so I get this older but cool to me e6420 dell xfr computer and it just so happens to have built in GPS so I downloaded a program called pc navigator 15 free and it works but it doesn't allow a number address, so it isn't what I need, trying to find what I need being a bit clueless to this tech is overwhelming,
I just want a very simple easy to use program that will allow me to use this laptop as I do my little garmin unit stuck to my cars windscreen,
being able to enter address is a must...the cheaper the better....something I can enter where I desire to go and it takes me there.
many thanks all!
cheers,
Bats
I just want a very simple easy to use program that will allow me to use this laptop as I do my little garmin unit stuck to my cars windscreen,
being able to enter address is a must...the cheaper the better....something I can enter where I desire to go and it takes me there.
many thanks all!
cheers,
Bats
If you have Win8.1 or Win10 on the laptop you could try Windows Maps from the Microsoft store.
...ken...
...ken...
I only have win 7 64 on this one...man, I kind of thought I would get a lot of replies....
Hate to say it, but "the party's over" when it comes to PC based navigation software. Most of the software that used to be discussed in these forums has been discontinued. Tablets and phones are where everything is now.
I was using Garmin MobilePC on a Windows 7 based tablet. It would do what you want but was discontinued about 5 years ago. Even if you could find a copy, not sure if you could get it working because Garmin shutdown the servers that were used to activate it.
Personally, I think tablets and phones are a much better platform anyway. You really don't need the complexity of a full PC operating system to run a navigation app. I use the Garmin StreetPilot app on my 5.5" iPhone 6s Plus now. It is almost the same as MobilePC (which was almost the same as the Nuvi). Also use the Galileo app with maps I make myself. I have the Navigon app but don't use it because I like StreetPilot better. There are many other choices for navigation apps on iOS, such as TomTom and HERE maps.
I also have an 8" Samsung Galaxy Tab and use the OruxMaps app with maps I make myself. Galileo also runs on Android. And there are Android versions of Navigon, TomTom and HERE. There's also OSMand and Locus which work with OpenStreetMap.
I realize your goal is to the the Windows machine, but I just don't think that makes much sense in 2016, unless there is a specific app you need that only runs under Windows. Android tablets are cheap and you have a huge selection of software. They are also generally easier to mount and power in a vehicle; that was a real pain with my Windows tablet.
I was using Garmin MobilePC on a Windows 7 based tablet. It would do what you want but was discontinued about 5 years ago. Even if you could find a copy, not sure if you could get it working because Garmin shutdown the servers that were used to activate it.
Personally, I think tablets and phones are a much better platform anyway. You really don't need the complexity of a full PC operating system to run a navigation app. I use the Garmin StreetPilot app on my 5.5" iPhone 6s Plus now. It is almost the same as MobilePC (which was almost the same as the Nuvi). Also use the Galileo app with maps I make myself. I have the Navigon app but don't use it because I like StreetPilot better. There are many other choices for navigation apps on iOS, such as TomTom and HERE maps.
I also have an 8" Samsung Galaxy Tab and use the OruxMaps app with maps I make myself. Galileo also runs on Android. And there are Android versions of Navigon, TomTom and HERE. There's also OSMand and Locus which work with OpenStreetMap.
I realize your goal is to the the Windows machine, but I just don't think that makes much sense in 2016, unless there is a specific app you need that only runs under Windows. Android tablets are cheap and you have a huge selection of software. They are also generally easier to mount and power in a vehicle; that was a real pain with my Windows tablet.
Sugar coating is for willy wonka huh? I guess the first thing the site owner needs to do is knock "laptop" out of the name...perhaps rename it to "phone/tablet gps .com"
my point wasn't what is the new so called better way to do it or someones personal taste and damning what I desire through no faint praise I just wanted to post on a site that I thought would have an answer to my question and you gave me that......wasn't what I wanted to hear but thanks...so I guess I am stuck with the navigator 15 which is on here working well, just doesn't have number addresses, I am using a free version for all I know their paid version has address numbers,
Sure I have an android phone, a tablet or two but just like when I sit down and play my old Atari sometimes I like doing it in what is an old yet still cool, fun to way to me....
