Magellan GPS Companion Springboard Module for Handspring Visor

by Magellan

Product Details

Product Manual [762kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00005AC7L
• Item model number: 98059501
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 16, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much Better than Nexian - Great Product, February 5, 2002

By 

Mark A. Fitzpatrick (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magellan GPS Companion Springboard Module for Handspring Visor (Office Product)

I bought the Nexian Handy GPS as a Christmas gift. It was an embarassing dud. It failed to lock to any satellite. The manual did not provide help. I then went to the web site for Nexian. It was down... for 3 days during Christmas.

I tried suggestions provided by Amazon users. That failed. I asked the recipient of my gift to go ahead and take their trip and see if it was just a location issue. No, it failed to work at any point in a 1200 mile journey. I returned it and bought this Magellan.

It gets 5 *'s. First, it worked. Second, it has so many utilities to let you know how many satellites it sync'd with, their individual signal strengths, their constellation. Not sure whether they have a help desk, but their web site was up whenever I needed it.

If you're comparison shopping, this one beats the competition in both functionality and (in my experience) reliability.

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great on a relative scale, February 22, 2001

By 

JFelk (Kirkland, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magellan GPS Companion Springboard Module for Handspring Visor (Office Product)

After shopping around for GPS devices for the Visor, I decided to go with the Magellan one due to its ratings for the Palm V version. Overall, I would say it is a good buy. It can sometimes take as much as 10 min. to lock onto a GPS signal when moving, but otherwise it acquires a location in about 2-3 min. The battery life is excellent (I can confirm the advertised 10 hours) and signal tracking is great too (once I got it, I never would lose it). Also, the two include programs, NavCompanion and MapCompanion, are both very stable and intuitive.

My only complaints are in line with just about every other GPS receiver for PDA's out there: the software is not what I desire. MapCompanion shows zoomable maps that scroll along with your position. You load them from the CD county-by-county. They have most major roadways, but often lack lots of roads in less crowded areas. When trying to take a trip to Vermont, I had to pull out an old-fashioned atlas to see all the counties from PA to Vermont that I had to load into the device. Also, the map software provides no capability for routes or directions.

The NavCompanion software is very good for what it does: give you specs like heading, elevation, speed, etc. although the trip functions aren't that helpful.

Overall, for [the amount of money] this is a relatively great GPS module. If you want something more akin to a car system that gives directions and stuff, look for better software (although I don't think it exists yet).

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent GPS receiver, February 23, 2001

By 

Richard Neswold "RichN" (Geneva, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magellan GPS Companion Springboard Module for Handspring Visor (Office Product)

Unlike another Visor GPS receiver I've tried, this receiver worked right away. It found quite a few satellites as soon as I stepped outside my home. It works perfectly in the car, too. I also like that it doesn't drain the Visor's batteries. (Magellan sells a cigarette lighter cord so that you don't need batteries when using it in an automobile -- that's my next purchase.)

The software is the only shortcoming. You get three applications with this. One is built into the ROM on the receiver, so it gets installed and activated when you insert the module. There is an application that tracks you on a map and there's a navigation application that gives statistics as you travel. It also lets you set up waypoints and routes.

The problem with all the software is that it isn't integrated together. I'd like to set waypoints on the map. Or have it track my route while using the map display. Unfortunately, it can't do that.

The maps are pretty good (the data is as recent as '98). However, it is divided into cities stored in county directories which in turn are stored in state directories. If you are going on a trip, you'll need to find which counties you'll be travelling through and load the appropriate files. This is not a terribly fun thing to go through. It would be nice if they had a nation-wide map that contained only the major highways (hint, hint).

If you want a GPS receiver for your Visor, you should seriously consider this product.