DeLorme Earthmate Car GPS Receiver

I had been considering a GPS system for a couple years. I am an avowed map fanatic, and I love looking at maps and knowing where I am in the world. So I purchased this package, harboring a little bit of doubt, since I had really hoped to find a GPS receiver for this price that was compatible with the Streets/Mappoint MS products, and which could also plug into my laptop. (An aside, why do Microsoft's products not support USB GPS receivers? An interesting question...)

So, how's the hardware? Fantastic. It is a USB peripheral, plug and play, about 2" x 2" x 3/4" and 4 oz. It has no batteries of its own; instead, it takes power from your laptop's battery. There are no displays or controls on the unit itself; everything is done via the Delorme software.

An important note: This receiver can only run in tandem with your computer and the software included! If you are wanting a GPS receiver that can work standalone, this product is not for you.

The receiver attaches to a suction cup on your windshield, and gives accurate readings to your computer every minute. It is reliable, and sturdy too. In Los Angeles, it got stuck under someone's seat and got stepped on and mangled a bit. I was able to snap it back together, and it worked just fine.

The other half of this package, the software, has its ups and downs. Delorme really has bare bones support on the installation process - the software doesn't hold your hand at all during the installation. Novice computer users beware: you will most likely have difficulty figuring this bugger out. But I finally got it installed, and fired up the software.

At first look, it is daunting, and I got a hefty case of buyers' remorse. It looks nothing like any user interface out there, like many other reviewers have commented. However, as I started to use it and get used to it, I realized that it was useable... it just has a longer learning curve than most applications. All of the features you would expect are there in some form or other - they just take longer to find than in Microsoft products.

What I like most about this software is its flawless integration with the GPS unit. It shows a little green arrow that creates a trail as your car moves. It shows your altitude, bearing, and elevation. It shows the elevation and azimuth of the GPS satellites that you are connected to. Heck, this software will even tell you what radio stations are on the air where your GPS is currently located. The voice prompts are fabulous. I love hearing, "You are traveling east on Hollywood Boulevard at 25.3 miles per hour. You are in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California." And when I was stuck in downtown LA, without a clue of where to go and with no time to be looking at a computer screen, the voice telling me to "turn left" at "such and such" street in .2 miles was invaluable.

What I like least about this software is its mechanism for route planning. It will take you at least an hour to get a tentative grasp of the way it works. After that, you will spend much time tinkering with adding "vias" to improve the route. Here's an example of how the route planning didn't work well for me. I was in Los Angeles this last week on vacation. I was trying to plan a route from Culver City in the west to Buena Park in the east. Instead of suggesting that I take the freeways, which would have added about 2 miles to my trip but made the route much faster, it suggested surface streets for 75% of the trip. Keep in mind that Culver City and Buena Park are over 25 miles apart. It can be very harrowing to try and make the software manage your stops and vias in the correct order, because it doesn't show you a proper list of them anywhere - it just shows you the start and the finish in the Route planning section. The dots on the map are all you have to go off of for organizing stops and vias.

It's a great toy, even if you have little real use for it. My friends are greatly impressed.