GPS for Dummies

by Joel McNamara and McNamara

Book Overview

GPS For Dummies gives new meaning to finding yourself. In fact, with a GPS (global positioning system) receiver, you can determine precisely where you are anywhere on this planet. If you're are planning on buying a GPS receiver or if you have one and want to get your money's worth, this guide tells you what you need to know, including: Basic GPS principles and concepts such as waypoints, routes, tracks, and coordinate systems Recommended features...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764569333
• ISBN13: 9780764569333
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Good Helpful Book

This is a very helpful resource for those of us who are new to GPS.

All the information you would ever want or need.

This is a great font of GPS information. You can get the basics of a GPS and begin to enjoy It. Then as you get more proficient with your GPS, you can return again and again to the book for in-depth information about the many different uses for a GPS and of course, a chapter on geocaching.

Great Place to Start

I have had a GPS unit for almost a year now with no hope of understanding just what it can do or how to use it due to the arcane nature of the owner's manual.I have no clue as to why the manufacturer's write such poor manuals but they do. In response to my frustrations I decided to try Joel's book as a means of understanding what this small device could do and just how to get it to do what the promotional materials say it does. After reading most of Joel's book I was able to go to work using my GPS unit and understand how to negotiate its features with relative ease. Realistically it isn't perfect but it sure is a great place to start if you are like me, clueless as to how to interpret the gibberish in the owner's manual.

Great Book for beginners and advanced users

Tons of good information to get started with using a GPS, goes beyond the basics. Really a very good starter book. Once you get this book, I would also recomend "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching" and the Owing's "GPS Mapping". With GPS for Dummies and my Garmins 60CS manual, I was able to hit the trail in a few hours. With the other books as complement, I have become very accurate locating waypoints when I do horse riding or 4x4 trips.

Great for 1st time GPS users, experts can also learn!

I got a Magellan Meridian Color GPS for my birthday and was frankly at a loss for where to begin so I bought this book. The book had a ton of good information to get me started with using a GPS, all the different functions like display and output, finding coordinates and setting waypoints. It was also very helpful with the initial configuration and settings, which I was really struggling with. The pleasant surprise about this book was what I got above and beyond the parts about just using a GPS receiver. The book is packed with great information on free mapping sites and how to integrate maps and GPS. It also had a section on using my GPS with my computer and my handheld, both of which I have done now since buying the book. The book is absolutly just loaded with so much helpful information on GPS, digital and online maps that I have now done several cool things I was totally unaware of before. My friends and I are getting ready to take a road trip and I used the book to map out the trip and set different waypoints that we plan to visit along the way. One of my favorite parts is the geocaching chapter which inspired me to try geoaching - it looks like the same author has written a Geocaching For Dummies book which I plan to order.