Bluetooth or wired GPS ???
 

Hi folks,

I am equipping my new vehicle for the desert and not wanting to start drilling and lifting up carpets was wondering about the feasibilty of using a bluetooth GPS unit linked to my laptop as an alternative to the hard wired aerial I used to have with a Garmin chartplotter.

My primary concern is that of reliability as the GPS has to sit in the sun for weeks on the dash. On paper the spec says it can cope with the heat.

I will have paper maps and a handheld GPS for back up.

Anyone got any relevant experience???

Thanks,
Andrew.

Delorme has a unit for you lap top for $99.00 that plugs into usb port and turns laptop into gps. i built a small table for mine and pluged in into my converter from best buy for around $35.00. the gps head or unit sits on dash board and i love it. wish i could figure a way to mount on my goldwing.

tom

My foremost concern would be the battery life of the unit in that heat, and your means of charging it. If you can wire power in, then go for it. If you're having to tend to it regularly to recharge, you may get fed up.

If you're looking at getting a new laptop too, Asus have just released a couple of EEEPCs with built in GPS antennae, wifi, bluetooth, SSD memory etc, and nine or ten inch rotatable touch screens. Might be a way to combine a whole load of stuff in one unit.