There are many software packages and the GPS antennae plugs into a USB port. I think I paid about $150 for the "kit" 4 years ago. Sometimes it can be tempermental and I never got the voice navigation to work right but for planning and tracking, it works well. Zoomed in this thing will track lane changes on the highway. 

Dennis

----- Original Message -----
From: Craig Morton <rangermorton1972@YAHOO.COM>
Date: Friday, August 4, 2006 1:49 pm
Subject: Re: Reasonable cruising speed?

> Dennis:
> 
>  How do you get a GPS in a laptop?
> 
>  Craig
> 
> Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET> wrote:
>  I have a GPS in my laptop. It can actually track road distance 
> traveled and it does also calculate altitude, quite well. When you 
> travel in the hills, you can become confused thnking you are going 
> down hill when in fact you are still climbing or vice versa.
> 
> Dennis
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ken Lake
> Date: Friday, August 4, 2006 12:42 pm
> Subject: Re: Reasonable cruising speed?
> 
> > Ok, I admit to having studied this several years ago, and my 
> personal> handheld GPS does operate this way. It would certainly be
> > possible to
> > sum up the distances between plotted points and get true 
> distance of
> > travel. Mine does not have the memory or computing power for that.
> >
> > The distance reported is accurate. It is within about 50 feet, 
> closer> if allowed to average for a while. Mine operates in the mode
> > where it
> > will tell me the distance from any set point (like HOME) to where
> > I am
> > at. Or between any two set points, but it is always straight 
> line, not
> > track. It does store track information but does not use it for
> > distance. Now that you can get 4GB of memory in an Ipod Nano, it
> > wouldcertainly be possible for some one to build that in. The
> > laptop could
> > be programmed to add up incremental distances reported by the 
> GPS over
> > time and I am sure this program exists somewhere. I have a lower
> > budgetthan that.
> >
> > GPS uses a very accurate time system, and can calculate the
> > position to
> > within 50 ft (or less) and so the speed is very accurate. Total
> > distance is very accurate since the error tends to average out,
> > but mine
> > does not do track distance. Newer one's may. I probably should not
> > have generalized quite so much. There is a larger error in elevation
> > (less than 200 ft)since it is very hard to triangulate elevation 
> from> the satellites.
> >
> > Ken
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> > BehalfOf Loren Busch
> > Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 11:00 AM
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: Re: Reasonable cruising speed?
> >
> > Interesting point and one that was discussed quite a bit a 
> couple of
> > years
> > ago. Assuming you are correct then that would say that GPS indicated
> > speed
> > is only correct when traveling a straight road. And what does
> > that say
> > about the ground track trace most, even older GPS units, store? And
> > what of
> > the newer GPS units , especially those designed for use in
> > vehicle? Do
> > they
> > provide more accurate data, or, like my older hand held unit 
> (Magellan> 4000)
> > give bad info on the odometer function?
> > BTW, not trying to get an argument going here, just really curious
> > aboutother peoples real world experience with hand helds vs. GPS
> > units sold
> > for
> > use in vehicles vs. laptop software/GPS combinations.
> > Guess I'll have to set up both the handheld and the laptop and run
> > themtogether for a hundred miles or so and then compare.
> >
> > On 8/4/06, Ken Lake wrote:
> > >
> > > RE: GPS distance.
> > >
> > > This is because the GPS calculates the straight line distance
> > between> the starting and ending points. Although it calculates
> > its exact
> > > location several times a second and uses that to determine its
> > speed,it
> > > does not store the incremental distances between locations,
> > which it
> > > would need to calculate total distance. Hence it can plot your
> > trip,> give you the speed, current location, but distance from
> > starting is
> > > always wrong (compared to how you got there)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> 
> 
> 
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