Solar powered GPS for bike tour?

[Michael J. Klein]

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 09:36:45 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 12:40:12 +0800, Michael J. Klein
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Jasper, what is your take on the GPS watches? Have you had a chance
>>to play with any of them?
>
>GPS Watches? Haven't even heard of them yet.

I have seen a few (one in a Taipei night market, believe it or not).
I just haven't played with one yet.

Michael J. Klein & Asian Castings Consortium
[email protected]
Yangmei Jen (Hukou), Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

 

[peter]

Joe wrote:
> The one down side about the Legend vs. the Vista is that the vista
> software includes the display of the elevation profile. I'd very much
> like my Legend to do that. It could, but Garmin's seen to it to
> reserve that feature for the higher priced unit.

I'd like the feature as well on my eMap, but I don't think Garmin is
reserving it for units based on price (they make lots of models that
cost more than the Vista that don't have the feature). As you yourself
mention, the elevation profiles you get when in the mountains aren't as
good due to intermittent periods of worse reception. Garmin is
probably concerned that they'd get lots of customer complaints about
such a feature on units that lack the pressure sensor. I'll frequently
see big jumps in elevation when I've been climbing a hill where the
terrain blocks enough satellites so the altitude hasn't been updating.
Then when I reach a relative clearing I suddenly see a gain of a few
hundred feet. I also get some altitude glitches when I park the bike
at rest stops - frequently up against the side of a building and under
an overhang where reception is marginal.

Since I understand the reasons for the sudden jumps I'm not upset by
them, but Garmin may be legitimately concerned that many consumers
would be calling their tech support with complaints when the elevation
profile appears to show non-existent cliffs and spikes.

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 22:30:51 +0800, Michael J. Klein
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 09:36:45 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>>On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 12:40:12 +0800, Michael J. Klein
>><[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Jasper, what is your take on the GPS watches? Have you had a chance
>>>to play with any of them?
>>
>>GPS Watches? Haven't even heard of them yet.
>
>I have seen a few (one in a Taipei night market, believe it or not).
>I just haven't played with one yet.

I'll certainly believe that anywhere in Taipei, including the back room of
a brothel in a bad neighbourhood, is probably a better place to look for
high end electronics than almost anywhere in Europe.

Jasper

 

[[email protected]]

Michael J. Klein <[email protected]> wrote:

>All the new cars here have DVD players with in-dash displays (which
>change to the rear facing camera when backing up) and options for
>street level GPS mapping. Most taxis have live TV programs you can
>watch on the displays mounted in the read of the front head rests.

Sounds like they always get the newest stuff! yes?

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:

>I looked closely between the Vista C and the Legend C.
>- I didn't need the compass to work when standing still
>- Battery life was quite a bit shorter in the Vista

Joe...I'm a bit confused...

Are you saying you prefer the Vista over the Legend?
Or vise versa?

 

[[email protected]]

I picked the Legend C for the reasons I mentioned and am happy with
that. If I did more hiking/climbing, or rode my bike in a more urban
environment (among tall buildings), I would have gone with the Vista C,
but wouldn't have liked the much shorter battery life.

 

[peter]

Joe wrote:
> I would have gone with the Vista C,
> but wouldn't have liked the much shorter battery life.

The listed battery life is shorter because the compass draws
considerable current.
But you can always turn off the compass and then the battery life would
be almost the same - the pressure sensor draws very little current.

 

[[email protected]]

At that point it would come down to the $60 price difference.

I'm happy with my Legend C for what I use it for.

 

[[email protected]]

After thinking about it for a bit. I think, in the end, real-time
altitude just really isn't all that high of a priority for me. As I
said earlier about my primary uses, I correct altitude after the fact
anyway, so the real time accuracy isn't all that important.

So, yeah, I'm quite happy with my Legend C.

Now, about that list of suggested improvement for Garmin...

 

[Michael J. Klein]

On 8 Sep 2005 07:56:39 -0700, "peter" <[email protected]> wrote:

<snip>
>Since I understand the reasons for the sudden jumps I'm not upset by
>them, but Garmin may be legitimately concerned that many consumers
>would be calling their tech support with complaints when the elevation
>profile appears to show non-existent cliffs and spikes.

that sounds right to me.

Michael J. Klein & Asian Castings Consortium
[email protected]
Yangmei Jen (Hukou), Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

 

[Michael J. Klein]

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:20:23 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 22:30:51 +0800, Michael J. Klein
><[email protected]> wrote:
>>On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 09:36:45 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
>>wrote:
>>>On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 12:40:12 +0800, Michael J. Klein
>>><[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Jasper, what is your take on the GPS watches? Have you had a chance
>>>>to play with any of them?
>>>
>>>GPS Watches? Haven't even heard of them yet.
>>
>>I have seen a few (one in a Taipei night market, believe it or not).
>>I just haven't played with one yet.
>
>I'll certainly believe that anywhere in Taipei, including the back room of
>a brothel in a bad neighbourhood, is probably a better place to look for
>high end electronics than almost anywhere in Europe.

btw, the word for "brothel" in Chinese is "KTV"

there is a section of Taipei what we called "electronics street."
that would be the place to shop. need something?

Michael J. Klein & Asian Castings Consortium
[email protected]
Yangmei Jen (Hukou), Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 12:34:53 +0800, Michael J. Klein
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:20:23 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email protected]>
>wrote:

>>I'll certainly believe that anywhere in Taipei, including the back room of
>>a brothel in a bad neighbourhood, is probably a better place to look for
>>high end electronics than almost anywhere in Europe.
>
>btw, the word for "brothel" in Chinese is "KTV"

I don't get it.

>there is a section of Taipei what we called "electronics street."
>that would be the place to shop. need something?

Need, no, not really. Drool incessantly over while bemoaning the lack of
cash in pocket, sure, but...


Jasper