I would recommend the Wintec WBT-200, it’s a GPS & logger, bluetooth, and cross-platform download of your logs via the free GPSBabel (see here for info).

I use a garmin vista, download the track with G7ToWin, and save in GPX format. I can then load the GPX file into GoogleEarth. Can also do transforms on the GPX file with GPSVisualizer to provide differnt visualizations.

I want to emphasize that GPX is is a good format for doing this because it’s compatible with several different tools (including Google Earth), can be easily converted into other formats, and (for me, this is the kicker) it saves ALL the track data. Often GPS data transfers will exclude the time stamps of each track point. This also happens when you SAVE the track on a (Garmin) GPS. Those time stamps ensure that you can do cool things like automatically geocode photos, etc.

I’m a Garmin fan and I think the eTrex Legend is a great starter unit. If you want to save some bucks, search for a used one. There are tons of the out there!

I use a Garmin eTrex or Geko (but really, any consumer GPS will do), download the track as a GPX file using MacGPSBabel, then use a little script I’ve knocked up (at http://www.systemeD.net/ ) to convert it into an Adobe Illustrator file. Script only does UK GPS tracks at present but will be upgraded for the rest of the world in due course.

Hey Jonathan. Thanks for the link love!

Excellent comments above. Here are few extra points…You don’t say where our mystery questioner is from. If he’s in the U.S., one of the TerraServer applications (such as USAPhotoMpas) would be an excellent software choice. Otherwise, Google Earth is a good bet. The $20 version will download direct from many Garmin and Magellan GPS receivers.

A basic GPS receiver is all that is needed. Just make sure it has a cable to transfer data to your PC. I agree with Eric that a used Garmin eTrex Legend would be a good choice.

I work for a company called EnGraph and we develop transportation software. This endeavor led us into the GPS market. I am surprised your Googling didn’t find “Where’s Tim?” (www.followtim.com) This solution was developed by Tim Hibbard, our lead software architect.

For $45/mo using a Nextel phone, we can display your location on a Google Map in real-time every 15 seconds. Then at the end of the day you can view your route, print it, or export it to Google Earth. We have several people using this solution and it has started quite a buzz. Check it out!

My favorite way of displaying GPS tracks is with Google Earth. You can use any GPS unit’s software to save a file to GPX (and most, including Garmin, can output directly to Google Earth). Google Earth can read a GPX file. Or, even better, use the free GPSVisualizer.com to do all kinds of amazing things like colorize your track by altitude (or by speed, and many other choices). GPSVisualizer will also output to Google Earth.

See a number of GPS visualizations in Google Earth here: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/gps/