computer. So I loaded the GPS on my other Laptop, it's the one I use for my computer business to do my invoices.

So with the second laptop installed and running I headed out to another county. I didn't use a start or a destination. But I was amazed just to see it track my every move, not to mention how close it was with my speed and location. So far I am pleased. So for the return trip I used my GPS location for the start and then my home for the destination. Took a couple of side roads and it recalculated my route. There is only one problem. The glare from the screen. So I don't think that a cop mount will work.

Oh I tried to get some pics last night, yeah the camera was dead. So hopefully I can get the pics tonight.

Well it's back to the drawing board, need to figure out a alternative display. I'm think about a PS one screen since I'm only going to use it for navigation plus from what I have seen Delorme doesn't play nicely with a touch screen.

I have been playing again and this time I have pictures.

Where to start....I have returned to the drawing board to re-eval my planning. So last night I decided that I was going to do some further work. First of all the power adapter for the laptop had been damaged by the previous owner. Of course I knew this but never got around to fixing the problem. So I removed the duck tape that was covering the bare wires.



Very Ugly... So I soldered everything together and now it looks good and I feel it much safer now.

With the Power Adapter fixed it's now time to test some software...Tonight's menu includes MS Streets and Trips 2006.... I am not pleased. Yes it's all GUI with a bunch of additional windows, but trying to figure out a route and everything just made me enjoy Delorme better. Of course my problem could be that I have not tested Streets and Trips like I have Delorme. I smell a weekend road trip.

The Laptop:


Holux GPS Receiver:
Notice the piece of Duck tape, that was covering the bare wires that I mentioned above.


Power Invertor: (Yes it's plugged into a Power Port on the center dash. Right now it just lays on the floor beside the Mobile and Portable radios for EMS)


The Car:

Whats your install plan. I'm getting together a similar setup with my laptop but i just can't figure out where to put the darn screen!

Originally Posted by Friedrice

Whats your install plan. I'm getting together a similar setup with my laptop but i just can't figure out where to put the darn screen!

I have several ideas that are brewing in my head. For the LCD I am thinking about making a mount that will hold it right above the radio in the dash. The other possiblitie is to take out the compartment that is in front of the gear shifter. It's open cavity that may allow for the creen to fit in there, the only problem that I see will be the viewing angle.

For the laptop I am considering under the passenger seat on a flat mounting surface. Or the other idea is to mount it under the back seat so that it does not get kicked. I also need to ensure that I have access to the power invertor for the printer that I use for the business.....

Lik eI said I have several ideas that I am playing around with. Th ebig thing right now is to finish testing various applications on the laptop and see where I need to make improvments. I did decide to remove MS Streets and trips and stick directly with Delorme. I also need to get a monitor to actually place in spots to see what will work.

Thanks for the post.

Sounds good! i had the same plan for the laptop as i don't want to extend the screen too much and allow interferance., I had planned to do a passenger side hookup for the LCD but i wouldn't be able to see anything at that angle and definitely safe to look at when driving. i may just do an on dash mount and have it fold face down with some sort of cover so it's not so obvious when parked.