Mac Milestone

I bought my first Mac laptop in late 2003. I'm on my second one now. But the last Windows PC I bought is still limping along. I got that in 2002, I think. It's running Windows 2000, and has always been a little buggy. I didn't make a mad concerted effort to move everything to the Mac, but it has been a gradual, inevitable process. By 2009 I needed the PC for only two things:

1. My first [Sony] digital audio recorder had a proprietary format that could only be read by Sony software that was only for Windows. The newer recorder, the one I use now, uses a standard format readable by any computer with USB. It's also cheaper and has much better audio quality, but that's another story.
2. The software for my Garmin handheld GPS unit. When I got that in 2005 or 2006 I neglected to look closely and didn't realize the software was Windows-only. Even when I did try to get that clarified on their website after buying it, I couldn't find the info. Had to email customer service with the question. The answers that kept coming back for the next couple of years were the Mac version would be available "soon" or "early next year." I guess they wore me down and I just gave up and stopped looking.

Then a couple of weeks ago I was talking to a hiking friend about upgrading his GPS and I realized I hadn't gone looking at handheld GPS hardware or software for a long time. My unit is a Garmin 60CS, which was long ago supplanted by the 60CSX, which has better reception. There are a couple of newer models similar to it now, and the interesting thing is that the price point for top-o-the-line Garmin handhelds is still around $360. Kinda like the price point for bottom-o-the-line Macs is always about $1,000. The hardware just keeps improving to hold that price up.

Anyway, as you might imagine, the software is now available for Mac. Today's equivalent for what I've been using is Garmin TOPO U.S. 100K which covers all 50 states. $117 SRP, available for $71 at Amazon. You can buy segments of the U.S., but the price doesn't drop, so why do it? So far I've found two great enhancements in this version (besides working on the Mac):

1. As you hike there are almost always moments when satellite reception is lost, or you may need to change the batteries on the GPS. In either case, the GPS will start a new file for recording the track. When I get home from a typical hike the number of track files on the GPS can range from just a couple up to a dozen or more. With the old software I just copied and pasted them all together. It was about a 4-step operation for each track file, and I could do it without mistakes as long as I was sober. The new version of the software has a Join function. Just select the files and click Join. I wonder how long it took for Garmin to come up with that.
2. The other feature is, with only a single click, sending the track to Google Earth for display. I've done that before, but it was a tedious process to do it all by hand.

So here is last Saturday's hike in Google Earth. We started at Sheephole Oasis, but didn't go to either Hidden Spring or the Grottos.

Anybody want an old PC that can run Windows? I'll throw in the big old CRT monitor with it. I'm going to pull the hard drives, though, so you'll need to supply your own HD and your own OS. I kinda don't think it will run Windows 7 - but I could be so very wrong! Yeah, and you'll need to buy a new little battery for the motherboard. This one's about dead. It hasn't even been 10 years!