11" Mac Air

[Frogman2]

Newbie here with my first post, although a long time lurker.
Looking to see if anyone has experience with GPS software for the new Macs, specifically the Mac Air.

I have been using a first generation Acer Aspire One (8.9") with Delorme Topo and a Ram mount. Delorme Topo works well for me around town, interstate and the occasional offroad. The whole setup has served me well, but has limitations with battery life and I am concerned with vibrating the hard drive, hence my move to the Mac Air (all solid state). I looked at the Zenbook, but went with the Mac as it had 256 GB of storage in the 11" form factor (Zenbook only had 128 GB).

Obviously I now have a different operating system to deal with so if I want to continue using Delorme I need to use a Windows emulator, or change to a different software. I have begun looking at MacGPS Pro and RouteBuddy, but am not sure they are comparable to Delorme Topo. For instance, I am not sure that Mac GPS Pro allows you to search for addresses and then plots your route for you.

Anyone have any advise or knowledge to share?

Thanks.

 

[mrlocksmith]

Mac GPS does not do routing. I use it a bunch along with google earth for prospecting and exploring in Nevada and Ca. I also use an old Garmin for autorouting on pavement. I would never trust any auto-routing off road. The few times I have tried it just to see, it assumes every road and jeep trail are equaly passable.

As for MacGPS it works for what I do. And it great for making routes and sending them to my Garmin 60CSX. If I want to try a new trail or try to get to a mine, I will make a route of the trail I am thinking of on google earth and import it into Mac GPS. From there I can overlay it onto sat photos, topos etc, as well as send the route to my gps.

You can also cache up to 2GB of Google Earth Sat Images of the area you want to explore and use it with a GPS too.

HTH

Mark

 

[Count Fred]

As much as I love using my Mac, programming my Mac, and developing a car interface for most every aspect, for GPS, I turn to emulating Windows. iGuidance for routing maps and Overland Navigator for my topo needs. The available Mac software just doesn't come close. Even on my first generation Intel Mac Mini though, the Windows emulation and switching between it and the various Mac side programs, is seamless and painless.

Cheers,
JFS III

 

[Frogman2]

Gents, thanks for the input. Seems I was heading down the road for emulating Windows and you have confirmed that is probably the best option for my setup.

 

[Ozrockrat]

VMWare Fusion not Parallels IMHO.

 

[frederid]

VMWare Fusion not Parallels IMHO.

+1 to this. VMWare Fusion is a much better product.