Magellan GPS Companion Springboard Module for Handspring Visor
- 12-channel GPS receiver slides into Visor’s Springboard expansion slot
- Compatible with all Handspring Visor handhelds
- Provides navigation information and detailed street maps of the entire United States
- Up to 10 hours of battery life–doesn’t drain Visor battery power
- Includes Map Companion CD-ROM containing Map Companion and Nav Companion software
Add the powerful navigation capabilities of GPS to your Handspring Visor with the Magellan GPS Companion. Sleek, lightweight and affordable, the GPS Companion for your Handspring Visor offers the advantages of GPS technology and a new level of confidence, safety and dependability to your business and recreational travels. The GPS Companion comes complete with advanced navigation software. Download and navigate with detailed, street-level mapping of the entire continental United States. Store your routes and waypoints to record your journeys and find your way back again and again. Zoom in or out to see your position in fine detail or broad overview of the area you’re navigating. Graphic GPS displays show your speed, heading, distance to destination and more. Designed for high-performance under challenging conditions, the GPS Companion maintains a signal lock, even in urban canyons. The GPS Companion communicates with the standard NMEA 2. 1 communications protocol supported by most GPS and mapping software. There are several navigation software packages available. Magellan’s GPS Companion is a 12-channel global positioning system receiver that attaches to the Handspring Visor handheld through the Visor’s Springboard expansion port. The GPS Companion provides GPS navigation information and detailed street maps of the entire United States. The information transferred is in standard NMEA 2. 1 format and will work with many Palm OS GPS and mapping software applications. The Map Companion CD-ROM contains detailed nationwide street map coverage, divided into over 20,000 county and city files. With these detailed street maps, the GPS Companion can plot your location and enable you to navigate nearby roads, intersections, and selected points of interest. The CD-ROM also contains NAV Companion software, which provides you with comprehensive navigation information, including an analog speedometer, a digital compass, and waypoint and route management capabilities. The GPS information screens on your Visor will show your speed, heading, and distance to the next waypoint. The GPS Companion is powered by two AAA batteries for up to 10 hours of continuous use. Information from the Map Companion CD-ROM can be downloaded to the Handspring Visor from either a Windows or Macintosh platform.
Buy Magellan GPS Companion Springboard Module for Handspring Visor
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Tags: Companion, Handspring, Magellan, Module, Springboard, Visor
About a week after I purchased my Handspring Visor I bought the Magellan GPS. My first reaction was “the instructions for the batteries are wrong?” As you know, in most AA battery devices, there is a spring on one side and a piece of metal on the other. Generally you put the flat / negative (-) end of the battery against the spring and the small knobbed end of the battery against the battery. And in most of these cases the batteries will be in opposite directions to each other. This is where the GPS is unusual. Although the batteries do face in different directions, on ONE the batter negative/flat side is against the spring, and on the other the spring is against the knobbed (+) end. Not only is this counter-intuitive, it just looks wrong. OK, so even though it was against my better judgment, I put the batteries in as directed and it worked. However, within one day (less than 2 hours use) it froze my Visor whenever I connected it. I replaced the batteries and the same thing kept happening. I called tech support and they essentially told me that “there is something wrong with the GPS, it acts like that when the batteries are low” but I tried 3 sets of new batteries and got the same problem. They said I could return it for a refund and I sent it back, only to get an e-mail that was a duplicate of the original shipping order. I thought they had received it and where shipping it back to me? So I called them again and they said that they have a problem with their refunds confirmation, but that they did receive my return and I would be credited. Another problem – the startup instructions states that the CD-ROM included has an online manual – BUT that is only readable by PCs – NOT FOR MACS. I called tech support and they mailed me a printed version of the manual. I could not believe that they could not be bothered to make a PDF version of the file that could be read by any computer using a free Adobe Acrobat reader. The files were easy enough to identify and load into my PDA but I did not find it easy to use (this was before the manual arrived). It is not intuitive and definitely more difficult to use than a map. Individually any one of my above-mentioned complaints could have been tolerated (even sending it back for repair/refund) but all together I thought if I am having these many problems so soon after buying it, how will it be after any length of time? I have never purchased any other electronic device that had more problems within the first day of purchase. DO NOT BUY – wait until it there is an improved version that stores the batteries properly (I suspect that is where the power connection failed) and that has a better, easier to read (and universally readable by any machine ) manual.
Rating: 1 / 5
I bought this about 5 days ago but am very disappointed. The basic GPS function giving you latitude and long works ok but the MapCompanion mapping software does not. You have to download an upgrade to get it to work at all on my Visor Neo and the key pull down “Menu” button never appears on the screen and you are left helpless to switch modes or maps. City and county maps do not seem to integrate, either. I am going to return this thing and get my money back.
Rating: 1 / 5
Worse than your VCR remote control. A nightmare to program. Also you have to preload a map before you can see it. Considering people use GPS when they are lost, how does one predict when and where one will be lost?! . . .
Rating: 1 / 5
A number of users have complained about losing signal lock under forest cover, in buildings, while moving, etc. Some have complained about losing all information due to system or device failure in the field. GPS was never intended to work in anything less than “open-sky” conditions. If it does, you’re just lucky. Any expectation for the frequencies involved to be received reliably under forest cover, in buildings, or in vehicles is just scientifically unsound. That’s just the physics, folks. Also, virtually every electronic navigation device comes with the warning to not rely on an electronic unit in situations where safety or loss of life is a concern. No one should rely on a GPS as the ONLY navigational aide during a camping trip, hike, boat excursion, etc. To do so is dangerous and puts lives at risk. No one should even be surprised if they fail. . . especially non-ruggedized systems that are not designed to resist the weather, moisture, heat, cold, and other rigors of the outdoors experience. A little condensate and your electronics can die. This is a nice product, especially for the price. But, remember, the host platform started out as an office productivity tool, not a Swiss Army Knife. – jma092802
Rating: 3 / 5
I have the GPS module for my Visor Deluxe, I realy like it, it helps alot around the Cleveland, OH Metro area. The only thing I feel it is lacking is the details, the maps are not detailed enough and I can’t do a look-up on the visor itself, but then again, it is designed for point to point navigation. I does come in very, very handy when hiking or backpacking in the woods.
Rating: 4 / 5