MBP in a semi-truck, HDD and Nav Q's

[LumbermanSVO]

I got a job driving a truck long haul, in a week I will have a truck all to myself to outfit how I like.

I found a stand that will work for my 17" MBP and let me use it from the driver seat. I would love to use it for navigation. Is there a navigation/GPS solution that does not require an Internet connection? If not OS X native than something that will work well with Parrallels/VMWare. It MUST be easy to operate.

Would it be worth it to upgrade to a solid state HDD? The roads are quite bumpy, even moreso in a big truck, and I'm concerned the the sudden motion sensor isn't quite enough protection from the bumps.

Any other recomendations for a laptop that will be on the road 25 days a month.

 

[shoulin333]

Is there a navigation/GPS solution that does not require an Internet connection?

not any good ones for OSX.... this is quoted from one of my previous posts

i use bootcamp on my laptop running XP sp2

and this from microsoft (well this is 2008 version, i have the older bigger one, but it works great)

http://www.microsoft.com/streets/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=001

...when im driving im not going to be useing the computer, so i dont mind it being in windows. just having the huge gps screen makes it really nice to barley have to glance at it."

i think the best solution for you would be to do this, or try to use it under parralles/vmware