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

Editboxer here........didn't know if you knew but the
Magellan GPS module is out.........I just bought one for $150 at Comp USA.

I didn't know it had been released yet......the guy at the store said they came in this afternoon (Tues, 30 Jan 01)

I'll give you my first impressions in a couple of days.

albert

__________________

(OIIIIO)

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

Cool! I didn't realise it would get to retail that quickly, I preordered mine from Marcosoft so I hope to see it soon then. Looking forward to hear what you think of it while I wait.

__________________
Matt Nichols
[email protected]

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

My first impressions are comming much sooner than I thought they would:

The module is definately not as sleek as the GeoDiscovery unit......the black plastic rig is about the size of my StarTac phone and sticks out about an inch from the back of my Visor.

The box contained the GPS Companion module, 2 AAA batteries and a software CD. The process is really easy: put the batteries in the module, load 2 programs and maps of your choice onto your visor, hotsync, plug it in and go.

Well, that last bit has proven a little tricky. I inserted the GPS Companion into my GVDX and the hair stood up on the back of my neck when I saw the little splash screen from the module's on board software. I get excited pretty easily. I was walked through Magellan's "let's help the satellites figure out where you are" routine by clicking on my general location on a world map and subsequently on a United States map. I clicked *ok* and the unit was initializing!

Then came this horrible message that said:

"This feature works only when your handheld device is attached to a GPS Companion containing charged batteries."

Ok. Hm.

Maybe the batteries they sent were no good. In go the new batteries that I *know* are good. Click on the menu, tap on the little maps and Initialize.

Same message.

Ok. Hmmmm.

I'll try it on my wife's OVDX. Ooops. When you pull the module out while the software is running, it resets your visor.

Yuck. Try all of this on Visor #2 (thinking that the SpringBoard slot on my green one could be defective). SAME THING.

Needless to say, I'm not real happy right now.

More later.

Albert

__________________

(OIIIIO)

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: El Segundo,CA
Posts: 374

Could'nt find Navcompanion on Magellans website. I was wondering if it would work with the Marcosoft SW I bought when HandyGPS was going to use it. Found it finally here http://www.magellangps.com/products...ompanion_sw.htm

[Edited by j762538 on 01-31-2001 at 01:16 AM]

__________________
My Treo has more memory than I do.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 27

quote:

---

Originally posted by j762538
Could'nt find Navcompanion on Magellans website. I was wondering if it would work with the Marcosoft SW I bought when HandyGPS was going to use it. Found it finally here http://www.magellangps.com/products...ompanion_sw.htm

[Edited by j762538 on 01-31-2001 at 01:16 AM]

---

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

quote:

---

Originally posted by editboxer
...

Then came this horrible message that said:

"This feature works only when your handheld device is attached to a GPS Companion containing charged batteries."

Ok. Hm.

...

---

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 3

Accuracy Range

FYI:

Magellan Support says that "The accuracy range will be 0 - 50 feet" (= 0 - 16m ).

Wish they would have taken advantage of the 2m accuracy range that is now available.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 6

I went and bought the GPS Companion module today at CompUsa for $150. Installation of the software is pretty straight forward. You install the NAV and MAP components, and then the maps you want to use. The CD contains the entire US broken down by state, then by county.

After inserting the batteries (more on this later) I inserted the unit into the slot on the back of my VDX and hoped for the best. The GPS companion software started up, but I soon received an error message similar to EditBoxers

"This feature works only when your handheld device is attached to a GPS Companion containing charged batteries."
.

I pulled the GPS out and this caused a soft reset of the visor (not sure if it is suppose to do that). I double checked the batteries and this is when I noticed the problem.

The battery compartment holds two AAA batteries by use of two springs and two contacts. Normally you insert the negative (flat side) towards the spring and the positive goes towards the contact. Both springs are on the same side, so I naturally inserted both batteries the same way. But after closer inspection, I noticed the + and - symbols are on opposite sides for each battery slot. After inserting the batteries according to the diagram inside the battery cover, it worked!!! One battery is inserted with the positive on the spring, which does not seem normal. This is probably a production screwup, but after putting the cover back on, the batteries seem to stay in place ok.

I was able to attain a 3D fix in a little over two minutes, which is faster that I expected. I am going to hold off giving my impressions until I have enough time to realy evaluate the software and functionality of the unit. This is my first GPS unit and I don't want to bash a company because I am not sure how it's suppose to work.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 49

Re: Accuracy Range

quote:

---

Originally posted by SLCVisor
Magellan Support says that "The accuracy range will be 0 - 50 feet" (= 0 - 16m ).

Wish they would have taken advantage of the 2m accuracy range that is now available.

---

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: El Segundo,CA
Posts: 374

quote:

---

[i]I tried installing it, but I got a fatal exception when i ran it. [/B]

---

__________________
My Treo has more memory than I do.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 1

Called Magellan

Bought mine at CompUSA today. Had the same problem getting it to fix my position. Called Magellan, and they stated that I needed to install 'Nav Companion' and 'Map Companion' for the module to work properly. I did and was able to get a postition fix within 30 seconds.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Posts: 57

Jon Etkins -

Per the specs posted for the Geode at http://www.geodiscovery.com :

"The Geode� GPS Module�s unique value starts with its accuracy and versatility. Thanks to a new Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the Geode� GPS module is generally accurate to within two meters."

The Geode Springboard is priced at $289. Check it out.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 13

New Magellan GPS Springboard

I got it too. I made just some sort of quick test.

