We are just to begin a discussion on gps portable system. If you pay attention to it, you are sure to benefit from the following article and would surely add to your knowledge base. http://www.gpsportablesystem.com Sun, 20 May 2012 17:06:25 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/navman-n60i-more-gps-system-for-less.html NAVMAN N60I Navman blows last year's model out of the water with its N60i device, a more capable and lower-priced GPS than its predecessor. Improvements include a larger, 4.3-inch screen, 2GB of memory, and up to 5 hours of battery life. Based on the supersensitive SiRFStarIII receiver, the N60i comes preloaded with maps of the 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Menus are intuitive and even include dedicated buttons for finding the nearest gas station or parking spot. The N60i has another a neat feature — NavPix — that works with the built-in 1.3-megapixel camera. When you take a picture, it is automatically geo-tagged with latitude and longitude information. After that, you can navigate to any tagged image. When plotting out your trip, you can specify fastest or shortest routes as well as freeway preferences. You can also choose to avoid toll roads and the like, although I found this feature to be a bit quirky. Otherwise, on my road tests, the N60i generated routes consistent with those of other Tele Atlas-based GPSs. Overall, its large screen and easy-to-use menus make this GPS a rewarding choice. articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/affordable-gps-navigation-device-puts-safety-first.html Job one for any in-car GPS unit is to help you get to your destination safe and sound. In the past you would have paid extra for such features as school-zone and speed alerts, and text-to-speech pronunciation of street names. Now Netropa brings these and other important safety features to the low end of the GPS market with its intellinav 3, which lists for only $330. The Intellinav 3 preloads maps for the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on an included 2GB SD Card, along with a points-of-interest database totaling 6 million entries. The downside to the Intellinav 3's small size is its crowded 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD. Moving between menus in the device's settings and other controls is clear and easy, but locating a specific item on the map, such as your next turn or estimated arrival time, can be a challenge while you're driving. The screen also washes out in bright sunlight. That's where the pronunciation of street names comes in handy. The Intellinav 3's route selections were usually spoton, though I disagreed with a couple of the device's rush-hour suggestions. The product uses historical traffic patterns to choose your route and to calculate your arrival time--but in my testing, I did not see any actual reduction in travel times. You cannot play audio files and view images on the device while navigating or viewing the map; I also missed being able to stream the navigation audio through my car's FM stereo. But the ability to hear street names while you navigate puts this GPS unit miles ahead of other entry-level devices. articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/get-lost-precisely-with-a-gps-receiver.html For about $150, you can buy a similar gizmo, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, to find out just where on earth you are. Why on earth you'd need it is another question. GPS technology relies on 24 satellites orbiting 10,900 miles up and transmitting geographical data. A GPS receiver "sees" several satellites and triangulates to find its latitude, longitude, and elevation. We tested four of the low-priced GPS receivers being pitched to hikers and bikers. Three are handheld, with screens that show coordinates and other map data: the Eagle Electronics Accumap Sport, $599, the Garmin GPS 38, $149, and the Magellan Trailblazer XL, $280. The Eagle has the most elaborate maps and is fastest. The DeLorme Tripmate, $150, works with software (included) and a laptop computer, and can show maps as you drive. Five testers carried the units to Belize, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and Death Valley, Calif., and were generally impressed. But it can take up to 15 minutes to get the first reading. Buildings, mountains, or trees can block the satellite transmissions, rendering the units inoperative. GPS is offered in some cars from Cadillac and Lincoln. Many boaters also use GPS. But hikers will still need tried-and-true low technology: a compass and detailed maps. articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-system-and-then-some.html Two GPS units that can point north Used to be, if you stood still in the woods and asked your GPS which way was north, you wouldn't get an answer. For that, you needed a good old-fashioned compass. But not any more. Two new GPS receivers have digital compasses: the Garmin eTrex Summit and the Brunton Multi-Navigator. Both models also include a built-in altimeter that provides an accurate reading of elevation and barometric pressure (information you can use to predict weather changes). The compass function on these units adjusts automatically for local declination. If you stray far off-course, to go around a ravine, for example, the GPS function will keep you headed toward your destination. Both units also allow you to sight a bearing to a distant landmark with the compass and then to lock in that course on the GPS function. The altimeter must be calibrated regularly, either with the known elevation or the current barometric pressure. Once calibrated, the altimeters on both units we tested were accurate to within a few feet (even when the GPS elevation from satellite data was off by 200 feet). GARMIN ETREX SUMMIT Identical in size to the $120 eTrex model introduced last year, the $250 eTrex Summit adds the compass and altimeter functions without complicating this unit's friendly operating