USB GPS unit for a Windows 9.1 laptop

[Bodach na mara]

WRONG TITLE. Should be Windows 8.1

I was persuaded that I should get up to date with the 21st centuary and invest in a laptop to run Memory Map and Antares charts. I was impressed on seeing other people using these in combination. My first thought was to buy a cheap, old laptop, but the family persuaded me that that was a daft idea. So I boughth a new one and it comes with Windows 8.1 pre-loaded (Win 8.1 being Microsoft's latest computer virus to plague the life out of users.0 After several weeks of bad language, I can almost make it do what I want now (it takes a while to adapt to he new and cast off the procedures I had learnt to deal with operating systems such as Windows 3.1, 95 and XP.) so I have started looking for a USB dongle or other device to feed in GPS data. First stop Maplin, where I spotted that the thing they sell that looks like a pen drive works on Windows 95, XP, Vista and 7. Win 8.1 was conspicuous by a lack of being mentioned. "Will it work on Windows 8.1?" I asked. "Maybe, but I don't really know" was the answer.

I have now spent some time looking at the problem. It seems that some time ago it was found that the serial data part of the earlier chips did not talk to computers with later versions of Windows. Later versions do and there are two versions of each of the two main devices in circulation. The "pen drive" type dongle is powered by a chipset with a name like "Sirfstar" and you need to look for a type with a reference ND-100 S as the ND-100 will not work with Windows 7. There is another type of device (a USB puck) that looks like a mouse and again, the type reference BU 353 S4 works with Win 7 but the earlier BU 353 will not. Note that neither claim to have drivers suitable for Windows 8 or 8.1

So has anyone navigated their was through this maze and got a suitable device working on a Windows 8.1 laptop. I need to know soon.

On a brighter note, I also got a present of an Acer Android tablet with built-in GPS and it is running MemoryMap and Antares charts fine, but I have not yet tried it on the water, only when driving along near the coast. The on-water experience comes tomorrow.

 

[nigelmercier]

... dongle is powered by a chipset with a name like "Sirfstar" and you need to look for a type with a reference ND-100 S as the ND-100 will not work with Windows 7...

Some confusion here. The ND-100S is made by GlobalSat. It has the SiRFstarIII GPS chip. The type of GPS chip has nothing to do with the USB interface to Windows, but this chip is now two generations in the past so devices using it will often not support later Windows versions.

If I was in the market for a GPS device, I'd be looking for one with a SiRFstarV, but I guess for a £30 dongle a SiRFstarIV would be the best bet.

Here's a current model for which Windows 8.x has built-in drivers, a GlobalSat BU-353-S4: http://amzn.to/QjwPa5

 

[Bodach na mara]

Thanks Nigel, that is very helpful.

 

[vyv_cox]

I have had to dump a perfectly good Canon i80 printer because it will not run with Windows 8.1. It was the one kept on the boat and had only printed a few sheets in its life. Canon helpdesk advised there is no solution.

 

[DipperToo]

I bought a GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS which plugged into my Win 8.1 Asus Transformer and it ran with no third party drivers being required. Windows just recognised it and installed it.

At the same time, I needed a hard ethernet connection rather than WiFi, and a USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Network Adapter by PLugable also installed and ran just fine.

Some investigation showed the Prolific chip (PL-2303 HXD) used in the BU-353-S4 is the same in my USB to Serial adapter which also runs OK on Win 8 with no additional drivers required so I can connect to NMEA data.

There was a previous thread on this here>>

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...on-Windows-8&p=4670190&highlight=#post4670190

 

[nigelmercier]

I bought a GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS which plugged into my Win 8.1 Asus Transformer and it ran with no third party drivers being required. Windows just recognised it and installed it...

Indeed, that's the one I linked to above: http://amzn.to/QjwPa5

 

[Bodach na mara]

Update:- I ordered the BU-353-S4 and have now installed and tested it. It works fine with my Acer Windows 8.1 machine and the instructions could be followed with a bit of interpretation.

My only quibble is a common one. The documentation comes on a mini CD with not even a bit of paper telling you that the instructions are to be found by inserting the CD into your computer. Now I suppose that is obvious, but why do they find it necessary to tell you within these instructions to insert the CD in the computer and read the instructions??? There were a couple of other tricky bits. To find the COM port assigned to the machine, you need to do a bit of geeky work that is described in terms that apply to earlier versions of Windows. Microsoft have changed some of the names and icons (My computer has become This computer and is a funny-looking icon is what used to be the taskbar, not the desktop) and getting to the windows you need I found only by trial and a lot of error. Once plugged in. it achieved a fix quickly.

I can get Memorymap plotting software to recognise it but have failed with Bing and Googlemap. I have not tried Google Earth yet. Neither of these would be much use aboard anyway as they download their maps as needed and require an internet connection as far as I know.

I had my son over today and asked him for a bit of advice on Win 8 and was told that "I am having enough trouble with Win 7. I haven't had time to try tyhe next one yet." And computing is his day job!

 

[gonad]

i got upset with win8 and had win 7 insyalled YEEHAA

 

[pagoda]

I have had to dump a perfectly good Canon i80 printer because it will not run with Windows 8.1. It was the one kept on the boat and had only printed a few sheets in its life. Canon helpdesk advised there is no solution.

There is often hope. I helped a cousin who found win 8.1 on a new laptop. Their previous machine had been a Dell package, with all in one printer. Equally lightly used. Win 8 declared it fit only for scrap as no drivers were available.
With some digging around I discovered other people with the same problem, and a solution. It turned out that the Vista 64 bit drivers for the printer work perfectly well with Win 8-64. Found the drivers on the Dell site and all is functional.
I was asked what I wanted for a new laptop at work recently. Win 7 pro 64 was my choice, for technical software compatibility reasons, so the IT people just blew away Win 8!
I think corporate pressure will slow Win 8 until MS realise that not all environments want a bling desktop or silly active sliding tiles! XP was pretty stable for most purposes- but marketing wise - does not look like a phone/tablet ergo it got the heave.
I have persuaded win7 to run ok on a 12 year old P4 laptop - as a sensible alternative to XP. I had to use quite a few Vista era drivers- but they generally are happy with Win7.
MS never advertise the possibility of mixing / matching OS versions or drivers, but there is a lot of functional overlap underneath!
Look for Vista or Win 7 drivers for your Printer..

Graeme

 

[nigelmercier]

Look for Vista or Win 7 drivers for your Printer.

I've occasionally extracted the native Vista drivers from a disk image and used them in Windows 7. It even updates them sometimes.

 

[vyv_cox]

Thanks for the advice. It was Canon who told me that the i80 printer would not run on Win8. When a friend tried it on win7 the printer became most upset and now won't run at all! I have given up.