If it was just about a "gps" I can program the silly garmin stuck to my windscreen....
have a great weekened, and thanks again for your help....
Cheers,
Bats.
my point wasn't what is the new so called better way to do it or someones personal taste and damning what I desire through no faint praise I just wanted to post on a site that I thought would have an answer to my question and you gave me that......wasn't what I wanted to hear but thanks...so I guess I am stuck with the navigator 15 which is on here working well, just doesn't have number addresses, I am using a free version for all I know their paid version has address numbers,
Sure I have an android phone, a tablet or two but just like when I sit down and play my old Atari sometimes I like doing it in what is an old yet still cool, fun to way to me....
If it was just about a "gps" I can program the silly garmin stuck to my windscreen....
have a great weekened, and thanks again for your help....
Cheers,
Bats.
If you're really into nostalgia and the learning and tweaking to get it to work you could use Garmin's nRoute. Everything you need is free and that includes up to date maps.
You need to first install Garmin's Mapsource. That's not straightforward but it's not difficult and help is here. Then you install nRoute. Then you download and install the desired OpenStreetMaps. Finally you get the GPS talking to nRoute. This will require installing GPSGate Express because nRoute requires the Garmin protocol rather than NMEA.
This solution is the only one that will allow for up to date maps. As Boyd mentioned most of the products here are discontinued so no map updates are available. Even ALK CoPilot which is still sold hasn't had a map update in 3 or so years.
This solution provides address lookup. The only thing I'm not sure of is how good the street address database in the OpenStreetMaps maps is. Boyd might know.
As you're probably aware, there are tons of sites out there supporting phones and tablets so another one is not really needed, I don't think. The owner of this site maintains it as a valuable archive for those who are still trying to use these products for one reason or another. Some of us still like hanging here because it's a pleasant place and occasionally someone comes along with an interesting issue like yours. And, of course, there's still the evolution of Windows into version 10. There are already UWP navigation apps showing up so there may be a rekindled interest in laptops, and certainly in convertibles and Windows tablets.
You didn't really clarify in your original post what your real motivation for going the PC route was so I think Boyd can be forgiven for making sure you understood the current situation and limitations of the PC option. Most who stop by here with the same situation you described are not.
If you're interested in getting nRoute up and running we'll be happy to help. For some background in deciding, there are a number of threads on nRoute in the Garmin forum here.
...ken...
You need to first install Garmin's Mapsource. That's not straightforward but it's not difficult and help is here. Then you install nRoute. Then you download and install the desired OpenStreetMaps. Finally you get the GPS talking to nRoute. This will require installing GPSGate Express because nRoute requires the Garmin protocol rather than NMEA.
This solution is the only one that will allow for up to date maps. As Boyd mentioned most of the products here are discontinued so no map updates are available. Even ALK CoPilot which is still sold hasn't had a map update in 3 or so years.
This solution provides address lookup. The only thing I'm not sure of is how good the street address database in the OpenStreetMaps maps is. Boyd might know.
As you're probably aware, there are tons of sites out there supporting phones and tablets so another one is not really needed, I don't think. The owner of this site maintains it as a valuable archive for those who are still trying to use these products for one reason or another. Some of us still like hanging here because it's a pleasant place and occasionally someone comes along with an interesting issue like yours. And, of course, there's still the evolution of Windows into version 10. There are already UWP navigation apps showing up so there may be a rekindled interest in laptops, and certainly in convertibles and Windows tablets.
You didn't really clarify in your original post what your real motivation for going the PC route was so I think Boyd can be forgiven for making sure you understood the current situation and limitations of the PC option. Most who stop by here with the same situation you described are not.
If you're interested in getting nRoute up and running we'll be happy to help. For some background in deciding, there are a number of threads on nRoute in the Garmin forum here.
...ken...
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Originally Posted by the13bats but just like when I sit down and play my old Atari sometimes I like doing it in what is an old yet still cool, fun to way to me.... |
It doesn't include any maps, so you will need to find that separately. You could try openstreetmap from here: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl
Also a variety of maps (mostly topo and mostly North America) here: https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/
It will be a bit of a project, but you might enjoy it for the nostalgia value.
