A Bargain at the Rat Shack

[Richard King]

I have been doing a lot of driving lately servicing business satellite systems all over the southern 2/3 of Florida. I normally have been getting my directions to the site from Mapquest.com, but that site isn't always the most accurate. Enter Radio Shack. They have a low cost GPS unit called the DigiTraveler, a unit that sits on the dashboard and plugs into a PDM or a laptop computer. It comes with Street Atlas 2003 software included. The normal price is $99, but they are closing it out now at $49. My local store was out of them today, so they are shipping one (the laptop model) in for me from Miami which will arrive on Tuesday. It looks like it could be an interesting product.

[Nick]

I am very interested in these. Thanks for the heads-up, Richard..

I looked at a few similar productsat CompUSA several years ago (Rand-McNally, DeLorme, Nat'l Geo.) that were in the $100-150 range. One product came bundled with its own "big name" mapping software and a small GPS dash-mounting receiver unit. At the time, I had just purchased a new 14" laptop and planned to use the pc, GPS/CD-ROM based mapping software to guide me in my planned extensive retirement travels. At the time they were new and unproven and I decided to wait. I even located a vendor for a floor-mounted vehicle bracket with an articulated arm to hold and position the pc. More recently, I traveled the coast in search of real estate investments using my laptop with recently loaded property listings. Quite clever, if I say so myself. ;)

Make sure the s/w maker provides download capability to keep your travel data current.

[Richard King]

Rand-McNally, DeLorme, Nat'l GeoThis one comes with the DeLorme Street Atlas USA (2003) software package which is controlled by the GPS. I suspect it is the same thing that you saw at CompUSA in Radio Shack packaging.

I even located a vendor for a floor-mounted vehicle bracket with an articulated arm to hold and position the pc. Where did you find this device?

[Nick]

Sadly, I haven't found the vendor's catalog since I moved (see other thread). Check with your local police or sheriff's automotive garages to see what they install in their patrol cars, or a cop supply catalog like Bell's. The LE units are really heavy-duty rigs.

[ERSanders]

This http://www.jottodesk.com/ is the one I use with my laptop & GPS. You have to be really careful where you bolt it down to avoid screw penetration as well as swing in front of airbags, radio and other controls....so be careful BEFORE you mount it.

Actually this specific model.... http://www.jottodesk.com/detail.asp?id=6

[Nick]

One model (?) I saw bolts to the passenger seat floor mount, no holes needed.

[RichW]

I have a special "sleeve for my IPAQ which contains a GPS receiver and a slot for a compact flash memory. With a 1GB compact flash microdrive I have coverage of about 2/3 of the USA.
The sleeve came with a "gooseneck" mount with a rubber suction cup the other end. I attach it to the windshiedl behind my rear-view mirror. The GPS system gives me verbal directions as I am driving.

Now when the wife complains that I don't like to ask people for directions I an respond that I no longer need help. My longest trip so far has been from my house in Oregon to a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. The GPS kept me right on course.

I now feel naked without my Ipaq. It is the "Swiss Army Knife" of PDAs. In addtion to a personal organizer (synched with MS-OUTLOOK), I use it as an MP3 player, a GPS system, my home theatre remote control, and a dictation machine.

[Richard King]

Update time....
Well, I picked up the unit Friday morning (a bit of a shipping snafu with RS in Miami), about 45 minutes before I had to head out of town to do a service call. I figured I would try it out on this trip (Vero Beach to Key West). I loaded the software, entered my start/stop points, mounted the receiver and plugged it into my laptop. I set the laptop on the passenger seat (I still want a mount) and fired it up. To my surprise, within seconds a voice came out of the laptop speakers telling me to turn right on State Road A1A. This voice accompanied me all the way to Key West and back (about 320 miles each way) informing me in advance of each turn that I had to make along the way. I never even bothered to open the "owner's manual" which is over 100 pages long and only on the cd. Overall I am very impressed with the capabilities. Now I will have to print out and dig into the manual to learn how to set up alternative routes (it routed me on the Florida Turnpike, a rather expensive route, rather than I-95 which runs parallel to the TP).

[gcutler]

Make sure the s/w maker provides download capability to keep your travel data current.

And you want to make sure the SW is aware of construction concerns (and will download construction info daily/weekly)

Nothing like following the map and finding the road blocked in both directions and no idea how to get around it...

[Richard King]

I don't know yet if it tracks construction zones, but I do know that I am tempted to contact RS corporate and see if I can buy whatever number of these they have left in their system. One just closed on Ebay at $82.00. If I could get a nice quantity discount from RS I could make a tidy sum.... Hmmm.

[Bob Haller]

WOW, I spend way too much time lost driving on service calls. Whats the total cosat for something like this? It gives verbbal directions?

Arent laptops expensive? If you make a wrong turn does it get you back on track?

My puppet friend asked me again about this the other day. She spends lots of time lost too:(

[Richard King]

If you need a laptop for your work anyway, as I do, it is simply a $49 add on. You can also use it with a Palm device. It gives verbal directions through the speakers in the laptop. If says something like "off track" if you get away from where you should be. If you want one, hurry because they are very hard to find now, especially since they are selling at below cost.

[Richard King]

Here ya go Bob...
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=digitraveler