Route 66 and GPS on a Mac G4 Powerbook

As some are aware from the Mac Post in the main forum, many people were looking at other GPS nav options. I have a G4 Powerbook and am using Route 66 mapping software with my Bluetooth GPS receiver (Holux GP 231)

i just got the receiver this morning (had to pick it up since i dont have packages sent to my house) and have spent the morning driving around to see how well it works and i must say it does as advertised. being surrounded by tall building didnt seem to affect the signal at all. for 3D positioning at least 3 satelites must be picked up and only once when on a heavily tree-lined street, (one can remain relatively dry even during the heaviest of rainstorms on this street) did i lose the signal and that was for only a few seconds. here is a screen shot.

http://priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=1325

drawbacks

*one thing i didnt like and contrary to the advertised benefits of the update for Route 66 was that every time the laptop went to sleep, you had to re-detect the GPS receiver and that could not be done unless you closed Route 66 and re-opened it. trying to re-detect otherwise only provided a quick trip to the desktop

*something i thought i wanted, but realize now that i probably wouldnt want to give up my music and that is no voice nav for the US and Canada.

*on full map detail, there is so much info on it that its nearly impossible to make out what you are looking at. the screenshot is one notch below max. and max would be fine for the area shown only because it is out in a fairly rural area, but in downtown Oly, it was a joke. and the text is overlapping and truncated. there is a workaround of sorts... there is a slider bar for zoom control for areas that are more detailed. the screenshot shows a preset of 1 mile by 1 mile.

* the show info function normally shows street address or business name if available (you can program that info in if you are so inclined and have a ton of time on your hands) well when hovered over the GPS icon it says "GPS"... for crying out loud!! WHY BOTHER!!!

Background info

the Holux GP 231 receiver works on bluetooth or USB interface. i ordered from Semsons Co in Canada (somewhere) it was $149.99 plus $9 shipping

the Route 66 software was about $45 ( dont really know to be honest with ya... guess i should pay more attention to what i put on my card...)

 

yes the detail can be turned down to nothing if you like. my only complaint is the difference between max detail and then one notch below max seems to be a bit much. you can customize the detail by turning on or off several different categories. some street names only appear once on the map and that was a bit tedious sometimes when trying trace out a route.

another thing (i dont mind it but some might) is there may not be a heads up display. havent really investigated the thought but considering that the map is rectangular might make it tougher to flip.

another thing is (although it was in streets and trips too) is some major throughfares here have several names attached to them and that makes "turn by turn" directions somewhat strange.

for example, today i spent several hours driving around and mapping different routes to see how well it would do. one major road is labeled Old Hwy 99, Pacific hwy and South Tacoma Way. eventually a few roads split off. but directions run like

old hwy 99 straight for 510 ft.
Pacific Hwy straight for 1029 ft
South Tacoma Way straight for 350 ft
soooo... get the picture?

realize you are on the same road and yes, businesses on this road use all 3 road names and are scattered all over the place. most have to do with how long they have been there.

another thing that may or may not be accurate, i noticed that the elevation readings were very strange. things like the Nisqually River bridge on I-5 being 44 feet below sea level. considering that its right next to the salt water Nisqually Flats, yes i can believe its low, but 44 feet below sea level is a bit more than i can believe. now i know that "sea level" is not really indicative of the actual level of the oceans and is an arbitrary point used as a standard reference point so i may pointing out nothing... just seemed a bit strange to me.

as far as whats good about it? well, its cheap. just about $200 for the setup and ~$40 for an update...a bit cheaper than the DVD update for the Prius Nav.

im sure there is more that is good about it but i have not delved into it. realize, i got Route 66 on Wednesday and the GPS receiver this morning so really havent had time to even figure out how the program works...have to admit, havent read the manual for either yet. if i would have, it probably wouldnt have taken me about 6 tries to get the GPS receiver working...

 

just an update now that i have used it a few more times. i purposefully traveled in areas where i knew that there was new construction to see if i could get a handle on when the maps were updated last.

there were many places that did not have the new roads as expected...(one i checked is still not complete yet) but overall it appears that the data is more towards the beginning of 2004 making the maps at least 18 months old.)

but overall, i think the program works great. i have put in several "pushpins" for my home, several common destinations, etc. now i can drag and drop these pre-determined destinations as waypoints and get instant directions to them.

if i want to not go the fastest route (default setting) its easy to change preferences to not use freeways by setting freeway speed to zero in preferences.

The GPS unit i bought ranked a 10 for both accuracy and signal reception plus it was on sale and has performed as well as could be expected. Because the software is only wintel compatible, the GPS tracker software is not available so only the GPS status window is all you get, but it still tells you coordinates, speed, direction of travel, elevation, distance to next waypoint, etc. from the manual and website, i think the only thing i am missing is the number of satellites im seeing. (in Route 66, i must be accessing at least 3 to get a position. something i maintained without any problem while driving through the tallest buildings of downtown Seattle... personally i think it was because of the huge windshield of my Prius... had to get a Prius plug in there somewhere)

all in all, most definitely worth the money...only thing i might have considered doing differently... using a 17" widescreen Powerbook is not the easiest in the car since it takes up the entire passenger seat. might be better with something smaller but i like the larger map screen. it is big enough that street names can be read easily without straining even when the map is on a 1 mile by 1 mile grid. i like being able to see several blocks around my intended travel path in case i run into heavy traffic situations.