maps

GPS

Well… I finally took the plunge. I bought a refurb Garmin 550 from buy.com for $179. I’ve wanted one for my wife, and for when we travel – but I also wanted one for bluetooth phone integration (as a speakerphone). The price point was always $350 or more – more than I was going to spend. $179 no tax, free shipping – DONE.

gps

Garmin calls the refurb units “Completely Overhauled”. My wife said, “I think I like REFURB better”. My only observation is the volume knob seems a bit sticky but not worth trying to replace. Screen, etc. all looks superb. Great interface, simple setup, and even works with my AT&T 8125 phone. So far it has exceeded all my expectations but one. It doesn’t allow me to load destination addresses from my phone (maybe would require Bluetooth ADAP protocol).

Works like a champ, Garmin has this nailed – great Navteq maps. 5 stars so far. Go ahead Frank, sell the Newton, get a Garmin… It’s half the size.

More Google Map Fun…

Mashed up a few of the locations for missionaries from church and google maps (using GMaps from Firestorm Technologies) on the church website I’ve been developing. I was worried about finding some royalty free country flag icons that would work for markers but those were easily found.

Wondering what is in the new “Pro” version of GMaps…?
Trust me, well worth the $5-10!

Stupid Google Map Tricks

I’ve seen all these great applications of google maps, read a bit about the API, and think someday I’ll try that out. Well I got a key and started playing around with it. Quickly I was overwhelmed with JavaScript. I’m a Java programmer and we just don’t get along with JavaScript (well I don’t). I do a bit of research and uncover an easy to use JavaScript library that does everything I need AND more with NO programming. Part of me says, “what’s the fun with that?”. The other part says, “Where is the download link?”

Check it out, neat tutorial format too.