sourceGPS.com  

If you already have a smartphone or PDA such as a Palm Treo, Palm Centro, or Motorola Q, there’s now a one-box solution for car navigation - the Garmin Mobile 20! The Mobile 20 is an all-in-one solution - simply pop in the pre-programmed data card that contains all the mapping information for the United States and Canada, then pop your phone into the Mobile 20’s smart mount. Plug it in - and you’re done! Best of all, Tiger GPS has an exclusive deal - the Garmin Mobile 20 for smartphones - $59.99 special! - over $200 off the retail price!

Step up to the Garmin Nuvi 350 - the Hottest GPS on the Market! Pre-loaded with detailed road maps for the entire United States and Canada, the Nuvi 350 features a 3.5″ screen, text-to-speech voice prompts, an MP3 and audio book player, headphone jack, and is compatible with a GTM receiver for live traffic updates. Available for a limited time for just $249.99!

If you’re ready for the big time, then you’re ready for a Garmin Nuvi 660. Similar in function to the nuvi 350, the nuvi 660 adds an extra-wide 4.3″ diagonal color touch-screen interface, Bluetooth for hands-free calling, an FM Transmitter, and integrated GTM receiver for live traffic updates. The nuvi 660 also features text-to-speech voice prompts and multimedia player. Now just $349.99, while supplies last!

If you still need a wide screen model but want to save a few dollars, try the Garmin nuvi 650 Portable Automotive GPS System. Similar to the 660 model, the nuvi 650 boasts the same text-to-speech voice prompts, MP3 and audio book player, headphone jack, and pre-loaded maps of the U.S. and Canada, but lacks the Bluetooth and included traffic features. Now just $299.99, through April 7th!

I’m active in different parts of the Internet and in my travels around I’ve noticed that there’s some people out there that have a little paranoia about GPS Tracking Systems in the sense that maybe themselves or their vehicle is being tracked.

Todays technology makes all this possible and in fact really easy to do. Bur keep in mind that these devices are still quite large so it would be pretty obvious if someone were to put one in your gym bag or purse.

So far the hardware that is ‘dedicated‘ to GPS tracking is (more…)

There are so many different types of GPS devices on the market today - all with great price tags and they all do some pretty awesome things.

I’ve picked the Garmin iQue 3600 PDA with built in GPS, the HP iPAQ rx5915 Travel Companion and the Garmin eTrex Venture HC Handheld GPS to compare.

Here the Line-up which is linked to Amazon.com for your easy purchase:

What I like about the Garmin iQue 3600 is that it has a nice compact design and it includes the excellent Garmin software to go with it. It has a really decent price too - I mean c’mon this is a full fledged portable computer capable of playing movies, music, storing your contacts and transporting documents. What I don’t like about it is that it has the Palm OS. Even though I use OS X and Ubuntu Linux the Palm Operating System just doesn’t cut it for me. I’m already on a limited device (for power) and now and locked into a proprietary OS - I just can’t do that.

HP iPAQ rx5915 Travel Companion publisher: Hewlett Packard price:

The HP iPAQ rx5915 - Now this baby is sweet and it is my favorite of them all. I’m already partial to PDAs with built in GPSs and I actually paid a lot more for mine than what this is selling for. I’m really impressed by HP’s design on this one, it’s very modern and it really gives you a sense of mobility. They’ve gone all out here and have stepped far away from the typical PDA design. This device is loaded with the Windows Mobile OS and even though I’m not a Windows user on my laptops I really like the Windows Mobile Operating System for a handheld device. This comes with the popular and proven SiRF GPS chipset and is loaded with navigation software and maps.

Garmin Etrex Venture HC GPS Receiver publisher: Garmin price:

No matter what there’s a place for this type of device. I call the Garmin eTrex Venture HC a ‘Disposable GPS’ and I don’t do that because it’s a bad device. I call it a Disposable GPS because it’s cheap enough and has enough functionality to be worthwhile taking to some of the more rugged places on the face of this earth. When you’re hiking in the Upper Sierra of Chihuahua, Mexico with the guys toting their ‘cuerno de chivo’ (AK47) for your protection this is the type of device that you’ll be wanting to carry. If you lose it, scratch or break it or even if it gets stolen from you it’s pretty rough to take, but it’s not as rough as losing or breaking your PDA. This is also a great first time GPS device - something you can pass off to a friend or family member when you decide to upgrade to something more sophisticated.

By the way - take EXTREME care in the back-country of Mexico. If you happen to stumble on something that doesn’t look right - my suggestion is don’t ever touch it, don’t look at it, and keep moving as if you had never seen it.

Today I’m writing about the real Global Positioning System - The Price of Gold.

Yesterday a lot of people seen an historic moment in time - headlines of the price of gold blasted through whatever medium they could find to get the information out to the general public - GOLD HAS TRADED @ $1,000 USD.

For precious metal investors and mining this is really great news, a psychological barrier has been passed into history and nobody really knows where we are going from here.

Gold achieving this price really should signify (more…)

Like computers, laptops, cellphones and MP3 players there’s a lot of GPS devices on the market these days too. But after having spent a few bills on your ultra-portable 17″ powerhouse laptop that you drag around with you everywhere are you really going to want to have a little 4″ GPS Navigational System in your car? You can have a fully functional 17″ Navigational GPS System by getting a GPS Receiver that’s hooked up to your laptop - and for a lot cheaper than a whole new system too.

Here are my favorites:

For those of us that have a nice white Macbook the white Rosepoint is the sweetest little addition to an arsenal that’s already full of power.

Rose Point Fixed-Mount Marine USB GPS Sensor with WAAS publisher: Rose Point Navigation Systems price:

Garmin is one of the best brands in GPS devices so their reasonably priced USB GPS Receiver that also comes with nRoute software is also a great choice.

GARMIN 010-00321-00 GPS 18 Deluxe USB Sensor for Laptops publisher: Garminprice:

DeluoGPS seems to be pushing their way into the market with some really fierce pricing and they too offer a USB GPS Receiver at an almost unbelievable price.

Is there anything better than a 17″ GPS Navigational System in your car that has all the functionality of a computer too? Hurry because these offers probably won’t last very long?

There’s a lot of interest in freely available Points Of Interest files that people can load on or update their GPS with.

Lucky for all of us the Internet is a great place where people share and compile information for the benefit of all of us. The people over at The POI Factory have put together a whole bunch of information and compiled it into downloadable POI files. They’ve done a great job and really have a lot to offer - for FREE!

So if you’ve been tramping around the internet looking for these hard to find files you don’t have to look any further - head over to The POI Factory and grab a few files.

Drive safe and don’t forget to grab the Red-Light and Speed Trap POIs - might even save you some MORE money.

I’m writing this as a way to keep track of my thoughts while trying to solve a problem. You may not find this at all interesting but since it has to do with GPS data I thought that I would post it on my blog. If you decide to write or comment about this and expect any type of reply please ask relevant questions. Please also remember that I am not obligated to reply back to you and will do so only if I feel like it. (more…)

The Typical Scenario at Work:

Today, my company is putting out a new policy for everyone with a company cell phone - they have enabled GPS tracking for all drivers, managers and outside salesmen. The GPS positions of all employees will now be monitored by both the dispatch department and senior management.

Now you’ll get to hear or maybe you’ll start all of the discussions about personal freedoms, privacy, and the employer/employee trust relationship.

Even though this sounds like a breach of personal (more…)