New GPS Units from palmOne

Palm users rejoice, as palmOne is releasing two new GPS systems. The first is the GPS kit for the car will have an integrated GPS receiver that mounts to the windshield or to the dashboard. This model will fit the Tungsten E2 or the T5, and will power the combination off of the vehicle. The GPS receiver's software is a custom TomTom Navigator 5 that works with an integrated speaker and makes voice guided directions possible. This should be available in late July or early August for $250 (street). According to palmOne there plans are in place for a $100 rebate for a limited time to customers who buy the Tungsten E2 with the GPS Receiver car kit.

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GPS vs. WPS? Could Wi-Fi help in the city?

We all know what can happen to a GPS signal in dense tree cover with steep rock walls, well how about the steep concrete canyons of the city? Well the start-up company Skyhook Wireless is launching its product a Wi-Fi positioning system that will be a reference database of over a million public and private Wi-Fi access points that will allow the system to traingulate a position within 20 to 40 meters. They have mapped 25 cities in the US, including NYC, boston, chicago, Los Angeles and San francisco. The company plans to increase the database to include 100 cities by the end of the year. See a full story at News.com

The Week in Review - News Around the Blogpire

Another Summer week passes and tons of cool articles around the Blogpire. Single Serve Coffee.com focused on reviews about Green Mountain K-Cups, Arabica Express Melitta One:One Pods, and a way to win a Keurig B50. Kitchen Contraptions.com was crazy about Egg Cookers, Rainbow Toasters, and of course more Soho Spice Racks. If you like Tennis, What's All the Racquet.com talked a bunch about racquet technology (what else do those guys do?), and Shaving Stuff.com covered a diamond encrusted razor made for David Beckham. Just The Chips.com covered the World Series of Poker and some cool new chips. TV Snob.com continued it's series on how HDTV is totally confusing and how the VCR is dead.

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GPS Review: Garmin eTrex Legend C and Vista C by GPS Lodge

The newest updates to the eTrex line make some much needed advances in the features available to the Garmin consumer in a small form factor. The Garmin eTrex Vista C and Garmin eTrex Legend C models are good solid performers and are feature packed. Here at the Lodge, we have taken a look on the Vista C, and we like it. The color screens are good quality - not exactly a plasma screen in your hand, but still good. Both the Vista C and the Legend C models now hold 24MB of data, useful for bringing along lots of map information. This generation adds USB connectivity to your computer, which makes those large map downloads bearable. As in the monochrome line, moving from the Legend to the Vista adds an electronic compass as well as an altimeter. Both have extended battery lives over their monochrome brethren. Both have auto-routing capability - which is a big plus if you are navigating along roadways. Traveling with the Vista C or Legend C is a lot easier vs. their monochrome twins, as Garmin has added more features to allow for easier over the road navigation.

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Magellan releases the RoadMate 760

Magellan announced the release of the RoadMate 760GPS Portable Auto Navigator. The new RoadMate 760 is based on the successful RoadMate 700, but adds some convenient features like the text to speech option that announces upcoming street names.

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The Week In Review - News Around the 'Pire

Give your father something interesting for a change on Father's Day - give the gift of blog knowledge.

GPS Lodge.com

Mio GPS Receiver with MP3 Player
PalmOne GPS Sled for Tungsten E2
Magellan Downloadable Lakemaster Maps
Jeep and Geocaching Summer Promotion and Contest - Win a Vista C or a New Jeep
Garmin eTrex Accessories
Garmin eTrex Legend Review
eTrex and eTrex Camo Review
Garmin eTrex Vista Review

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Mio GPS Receiver with MP3 Player

Mio Technology - Model 269

Mio technology has launched an interesting new GPS that bridges the gap between stand alone GPS receiver and media players.

The new Mio 269 GPS receiver is a stand alone GPS with a 2.5 GB hard drive on board, a build in MP3 player (0.5GB available for media) that has base maps for North America already loaded.

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PalmOne GPS Sled for Tungsten E2

The folks over at CanalPDA.com have reported that PalmOne will release a new GPS sled for use with the Tungsten E2.

CanalPDA.com Reports: The receiver is specific for the Tungsten E2 handheld. It has a suction cup for the car windshield and plugs into the car lighter socket for recharging both the receiver and the handheld. In the rear it has a speaker for voice navigation commands, and the system is based on SiRF SiRFstar III GPS chipset.

Magellan Downloadable Lakemaster Maps

Magellan now makes it easier to get access to lake maps via online purchase and download Magellan has just set up the ability to download new regional lake maps online quickly and easily for their eXploist (models 400, 500 and 600) and Meridian series GPS receivers. The software is also available for purchase on SD cards. Continue reading: "Magellan Downloadable Lakemaster Maps"

Garmin eTrex Accessories

There are a few basic accessories made by Garmin for the eTrex line that can make your life a lot better.

Going Biking? ATVing? - Try the eTrex Handlebar Mount
This is a great way to use your eTrex for biking or off roading with your ATV. The back cover is replaced with a cover that includes an integral clip that clips into the handlebar mount. The kit comes with a handlebar mount that wraps around a typical handlebar, and screws to tighten. The eTrex can then be clipped onto the mount and you are ready to go.

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GPS Review: Garmin eTrex Legend by GPS Lodge

The Garmin eTrex Legend makes the first real, solid step up from the base offerings in the eTrex line. It adds base maps, and the ability to download maps from the computer, as well as expanded routing and waypoint capabilities. It also adds more accurate navigations with WAAS capability. It also adds the Thumb Stick to the front side of the GPS, allowing for easy movement around the maps. The eTrex Legend is a bit old in its design features, but still a solid performer for basic map based navigation. Whether you're navigating across town, or across a mountain range trail system, the Legend adds a lot of punch and allows for more sophisticated management of multiple routes, numerous waypoints and answers higher level navigation needs.