Streets and Trips from Microsoft runs, but is discontinued, don't know if you can find it.
DeLorme has Street Atlas, not sure if it is still being updated but I think it's still available.
Also I think ALK still has a Windows app but I think it's expensive.
Enjoy!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ken in Regina If you're really into nostalgia and the learning and tweaking to get it to work you could use Garmin's nRoute. |
Guys I guess saying "forgive me" is in order I haunt a heck of a lot of forums as my hobbies are vast and tone is lost in type some cats as you well know can be rather snarky and condesending, I didn't feel my motivations were needed for a question of the original posts nature and my reasoning for the site changing it's name is from what I gathered from the reply basically telling me almost all commercial support and interest in laptop based GPS is dead, kind of my thinking was like when "kit car magazine" changed it's name to "replica car builders".
So if anyone asking laptop questions because of the sites name gets a door slammed on them you see why I favor a name change
I found great humor in a dell tech telling me this e6420 xfr doesn't have built in GPS and me replying well, odd been using navigator 15 for 2 days with the units built in GPS.
Speaking of that what is the run down on navigator?
I love to tinker around and get things working and in that have no ego issue surfing the coat tails of the cat who has been there done that and made it work, so with their garmin nroute are their threads on here of cats who have made it work or is it more a putzing around hit or miss idea?
Thanks all!
So if anyone asking laptop questions because of the sites name gets a door slammed on them you see why I favor a name change
I found great humor in a dell tech telling me this e6420 xfr doesn't have built in GPS and me replying well, odd been using navigator 15 for 2 days with the units built in GPS.
Speaking of that what is the run down on navigator?
I love to tinker around and get things working and in that have no ego issue surfing the coat tails of the cat who has been there done that and made it work, so with their garmin nroute are their threads on here of cats who have made it work or is it more a putzing around hit or miss idea?
Thanks all!
lol...it installed fine on my tester lap top that doesn't have gps I go to install it on the one with gps and it says it wont install because it couldn't find nroute previous on the computer...
As Boyd said, nRoute works fine under Win7. Not hit or miss, just not plug 'n play. I've even got it working in Win10. So if you're into getting old stuff to work be assured it will work. But it will require some work and possibly some learning. We've helped others get it going.
As I mentioned, there are threads about it in the Garmin forum here. I don't think there is a single thread with a step by step recipe. Even if there is, there might still be tweaks needed for your specific configuration. If you enjoy a little detective work I recommend you poke around in there a bit and once you are sufficiently confused we can start answering your questions.
One issue will be whether you can make the internal GPS show up on a COM port or whether it only shows up as a sensor. Not a showstopper, just a little more or less work.
For what it's worth, if an answer like Boyd's original response gets someone pointed in the right direction and that direction is somewhere else, that kinda makes it a door opener rather than a doorslammer, I think.
As for the name of the forum, it's exactly accurate. Changing it to something that there is no intention to support would be a double whammy. First, it would likely cause some who want/need access to the existing information to miss it. Second, there is no intention to formally support other platforms so it would be misleading.
So long as the discussions take place in the correct subject areas we are free to share all kinds of information, like Boyd's initial counsel that you might want to consider other options and his experience with some of them. But that doesn't change the primary purpose of the site.
On that note, if you decide to tackle nRoute the Garmin forum is the better place for the conversation about how to do that.
...ken...
As I mentioned, there are threads about it in the Garmin forum here. I don't think there is a single thread with a step by step recipe. Even if there is, there might still be tweaks needed for your specific configuration. If you enjoy a little detective work I recommend you poke around in there a bit and once you are sufficiently confused we can start answering your questions.
One issue will be whether you can make the internal GPS show up on a COM port or whether it only shows up as a sensor. Not a showstopper, just a little more or less work.
For what it's worth, if an answer like Boyd's original response gets someone pointed in the right direction and that direction is somewhere else, that kinda makes it a door opener rather than a doorslammer, I think.
As for the name of the forum, it's exactly accurate. Changing it to something that there is no intention to support would be a double whammy. First, it would likely cause some who want/need access to the existing information to miss it. Second, there is no intention to formally support other platforms so it would be misleading.
