Pre-Order Cancelled. No GPS. Again!

[Devhux]

How many laptops come with builtin GPS??

That's what I said... Well, similar anyways.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[ctk4949]

That's what I said... Well, similar anyways.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

lol

I guess you can get one of those GPS stickers or dongles and attach it to the laptop.

 

[ErR0rPr0n3]

While I have no clue why you'd really need GPS directly in the laptop, as a tablet there are no usb ports so the OP case cannot be solved with a dongle (using "clipboard" mode screen detached with gps). I'd say reverse the screen and use the base + dongle. If you don't want to do that then you are correct that this is not the device you need.

 

[realwarder]

Field work outside of a urban/city area is a "niche" use-case? This may surprise you, but some of us use laptops for more than sitting in the LaziBoy surfing.

Buy a rugged laptop for field work: Panasonic Toughbook 54 - A Semi-Rugged Notebook for Work

 

[realwarder]

No, When I'm navigating the streets I have a Nav Unit built into the dash of my Jeep. But when I'm in the N.GA mountains and need something with a larger screen and something with more offroad info, a tablet in the hands of the passenger is a must. No wireless hot spots out there to triangulate off. It's true GPS or nothing.

Get a Surface 3 tablet with GSM/GPS then if you want a tablet in the hands of a passenger.

 

[realwarder]

LTE triangulation is not GPS. And once you get outside the population centers and away from the highways, cell signals get spotty at best.

A Surface with GSM includes AGPS - which works in isolation if a network is not available. So no need to worry about being in the hills for GPS.

 

[hopmedic]

Not an elegant solution but there are USB GPS receivers that run about $40. Some are basically dongles.

If a Surface Book with LTE comes out it should have GPS.

This.
In about 2001 or so, maybe earlier, I picked up a copy of DeLorme maps or something like that, with a USB GPS dongle, and was using it in my Toshiba Tecra (I think that was the model) laptop in the car. About 5 or so years later, I picked up a HOLUX GPS module that has a battery and is powered/charged by USB, and connects to the PC by either Bluetooth or USB. It still works, and is still sitting in the car. All you have to do is install the drivers, turn the BT on in the PC, and go. It even has a battery so that if you wanted to leave the car with the "clipboard" you could do so, sticking the GPSr in your pocket.

Look - I even found the one I have on Amazon. There are others, but this is the one I have. http://smile.amazon.com/Holux-Chann...&sr=8-3&keywords=bluetooth+gps+receiver+holux

Quit whining about something that most people will never use, and buy the right tool for the job.

 

[anon(4054009)]

Had a pre-order in for the 1TB Surface Book. Then I remembered, MS has never put a real GPS in their Surface devices. Checked, and sure enough, the $3200 "Ultimate Laptop" doesn't have a friggin sub-$5 GPS chip.

Pre-Order Cancelled.

:angry:

Clearly if using a cheap dongle stopped you from all of the other upgrades you weren't a serious buyer. Now bark away.

 

[Dogec]

Then I will go back to using my phone, which is much more suited to that task, IMHO.

Which is Your phone ?
I am looking for some phone with good GPS that can start and work well offline.
Many new Lumias have useless GPS that can start online only and can't start in a mountains. Most of the people think that have a good GPS because use map applications online only.

 

[watchaa]

i, too, am extremely upset with my surface book based on things that microsoft didn't specifically say it didn't have, but that i would have really liked in the ultimate laptop. For example, for $2200, you would think they could have included a number of highly useful items, none of which would have cost more than $5:

*. A cup holder
*. A cigarette lighter
*. A box of m&ms
*. Porn
*. A .wav file of barak obama saying, "i'm barak obama, and i approved this surface book."
*. A magnifying glass (sometimes the text on a 3000x2000 display is really small)
*. A five-dollar hooker

yeah, these things would have been very useful to me, and microsoft never said they weren't included. Shame on ms.

lol

 

[astondg]

I picked up a HOLUX GPS module that has a battery and is powered/charged by USB, and connects to the PC by either Bluetooth or USB. It still works, and is still sitting in the car. All you have to do is install the drivers, turn the BT on in the PC, and go. It even has a battery so that if you wanted to leave the car with the "clipboard" you could do so, sticking the GPSr in your pocket.

