Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Glen Burnie, Maryland
Posts: 205

DXBUP,

You may be correct about the Quo Vadis software working with the Geode and I see your point. But pulling directly from what I quoted earlier:
"GeoDiscovery is investigating methods to provide a solution to applications that require NMEA serial connections without requiring changes to the application. The Geode GPS Module includes powerful features such as the digital compass and two Multimedia Card slots that go beyond what the NMEA protocol is capable of handling."
It may just be that the other mapping programs won't be able to use these extra features of the Geode, or it might be that because of these extra features, the software might not work.

Geodiscovery does go on to say: "At GeoDiscovery we understand the great value in allowing multiple applications to take advantage of these unique features of the Geode GPS Module. With this understanding, work is progressing on developing an SDK to allow developers to accomplish this."

Keep in mind, the Geode, along with Geoview, was designed to go beyond what the average GPS and mapping software combo can do. Not only can you find your position, but you can find a restaurant to eat at, the times it is open, and a number to call to make reservations. (Hello, McDonald's? I'd like to make a reservation for 2 people at 4:30pm ) One thing that impressed me during the beta test, was the Comdex Guide they included as an example of what it could do. It listed all the nearby restaurants, hotels, etc. and included contact information and breif descriptions of each place. It is all preloaded information that you just sync to your Visor, without having to input it by hand. You can also create your own on the fly. If you haven't been over to look that the GeoExchange on Geodiscovery's web site, take a look and you can see what the Geoview software is all about.

I'm not saying it is perfect and doesn't need some improvement, (like a search function) but they are actively working on it.

At the same time, they understand that some people would like the option of running other software with the Geode, to take advantage of its accuracy, and are also working on a solution that will allow it. One of the beauties of their design, with 2MB of onboard Flash RAM to store their software (not accessable by the user, that is what the MMC slots are for )it is easily upgraded.

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Sven

If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Posts: 9

Magellan is the answer for me.

I got the HandyGPS and was one of the disappointed - it got returned. What the HandyGPS did get right was the price.

What Magellan got right was to not string potential buyers along. I was only made aware not too long ago that this unit was coming out. I was surprised whe availability was announced. I went right over to CompUSA and got one. You can't beat the $150 price.

It worked well right from the start. I learned from this thread to make sure the batteries are loaded correctly - I can see where there would be confusion. I also made sure to have all the software loaded on the Visor before I plugged the Springboard unit in. It works great. Didn't take that long to lock the sats for the first time. It seems to have better reception than the HandyGPS. I started locking on some satellites before I even got out onto my deck. I drove around with it in my car - tested the map software and navigational abilities. Even sitting on the passenger seat, it stayed locked and worked well. The Marcosoft map software is great - again , much better than what came with the HandyGPS. Maps scroll nicely, there is a lot better detail/accuracy, and the street names are actually readable. The unit itself is about an inch think max (I read that some people were concerned about size/thickness). It seems smaller than the Geode. It is pretty light - even with the batteries. About the batteries - my HandyGPS was terrible in this regard. It seemed to suck the juice pretty hard - my Visor even seemed effected. The Magellan unit seems very stable in this regard so far. The manual claims 10 hour battery life for the springboard unit. It seems to be holding up close to this. My Visor battery life also seems only marginally effected. I have yet to try anything other than alkaline batteries in the Magellan unit. Does anyone know if this causes any problems? Perhaps with the Magellan's battery level indicator? Another plus - you can buy an external power adaptor/cigarette lighter adapter so that the Magellan unit doesn't have to even use the batteries.

Anyway - that's the skinny for me. I'm very happy with it. I am only a casual user of GPS and the $150 price is what I had my mind set on.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Carmel, In
Posts: 32

Great first impressions

I just installed the GPS Companion and I must say that this is one of the best behaved modules I have used yet. I also have the OmniSky, eyemodule, Handspring Modem, Flash & Backup modules. The OmniSky is the worst and still give me fits at times.

