What a great and valuable site! Thanks to all of you willing to share your knowledge! Having read a number of threads on the site, and being generally familiar with Garmin products [have a hand-held 76csx for topo use, hiking and trail riding], I have a few questions, just to confirm what I have read before I buy and install:
1. I have a new Asus Eee 1005 netbook, with 3 2.0 USB ports and Windows XP, 160gb hard drive. I plan to use the Garmin Mobile PC on this machine and mount it on a ram-mount in our Ford F250 - I'll use an Asus-compatible 12v auto power cord to power the computer. The computer has speakers built-in. Any computer specific advice, or thoughts on ram-mount products I should consider?
2. Receiver. I'm fine with a wired, usb receiver. If I get the Garmin Mobile PC software with GPS20x receiver (36" cord), will mounting the receiver on top of the dash, toward the window, provide sufficient access to get GPS coverage (other than in downtown Manhattan or, say, the bottom of the Grand Canyon?). Anyone run the 36" cord, or an extension, under the dash in an F250/F350 to the windshield/dash and have 'how to' suggestions?
3. Features. Am I correct that I can (a) plan a trip using the Garmin Mobile PC software at home [without being 'plugged in' to GPS], loading waypoints and destination; (b) on the road, have a lovely Garmin voice (any choices? may be showing my age, but I would prefer Gina Lollabrigitta) tell me, over the speakers, when to turn; (c) display current location, speed, direction, distance, etc., on the notebook screen and (d) allow me to locate and get directions to points of interest while I'm out on the road? (e) can I create and enter my own points of interest?
4. Traffic alerts. The only feature that has me considering the M**soft alternative is 'current' traffic reports, helpful in city driving. None available with Garmin, right?
5. We plan a trip to Ireland next year where I will be driving a rental car. Am I right that I MUST buy the Mobile PC software with either the 20 receiver [or 10 wireless option] to have the license necessary to download from Garmin the Ireland [or other European] maps? Will those maps work with the Mobile PC software with no other add-ins?
6. Anyone aware of any problems with using a US -market 12v adapter to power a US-spec netbook from a Euro- market car? Will Mobile PC, with the 20 receiver (once I load the Ireland map) pick up GPS signals on the Emerald Isle when I pick up the rental car at Shannon?
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions and, again, for the great forums! Regards, R
1. I have a new Asus Eee 1005 netbook, with 3 2.0 USB ports and Windows XP, 160gb hard drive. I plan to use the Garmin Mobile PC on this machine and mount it on a ram-mount in our Ford F250 - I'll use an Asus-compatible 12v auto power cord to power the computer. The computer has speakers built-in. Any computer specific advice, or thoughts on ram-mount products I should consider?
2. Receiver. I'm fine with a wired, usb receiver. If I get the Garmin Mobile PC software with GPS20x receiver (36" cord), will mounting the receiver on top of the dash, toward the window, provide sufficient access to get GPS coverage (other than in downtown Manhattan or, say, the bottom of the Grand Canyon?). Anyone run the 36" cord, or an extension, under the dash in an F250/F350 to the windshield/dash and have 'how to' suggestions?
3. Features. Am I correct that I can (a) plan a trip using the Garmin Mobile PC software at home [without being 'plugged in' to GPS], loading waypoints and destination; (b) on the road, have a lovely Garmin voice (any choices? may be showing my age, but I would prefer Gina Lollabrigitta) tell me, over the speakers, when to turn; (c) display current location, speed, direction, distance, etc., on the notebook screen and (d) allow me to locate and get directions to points of interest while I'm out on the road? (e) can I create and enter my own points of interest?
4. Traffic alerts. The only feature that has me considering the M**soft alternative is 'current' traffic reports, helpful in city driving. None available with Garmin, right?
5. We plan a trip to Ireland next year where I will be driving a rental car. Am I right that I MUST buy the Mobile PC software with either the 20 receiver [or 10 wireless option] to have the license necessary to download from Garmin the Ireland [or other European] maps? Will those maps work with the Mobile PC software with no other add-ins?
6. Anyone aware of any problems with using a US -market 12v adapter to power a US-spec netbook from a Euro- market car? Will Mobile PC, with the 20 receiver (once I load the Ireland map) pick up GPS signals on the Emerald Isle when I pick up the rental car at Shannon?
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions and, again, for the great forums! Regards, R
Hi RxDiesel.