Yep Bluetooth GPS module is all you need, added bonus that you could share it with other devices that don't have GPS and they often have better performance than the built in GPS devices. I bought a Bluetooth GPS to use with my WP lap timing app, it records at 1/10 second intervals instead of the ~1sec of the built in GPS. I can also use it with my SP3.

 

[taymur]

What laptop has a GPS chip in it?

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

my dell 7000 serious has one.

 

[Steve Walden1]

Dude, just plug in a USB GPS device and move on with your life. Seriously, there are TON to choose from and they are really easy to use. I know that in clipboard mode there are not USB ports, but the case you described sounded perfect for standard laptop or even revers screen laptop mode.

Could you point me to another laptop with these specs AND a GPS?

 

[hopmedic]

Bottom line - don't get upset because something that is not standard for laptops is not in a laptop.

 

[Greywolf1967]

Just a little off topic, but still a valid question in this case............

Microsoft has really screwed the puppy on this, and it has been just one of the things that has bugged me but not stopped me from staying in the MS family. And this would have solved the OP's issue prior to it being an issue........

Under Windows Mobile 6.5 in my HTC HD2, you could BT pair to a Laptop and use say Streets and Trips, the Laptop using the Phones built in GPS.
It would eat battery, but worked. With Windows Phone 7 this ability was no longer available..........

So in truth why even have the Maps app built into the OS for Surface at all?????

I may have mixed up the details a bit but as far as I am aware this is still the case, no modern Lumias can pair to a Surface and let the Surface use a phones built in GPS

 

[Yonic Boom]

are you guys geocachers

is that what's going on here

 

[astondg]

...the Laptop using the Phones built in GPS...

I didn't know Windows Mobile could do that, that's cool. It should definitely come to Windows 10 Mobile.

So in truth why even have the Maps app built into the OS for Surface at all?????

That's taking things a bit far, the app can still locate you via WiFi which is enough in a lot of situations but even when it can't locate it's still a map with directions for car/transit/walking and recommendations for food/shopping/activities that's great for planning. Have we forgotten that not long ago maps were printed on paper and you had to plot you location manually?

 

[Greywolf1967]

I didn't know Windows Mobile could do that, that's cool. It should definitely come to Windows 10 Mobile.


That's taking things a bit far, the app can still locate you via WiFi which is enough in a lot of situations but even when it can't locate it's still a map with directions for car/transit/walking and recommendations for food/shopping/activities that's great for planning. Have we forgotten that not long ago maps were printed on paper and you had to plot you location manually?

Yes but lets also not forget that Microsoft was on par with Android/Apple on this upto WinMo6.5, then out of the blue they killed the ability in their mobile handsets. Now why this happened I am not sure....maybe a change in the bluetooth stack, or some other reason.

However many who used this ability have long since left Windows Phone or just forgot about it. In other words let Microsoft off the hook for some strange reason.

However a nice 7 or 8 inch screen tablet as a GPS would still be handy, as it's one reason I went to a Lumia Phablet ( 640XL) over my 1020 for the bigger screen. However I could also bring new life to my Acer W3 if it could pair to either of my phones and use the GPS chip.

Heck cheap Infotainment for a car that never came with it would be useful!!!

 

[DrunkasaurusRex]

Hate to be the one to bring this up but the iPad has gps. I agree it's not necessary but it would be nice to have if only for navigating a car from the passenger seat. GPS chips are tiny and cheap, I'm not sure why MS won't put them in their tablets.

 

[astondg]

Hate to be the one to bring this up but the iPad has gps. I agree it's not necessary but it would be nice to have if only for navigating a car from the passenger seat. GPS chips are tiny and cheap, I'm not sure why MS won't put them in their tablets.

The OP was talking about cancelling his Surface Book order so it's not really fair to compare to an iPad. No MacBook has GPS.