So long as the discussions take place in the correct subject areas we are free to share all kinds of information, like Boyd's initial counsel that you might want to consider other options and his experience with some of them. But that doesn't change the primary purpose of the site.
On that note, if you decide to tackle nRoute the Garmin forum is the better place for the conversation about how to do that.
...ken...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ken in Regina As Boyd said, nRoute works fine under Win7. Not hit or miss, just not plug 'n play. I've even got it working in Win10. So if you're into getting old stuff to work be assured it will work. But it will require some work and possibly some learning. We've helped others get it going. As I mentioned, there are threads about it in the Garmin forum here. I don't think there is a single thread with a step by step recipe. Even if there is, there might still be tweaks needed for your specific configuration. If you enjoy a little detective work I recommend you poke around in there a bit and once you are sufficiently confused we can start answering your questions. One issue will be whether you can make the internal GPS show up on a COM port or whether it only shows up as a sensor. Not a showstopper, just a little more or less work. For what it's worth, if an answer like Boyd's original response gets someone pointed in the right direction and that direction is somewhere else, that kinda makes it a door opener rather than a doorslammer, I think. As for the name of the forum, it's exactly accurate. Changing it to something that there is no intention to support would be a double whammy. First, it would likely cause some who want/need access to the existing information to miss it. Second, there is no intention to formally support other platforms so it would be misleading. So long as the discussions take place in the correct subject areas we are free to share all kinds of information, like Boyd's initial counsel that you might want to consider other options and his experience with some of them. But that doesn't change the primary purpose of the site. On that note, if you decide to tackle nRoute the Garmin forum is the better place for the conversation about how to do that. ...ken... |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by the13bats lol...it installed fine on my tester lap top that doesn't have gps I go to install it on the one with gps and it says it wont install because it couldn't find nroute on the computer... |
- What is the "it" that installed on the one machine and not the other?
- Can you review the error message on the machine "it" didn't install on and confirm that it says "couldn't find nroute" and not that it couldn't find some other app, like Mapsource?
Thanks.
Given your experience on other forums I should clarify that I'm not trying to be snarky or obstructive. Some of us here are literal lazy left brainers. We require exact information, eg. There is no such thing as too much detail. Having exact information generally saves chasing down unrelated rabbit holes.
Being lazy left brainers also means that those of us who are tend to be rather direct. That's partly because we might not always know the generally accepted way to beat around certain bushes or politely sneak up on an issue. And if we do know, we probably wouldn't anyway because it takes a lot of extra time and effort.
We're here to help.
...ken...
I am all ADD OCD and very racy minded and cluttered so some folks take me very wrong what I type I cant find the "add tone" key,
I got it, you, were while a bit long winded in making your point were not subtle...okay perhaps I didn't grasp it I thought you desired me to start a new thread in "garmin" so I did,
the "it" was "nroute" and I got it...opps nroute installed after first installing garmin poi...it took that for the nroute installer to stop saying it could not find a pervious enroute on my system but you already knew the issue I would have...nroute doesn't find my built in gps, not on auto scan or manual....so I posted this over in garmin as I imagine it's a lot faster to have someone tell me possible fixes than hunt them down trial and error...I too get very lazy
I got it, you, were while a bit long winded in making your point were not subtle...okay perhaps I didn't grasp it I thought you desired me to start a new thread in "garmin" so I did,
the "it" was "nroute" and I got it...opps nroute installed after first installing garmin poi...it took that for the nroute installer to stop saying it could not find a pervious enroute on my system but you already knew the issue I would have...nroute doesn't find my built in gps, not on auto scan or manual....so I posted this over in garmin as I imagine it's a lot faster to have someone tell me possible fixes than hunt them down trial and error...I too get very lazy
Sorry, just a timing issue. I checked the Garmin section before replying here and saw no new posts. You were obviously still typing there as I was here.
Yeah, I can be a bit windy.
See you in the Garmin section.
...ken...
Yeah, I can be a bit windy.
See you in the Garmin section.
...ken...
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