DeLorme Serial Emulator

1.0 stars

"Serial Emulator on 64 bit"

January 30, 2010  |   By Leftlane1930

Version: DeLorme Serial Emulator 1.0

Pros

Works well with 32 bit

Cons

DOES NOT WORK or will not even install on 64 bit machines.

Summary

Have contacted Delorme and Constilation ie. manufacturer of the emulator and Delorme will not either return Phone call or email,and refuses to coment on if they are going to use the 64 bit format. Delorme is going to loose a lot of business with that kind of thinking.They will loose a lot of Truckers business by not going to 64 bit because 32 bit is becoming a thing of the past just like they will be by not forward thinking. SHAME ON YOU DELORME !!!!!

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1.0 stars

"Outdated, manufacturer refuses to update"

January 1, 2010  |   By Deborah_Lipsitz

Version: DeLorme Serial Emulator 1.0

Pros

Works well with older 32 bit versions of Windows (XP or earlier)

Cons

Incompatible with most versions of Vista (especially 64-bit)
Incompatible with all versions of Windows 7
No vendor support
Do not attempt to install on Vista 64 or any version Windows 7

Summary

This is a software based serial port emulator that allows USB GPS devices to communicate with two or more applications at one time.

Under Windows XP or earlier, the software works well with few problems. It essentially emulates, or pretends to be, one or more serial ports, splitting the NMEA GPS data stream from the USB port the hardware device is connected to. This allows both legacy applications and multiple applications to access the same data stream.

I would use the emulator to split the data stream between DeLorme Street Atlas 2008, a USDOT log book program, and a compliance program that tracked my speed and location. Unfortunately, the XP machine was old enough that it simply couldn't accurately handle the speed requirements.

So, when I updated the computer, I had to go with Vista (there were no XP based laptops left on the market). While DeLorme claims the emulator will work with Vista 32 bit OS's, I personally have never been able to get it to work with any version of Vista. The emulator will tell you it is not compatible, and then install itself anyway, generating errors every 15 seconds until uninstalled (which complicates the uninstall process).

DeLorme does acknowledge the emulator application is NOT in any way able to run on any 64-bit operating system after Windows XP, nor will it work with any version of Windows 7. DeLorme has made quite clear to me that they have no intention of updating or continuing support of the emulator.

To date, no one has created a serial emulator that works with Vista 64 bit, nor for Windows 7, that actually works, even a little bit. It's time these emulators go the way of the actual serial ports, and that software developers get with the times and make their applications work with the new technology and with the capabilities most of their users want.

Updated on Apr 18, 2010

UPDATE: DeLorme has opted to not support any version of Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit). They refuse all contact, so no explanation is available. With literally millions of truckers wanting this, the decision makes no sense. Sorry DeLorme, but after a year of patience, I'm done with you.

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2.0 stars

"VISTA 64-BIT USERS LEFT OUT IN THE COLD BY DELORME"

September 3, 2009  |   By straycatny61

Version: DeLorme Serial Emulator 1.0

Pros

Works well on Windows XP 32 & 64-bit

Cons

100% NOT COMPATIBLE WITH VISTA 64-BIT!!!!

Summary

Bottom line======>Delorme and ALK(publisher of Copilot GPS) Have abandoned their customer base that keeps their hardware up to date! SHAME ON DELORME!!!!!!

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3.0 stars

"Useful, but not up to date"

April 23, 2009  |   By dlipsitz

Version: DeLorme Serial Emulator 1.0

Pros

Allows USB GPS device to be shared by up to 4 programs (3 COM's and 1 USB)

Cons

NOT Compatible with Windows Vista 64-bit
Tends to hang after roughly 24 hours, without any warning, requiring reboot of PC

Summary

Wile this utility will work on 32-bit Windows OS's, it DOES NOT work with 64-bit versions of Vista (stated on the web site). Allows use of COM2, COM9, and COM10 by other programs to access NMEA and RAW data from USB GPS devices. I used it on both a Vista 32-bit and XP Pro OS systems with litle trouble to run weather tracking, routing software, and a utility to auto-input locations into my log book.

The emulator does tend to "hang" every 24 hours or so,without any warning. You will have to reboot the system in order to regain control of USB and COM devices and associated applications. This problem tends to be relatively unpredictable, though I never encountered it more than once or twice in any 24 hour period. It is one of the more stabile emulators I have used, so if you reboot once or twice a day anyway, this is the utility for you. Besides, it's free!

Unfortunately, DeLorme has opted to not update the device emulator for 64-bit OS's, and does not have a Mac or Linux version, making it's usefulness short-lived, and despite many thousands of requests. DO NOT INSTALL ON 64-bit SYSTEMS! It will generate multiple errors until you uninstall it and reboot.

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