Cetus GPS qualities

Like Cetus GPS most GPS receivers are able to display navigational data, store positions and tracks. Cetus GPS, however, handles these features quite differently with a focus on the qualities described here:

Accuracy and precision
A measurement is not worth much if you do not know how accurate it is. This may not be an issue for the average GPS user who just needs to relocate the parking lot where he left his car, but if you plan to use navigational data from a GPS receiver for GIS applications or other forms of data analysis, you need to have at least some knowledge of how accurate the data is and to which precision it is stored.

The measurement accuracy is determined by the GPS receiver and accuracy information should be available from the GPS receiver vendor. The Cetus GPS Userguide states to which precision each data type is retrieved and stored. By combining these informations you are able to perform a complete accuracy evaluation.

Open data formats
Most GPS receivers store data in a non-public format which is only supported by a few programs and often only on the Windows platform. Cetus GPS allows easy export of data to standard data formats available on most computer platforms including Extensive Markup Language (XML) and user defined comma-separated formats.

Track export utilities are available at the Cetus GPS homepage for Windows, Linux, DOS, Mac OS and Mac OS X. For the users of platforms that are not currently supported, a source code library containing data export routines and an in-depth description of the data formats is available.

User interface
The user interface on a GPS receiver is often limited by a small display and only a few buttons available to navigate the menus.

Cetus GPS takes advantage of the excellent features available on a Palm, and the user interface is therefore more detailed because of the bigger display and is simpler to navigate using standard Palm user interface elements.

Most people do not have the time or free hands for tapping on the Palm screen with their stylus when they are working or on the move, therefore Cetus GPS does not require a lot of interaction. The navigation assistant provides a great overview of the navigation information and the occasional interaction needed for waypoint and track handling is easily controlled by a few pushes on the hard buttons.