Garmin GPS ? Which way to go on Intel Mac ?

[J-F Desfossés]

Hi,

I have a Garmin GPSMAP 76CSX.

It's the only reason I would use Windows on my Mac (MacBook Core Du0 2.0).

I am wondering if anyone used a Garmin GPS with VMWare Fusion or Parallels. I know it works with BootCamp, but it ticks me off to have to Upgrade to 10.5 just for Bootcamp for 1 piece of software...

Anyhow, my 3 solutions:

1) OS 10.5, Bootcamp, XP SP2, then run Garmin apps & Maps
2) VMWare Fusion, XP SP2, then run Garmin apps & Maps
3) Parallels, XP SP2, then run Garmin apps & Maps

I need to be able to run the full spectrum of Garmin software. I tried running the Mac fixes, and they are not convenient for my use. My needs are:

1) Good USB recognition & connectivity
2) Good software recognition & usability
3) Easy data transfer between the GPS unit & Computer

Cheers

JF

[ScottW]

I have two Garmin units, both older "Serial Cable" units. One is Street Pilot Color, dating back to 1999, and an eTrex model I use for Geocaching. I run Parallels and able to hook both of them up and run MapSource (again, 1999 version) to install things on the GPS(s) or send Waypoints to the GPS using some third party applications targeting Geocaching that run on Windows.

I did have some issues with recognition until I finally followed some various steps I found somewhere (if you need them, I will pull them up) on getting the USB to Serial drivers to work correctly, once I did that... the adapter worked fine on Mac and I was able to use some of the geocaching software on the Mac (Not Garmin) to do waypoints, but still prefer the Windows software at this point until those other apps are more developed.

[Satcomer]

Maybe some like MacGPS Pro might help out some bit.