Sat nav - recommendations?
13 January 2005, 11:10 PM
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Sat nav - recommendations?
I'm finally getting round to thinking about getting sat nav, but there seem to be dozens of different ones on the market and I've no idea how they all compare.
I quite like the idea of getting one based on a PDA that I can potentially use for other things too - I know some can act as MP3 players and mobile phones/web browsers. Being able to surf the net on holiday via GPRS would be cool!
I already have a couple of decent sized Compact Flash cards for my camera - do any PDAs use these, or are they all SD card based?
Should I get an all-in-one st nav solution, or buy a separate PDA plus a GPS/map kit? Any suggestions for which to get, or which to avoid?
TIA
Andy.
I quite like the idea of getting one based on a PDA that I can potentially use for other things too - I know some can act as MP3 players and mobile phones/web browsers. Being able to surf the net on holiday via GPRS would be cool!
I already have a couple of decent sized Compact Flash cards for my camera - do any PDAs use these, or are they all SD card based?
Should I get an all-in-one st nav solution, or buy a separate PDA plus a GPS/map kit? Any suggestions for which to get, or which to avoid?
TIA
Andy.
14 January 2005, 08:10 AM
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tomtom go in my car. with latest firmware upgrade it is very good. lots of POI (Points of Interest) on different websites that can be used with the tomtom, including speed camera location, shell and bp garages etc. take a look at http://www.pocketgpsworld.com
cheers
sinky
cheers
sinky
14 January 2005, 09:26 AM
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I have TomTom on an iPAQ, the Misses has a Navman PiN. Personally I prefer TomTom as navigation software although both are equally functional, I just prefer the look of TomTom. The Navman has an integrated GPS antennae so you can walk about with it and use it as a traditional handheld GPS.
Both are Windows based and so there is nothing much to be gained there. Both have infra red, but only the iPAQ has bluetooth (used to connect the to bluetooth GPS unit), which would be good for connecting to a GRPS bluetooth phone for web browsing and e-mail (bit like a 2 part Blackberry). Navman styluses are £27 for 3 (The misses broke hers on the second day) and only seem to be available from Navman, iPAQ styluses are available everywhere for about £4 for 3 (and I still haven't broken the first one). The kit for fixing your PDA in the car is crap (sucker on the window and a magnet to hold the PDA to it) from navman and very good (custom powered cradle with lots of fixing options) from TomTom.
The only thing I regret was going for the 1940 iPAQ rather than upgrading to one with wireless as well as bluetooth. Some of the new iPAQs also have a VGA display.
TomTom Go is supposed to be very good, but it only does the navigation and costs almost as much as the PDA method.
In car fited jobs are very good but over twice the price and are not portable. Think that about covers it!
Both are Windows based and so there is nothing much to be gained there. Both have infra red, but only the iPAQ has bluetooth (used to connect the to bluetooth GPS unit), which would be good for connecting to a GRPS bluetooth phone for web browsing and e-mail (bit like a 2 part Blackberry). Navman styluses are £27 for 3 (The misses broke hers on the second day) and only seem to be available from Navman, iPAQ styluses are available everywhere for about £4 for 3 (and I still haven't broken the first one). The kit for fixing your PDA in the car is crap (sucker on the window and a magnet to hold the PDA to it) from navman and very good (custom powered cradle with lots of fixing options) from TomTom.
The only thing I regret was going for the 1940 iPAQ rather than upgrading to one with wireless as well as bluetooth. Some of the new iPAQs also have a VGA display.
TomTom Go is supposed to be very good, but it only does the navigation and costs almost as much as the PDA method.
In car fited jobs are very good but over twice the price and are not portable. Think that about covers it!
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14 January 2005, 09:33 AM
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I bought the Garmin Quest as it covers all aspects. It has voice directions, it can be loaded with maps from all over the world, and it can be used for charts when at sea. Downside is that the screen is small and the detail that is available is less than of larger versions.
But it is small and very compact so i am delighted with it. I paid £400.
But it is small and very compact so i am delighted with it. I paid £400.
14 January 2005, 11:03 AM
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Andy - I've recently bought the Navman iCN510 - very impressed with it.
Its a lot more compact than the 650 (which has to be car based), but has more or less the same size screen...the only real difference is the larger built in memory which has the whole of Europe preinstalled - if you only really need UK then the 510 fits the bill (you can add European mainland countries on SD). Its battery powered so not totally dependant on a power supply, although the supplied car charger takes care of long trips.
Very impressed overall - take a look at www.navman-europe.com
Gareth
Its a lot more compact than the 650 (which has to be car based), but has more or less the same size screen...the only real difference is the larger built in memory which has the whole of Europe preinstalled - if you only really need UK then the 510 fits the bill (you can add European mainland countries on SD). Its battery powered so not totally dependant on a power supply, although the supplied car charger takes care of long trips.
Very impressed overall - take a look at www.navman-europe.com
Gareth
14 January 2005, 12:30 PM
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I have an Alpine system, a NVE-N099P DVD GPS Navigationsystem and a IVA-D300R/RB Mobile Media Station.
This works superbly, never crashes, really accurate, even works when it cant find a gps signal by using a speed pulse sensor,has TMC so it can divert around busy roads,mutes the radio when giving commands, mobile phone is integrated and uses the pulse touch screen and as a bonus you can watch dvd's too.
I had a 2210 ipaq with tom tom 3 hard wired into my car and an charging cradle,
found it awkward to use, lost count of soft resets.
