How do I hook up a Garmin Forerunner GPS to my laptop computer?

August 9, 2009 by GPS and Navigation System Tips  
Filed under More GPS Answers

Can you answer Cincinnati O’s question about GPS?:

I have a garmin gps forerunner and it hooks up to the computer by a parallel cable, how do I connect it to my laptop which dont have parallel connections now? Is it garbage or is there any way to bypass this?

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Comments

2 Responses to “How do I hook up a Garmin Forerunner GPS to my laptop computer?”

  1. ? on August 9th, 2009 7:57 pm

    GPS Feedback: Go to your local Electronics store and talk to a tech about what you need (probably a conversion device) parallel to USB. but the parallel may not handle the proper flow for the GPS, I don’t know. Try talking to a tech, they may have a short solution.

  2. geog_nerd on August 12th, 2009 5:56 pm

    GPS Feedback: Are you sure your Forerunner uses a parallel connection? That connector is very wide and flat. I am fairly certain the Forerunner uses a serial cable. This connector is two rows high and maybe five pins wide. The parallel connector has many more pins.

    If it uses serial, just buy a serial to USB converter. Be forewarned that serial to USB converters do not always play nicely with programs that are expecting to deal directly with a serial port. I tried to use a serial to USB converter with a Garmin eTrex and I spent half an hour messing around before it would connect.

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