laptop and gps

[kyhillbilly]

which laptop would you recommend? are there any known for toughness, to take the abuse in a truck cab? also which gps system seems to be the favorite. any help would be greatly appreciated.




There is no such thing as people asking stupid questions. It's more a matter of stupid people asking questions.

 

[zebra1run]

From the research I have done the Magellan Merdian Color is the best if your looking for a handheld model GPS.

Zebra

 

[theoldprof]

Zebra, How does this particular Magellan gps work? Does it give you street by street directions? Does it give voice prompts? I have gone to C------ City and Best B---. When I ask a question I get a "Idunno" type answer. Thanks. :+ :+ I thought it best I leave out "ircuit" and "uys". Don't want any liability problems. :+ :+

 

[geo]

for gps new 2620 garmin is one of the best is a stand alone
systems, laptop one thing you want is service if it breaks or has
a problem , sam's club has good price's for laptops
just depends what you want
for gps go to tvnav.com have good prices on equipment
also something to remeber on some truck watch where you run your cable's as i ran one on my western star didn't know how tight the
door's where and broke $100.00 cable, to fix problem had to run
new cable up thru hole for q and then to dash after that work great

 

[SHARP327]

I USE COPILOT TRUCK WHICH I LIKE ALOT! I'VE GOT A LOW DOLLAR GATEWAY LAPTOP WHICH WORKS FINE FOR US, WOW! WHEN DID $1100.00 BECOME LOW DOLLAR? ANY WAY THE SYSTEM WORKS FINE, I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT BUT THAT WOULD TAKE ALL NIGHT, BUT I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT IT TAKES IN CONSIDERATION THAT YOUR IN A TRUCK AND NOT A CAR. THE RECEIVER WORKS REAL GOOD JUST LAYING ON THE DASH.

CHECK IT OUT AT copilottruck.com THEY ALSO HAVE HAND HELD MODELS.

HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP!

SHARP327

 

[Broompilot]

The day I committed to entering Expediting I purchased the Megellan RoadMate 700 from Cotsco or Sams Club about $1,000.00. Now you understand why I had to committ. It works great tells you when to turn even before you come to an instersection. If it does not have the location, example new address you enter the closest intersection and it will take you to it. Want to find a Bob Evans along your route it will locate that for you also. I also plan on having the GPS system on my lap top can anyone suggest a good program for that (bridge heights etc..)

 

[NoProblem]

Not sure what all you plan to do with the laptop but I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 for the last year already and its still good as new. My friends have different laptops that all work just fine after more than a year - we all keep them in their travel bag while driving though. If you properly secure it to the passenger seat for viewing while rolling, it should be just fine in my opinion.

I also went to Best Buy and spent $135 on the 2004 Delorme Street Atlas USA with GPS and all I do is plug the antena into my laptop and lay the sattelite antena on the dash - it works great. It does have voice prompts but I did not set it up for that. You can route yourself right to the stops with or without voice.

Personally, I like Mapquest.com better.

 

[trump]

How much memory do you need in a laptop for the mapping and gps?

 

[NoProblem]

Minimum Requirements for Delorme are:
Windows 98/2000/Me/XP/NT
233MHz Pentium or equivalent processor
64MB RAM
400MB of available hard disk space

If you want to us voice command features, you also need:
Sound Card, Microphone and Speakers

 

[Glen Rice]

A different answer from everyone is normal. Unfortunately it is also confusing! My thought is if you need service what are you going to do? You may end up leaving your computer with a shop and have them ship your repaired unit to you. That is why I would recommend using name brand units that you can have serviced easily by stores such as CompUSA, Best Buy, and I quess even Gateway, although I'm sure you can get negative feedback about all these stores. I would also research Consumer Reports for current equipment that can do it all, and give you value for your hard earned money! Good luck and keep us posted what you decide to go with.

 

[davekc]

If buying a computer, go to best buy because they can fix simple things. Like all the others, if it is a major crash, it has to be sent out. As far as mapping, we use the delorme 2003. Wife likes it better than the new 2004 version.
Davekc

 

[gojack]

I am a huge fan of 2004 Delorme Street Atlas USA with Delorme Earthmate GPS
I have the version w/ the US phone book, comes in very handy...
map to phone number, call to confirm location, find old girl friends..,
I have been using a Toshiba laptop from Costco ($899 two yrs. ago)

Radar tab allows you search for truck stops or food ahead., That saved my butt at least twice.,

Under Advanced routing you can tweek it to your driving speed on various roads
( Interstate, main roads etc)

Very accurate, I am amazed over and over again when I get a run to rural nowhere at 2 am and when I drive to the red finish dot, stop and look around I can usually see my drop. Savings in time/fuel alone pay for a good GPS System.

Map is not perfect, but you can draw in roads that are too new to show up, you can not add Routable Interstate exits though.

I flag all points of intrest, scales, rest stops good buffets etc., handy when you go back a year later.,

Dave

 

[camhami]

I used an IBM thinkpad for several years until the power supply finally stopped supplying power a few months ago. I replaced it with a Dell Inspiron 9100. I spent extra $$$ on the laptop so I could replace my home computer as well.

I use a very old version of Delorme Street Atlas. I REALLY need to update the program, as I'm going to industrial parks where the roads did not exist when my version was created.

Street Atlas can utilize a GPS unit plugged into the laptop.

Another driver I met uses a program called "route tools" with a GPS unit plugged into his laptop. I think Rand McNally made Route Tools, but it doesn't show up on thier website now.

I also use my laptop with a logbook program to tally my HOS. www.driversdailylog.com

 

[SHARP327]

WELL IT SEEMS THAT MY EXPERIENCE WITH BEST BUY AND A LAPTOP IS TOTALY DIFFERENT THAN ANYONE ELSES, THEY DON'T/WON'T TOUCH ANYTHING WHEN IT COMES TO A LAPTOP IT ALWAYS HAS TO BE SENT OUT AND IF YOU HAVE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY WITH THE AGREEMENT THAT SAYS IF YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT REPAIRED MORE THAN THREE TIMES WE'LL REPLACE IT WITH ONE OF EQUAL VALUE WATCH OUT! MY HP WAS IN FOR REPAIR MORE THAN NOT! EACH TIME IT WAS FOR AT LEAST 4-6 WEEKS, SOMETIMES THEY WILL REPAIR IT AGAIN UNDER THE SAME WORK ORDER JUST TO KEEP FROM HAVING TO REPLACE IT! THEY ENDED UP WITH ABOUT $2200.00 IN REPAIR COSTS ON A $1600.00 LAPTOP AND ALL THE TIME IT'S IN FOR REPAIR IT'S CLICKING AWAY AT YOUR EXTENDED WARRANTY, THE WIFE REMINDED ME THAT IT'S ONLY WHEN THEY REPLACE A COMPONET IS IT CONSIDERED A REPAIR, AND THEY TELL YOU THAT ALL YOUR PROGRAMS AND STORED INFORMATION COULD BE LOST!

AND FROM WHAT GATEWAY TOLD US, THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY STORES WHERE YOU CAN GO TO.

DEALING WITH BEST BUY WAS A VERY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE EVEN WITH A FAMILY DISCOUNT!

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

SHARP327