What is your least favorite airline? (Either b/c of service, policy, cities, anything)
I can never get a seat on the " Other " airline.
American always comes up as a contender when I am looking up flights, but their policy against the use of GPS receivers during cruise is cause for their automatic disregard.
What US airline allows this and why do you need it?
AA is generally stricter about it, and why do you care why he “needs” it?
The Airlines which OFFICIALLY APPROVE the use of GPS receivers during CRUISE
I don’t NEED it - I like very much to have it. I like to save my tracks, see where we flew, see what time we left and when we arrived - I like to know how fast we’re going and how high we are, and the time to destination. I hear people on the plane say, “I wonder what river that is down there…” and I can tell them with absolute certainty what river it is. It just makes the flight more enjoyable! 
Seeing Alitalia on the approved list is quite a shock!
[quote=“JHEM”]
Maybe they learned that their planes’ engines simply fall off without the use of electronic devices! 
My “needs” for a GPS in flight is because I like to use my GPS. If I can’t use it, I won’t die. But if I do use it, I can save a detailed track of my flight for later.
This questions about needing a GPS in flight is the same question as why does someone need a CD player or DVD player or a book or whatever in flight. It’s to make the time go by faster by having something to do.
On that note…
What do you guys that may have one, reccommend as a GPS receiver for a laptop? I have seen a few, just not 100% sure which one to get.
Are you talking about a basic “hockey puck” receiver like the GARMIN GPS18? This type of receiver requires some sort of external device (such as a laptop) for any meaningful use. It is of very limited use. I personally recommend a handheld unit like the GPSMAP 60Cx. You can take it with you ANYWHERE! It is cream-of-the-crop. Beautiful TFT color display, expandable memory for maps, tracks, and custom points of interest, external antenna jack, strong signal reception where other units get weak or no reception - and if so desired, you can connect it to your laptop. I think that Dami will agree, that no matter what type you decide to purchase, get a GARMIN!
What specific uses and or features did you have in mind?
I have a Garmin iQue3600 combination GPS and PDA. It’s great and it’s been discontinued. However, Garmin still has handheld GPS’s available.
Basically turns the laptop into a GPS receiver. That way, I can track my flight while I work on the laptop.
Both my wife and I went through long periods of extensive business travel while living in Houston. That meant we mostly flew Continental and rarely Unitied. I would say United made up less than 5% of our flights, yet was responsible for 80% of our terrible experiences whether together, seperate, business, or leisure.
I actually had a fit when I found out they were saved by the bankruptcy court.
Is your laptop Bluetooth capable Pik? How about a CF slot? USB2.0 port?
There are many ways to get GPS data into your laptop, it all depends on how much you want to spend for convenience.
What GPS capable software do you presently have on your laptop, if any? MS MapPoint? Google Earth Plus? Or are you looking for an all in one solution containing both a GPS receiver and software?
You can find many receivers on eBay, Holux and Haicom are two common ones, but eBay isn’t always the best place to buy.
Would use USB (thanks Needle for the suggestions!!!).
DUH!!! I never thought about using Google Earth Plus with an overlay from a GPS device.
I answered Northwest for the poll question. A number of different things between 2000 and 2004 had me unhappy with them. Flew them in May of 2005 and said enough was enough.