I installed the software, plugged it in, put in my location and had a fix inside of 5 minutes. It even works inside my house, both on the first and second floors. After removing the modulde for 10 minutes and reinserting I will get a 3D fix in under 30 seconds. Amazing.

I also have a DeLorme TripMate and the Magellan is far superior. It is much easiser to use and much faster to lock in. The hardest part about this has been getting the attention of the guy at CompUSA to unlock the cabinet so I could buy it.

From what I've read about other units, this one is very much worth the $150. This one gets 4.5/5 in my book. I'll have to look at the map availability for a more complete evaluation. I'd be interested to see if there are any foreign maps available for this format.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 19

Case for Magellan/Visor

I can't recall if this has been mentioned, but the sleeve that comes with the Omnisky Minstrel S fits perfectly with the Magellan/Visor combo. I'm using the Prism and the fits is almost perfect. Of course, the Magellan will stick out the top of this sleeve, but this can offer at least basic protection.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hermosa Beach, CA
Posts: 222

gpsfan, i also live in southern california and it looks like the compusa's around me have them.

just go to the compusa.com website, type in magellan and do a search. then select the one for the visor and click on "check". it'll then ask you what your zip code is and display the stores near you with the status of that product (in-stock or out-of-stock).

good luck!

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 27

Good Module

I just went to my local comp usa and picked up a magellan gps module. This is my second springboard after the Tiger Woods Module and I am impressed. It took about 3 min to get a lock initially, but after that it worked great. I turned off the unit and then got a lock again in about 10 seconds. I even took the unit inside my house and still got a 3d lock with 4 satelites. The reciever seems to work very well. I havent tried the mapping software yet. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I would recomend this module to anyone looking for basic gps functionality.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Maplewood, NJ USA
Posts: 48

Money to Burn

Hey all,
I've got some money to burn, and I was seriously considering buying the Magellan unit, can someone clue me on on how the mapping / driving directions work? Also, How much memory do the maps use. Their website is rather scant on the information. I'm wondering if the GeoDiscovery unit is really worth the almost double price. Any comments/answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

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Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
-Ferris Beuler

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 27

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 41

Magellan GPS

Has anyone that preordered the Magellan GPS from MarcoSoft received the unit yet? I see from this thread that CompUsa has the unit. I sent an email to their customer service on Thursday and was told that the "first" shipment was due in on ?Friday? and that the orders would be filled on a first come first served basis.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: birmingham, al
Posts: 41

I remember that when anything would go wrong with the Falcon, Han Solo would whine "It's not my fault...."

Well........It's not my fault!

Seems that the Magellan GPS Companion I've been *****in' about (see all my posts above) was a dud. I returned it to CompUSA last nite and got another. Opened the box in the car and stuck the module in my Visor.

Boom! 3D fix in 5min 48sec.! Turned if off and went to dinner, came out and turned it in and locked up in under a minute!

I'm gonna give it a serious workout today on some central Alabama Jeep trails and see about the waypoint marking and course track/plot functions.

albert

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

I called Marcosoft on Thursday and also was told that they would recieve their shipment on Friday and depending on what time they would either be shipped out Friday or Saturday and that people should have them by Monday or Tuesday. Friday I also got an e-mail that was my receipt for the purchase (Since I called them to pre-order), so I presume its shipping or going to ship.

Something deep down makes me think I'm not going to get it Monday or Tuesday...but then again I think I'm just having horrible flash backs to my PS2 pre-order.

