Windows Live Search with GPS

[mariog7]

Can anyone that uses WLS with a BT GPS on their Q please comment? I was thinking about selling off my TomTom GPS stand alone unit and going with this solution. What are the pros and cons? Can I also use my BT headset to talk when the GPS is connected?

Thanks.

[ziggie216]

I just got my bt navibe gps and its been working kinda great. The only con is that there is no voice guidence and once awhile it takes some time for the map to fresh. I would rather use TomTom (software), but it doesnt exactly work that well for the Q. Same comment for the google map as well.

I'm not sure if you can use two BT unit at the same time though.

[DrQ]

I use a generic BT-5 GPS and it works fine for me with WLS as I use it rarely. Sometimes it takes a little messing with and of course the Q has a small screen and no voice directions.

It is definately adequate for my needs but no real substitute for you Tom Tom unit.
If I did more traveling and wanted GPS, I would definately get a standalone unit.

IMHO the BT GPS is a great adder for the Q but no substitute for a real standalone GPS, especially a top name like Tom Tom.

[windtrader]

I just got a BT GPS for my Q. I had a Garmin eTrex, bulletproof as hell and a great tool for getting data to the PC, not a Q.

I searched for a high value, high precision BT GPS and found the Navibe 735 to fit my requirements the best.

With the GPS configured in the Q, Live Search and Google Maps will allow you to track your position on the map overlay. Nice to see where you are on a map but not a lot of good for navigating. It does show POI which is pretty nice if you have a Big Mac attack and want to find the nearest McDonald.

The both will generate a route for you and one (forgot which) does update the directions as you proceed. Neither talks.

I found Route66 to work very nicely for navigation on the road. It does talk and give you all the audible and visual indicators you need to get to your destination. It also has automatically reroutes if you take a wrong turn. It also shows various POI you can filter.

The other requirement I have is for off road navigating while hiking, mountain biking, ATV in the woods, etc. This search took some time and I found Run.GPS to be a great tool. It allows you to display a variety of readouts on the dashboard such as speed, average speed, distance, etc. You can configure which things you want to show. There is a map screen that shows your position on an image overlay that you calibrate and import. It has a couple of nice automatic Google Map imports so you can display your course over a sat image or a road map.

Getting topo maps into Run.GPS is greater challenge as it takes several tools to get it working. I use USGS DRG maps and wanted to have Run.GPS show my track on a topo overlay. For this I found using GlobalMapper, MapCalibrator, and Run.GPS to be a winning combination.

GlobalMapper is powerful and easily imports the DRGs (tif) and converts it to any projection you want then saves the image in JPG which is required for Run.GPS. I read that there is support for PNG but MapCalibrator only talks JPG.

MapCalibrator will add the coordinates to the map image and also create map slices or tiles which are then load into Run.GPS. The map slices basically chop up the map into smaller images so the Q can handle it without blowing for lack of memory.

TomTom does have a mobile version but it is built for a touchscreen, not the Q. There is some pen emulation but I could never get it working to my satisfaction. Run.GPS works quite nicely one handed.

If you have time, patience, and tolerance for aggravation, look at these tools. You need to be prepared to spend a fair bit of time getting all the pieces installed properly and talking to each other. If you just want auto navigation and don't mind the extra device, then a TomTom would surely be way easier and stable than a Q with similar function. But this is not different that any standalone, specific purpose tool has over a software add-on to a general purpose OS.

Today was the day I finally got all the pieces working together, specifically, the off-road mapping and navigation functions. It is the coolest thing one can image to have a single device work as your phone, pda, real-time push email (Exchange), and also do duty as a car navigator and sports training GPS plus a boatload of other useful gadgets.

It has taken many months to get everything on the Q working just right but I am 95% there and it is just SUPER!