Welcome, usually the site owner or mod's would have greeted you by now. Must be holiday time.
I have Garmin20x on an HP330 that use in my LR.
I can only ans a few of your questions.
1. No problems with my Garmin on Windows 7. I also had it on XP home, but I like Win7 better.
2. I have the wired receiver, works fine except it slides around a bit on turns and bumps may send it to the floor. I want to try velcro.
3. You can install Garmin Mobile PC other computers with the disk you buy and use the receiver with them. The receiver you get with the Garmin pkg and register is the only receiver you can use I think. Garmin only allows one copy to update. So what happens is you register the receiver and the Garmin Mobile PC goes with it. I don't know if you can transfer trip plans from say your desktop to your netbook. Others here will eventually chime in.
4. Don't know. I'm in Canada and do have Streets & Trips 2010, but haven't played with it much.
5. Don't know. Garmin has very good customer service, ask them.
6. Again, ask Garmin. I get answers from them within 24hrs. Friendly clear answers.
Not much help, but thats all.
Ed
Welcome, usually the site owner or mod's would have greeted you by now. Must be holiday time.
I have Garmin20x on an HP330 that use in my LR.
I can only ans a few of your questions.
1. No problems with my Garmin on Windows 7. I also had it on XP home, but I like Win7 better.
2. I have the wired receiver, works fine except it slides around a bit on turns and bumps may send it to the floor. I want to try velcro.
3. You can install Garmin Mobile PC other computers with the disk you buy and use the receiver with them. The receiver you get with the Garmin pkg and register is the only receiver you can use I think. Garmin only allows one copy to update. So what happens is you register the receiver and the Garmin Mobile PC goes with it. I don't know if you can transfer trip plans from say your desktop to your netbook. Others here will eventually chime in.
4. Don't know. I'm in Canada and do have Streets & Trips 2010, but haven't played with it much.
5. Don't know. Garmin has very good customer service, ask them.
6. Again, ask Garmin. I get answers from them within 24hrs. Friendly clear answers.
Not much help, but thats all.
Ed
Hi RxDiesel,
You have done your homework well, I see.
1. I'm running Mobile PC on an Acer netbook with XP and it works well. Volume of the audio from the laptop speakers for voice guidance can be an issue. There are a variety of solutions in some discussions on here if that becomes a problem for you. The 12V auto adapter is a good solution for powering. Fewer cables and neater than using an inverter and the regular AC power brick. I have no suggestions for mounting. I believe Ram has a new tray for smaller laptops like your netbook.
2. On the dash as close to the windshield as possible works fine. If you use a typical pickup truck mounting location your 3' cable should be adequate but if you need an extension you won't have troubles unless you get a really long one. You can save yourself some hassles by not messing around under the dash. Just lay the receiver puck on the dash, lay the cable across the dash to the computer and run with it. When you're not using it, stick it in the glove box or gadget bag out of the way.
A tip for stopping it from sliding around, as Ed mentioned, just get a little piece of non-slip drawer liner like this. You can get rolls of it for a couple of bucks. It works nicely and saves you from having to glue anything to your dash. The stuff in the picture is the high priced stuff. You can get the cheaper spread with holes in it for less money and it works fine.
3. Yes. As Ed mentioned, Mobile PC actuates itself to the GPS receiver that comes with it. So you can install it on as many computers as you like. The nav functions won't work unless you have that specific GPS receiver attached. But you should have no trouble planning and saving routes and creating waypoints. The trick is how to get them from Mobile PC on, say, your desktop computer to Mobile PC on your laptop. You'll need to poke around in here and find out where Mobile PC's data files are. If you need help, please start another discussion on just that one subject. It's a real pain doing this multi-topic stuff. It gets hard to follow very quickly.
Same suggestion - new discussion - about creating your own custom POIs. You can do it but it's not trivial.
4. No idea. There will likely never be realtime traffic stuff available in my part of Canada so it's not something I've taken any interest in.
5. Yes. As long as you get the right ones. The downloadable ones might work. The SD/micro-SD card ones will not work. The ones on DVD will absolutely work.
6. As far as I know British autos have 12VDC outlets. I don't know if they are identical to the North American ones for plug shape. Perhaps someone else has an answer. Yes, the GPS will work just fine over there.
Y'er welcome.
...ken...
You have done your homework well, I see.