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GPS REVIEW: eTrex and eTrex Camo

The Garmin eTrex and Garmin eTrex Camo are entry level handheld GPS receivers that are affordable and easy to use for basic navigation. They lack a lot of the bells and whistles of the more expensive eTrex line, but if you need to navigate to a location and back, without the help of a map in the GPS, these receivers are OK to consider. These models are limited by a couple of key features that they do not offer: Mapping and being able to navigate across a “mapped screen” is a much easier experience.



Limited memory for keeping waypoints, and routes; these can only store 1 route and 50 waypoints which is about as limited as it gets. If you can afford to move up to the Garmin Legend, you should, as the added features of mapping and route/waypoint storage will make the GPS experience better.

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GPS Review: Garmin eTrex Vista by GPS Lodge

The Garmin eTrex Vistahandheld GPS receiver is a great little handheld model.

While it is not the newest model on the market, The Garmin eTrex Vista feature set covers some of the most used features on general outings. The eTrex line has many common features that make them very popular: portable, many have good base maps, with the option of downloading more maps on some models, and a decent interface that is easy to use once you are familiar with it. The key added features for the Vista are: an altimeter, electronic compass, and additional internal memory (24MB total). Overall, the Vista is a solid product at the high end of the eTrex line, but is left wanting for key features that you might expect out of a device like this these days. While lacking some key modern features, it is still a solid handheld GPS receiver.

Continue reading: "GPS Review: Garmin eTrex Vista by GPS Lodge"

GPS Review: Garmin eTrex Vista by GPS Lodge

The Garmin eTrex Vistahandheld GPS receiver is a great little handheld model.

While it is not the newest model on the market, its feature set covers some of the most used features on general outings. The eTrex line has many common features that make them very popular: portable, many have good base maps, with the option of downloading more maps on some models, and a decent interface that is easy to use once you are familiar with it. The key added features for the Vista are: an altimeter, electronic compass, and additional internal memory (24MB total). Overall, the Vista is a solid product at the high end of the eTrex line, but is left wanting for key features that you might expect out of a device like this these days. While lacking some key modern features, it is still a solid handheld GPS receiver.

Continue reading: "GPS Review: Garmin eTrex Vista by GPS Lodge"

GPS REVIEW: Garmin eTrex Line Overview

Garmins eTrex line has been a good performer for the last couple of years. With the recent addition of the color models (Legend C and Vista C), Garmin has incorporated some much needed features to keep the line competitive. The eTrex line starts with a solid but very basic GPS receiver, the eTrex or eTrex Camo, and continues to add features like mapping, altimeters, electronic compasses, color and storage capacity as you move up the line. The low end can be had for less than $100, while the fully loaded color versions go for over $300.

Continue reading: "GPS REVIEW: Garmin eTrex Line Overview"

About GPSLodge.com

GPSLodge.com is a weblog that is dedicated to news and reviews on GPS navigation systems. We have been actively writing GPSLodge.com since mid-2005 and have enjoyed watching the GPS market develop in the US and globally. We try to write about news that is relevant to the consumer and try to put into perspective what the news means to you and me. I have to tell you that I love this stuff and it's incredibly fun to see the market booming, and the technology developing so quickly.

Scott is the editor of GPSLodge.com and is based near Boston, MA, USA. I started using GPS systems when planning and leading week-long bicycling trips with friends, navigating only with a GPS. That hobby grew into a passion and finally this Blog. My "day job" for a long time was in market research and product development for a large consumer goods company where I learned to listen to the consumer, design products for him/her and take a critical approach to how consumers interact with products.

Reviews - GPSLodge.com reviews stand alone GPS devices, in the automotive, handheld and fitness categories, as well as other GPS related products and software. We don't accept these units as gifts. All GPS units are on loan from the manufacturers, or their agents and returned after a reasonable review period. We will also buy the unit ourselves for review. We do not accept gifts or keep review units at GPSLodge.com.

We try to review as many units first hand has possible, as we feel that it's important to use the unit to be able to accurately "review" it. When I review a GPS or related product here at GPSLodge.com I will almost always use that unit for several weeks to truly learn the ins and outs of using the unit and present what I think is important to know about using the product.

Unlike some Blogs, we also do not accept payment for articles or reviews.

On many occasions, GPSLodge.com will write about other reviews covering GPS units that are written by other authors on the internet. GPSLodge.com thinks that it's valuable to be able to present other opinions for its readers and will call out in the article that the review is was written by others and will link to that review in the article. We do not try to pass off reviews by others as our own.

If you want to get in touch with GPSLodge.com, you can click on "Contact GPSLodge.com" on the main page or email News (at) GPSLodge.com.

Hope you enjoy the site, and thanks for reading. If you have any thoughts or suggestions please feel free to drop us a line and we'll do our best to help.

-Scott

F-tech Solar 7 Solar Bluetooth GPS Receiver

F-tech Corporation of Taiwan is launching a new GPS receiver that has integrated Bluetooth and a Solar Panel to make it an obvious choice for those who slap a GPS receiver on the dash of a plane or automobile.

The non-slip backing will make it right at home on the dash. The solar panel helps prolong the life of the batteries, but does not take the place of battery power. Still, the manufacturer claims that the battery life can be extended to 30 hours with the use of the solar panel. The folks over at DigitalReviews.com have put it through its paces in the car and in a plane. Their conclusion was:

My slogan in life is: Happiness is No Wires. Bluetooth is great for that. Integrated solar panels even more so. The Solar 7 delivers on both fronts with a sensitivity that is state of the art. Priced at around USD150 to USD170 I predict a bright future for f-tech Corporations latest offspring.

f-tech Corporation Product Information