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 15

I just went to compUSA last night and picked up the magellan companion. this thing is unbelievable. i was part of the beta test group for the geoview mobile software, and there is no comparison between the two. what the geoview maybe be in the future may only be slightly better than what the companion is now. i've been waiting to get the geode and then i heard the the companion was out and for almost half the price. so i decided to give it a try worst case i return it to compUSA and buy the geode.

i was a little discouraged at first because the instructions in the box don't tell you that it could take as long as five minutes for the initial reading. but it finally locked in, and from then on it's been very quick to lock. also i learned later on from reading the help file that the built in software isn't as fast at locking on the sats as the other two pieces of software. the two on the cd it said should lock in 2-3 minutes the first time.

played with it for a couple of hours last night after i got it home, and off and on during the day today. everything about the mapping program just blew my mind. being able to move around the map without having to wait for the screen to redraw each time is the one thing that given no other features is the deal breaker between the geoview mobile and the magellan software. in the version geodiscovery released to the public, for every zoom, repositioning, etc. depending on the zoom level the redraw time could be very long (ex. 5-10 secs even on a platinum).

as for the available maps magellan wins hands down, and the map detail seems to be as good or better than geoview. i don't know how magellan got the maps so small, but size of the maps for the same coverage area is not even comparable. for the indianapolis metro area there are 4 maps for geoview with a total size of 1906k. the same area for the magellan is 386k. and at this time the magellan maps contain more landmark information than the geoview maps.

ok enough praise for the magellan now time for some gripes. let me prefaces my gripes by saying that some may be caused by ignorance more than any other factor. first gripe i haven't found anyway to input a lat-lon number into the mapping program. you can search for roads and intersections and things like that, but not for a coord. second i haven't found a way to plot a route on the mapping software. and that's about it for the gripes. and both of these gripes aren't things the magellan doesn't do in at least one of the software pieces they give you it's the fact that some of the functionallity i would like in one piece is only available in the other piece.

one last comparison before i go. my biggest worry about staying with the magellan instead of the geode is the memory issue, and after looking at the difference in the size of the maps between the two i don't think it's going to be that big of a problem. all of the maps for the entire state of indiana is just over five and half MB. which gets you almost every city in every county in the state. now depending on what you keep on you visor this is probably pushing the limit of available memory or is already past it, but how ofter are you really going to need the entire state? combine this with the matchbook drive or something similar and you could fit 5-6 states on a 32MB compact flash card and just copy the ones you need over. and just to take this analogy off the deep end you could buy two 192MB cards and put every map available on the cards.

bottom line i will not be returning the magellan to buy a geode. given six months the geode might be at the same level as the magellan, and it may surpass it within the next twelve months, but it will be a long time in my opinion before the information available will be worth the extra $150.

just one further disclaimer. i have not used the geode hardware only the software, but i have used the software extensivly. plus if you've gotten this far you already know i couldn't spell to save my life.

i can't wait to play with it some more.

matt

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

Yay, Marcosoft e-mailed me saying they shipped yesterday and I should have it soon!

__________________
Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: birmingham, al
Posts: 41

For those still waiting on their Magellan unit or debating wheather or not to get one, scroll down on this page to see SCREEN SHOTS from the software:


http://www.marcosoft.com/quovadis/d...ion/default.stm

__________________

(OIIIIO)

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: birmingham, al
Posts: 41

quote:

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Originally posted by mwgoff75
first gripe i haven't found anyway to input a lat-lon number into the mapping program. you can search for roads and intersections and things like that, but not for a coord.

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(OIIIIO)

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 27

Lat/long

I think what he means is you can't mark lat/long waypoints within the mapping program. Woulnd't it have been great if they integrated the two programs together so you could see your waypoints on the map? Also, do you think future upgrades to Quo Vadis will work with Map Companion or do you think Magellan will have to offer them seperately?

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 70

vindigo & magellan

Could one of you kind bleeding edge magellan users test the "enable gps" option on vindigo with your module to see if it works. Since one of the advantages of the Geode package is the future capability of pulling up points of interest on varous maps, I was thinking you could get a little of this functionality with the vindigo/magellan combo. Thanx in advance

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tuffy

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 95

Magellan GPS Companion is now available at Staples Stores.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 3

Does the GPS COMPANION come with Quo Vadis 2.0. And if so are the maps in color?

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 15

quote:

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Originally posted by petrdel
Does the GPS COMPANION come with Quo Vadis 2.0. And if so are the maps in color?

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