system. The palm-size Summit weighs just 5.6 ounces. The compass rose is always displayed on the navigation screen unless you choose to move to a waypoint aided only by the GPS function. You can toggle through a variety of information displayed on the lower section of the navigation screen, including your average speed and elevation. The Summit also has sighting marks on the case that make it easy to take a bearing on a distant object. BRUNTON MULTI-NAVIGATOR The $399 Multi-Navigator looks like a... articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-devices-let-the-music-play.html GPS Devices Systems The Ideal Digital travel companion would make sure that you're on the right track to your destination while also keeping you entertained, without weighing you down. Both Mio Technology's DigiWalker H610 and Delphi's NAV200 qualify on all three counts. Of the two, I prefer the $449 DigiWalker for its compactness and portability, even though the $380 NAV200 is a top-notch GPS device at a relatively bargain price. I evaluated a preproduction version of the DigiWalker and a shipping version of the NAV200. Both products come with maps of all 50 states and Canada preloaded, as well as points-of-interest databases containing millions of entries. Both devices also have an SD Card slot for loading audio, video, and image files. SPOT-ON NAVIGATORS THE FIRST TIME you use the DigiWalker's MioMap program to show your location or navigate to an address, the device establishes a GPS link in about 1 minute, and subsequently plots your position in just seconds. The NAV200 took slightly longer to grab onto its initial GPS signals, but it kept up with my driving very well afterward. The cradle included with each device for attaching it to the windshield of the car held each unit in place over some pretty rough roads. Both products are small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket, but the NAV200 is noticeably larger than the DigiWalker: The former measures about 4.5 by 3.3 by 1.3 inches (with the retractable GPS antenna down); and the latter is only 3.5 by 2.3 by 0.8 inches (its GPS antenna is built in). The DigiWalker's 2.8-inch display is slightly smaller than the NAV200's 3.5-inch screen, but on both the driving directions are easy to spot (some of the other GPS information is too small to see at a glance, however). BASIC MEDIA PLAYBACK DESPITE OFFERING A convenient way for... articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-navigation-at-its-best.html I recently went for a ride in a really cool car. Actually the car was nothing unique, but its voice-prompted Global Positioning System (GPS), or global positional satellite navigation system, was fantastic! The car was fitted with Alpine's new auto navigation system that combines GPS positioning, dead reckoning (using a speed pulse from the vehicle), and built-in piezoelectric gyro sensors for angular velocity to make the system virtually foolproof -- to both itself and the driver. The basic system is available from any authorized Alpine dealer for just under $2,000. Alpine insists that the system be installed only by qualified personnel. First you need Alpine's NVA-N751A navigation system, which has a suggested retail price of $1499. That unit includes a trunk-mounted CD-ROM drive, GPS receiver, and wireless remote control. Then you need either their basic $500 model TME-M006SA dedicated 5.6-inch color LCD monitor or the $1300 model CVA-1000 in-dash system control monitor/receiver. So, for $1999 you get the basic navigation system, and for $2799 you get their really cool in-dash unit that rolls an Alpine stereo system into the package. The combo system has some neat features -- including automatic muting of the stereo and others that just wouldn't be possible when integrating the navigation system with existing audio systems. The Alpine all-in-one system is gadgetry at its best, with a color LCD monitor/stereo receiver that slides in and out of the standard stereo opening in the dashboard. The theft deterrent screen folds down horizontally before sliding into the dashboard and out of sight. The movement of the unit in and out of the dashboard reminds me of the movie Robocop! The proprietary Alpine system is CD-ROM-based with a trunk-mounted disc player. You get one disc included with the navigation system, and you'll need the CD-ROM that covers the part... articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-navigation-on-the-cheap.html AVERATEC VOYA 350 Despite its low price, The Averatec VOYA 350 Doesn't cut corners. This portable GPS (0.8 by 4.5 by 2.9 inches) has a 3.5-inch screen that's viewable in all lighting conditions ranging from total darkness to bright sunlight. It also comes preloaded with data for the entire United States and Canada, which includes approximately 1.6 million Points of Interest (POIs). Like many new GPS systems, the Voya 350 is equipped with a SiRF Star III GPS receiver. This enabled me to track at least six satellites from the center of my office, 10 feet away from the window. On my road tests, the Voya 350 never lost satellite lock (except in tunnels). Both the shortest and the quickest routes generated to our test destination were exactly the same as those on the more expensive Garmin GPS devices. Menus were easy to comprehend, and voice prompts were very complete. It's worth noting, though, that the Voya 350 lacks both bicycle and pedestrian modes. Also, I found the hardware buttons a little small and a pretty tough to press. Although the Voya 350 doesn't have an MP3 player or other extras, it does basic navigation quite well. For the budget-conscious consumer, it's a fine choice. articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-signals-have-various-levels-of-quality.html A military grade GPS receiver isn't necessarily built to withstand shock, vibration, or temperature extremes. Instead, it means the receiver resists electronic jamming and has a special security