Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 24

The Companion is upgradable; Magellan had to do it in the first few weeks to fix a bug. The advantage of the companion is that it is cheap, has good basic 12 channel hardware and since it uses NMEA data formats, it should be able to use much of the non-proprietary software hopefully being developed. Geode has features that most consumers don't need such as WAAS( it isn't yet ready with the FAA being blasted for delays but more importantly, most US maps are based on the TIGER dbase whose accuracy can be 100s ft in error) and external memory( which you can only use for the Geode unless you keep it plugged in all the time which is not what most will do with a GPS in a Visor).

The real problem with all these SB units is the poor software, none having most of the features needed for a functional GPS. Marcosoft(the Companion SW) is fast and compact but doesn't seem to have any interest in upgrading. Since the dominant use for GPS on a Visor is in a vehicle( sure you can use it hiking but that is a risk) using a stylus to operate it while driving is dangerous. The 4 buttons should be available as on a standalone GPS to switch modes and operate. With the TIGER errors why not allow calibration? Tomtom in Europe has the ability to do routing; why not that capability in these other programs? I give Geode credit for upgrading there sw so maybe at some point that sw will be usefully and they will have a functional SB GPS.

End of rave.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Luxembourg
Posts: 68

Re: Nexian VS NMEA

quote:

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Originally posted by gorillageek
Hey olivier101-The HandyGPS is not NMEA compatible. (...)

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 14

I've been using the Companion for about 2 weeks and think it is really usefull and very accurate. I have found accuracy to be within 15 feet radius, within 3 mph while in a moving vehicle, ( I was not driving.) and have found elevation to be close to exact. I have only a couple problems. 1. The elevation does not show minus sea level readings. It only defaults to 0. I was in Death Valley, California for business and would like to record elevation as part of my data gathering. Accruacy is pretty important to me. Granted there are not many places the go below sea level, but I would like to know when I am. I have written to Magellans customer service department just over a week ago and still have heard nothing back. 2. I would like to plot my waypoints using the Map Companion application rather than switch to the Nav companion. Integration of the two application would be most helpful and user friendly in my opinion. 3. When using the GPS in any of the 3 applications it comes with, and my datebook alarm goes off, I get a fatal exception and have to soft reset. Not a real big deal, but is pretty annoying. I dont want to have to go into my appiontment book and dissable all my alarms for the duration of the time I plan to use my GPS.

I havent tried any of the others, I'm satisfied with this unit.

Any other input from anyone?

__________________
V. Roa

Last edited by vroasan on 04-16-2001 at 05:58 AM

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Houston
Posts: 6

Using a GPS for altitude might leave you disappointed. The altitude error is about 3x the horizontal error (in actual practice, expect over a couple of hundred feet). This is because of the geometry of the calculations, at best, but there is another, rather difficult to explain problem.

The GPS altitude is calculated based on a calculated standard shape of the earth, whereas 'map altitude' is based on leveling surveys, and because of the irregularity in mass distribution on the earth, car vary by many hundreds of feet. USGS has calculations for this, but let's just say that it's trickier than it looks.

If you have a rather local fix for altitude, and compare it to known benchmarks, you can figure your own correction factor, but in any case, you're probably not getting anywhere near the accuracy you might think. You are measuring two very slightly different things!

(This is true for any and all GPS units; it's a geometrical and geophysical problem... I just thought I'd mention it)

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Happy trails,
Bill

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 604

To amplify rudersdorf's comments - you are going to have a lot more luck with a barometer-based altimeter than with a GPS for measuring your altitude. I use a Suunto wrist computer watch, which has a digital compass, a barometer and an altimeter. There are others out there, and you can also purchase standalone altimeters from REI and others.

I live in Washington state, and there's a number of mountain passes near my home with posted altitudes I use to check the accuracy of my GPS and my watch altimeter. The GPS is ususaly way off, the watch is ususally dead on - meaning, off the posted altitude by less than 50 feet - which is pretty insiginificant at 2000+ feet.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 14

At the locations I visited in Death Valley, there are serveral signs that stated the elevation at that point. When I looked at the GPS unit, it was either right on, or off about 5 feet. Usually on the plus side. For what I use the figures for, this is close enough for me. I don't need dead on, but close will work for what I need it for.

Any programs out there for the Visor that I can use to calculate the negative elevation at some of these points in between the signs posted?

Thanks for the comments.

