gps for laptops

I saw an episode of Numbers where they recovered a laptop by activating a gps in it - they said all laptops since 2005 had them. I had a laptop stolen about 7 months ago and the police said nothing about that to me. Was that all TV BS? I can't imagine a $1500 laptop with a gps standard while a $15,000 car wouldn't have one.

you can actually buy a program called Lo Jack at Office Max, it helps you and the police find your computer (laptop) after it is stolen so you can easily retrieve it. you can get 3yrs for $49.99 if I am thinking correctly! But, no, 99.9% of laptops now do not have a GPS in them!

2007-09-01 20:01:16 by ookami007

My friend told me laptops have hardware built onto the motherboard that allows GPS tracking. Anyone know if this is true?

on most of the computers you need to request it

you can allways track a computer by the IP address

2008-09-15 08:05:20 by Funk5000

Price: $49.99 $25.99

Built-In GPS Patch Antenna
Built-In Supercap For Rapid Acquisition
USB Interface
Built-In Roof Mount Magnet

So if someone were to steal them would they get tracked? I'm not planning on doing it, I'm just wondering because no one has stolen any from my school yet lol
Haha thanks guys, I would probably steal them but since I'm already in deep trouble for credit card fraud and the fact that most are in the special ed room.............................................

There are programs like LoJack for laptops. that report the location of the system periodically.

2009-05-01 11:18:50 by Eric

They used that little tidbit on the CBS show Numb3rs.

Since they use a mixture of truth and fiction, I was just wondering if you might know if that is true or not.

no, they don't. but they can often still be tracked down.

computers have identifying information which they broadcast on the internet (sometimes). the simplest example of this is when someone starts up aol instant messenger and signs in as you. aol can then tell you where the person connected from, roughly.

there is often other software on the computer which reports back to the manufacturer; in case the computer crashes the manufacturer might be able to tell you why.

anti-virus is another way to locate a lost computer; when it connects to get the latest virus definitions it will report your computer's id to the anti-virus company.

there are other ways too, but no gps. gps is expensive and doesn't really help out most people. no one would pay an extra $100 for a laptop with gps, since laptops aren't stolen often enough to justify the cost.

2007-04-01 09:57:23 by powhound

I'm thinking about buying a laptop GPS system with the receiver. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be using it on the road and I'm not so sure about whether I need Internet access to be able to use it or not. Help?

No you don't need internet access to use a Laptop GPS system. You just need to have a map program that will take the GPS information and put it on a screen for you. MS Trips and Streets, Delorme, etc. These are great little devices and get the information needed from the satelites. So all you need is the GPS receiver and the correct map software and your laptop will show you where you are, will give you directions on how to get where you want to go, etc.

If you want LIVE traffic updates you will need another traffic receiver like XM etc but you don't have to have internet.

2008-05-15 19:26:39 by aZn