[Jay]

Quick summary for those who didn't follow that thread.

Product source www.delorme.com. US$100.00 including the mapping software.

Yesterday I took the unit for a spin. Route was right on track, acquistion time, stationary in my drive and under a lot of trees was about 30 seconds at most. Then I took off using Kate16 for TTS which provides turn-by-turn spoken directions, nearby POIs and estimated time to each turn - and a lot more.

Some turn-time estimates were off by as much as 17 seconds. I attrib this to intermittant heavy tree canopy above, so I guess it dead-reckoned and assumed I was traveling at my last known speed. I was not.

Today I bought an inexpensive passive mic, did a couple minutes of MS speech recognition training and took off again.

Awesome. I could ask for turn by turn directions which popped up on screen, where am I? what's the next turn? when's the next turn, zoom in and out (by n-times) and so on. Kate told me all about it. I have not yet asked for POIs like where's the nearest gas station ahead? That's on my list to play with.

After I fully get acquainted with it (if that's possible - there are so many features), I'll do a trip with the laptop folded up and try relying on VR and TTS alone. It's nice having a 15 & 1/2" screen though.

Ski asked why I didn't get the bluetooth model. Good question. The laptop didn't come with that, to add that capability would have required another gadget hanging off the laptop, BT devices need batteries and for serious trips I have an inverter for the laptop. I don' use no stinkin' batteries

[Jay]

I gave Kate and her satellite buddies a closed lid test today. Went to the Jeep toy store which is maybe a 50-mile round trip on big roads and back country ones.

I tried to confuse the system by taking the "wrong" (alternate) turns. She'd immediately tell me that I was off-route and VERY quickly calculated a new route to the ultimate destination, which I always used. Absolutely perfect.

There were a couple of times it thought I was off-route when I fact I wasn't (new roads - I'll update it). I just kept going the same way and it adapted fast. Since the LT was folded, I couldn't see where it thought it was.

Initial satellite acquision time has fallen from about 30 seconds to 2 or 3 seconds.

I highly recommend it if you don't have a dedicated GPS and do have a decent LT.

[jayfro]

I tried Delorme a couple years ago. Took it back and got Microsoft's instead. They are behind on the voice interface for the software, but the mapping was MUCH more current than Delorme. Delorme didn't have my neighborhood which had been here for 3 years! I also found Delorme software cumbersome. That being said, I think Microsoft's is one of the worse software that has come out of the company for being intuitive as well. Its amazing that a $500 stand alone GPS nav unit can have much more functionality and a better user interface than that of one running on a full PC.

On a trip to the boonies Oklahoma last week, I used it extensively and it was right one in the backroads around lakes... I think I paid somewhere around $110 for the GPS and software combo.

Jay Fro

[Jay]

"I think I paid somewhere around $110 for the GPS and software combo."

Which, for the MS bundle?

[jayfro]

yes, the MS one. the Delorme was right around the same originally, maybe a bit cheaper (again, 2 years ago)

Jay Fro

[Jay]

Until you posted, I didn't even know MS offered such a thing. Oh well.

Happy so far. Taking a road trip to VT on Wed. I'll see how it goes