Matt Price(moptop99@gmail.com) is reported to have said:
> hi,
>
> i'm about to take off on a long road trip through the us and am
> planning the technological elements. I'm looking for advice on
> purchasing a gps unit. If possible, i'd love to get something that
> ran Free software, or was at least intercompatible with my debian &
> ubuntu based machines. we will probably have a laptop hooked up for
> watching video/playing music, and could either run a gps card off of
> that laptop or have a standalone unit, whichever seems to be a better
> idea. the set up has to be usable not just by me but by my nongeek
> family members. has anyone done this/have a suggestion?
>
Matt
I just finished testing a new GPS unit I just received so your timing
is right on.
How about a USB based GPS that mounts on the roof of the car (with
its own magnet), requires no batteries, is waterproof, has a 20
channel receiver, is WAAS enabled, has a USB to Serial adapter
built in, and uses a driver built into the 2.6.18 kernel. In
addition to that is runs with Debian software. ie gpsd, kismet,
gpsdrive, and roadnav. In addition it works with Delorme Topo and
Streetmap 2008.
I ran a comparison of it with my Magellan SportTrak Map. Inside
the house the Magellan can't get a lock but this (GlobalSat BU-353)
got a lock on 4 Sat's when in the same position. Hung in a window
the BU-353 got 7-8 Sat's to 4-5 for the Magellan. Very impressive
and was less then 1/4 the price of the Magellan.
After a lot of research I got it on Amazon. Lowest price &
Shipping. Ordered on line on Monday night and arrived today by USPS.
It was tested on a Thinkpad T40 running Debian testing and a desktop
with Windbloz XP.