More Portable GPS’s

Last time around I spoke about the differences between portable and permanently installed units. There are also 2 main types of portable units – purpose built and general.

The purpose built units are those from Garmin, Lowrance, Bendix-King and AvMap. They consist of a “sealed” unit that cannot be upgraded like a computer – although mapping data is field upgradeable. The main advantage of a unit like this is that since they cannot be fiddled with a whole lot, they tend to work all the time. The disadvantages of these models is that they cannot be upgraded – every few years a new model comes out with new features and you will need to throw away the old unit and buy everything new (trade-ins are sometimes available to reduce this cost).

The non-purpose built units are typically based on PDA’s, Tablet PC’s or UMPC’s and come from Control Vision and PCAvionics. The vendors of these models combine a computer from a third party with their own software package that provides mapping and weather services. These units provide great upgradeability and the ability to add different pieces to tailor it to exactly what you need. Of course, the disadvantage to all of this flexibility is less stability. Are they unstable? Most of the time no and manufacturers take great pains to test their configurations thoroughly before they offer it for sale. But in some configurations, with different PC’s, GPS units or some odd ball software package – they certainly can be.

Which one do I use? I use a PDA with the AnywhereMAP WX software package from Control Vision. I purchased the PDA and software from different sources and put the system together myself. I was able to save money on the purchase and then add weather later small incremental cost. If I had used a purpose built unit I would've spent more money upfront and then had to buy a whole new unit when I added weather. As for reliability, I did have a problem with a GPS module that I had to replace and one version of software that had problems with weather (Control Vision fixed the problem within a couple of days). Overall I have been very pleased with the performance and reliability of the unit.

Next week will be a list available models.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike