Views on Aldi/Medion GPS

I see Aldi have a GPS unit coming up this weekend -

Does anyone have any views on this (unnumbered) model ? I was thinking about GPS during the week and have only started research. My requirements would be slightly different than most of the Irish customers I guess. I want to use it for site location/plotting rather than direction finding. In other words - for a work related issue I want to go to a building, take the co-ordinates of a particular piece of equipment (down to 1 or 2 meters which I understand is possible by callibration with known OS locations) in a building. These sites would be spread across Europe, so abiltity to buy/import European maps would be usefull.

The thing is I want to be able to hook my laptop up to the GPS so I just push a button on the laptop and the co-ordinates as well as other details are recorded. Do all GPS units have a serial and/or USB co-ordinate feed provided, or is this something that only particular models have ? I know popular wireless (802.11) stumbling/driving products have the ability to hook up to a GPS for mapping hotspots, but do you need a special GPS for that ?

I had a look at some other review sites, but couldn't find any Medion GPS models reviewed which look like the one Aldi have coming up, so any advice appreciated.

Cheers,

z

the Medion part no is PNA 175. It is on sale in Halfords for 399. Price is dearer but includes install plus allows you to ask halfords some tech questions.

I don't think it uses the NavTeq maps, which are the best maps for Ireland.

Try www.pocketgpsworld.com or .co.uk

Anyone considering buying a GPS system might be interested in the recent Computer Shopper group test available here. BestBuy was the Tomtom Go 300 which will set you back about €450.
Leo

PGD1 said:

I don't think it uses the NavTeq maps, which are the best maps for Ireland.

Click to expand...

The Medion DOES use Navteq maps. As does my Garmin Streetpilot I3 - in maplin for Eur292 but I got it brand new on ebay for Eur190 - incl maps of ireland and uk. Great fun!

I'm curious as to what exactly one might want a GPS system for. Are you all truckers/taxi drivers/in the espionnage business? Or is this just pure, old-fashioned gadgetmania?

I noticed you say you like to note the position of equipment in a building, Da Vinci Code nonsense notwithstanding, normally GPS doesn't work well (or often at all) indoors. Even close to a tall building the accuracy could drop off since a satellite or two could get blocked (or their signals bounced). The newer models are more sensitive and aren't affected by trees like older units so maybe it's not as much of a problem but I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

DrM it probably is probably mostly gadgetmania, but for many outdoor pursuits hillwalking, trekking etc. it's useful .. dramatic pause .. somber tone .. and who knows maybe lifesaving. I think medion released a GPS phone recently so they'll becoming even more commonplace soon.