After scrutinising the posts in this thread, im posing this question to either Stimix or Easirider, since they are the most knowledgable in here. But i'd appreciate it as well if anyone else who had further insights on my planned setup, to chip in with their opinions as well.

Im planning to pair the Sony Vaio UX with Garmin Mobile 10, for my walkabouts and travels, both within Malaysia and abroad while im away at work. Is this combination a viable one, or are there any other alternative?What navigation/mapping software should i use with this combo?



The whole setup would probably look like this:-

but would not use a standard laptop largish screen, instead the Vaio UX's own screen.

Also, when it comes to the need of having GPS navigation for both inside Malaysia (for normal traversing around KL nd such) as well as abroad ( examples of places i go would be Australian cities like Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as European destinations like Frankfurt, Zurich and Paris, plus Tokyo/Kansai and Shanghai ), what would be, in your opinion, the best navigation software to use in such circumstances, and do the maps readily available, either free or purchasable? Mind you, i most probably would be using public transportation or walking while in these cities while im nightstopping at these places, unless i am vacationing, which would mean i would be around driving while im in these cities.

Either way, i figure the best option on this would be to tether a Bluetooth-enabled GPSr to a laptop. The Vaio UX is perfect for this as it is very mobile, with 5 inch screen running on Core Solo at 1.2Ghz, weighing a mere 700grams. I mean, why not use what you already have , right?

Im very new when it comes to this, although my work involves working with them all the time, but they are translated in a very different way. Thank you in advance for any suggestion, from either Stimix or Easirider, or anyone who have further insights on this.

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Added on February 23, 2007, 6:38 amAddendum: Just to add, i would probably be dividing my time in the very near future between back here in KL and California, specifically Orange Country. But i figure, it would not be difficult to procure American maps to go with the mapping/navigation software that comes with the Garmin Mobile10, right? Thanks again, for any inputs on this.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Feb 23 2007, 06:39 AM

What about Garmin's own nRoute? Isnt that a good option?

I have got myself the Garmin Mobile10X, works absolutely flawless with my Nokia N93i preloaded with the Maps application. Was driving down back from purchasing the unit from Starlite in Seremban 2, and the sensitivity is awesome! Tons better than PSP GPS addon.

Next would be getting this to work with nRoute/MapKing/TomTom/whatever mapping software that works, installed in the Vaio UX, and also finding out to see if i can get the Linux equivalent of such app for my Nokia 770 Internet Tablet.

Would Google Earth Plus work on this?

Got nRoute running. Got Nokia's own Maps software running. Got MapKing3D running on my Vaio UX. Life is good. Going to Frankfurt later tonight, gonna see how the free Nokia maps fare there, as well as the nRoute app.

You have to insist on Kenny to burn you the software, otherwise you leave yourself hanging with only the hardware and no software to decode the data and show it on the mapping app. It should come with nRoute, Garmin Mobile XT and MapSource. Then only can you view the detailed maps from MalSingMaps.

MalSingMaps maps are rich in information, but not as detailed as MapKing IMO. But for driving around in KL, with route presets, nothing beats nRoute + the latest MalSingMap installer maps. Im looking around to see if iMap is as good as MapKing.

Im still waiting for Stimix to reply to this thread, or maybe i should forward the Q to him at MalSingMaps forum:-

In Garmin Q/ MobileXT/ iMap/ MapKing PPC version, the views are selectable to 3D look with the view behind the arrow which represents the GPSr. So far, for the PC version, only MapKing allows this "3D" look, nRoute is 2D only with top-down view, while MapKing allows hybrids. I used Google Earth Plus as well, and it works beautifully, albeit having to cache in the map data to do the GPS tracking offline, otherwise it would eat up 3G/Wifi bandwidth. My question is, are there other PC-based options that gives me this "3D" look? The Nokia's Smart2Go maps on my N93i gives this "3D" look, and it's awesome. I just want the same thing on a bigger Vaio UX screen. Otherwise, im stuck with caching the map data in Google Earth Plus and doing it from there.

Posting this from Frankfurt, went for a walk around ths fabulous Hesse city. Nokia's excellent FREE Smart2Go software works like a charm , with the map preloaded using the Maploader. Also tested using nRoute, but the maps i have are just general World Map, which didnt give much details, and non-routable either. Mapking is of course nonexistant here, although the pairing/GPS triangulations take ssuper-fast on the MapKing.

Am i mistaken to assume that iMap only caters to the Pocket PC crowd, and they dont have a PC version available?

It's 8pm here, gotta get some sleep, gonna go sightseeing + GPS tracking as well. Gonna check if they have a better soluution here in regarding so f GPS software for worldwide travellers. Dont get me wrong, i tip my hats in respect to the awesome work the guys at MalSingMaps with the Garmin maps, but im left in the cold when it comes to routable maps for European cities like Paris, Stockholm and Zurich. Australian cities arent my priority since the cities arent that big, but im desperately looking for good maps of Tokyo and Kansai. The forum offerings at MalSingMaps gave good insights, but are there any other options?

GPS really makes one go exploring!

Thanks Stimix, should have read the Wiki more thoroughy. The reason why i dont post in the forum there in MalsingMaps is because the pros and vets are vicious towards newbies at the slightest hint of not being thorough with reading the Wiki. Scares the newbies away.....Plus my case is a bit unique , since i dont see lots of other user using thier laptops, or WinXP as their GPS platforum, most either go the Pocket PC way or a standaone GPS unit.

Frankfurt is in the Hesse district of Germany, not Holland, by the way.

Garmin Que? That's for PPC only isnt it? Im using MapSource with nRoute for my Vaio UX. I swore off PPC a long while back, when i find that PPCs are not a good compromise for standard PCs. That's when i went the ultramobile PC way.

It's 8:11am here, gonna grab some breakfast, and explore Frankfurt. There's a store called Saturn here that sells tons of electronic stuff, and i hope GPS devices are one of them.