How do I hook up a Garmin Forerunner GPS to my laptop computer?

Question

I have a garmin gps forerunner and it hooks up to the computer by a parallel cable, how do I connect it to my laptop which dont have parallel connections now? Is it garbage or is there any way to bypass this?

Answer 1

Are you sure your Forerunner uses a parallel connection?  That connector is very wide and flat.  I am fairly certain the Forerunner uses a serial cable.  This connector is two rows high and maybe five pins wide.  The parallel connector has many more pins.

If it uses serial, just buy a serial to USB converter.  Be forewarned that serial to USB converters do not always play nicely with programs that are expecting to deal directly with a serial port.  I tried to use a serial to USB converter with a Garmin eTrex and I spent half an hour messing around before it would connect.

Answer 2

Go to your local Electronics store and talk to a tech about what you need (probably a conversion device) parallel to USB. but the parallel may not handle the proper flow for the GPS, I don't know. Try talking to a tech, they may have a short solution.