Just starting my research.
I found MacGPS Pro which seems to be very good GPS software for the mac. It has support for most Garmin and Magellan receivers. It even supports Steve’s eTrex Legend so that is a possibility. An interesting thing to note is that the software only supports GPS receivers with a serial interface, not a USB interface.
The MacGPS Pro software is $39.99 USD.
I’ll either need to get a serial to USB converter or hopefully I can use the converter I bought from Andy for my Palm. I seem to recall him saying that it may only work with the palm though. Perhaps they didn’t map all the pins. Who knows.
Research continues, but as of now I’m leaning towards the same model that Steve has because it’s pretty inexpensive, Steve paid under $200 for a refurbished model including tax, and I’ve seen it in action. That and I want to get this thing pretty quick and I don’t have a lot of time to spend on research.
UPDATE: Just got confirmation that the Palm adapter wont work for anything else, or at least it wont work well. That means an additional $45 USD on top of my GPR receiver purchase. I haven’t shopped around for different prices on the Keyspan serial-to-USB connector yet though so I may be able to find it a bit cheaper. Of course I can always use the PC in my basement if I want to save a few bucks I guess.
Well I didn’t really do too much in the research department. I was considering getting the Garmin Vista but when I compared the price to the Legend, I couldn’t justify spending an extra $100+ for a barometric altimeter that doesn’t work that well. I’m sure there were a few other features it had that the Legend doesn’t but oh well.
I followed in Steve’s footsteps and purchased a refurbished Garmin Legend from GPS Central for under $200, taxes and shipping included. I’ve already seen this baby in action so no surprises. Besides, they say buying your first GPS receiver is like buying your first car or house, you don’t really know what you want until you own one and realize what you’re missing.
I’m hoping to get the unit before my trip to NB this weekend. I just got off the phone with Jane (from GPS Central) and she tells me that it will be shipped out this evening (from Calgary). It’s going via ExpressPost so hopefully it’ll get here in a day. I’m sure I’ll post something when it gets here.