module to access extremely accurate signals reserved only for the military. Military GPS signals are on precision frequency, or P Code, explains Bill Walters, sales manager at Trimble Navigation in Sunnyvale, Calif. P Code provides accuracy to within 16 meters. When encrypted, P-Code is called Y Code. P/Y Code is also sometimes called PPS, or Precise Positioning Service. "PPS offers the highest accuracy," says David C. Moya, strategic product manager at Honeywell's Guidance and Navigation Operation n Clearwater, Fla. "All of the intentional errors introduced by the space segment are removed. So-called SPS code, short for Standard Positioning Service, retains some errors and is less accurate. Commercial GPS devices operate off of the L-1 frequency, or Course Acquisition (C/A) Code "The accuracy of C/A Code is slightly degraded by what's called selective availability, explains Bruce Hensel, GPS product manager at the AlliedSignal Aerospace Commercial Avionics Systems division in Olathe, Kan. Commercially available devices can only provide accuracy of about 100 meters because of the intentional errors introduced into C/A Code. To make up for this, military and commercial users can use differential GPS, which compensates for C/A code errors with ground stations to achieve 5-meter accuracy. Companies are looking into other ways to ensure high levels of accuracy. One way is through direct access to P/Y Code, which isn't available today. It takes a receiver a long time to lock onto P-code signals. C/A code was originally a companion code with quick-repeating, low-resolution code that receivers track very quickly to provide crude estimates of time and position, explains Tyler Trickey, marketing manager of navigation products at the Rockwell International Collins Avionics and... articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-system-solutions.html SnapTrack's SnapCore provides accurate location information for wireless products used both inside and outside of wireless network coverage, and supports location-service infrastructure implementations. The solution offers three different modes of operation -- SmartServer mode, ThinServer mode and Autonomous GPS mode -- combining the company's WAG architecture with stand-alone GPS functionality. It enables on-demand location services, such as emergency-location safety features and mobile Yellow Pages in any network configuration or signal environment. By leveraging the company's algorithms for multipath mitigation, sensitivity enhancement and fast response time, and combining this with GPS-processing techniques and a parallel GPS signal-processing engine, SnapCore provides GPS acquisition speed and sensitivity while minimizing cost, space and power. Key features include fault detection and isolation for improved accuracy and advanced processing techniques that provide cold-start times in all modes. The technology's Location on Demand feature ensures a caller's privacy. Its neutral air interface is applicable in any 2-way wireless system: cellular/PCS or paging; 800MHz to 900MHz or 1.8GHz to 1.9GHz; GSM, CDMA, TDMA or 3G. DeLorme's Earthmate Road Warrior Edition is designed for users of Handspring's Visor and Visor Prism portable devices for real-time GPS navigation on detailed street-level maps. Solus Pro application software allows users to download searchable vector maps and route directions online through the DeLorme Souls MapMaker site or from the Street Atlas USA Road Warrior Edition software. Users have immediate access to a set of mapping and location features, allowing them to monitor speed, direction of travel, latitude/longitude and elevation when tracking with the 12-channel Earthmate GPS receiver. Users also are able to locate individual addresses or specific points of interest by city, state or zip code or download maps and route directions wirelessly on Web-enabled devices with purchase of the company's online data service. articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100 http://www.gpsportablesystem.com/general/gps-system-that-puts-you-in-the-fast-lane.html The latest units don't just show you the way-they can also help you dodge traffic Perhaps the most frustrating part of being stuck in snail-paced, bumper-to-bumper traffic is that moment when the radio announcer comes on to say that the other highway-that is, the one that you would have taken if only you'd known better-is smooth going. Then he proceeds to repeat it every 10 minutes as if to rub it in. There may be a way to avoid such misery next time, and all it takes is a device the size of a PDA that attaches to your dashboard or windshield. In addition to giving directions, the latest after-market GPS units offer live traffic info and promise to alert you to bottlenecks, roadwork and accidents before you get to them. Plus, they can respond accordingly with alternate routes. Sales of Global Positioning System navigation units, which rely on satellite technology for pinpointing road location, quadrupled in 2007, according to market research firm NPD Group. That's in part thanks to the fact that GPS technology has become more sophisticated and less expensive of late. These days you get quality routing even on the lower end of the $200-to-$1,000 price spectrum, says Tim Flight, editor of GPSReview.net. But pricier units offer many desirable extras, he's quick to note. The most desirable is the traffic function, which can be added to a higher-end unit for an annual fee, usually less than $75. The feature is far from perfect: Manufacturers rely on info from nationwide traffic-monitoring services, so the data are only as up to the minute as the services. In fact, there were occasions during our tests when we sat in gridlock that the unit hadn't predicted. Still, having some specific, relevant info at our beck and call beat waiting for periodic, generic radio reports. Scott... articles - General Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:12:35 +0100