1. I'm running Mobile PC on an Acer netbook with XP and it works well. Volume of the audio from the laptop speakers for voice guidance can be an issue. There are a variety of solutions in some discussions on here if that becomes a problem for you. The 12V auto adapter is a good solution for powering. Fewer cables and neater than using an inverter and the regular AC power brick. I have no suggestions for mounting. I believe Ram has a new tray for smaller laptops like your netbook.
2. On the dash as close to the windshield as possible works fine. If you use a typical pickup truck mounting location your 3' cable should be adequate but if you need an extension you won't have troubles unless you get a really long one. You can save yourself some hassles by not messing around under the dash. Just lay the receiver puck on the dash, lay the cable across the dash to the computer and run with it. When you're not using it, stick it in the glove box or gadget bag out of the way.
A tip for stopping it from sliding around, as Ed mentioned, just get a little piece of non-slip drawer liner like this. You can get rolls of it for a couple of bucks. It works nicely and saves you from having to glue anything to your dash. The stuff in the picture is the high priced stuff. You can get the cheaper spread with holes in it for less money and it works fine.
3. Yes. As Ed mentioned, Mobile PC actuates itself to the GPS receiver that comes with it. So you can install it on as many computers as you like. The nav functions won't work unless you have that specific GPS receiver attached. But you should have no trouble planning and saving routes and creating waypoints. The trick is how to get them from Mobile PC on, say, your desktop computer to Mobile PC on your laptop. You'll need to poke around in here and find out where Mobile PC's data files are. If you need help, please start another discussion on just that one subject. It's a real pain doing this multi-topic stuff. It gets hard to follow very quickly.
Same suggestion - new discussion - about creating your own custom POIs. You can do it but it's not trivial.
4. No idea. There will likely never be realtime traffic stuff available in my part of Canada so it's not something I've taken any interest in.
5. Yes. As long as you get the right ones. The downloadable ones might work. The SD/micro-SD card ones will not work. The ones on DVD will absolutely work.
6. As far as I know British autos have 12VDC outlets. I don't know if they are identical to the North American ones for plug shape. Perhaps someone else has an answer. Yes, the GPS will work just fine over there.
Y'er welcome.
...ken...
1. Yes Mobile PC will work with any modern Windows operating system; XP, vista or Win 7. The display looks good at 1024x600, your netbook resolution. The Ram Tough Tray II would be more than enough to support a netbook. I've used it with an HP tablet that is larger and heavier.
2.
3. a. Yes b. Yes with limited voice choices but your built in netbook speakers may not be loud enough to hear in an F250 c. Yes d. Yes e. Yes
4. The service is available but I am not familiar with it.
5. You must have the version including a GPS as you say. You may need MapSource as well to transfer the maps.
6. GPS receivers work anywhere in the world that they can see the sky. Regarding power, I think cigar lighters are the same there as here. I don't think they use positive ground any more. Should be fine.
Terry
2.
3. a. Yes b. Yes with limited voice choices but your built in netbook speakers may not be loud enough to hear in an F250 c. Yes d. Yes e. Yes
4. The service is available but I am not familiar with it.
5. You must have the version including a GPS as you say. You may need MapSource as well to transfer the maps.
6. GPS receivers work anywhere in the world that they can see the sky. Regarding power, I think cigar lighters are the same there as here. I don't think they use positive ground any more. Should be fine.
Terry
Quote:
Hi RxDiesel.
Welcome, usually the site owner or mod's would have greeted you by now. Must be holiday time.
Ed
Welcome, usually the site owner or mod's would have greeted you by now. Must be holiday time.
Ed
We were waiting for someone to decide which copy of the post to answer!
Terry
Quote:
Hi RxDiesel.
Welcome, usually the site owner or mod's would have greeted you by now. Must be holiday time.
Welcome, usually the site owner or mod's would have greeted you by now. Must be holiday time.
Thanks to all, and sorry for the multiple copies of the initial post. You Canadians must really love your GPS! I use my hand-held with topo maps regularly on the trails, but hadn't seen a real need for GPS in the car. I've used it in rental cars on occasion. I suspect once I have it loaded and running I'll get addicted. I'm looking forward to seeing the maps display on a decent-sized screen; the small screens on the dedicated auto GPS units was one thing that put me off. I'm sure I'll post more focused, specific threads once I have this set up and am using it. Thanks again!