GPS For Macintosh?

[+Bob&TheGang]

What hand held GPS unit should I buy if you only have a Macintosh computer (G3 - with USB)?

[GeoTripper]

Any GPS you want. It will be a pain getting it to work no matter what. This all really depends on what you want to do with your GPS.

 

If you want to connect it to your computer you're going to need a USB-Serial converter (sometimes called a USB-PDA adapter). I use the Keyspan USA-19Qi. There's also the Belkin and the IoGear(?), I think. Are you running OS X, or OS 9? OS X will leave you with a couple more options.

 

If you only want to upload/download waypoints, either a Magellan or Garmin will do (haven't figured out if any other types work yet). You can use MagWayMan (currently free while in beta) with a Magellan, or MacSimpleGPS (currently free while in beta) with either a Magellan or Garmin.

 

If you want to download tracks and overlay against a DRG you'll need a Garmin and MacGPS Pro ($40). Although I believe the author of MagWayMan intends to add some of these features to his software as well so you could still get a Magellan.

 

For real-time info while conected to a computer you'll need to go with a Garmin with MacGPS Pro. I'm also under the impression that everything that is possible with MacGPS Pro will also be possible with GPSy ($50 or $150 for pro edition) but it is not native in OS X yet, and when I tested it in OS 9 it was quite unstable for me (in all fairness that may have been the USB-Serial adapter/driver, but I've not had much luck in OS 9 - much safer to mess around in OS X).

 

I hope this gives you a nice start. Good luck.

 

EDIT: links and cost for software

[+jollybgood]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bobkat92:

What hand held GPS unit should I buy if you only have a Macintosh computer (G3 - with USB)?

---

 

My only experience has been with Garmin units. Really pretty paniless. (OSX on a Tibook 550 and G4 DP 887).

 

I recommend getting Virtual PC however. It'll set you back some but it eliminates most of the heacaches. Let's you run all the PC utilities for GPSs you'll find floating around. The fact that it allows me to run MAPSOURCE and upload maps to my GPSV was worth the price alone. There are some good Mac utilities popping up but for me EasyGPS and Mapsource is still the way to go. That and the fact that so many cool apps for the PC keep popping up for GPSing. VPC really cuts down on the 'drool -- wish I could run that' factor. ;D

 

It really depends on the unit you buy and how casual of a cacher you are (or will be).

I use VPC for my work as well so it was easy to justify the cost.

 

BTW I do all of my posting on geocaching.com via Explorer for windows THROUGH VPC6. I keep VPC running in background most of the time.

 

Jolly R. Blackburn

http://kenzerco.com

"Never declare war on a man who buys his ink by the gallon."