First, from the CD, I loaded both apps (Map Companion + some maps and Nav Companion) I was told that inside the Springboard ROM there is only a reduced version of the Nav Companion. The full one is on the CD.

Visor OFF, inserted the GPS, it started the Visor. Got the world map, "initialized" my area.

Tap STATUS: noticed it started to get some satellites while I was still inside the house. I went outside and a little while later got a fix.

Back to the main Visor screen, tap on Map Companion ..., it is actually Quo Vadis. Fine, it works. GPS: checked Initialize screen, tap start, and I got the bottom filled with the incoming data from the satellites, checked the other GPS screens: Navigation, Sat, Sky Chart... all OK, got a 3D fix pretty fast. Back to MAP mode. I see some additional items there: in the bottom right corner there is now an indication for GPS POS + SCRL (position & scroll)
and in the "TAP/HOLD" there is an "identify" mode...


No time now to check more, but the maps are nice and scroll well, as usual...

Back inside and to main screen. Tap Quo Vadis (the real one), yes it works as well, I had no doubts since this GPS is supposed to work with other software with standard NMEA.

Ah, I got a fix while inside too. That's good.

Removed the module: got a message: The GPS connection failed.Sure, I removed it. Tap OK and I'm taken back to the previous satellite screen. The satellites are gone, of course.

Reinserted the GPS, I'm back to the Nav Companion "position" screen: fine. Removed it and...I guess this is a soft reset.
No harm. I can go back to the main screen.

One more trial. Insert, position, tap "home", select Map Companion, it goes right back where I left it (Sats).
From the Initialization screen I STOP the GPS, Remove the GPS and all is OK. For now I can say it worked quite OK.

P.S.: one more test several hours later: inserted the GPS and got the 3D fix in one minute inside the house. Wow!

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

first of all, ever notice that you can't seem to find a picture of the magellan unit from the side? is it because it's really thick? could one of you that own one tell me how much thicker the unit protrudes from the back of the visor? i'm a little frustrated that no where on ANY site can i find a simple side shot of this bugger. i think they're trying to hide the fact that it's huge...

also, it seems that compusa.com has it available ("usually ships within 72 hours") for $149.

thanks.

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

quote:

---

Originally posted by Nhatman
could one of you that own one tell me how much thicker the unit protrudes from the back of the visor? i'm a little frustrated that no where on ANY site can i find a simple side shot of this bugger. i think they're trying to hide the fact that it's huge...

---

__________________

(OIIIIO)

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Anaheim, CA
Posts: 4

Magellan GPS

I've got to get my hands on the Magellan GPS Companion. I went to my local CompUSA, but they were not available yet. Does anyone know where I can get one in the Southern California area?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Nashville,TN
Posts: 8

My 2 cents as a Prism owner in the market for a GPS module who also was unimpressed with the Geoview software.

The Quo Vadis software is unquestionably faster than the Goeview in its present form.

The Qua Vadis software supports color now. Geoview tech support told me that the color software would be in the works, but would not give a commit date as they wanted to finish the functional feature set of the software now. Their estimate was 4 months.

Quo Vadis software appears to work with GPS receivers that are NMEA Compatible. The Geode is NEMA 2.2 compatible.

Most likely the maps stored in the Geode (when supported) will have to be moved into the visor's memory to be accessed. The maps are HUGE. Nashville alone was 936K. It would appear that all 64 meg would be nessassary to store detailed maps for a 4 state trip.

I will wait to make my purchase until reviews of both products are available. Hopefully someone will test the Quo Vadis on the Geode as that appears to be the best solution.
Frank

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

NMEA 2.2 compatibility but...

The NMEA 2.2 standard is a serial standard, and the Geode uses the Springboard port, which is not a serial standard so there is not a way for the Quo Vadis software to communicate with it. Here is a better explanation from Geodiscovery's web site:

**NMEA Statement: A word about NMEA compatibility.

NMEA is a protocol that was developed to allow devices from different vendors to communicate in a marine setting, typically over a serial connection.

The Geode GPS Module connects to a Handspring Visor handheld computer via the springboard bus, and not a serial connection. At this point, most applications that are "NMEA compatible" require a serial connection, that is, they look for data from the serial port and therefore will require modification to work with the Geode GPS Module.

The Geode GPS Module uses the SiRFstar�II GPS which can communicate in multiple protocols including SiRF binary and NMEA V2.2. 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. 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

I hope this helps.

[Edited by sdoersam on 02-01-2001 at 09:37 AM]

__________________
Sven

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

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 13

Re: NMEA 2.2 compatibility but...

quote:

---

Originally posted by sdoersam
The NMEA 2.2 standard is a serial standard, and the Geode uses the Springboard port, which is not a serial standard so there is not a way for the Quo Vadis software to communicate with it. ........

---

__________________
DXBUP

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

After 2 days, much frustration, and VERY sparodic instances of my Magellan GPS *actually* working, I've decided a trip back to CompUSA is on tap for Saturday!

I'll give a replacement unit a chance for a few hours and if that doesn't function properly, I'll probably be a GeoDiscovery owner.

Pity, cause the mapping and tracking software included w/ the Magellan rig is pretty cool. I downloaded the GeoView map software and found it much slicker and much less functional.

Maybe I'll just forget about GPS for a while and plop that money down on a Prism........anyone interested in a GVDx?

I'm just glad that some have had good experiences with Magellan's product.

albert

__________________

(OIIIIO)