Do dedicated GPS units output NMEA data?

Sorry if this question is ridiculous, but here goes !

I have a 2006 vintage LG GPS unit. I just got a new netbook and want to test Microsoft Streets and Trips. (Is it me or do the graphics suck ?)
Being really cheap .... Can I use my LG GPS with it's USB cable to use as a receiver for Streets and Trips trial software.
I assume I will also need a USB to com port driver to do this.

Any thoughts ?

The answer is probably No.

There is only one way I can think of to test it. Download GPSGate. It has a 14 day free trial period. You can use the Settings wizard to automatically scan for an incoming GPS data stream on all possible ports. It will scan the USB ports directly so you won't need a serial port driver for this test. Just let it scan everything whether you think it needs to or not.

EDIT: When you run GPSGate it will pop an icon into the system tray. That's how you work with it. Don't wait for a program window to appear on the screen. It won't. Just run GPSGate, watch for the icon to appear in the system tray and then right-click the system tray icon. Select "Settings", click the "Setup Wizard" button and follow the directions.

GPSGate will tell you if it finds anything or not. I would not hold out too much hope but it's free to do the test so give it a whirl. Perhaps we'll both be pleasantly surprised.

...ken...

ouellr, It's not you. The graphics in S&T do suck.

The irony is that Bing Maps actually looks quite nice, and the improvements have been made based off the same Mappoint rendering engine that's in S&T. Been waiting for three years for S&T to port over the graphics improvements. We could start a betting pool.

Well... I tried GPSGate last night. No detection of com ports.
Must be using the USB connection strictly for management purposes.
It is a Windows CE device. Fun to experiment anyways.

Thanks 'taoyue' for the link to Bing Maps. It is impressive.
I am siding with the Delorme Earthmate kit. Even despite some forum warnings
of iffy route navigation, missing Canadian roads, I think the graphics are better
than S&T.
I may wait until Delorme 2010 is readily available in Canada as stores are still selling
the 2009 version.
Thanks to all who replied.

Since it's a CE device, it may be technically possible to use Franson GPS Gate to transmit data over Activesync. Share GPS over a network, using UDP or TCP/IP - Franson GpsGate This is only really for Windows Mobile and Pocket PC. Not guaranteed to work on a random CE device, but you never know.

Since you're trying to save money, then this really isn't worth it, since you have to buy both Pocket PC and Windows versions (one to receive, one to transmit).

I would caution against choosing a mapping program largely based on graphics quality. If you end up wasting time taking wrong roads, it'll likely be much more frustrating than having to stare at lower-quality maps.

So the idea is to run GPSGate on my LG GPS device and my laptop.
Through Activesync I can access the file system on the LG. Not sure
what's going to happen when I try to launch GPSGate on the LG ?
Probably sparks, smoke then fireworks.
I'm going to try it ! The maps are getting so old, it's expendable.