I want to buy a USB powered GPS module together with a mapping software. Any recommendations and various options that I have ?
Much like Garmin's MapSource software and GPS 18 USB:
nRoute features an easy-to-use interface, making it intuitive to operate so you can focus on driving. It offers auto-routing and voice-prompting capabilities to virtually any address. The GPS 18 USB includes a 12 parallel channel, WAAS-enabled sensor with USB connection.
i'm using a BU-353 + iGuidance Maps with my 701 4G, not quite the cheapest but it works like a charm and very accurate.
of course i didn't want anything sticking out of my little roadwarrior, so it had to go inside :)
I have a garmin GPS-10x that I have used with my laptop as a navigation aid, and integrated it with MSAcess to record locations. This model used Blue Tooth which for mobile apps can be a plus.
The only thing I didn't like about it was that the mapping software used proprietary protocol, and to get it to switch to NMEA sentence mode you had to power the unit on / off.
I did something similar recently - I bought a ~£20 Bluetooth GPS receiver off of eBay and used Microsoft Mappoint.
It does work well, but not as portable (or cheap) as a stand alone GPS!
Microsoft Streets & Trips with GPS Locator is available from several retailers for about $50.