__________________
V. Roa

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Houston
Posts: 6

I think that you're just looking at ordinary interpolation. Check that out in a math source. If it's straight line, it's nothing you can't do with a 4-function calculator. (And if it isn't, you don't know the shape and can't do it anyway!) There's nothing special about altitude data, you're just stretching a line between two points. Comprende?

__________________
Happy trails,
Bill

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 3

Geodisappointment

Dear GPS shopper, I was in the same situation as you several months ago. I had heard about GPS and decided that I wanted one for myself. After a friend in the industry recommended that I go with Geode, I made up my mind and purchased one . . . BIG MISTAKE!!! I'm not sure how much you know about these things, but you'd better know a lot! I personally couldn't get it to work. I followed every instruction and never got the thing to do what it was supposed to do. I couldn't get any help from customer service, they kept telling me that it was my fault! So basically in the end, all I bought was a pain in the neck. I finally got my money back and that friend I told you about? They've apologized since then and even told me that Geode is going out of business or something like that. So be careful and happy shopping.

Here is a cut and paste direct from GD

I have heard through the grape vine that GeoDiscovery has laid off all but a handful of employees and that they are hoping someone will buy what is left of the company. Scary stuff, I would be getting my $300 back before it's to late!
jmtc

The response from GD

As with other companies in our industry GeoDiscovery has had a reduction in force in an effort to bring resources in line with available revenue and financing. Business will continue as usual within the reduced workforce. We're still the same great company with the same great product

If you don't believe me here is the link http://geoforum.geodiscovery.com/sh...hp?threadid=390

Last edited by kellyfrankfurt on 04-20-2001 at 03:50 PM

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Re: Geodisappointment

quote:

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Originally posted by kellyfrankfurt
Dear GPS shopper, I was in the same situation as you several months ago. I had heard about GPS and decided that I wanted one for myself. After a friend in the industry recommended that I go with Geode, I made up my mind and purchased one . . . BIG MISTAKE!!! I'm not sure how much you know about these things, but you'd better know a lot! I personally couldn't get it to work. I followed every instruction and never got the thing to do what it was supposed to do. I couldn't get any help from customer service, they kept telling me that it was my fault! So basically in the end, all I bought was a pain in the neck. I finally got my money back and that friend I told you about? They've apologized since then and even told me that Geode is going out of business or something like that. So be careful and happy shopping.

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__________________
"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Last edited by EricG on 04-20-2001 at 01:29 AM

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Pembroke,MA
Posts: 307

Re: Re: Geodisappointment

quote:

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Originally posted by EricG
As a side note, I always take comments from people with fewer than 100 posts at Visorcentral with a grain of salt, there have been known "moles" here under assumed "user" names with various agendas they are attending to and those agendas are often not to help people but to promote a product or service they are affiliated with or to put a negative spin or start a negative & false rumor about a competitors product/service..

Just be aware of the sources of any advice you get..

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Agreed... But you can also have the exact opposite effect where... say for instance... a message is posted to the Geodiscovery beta forum to ask all to "support your local Geode" and possibly stack this poll (including a link to it). These people could be construed as "moles" themselves. Of course this is purely hypothetical. It could even make the poll dramatically sway from, say, largely leaning toward the Magellan one day to large favoring the Geode the next, coinciding with the "support" rally call.

I think a grain of salt should be taken by all.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Re: Re: Re: Geodisappointment

quote:

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Originally posted by LarryN


Agreed... But you can also have the exact opposite effect where... say for instance... a message is posted to the Geodiscovery beta forum to ask all to "support your local Geode" and possibly stack this poll (including a link to it). These people could be construed as "moles" themselves. Of course this is purely hypothetical. It could even make the poll dramatically sway from, say, largely leaning toward the Magellan one day to large favoring the Geode the next, coinciding with the "support" rally call.

I think a grain of salt should be taken by all.

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__________________
"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Antigo, WI
Posts: 37

I'm the one that posted "support your local Geode" on the sites. I am NOT a mole. I am NOT a Geode employee, I am NOT a manufacturer rep. I am an architect. I was a HandyGPS user, but returned it cause it didn't work to my expectations and the unit accuracy (+/- 75 meters at the time) with map software that left much to be desired. I wait a couple months, Geode and Magellan came out about the same time. The specs on the geode read better and its MMC expandability intreaged me. I figured if i was going to spend $150, what's another $100. The reason i posted "support your local Geode" was, that at the time there were only 16 votes for the geode and i know that there are over 80 Beta tester and only the GeodeGod knows how many other users and since we have our own web sites i was sure many of us were not looking here. I have nothing againt the Magellan or HandyGPS. I feel the specifications, upgrade ability, costumer support and Geode performance speak for themselves. I have been reading all the GPS VCsites and it seems like all units have been performing differently for different people. I know of a Geode owner who has bought and sent back his Geode and visor several times because there weren't working for him. There are so many factors that can affect the performance of this small, very complicated, enviromental dependent, RF dependent, divice, that i am surprised it works at all.

As far as Geode going out of business. I hope they don't, cause, as loyal coustomer of theirs, i believe they have a good product which needs some tweaking and software that needs some expanding. I believe that they are working towards that end. It's doesn't surprise me that they may have had some layoffs, if the rummer is correct, and i have no time for those who spread rummers, but if they are a smart company, they would have staffed up for the initial release, anticipating problems, so they would of had the staff to address the issues flooding in. Now that V1.3 is out and it seems to work quit well (haven't seen very many posts to the contrary) the Geode folks can scale down, lay back, kick up their feet for a while and proceed at a normal pace. It would be nice to hear from Geode regarding this issue, but then i don't even know what is happening in the company i work for. For all i know i might be laid off today. But i don't think so, since we do have a big back log of projects coming up. On the other hand, there is a consulting engineering firm we use who layed off 25% of their work force (~26 people) last week, 10 of them on Good Friday if you can immanage that. Big shock to all of us and i know they arn't going out of business, they probably just wanted more profit for the principals.

__________________
Jim Klapste
[email protected]
http://www.newnorth.net/~jimmy/

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Pembroke,MA
Posts: 307

quote:

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Originally posted by yim
I'm the one that posted "support your local Geode" on the sites. I am NOT a mole. I am NOT a Geode employee, I am NOT a manufacturer rep...

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Yim, it was purely hypothetical, remember?

Being a Magellan owner I'm sure that I'm biased, even though I try not to be... just as I'm sure Goede owners want to justify their purchase.

I was a software beta tester for the Geode, and although the Geode is now seemingly coming out with the software that should have been released 6 months ago, it is now beginning to live up to it's potential (and I will admit, there's a LOT of potential, but that's why it costs nearly twice as much).

So, if you are looking for the exactness of WAAS, and future potential (it's not yet there, but getting closer), get the Geode. If your are like me, and both don't want to spend $290 and are satisfied with being able to pinpoint yourself on this globe within 20 feet (mine's never been off by more than that) instead of 4 feet, the Magellan is most likely for you. The Handy GPS is another story. I know of only a couple VC'ers that didn't either return theirs or complain that it simply doesn't work well.

BTW, Geocaching is a blast, and I've had no problem finding the caches (other than briars ) with my GPS/Visor solution.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 64

I own and use both the Magellan Companion and the Geode.

In the beginning the Geode couldn't hold a candle to the Magellan (the hardware seemed up to the task, but the software was still in its infancy). The Geode ALWAYS held more potential, especially in the areas of accuracy and expandability, but in the beginning it was VERY unreliable for me.

That's why I got the Magellan - so I could have a reliable unit that worked everytime, when I needed to GPS. In the meantime the people at GeoDiscovery have upgraded the software a few times, added some capabilities and made my Geode much more reliable.

I'm optomistic that before they get done, the Geode will be most, if not (if not more) than what they've been boasting about all along.

In my personal opinion, the reason there weren't more votes for the Geode until the "call to arms" was that most of the Geode users were hanging out in the Geodiscovery board almost exclusively and didn't know this poll was here. When someone let us know we came to vote - the problem in my case is that we can't vote more than once, because I voted for the Magellan in the poll and now can't also vote for the Geode.

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 604

I'm in the same boat as MbassadorK - own and use both units. I second his comments, with one exception. While Geodiscovery has made great strides, I still don't think they are there yet.

The Magellan software suite (there are two programs) is overall still superior to GeoView - generally faster and more stable satellite locks, more features (particularly "pure" GPS features in NavCompanion), and much better power management.

GeoView does have a couple of features that the Magellan lacks. However, it's big advantage is that it is upgradeable, and GeoDiscovery seems committed to doing so. It's got more potential. Again, they have made great strides since the unit first went on sale, when, frankly, the software sucked. I am reasonably confident they will continue to do so - assuming the rumors about them going under are untrue. I don't know the answer to that one way or another.

However, as of today I'd still vote for the GPS companion.