Rating:  -
Earthmate GPS isn't worth the money. If I could give it "0 stars", I would. The installation process is terrible and the GPS unit would not stay locked on even in clear blue sky. Too many errors. Couldn't search addresses due to errors. GPS unit stopped working after 5 minutes. Tried rebooting the laptop and reinstalling the software. The GPS unit never worked again. I returned the Earthmate GPS and purchased Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator. Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator is a much better program. The GPS function works great and is extremely accurate, to within 3 meters. The only drawback to Streets & Trips 2005 with GPS Locator is no voice, otherwise it is a great program.
Rating:  -
This is an excellent GPS device, especially when you consider the price tag. I have been using it since last year. I tried it in various big cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, etc. You definitely need someone in the passenger seat to hold and operate the laptop. The software is not very intuitive especially if you are not a computer sawy person. Otherwise, it is ok after you get used to all the functionalities. Topo Street Atlas 5.0 is much better than 4.0, it has dashboard like (big font) those GPS packages come with car. Also, the black background view mode increase the visibility significantly on daytime light condition. The GPS receiver device is well built with industrial standard interface. I tried it with Microsoft MapPoint software, worked fine but MS software lacks a lot of other cool features in Topo software. It will only give you basic position information. Definitely try to buy the bundle with receiver and software. If you are reasonable person, you will love it!
Rating: -
If you're the sort of person who gets excited about great mapping products (such as Street Atlas USA, Map'N Go, and other Delorme products for Windows 3.1 were a decade ago) you'll give the 2005 Street Atlas a yawn. It's the bottom of a down spiral in Delorme mapping software that's gradually driving customers away. Delorme's paper atlas products are still the best on the market. But if you want good software mapping I'd suggest you go somewhere else. 2005 version has a lot of bells and whistles to wow you, but 5 year old subdivisions still show as raw land. The only 'update' about this software is in the bells and whistles, so far as I'm able to make out.
As for the Earthmate usb, it might be great if you only want to run it with the mediocre Delorme street atlas software. However, if you run XP, or if you want to use it with some decent third-party software I'd suggest you look elsewhere for a GPS receiver to plug into your machine. The earlier version Earthmate receiver with batteries was tempermental, good for testing your patience and vocabulary in curse words. The new one never gets the chance to be tempermental because it simply won't work on an XP machine running software that's worth standing in line at a cash register for, carrying home and loading (or buying online).
I'm sorry to see Delorme coming to this. I've been a loyal supporter of their products for a long time. Today I think they should lock the doors and send everyone home for some meditation until they can get their priorities right.
Too bad.
Rating:  -
The receiver unit is very small and great for travellers who may not always be in their own car. The software is basic, but I probably have too high expectations for map software.
There is no problem using the product with other software as the unit comes with USB to serial drivers that allow you to output only NMEA data. The product still works just fine with the original software after that. I haven't tried the bluetooth power adapter but hope to get one next year if they are cheaper, then I can use it with my PDA.
I think it is quite likely you can use it in Linux, but haven't tried. You'll just need to setup some kind of interface for the USB connectivity.
My unit became defective only a few days after purchase, but Scott at DeLorme support was phenomenal and had a replacement shipped out that day.
Rating:  -
The GPS works great. The software is difficult to use, voice commands do not always work and if you make a wrong turn it does not recalculate. I would not recommend buying this product. Software has too many bugs.
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