The Alpine is expensive, but it pretty much does everything I want.
This works superbly, never crashes, really accurate, even works when it cant find a gps signal by using a speed pulse sensor,has TMC so it can divert around busy roads,mutes the radio when giving commands, mobile phone is integrated and uses the pulse touch screen and as a bonus you can watch dvd's too.
I had a 2210 ipaq with tom tom 3 hard wired into my car and an charging cradle,
found it awkward to use, lost count of soft resets.
The Alpine is expensive, but it pretty much does everything I want.
14 January 2005, 12:34 PM
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Quick question for people using SatNav PDAs...
Is the built in speaker generally good enough for spoken directions when on the move, or does it need applifying? I've heard the TT Go is very good in this regard.
Cheers
Steve.
Is the built in speaker generally good enough for spoken directions when on the move, or does it need applifying? I've heard the TT Go is very good in this regard.
Cheers
Steve.
14 January 2005, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by DMC12
Quick question for people using SatNav PDAs...
Is the built in speaker generally good enough for spoken directions when on the move, or does it need applifying? I've heard the TT Go is very good in this regard.
Cheers
Steve.
Is the built in speaker generally good enough for spoken directions when on the move, or does it need applifying? I've heard the TT Go is very good in this regard.
Cheers
Steve.
14 January 2005, 08:10 PM
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Gregh (and others): how's the Ipaq HX2410?
I found a good selection guide - I fed in requirements of built-in 802.11b, a USB docking station, CF card slot, and Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition, and the 2410 came up. It looks like it has a fast CPU (520MHz), 64MB ROM and 64MB RAM (is that a lot for a PDA?), bluetooth etc.
As far as I can tell it does lack a serial port, but if I can get a bluetooth GPS receiver then that's OK, right? Is there any advantage to using a wired GPS receiver? I'm not that keen on having more wires than necessary trailing around my car.
I found a good selection guide - I fed in requirements of built-in 802.11b, a USB docking station, CF card slot, and Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition, and the 2410 came up. It looks like it has a fast CPU (520MHz), 64MB ROM and 64MB RAM (is that a lot for a PDA?), bluetooth etc.
As far as I can tell it does lack a serial port, but if I can get a bluetooth GPS receiver then that's OK, right? Is there any advantage to using a wired GPS receiver? I'm not that keen on having more wires than necessary trailing around my car.
14 January 2005, 11:16 PM
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If you want a very powerful PDA with every technology and expansion slot you will need (624MHz processor, bluetooth, wi-fi, SD and CF cards, 64MB RAM, 128MB Flash ROM) with pocket PC OS 2003 2nd addition AND a proper 640 x 480 VGA screen, check out the Dell Axim X50v.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...c=axim50_v_624
I got one for my wife for Christmas and it's a great piece of kit, and at the reduced price of 289 quid is now a real bargain.
Gary.
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...c=axim50_v_624
I got one for my wife for Christmas and it's a great piece of kit, and at the reduced price of 289 quid is now a real bargain.
Gary.
15 January 2005, 09:10 AM
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Tom Tom for me - my friends has one and its very good - When he told me he had bought it I told him I preferred bongo's... Oh how we laughed!?!?!? 
15 January 2005, 05:50 PM
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Thanks everyone, I've spent the whole day trawling forums and suppliers and finally settled on:
- Dell Axim X50v PDA (with free GSM/GPRS card - bargain!)
- TomTom Navigator 3 with Bluetooth GPS
- Seido PDA-specific car kit with GPS charging cable and amplified speaker
Just need a big memory card now, but I have CF cards already and my poor credit card has had enough for one day
Thanks for all the suggestions - especially Gary for the Dell tip-off - will let you know how I get on
- Dell Axim X50v PDA (with free GSM/GPRS card - bargain!)
- TomTom Navigator 3 with Bluetooth GPS
- Seido PDA-specific car kit with GPS charging cable and amplified speaker
Just need a big memory card now, but I have CF cards already and my poor credit card has had enough for one day
Thanks for all the suggestions - especially Gary for the Dell tip-off - will let you know how I get on
15 January 2005, 09:38 PM
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It might be a bit late but have a look at this http://www.ukgser.com/forums/forumdi...?s=&forumid=46
Lee
Lee
15 January 2005, 10:04 PM
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Thanks for the link - though I've already pushed the 'order' buttons on the sat nav stuff, the jokes forum on that site is cool
15 January 2005, 10:52 PM
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You may have already found it but...
http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/
Is a great side for advice / updates / anything else pda gps related
http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/
Is a great side for advice / updates / anything else pda gps related
16 January 2005, 09:29 PM
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The PDA is only available direct from Dell - £298. The G2500 powered/amplified mount with charging cable is coming direct from www.seidio-europe.com (because the X50v mount is so new it's not with the UK distributors yet) - US$127. The software/Bluetooth GPS bundle is coming from www.navcity.co.uk for £160.
I just need to find a supplier and a reliable make of SD card - there are some horror stories on the pocketgps forum - but a good, fast 512MB card runs about £45. That makes the total a shade under £600 - ouch! - but I'm a sucker for top-of-the-range kit these days, and it is going in a brand new STI
I just need to find a supplier and a reliable make of SD card - there are some horror stories on the pocketgps forum - but a good, fast 512MB card runs about £45. That makes the total a shade under £600 - ouch! - but I'm a sucker for top-of-the-range kit these days, and it is going in a brand new STI
18 January 2005, 07:23 PM
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Found another alternative - Just ordered a Nokia 7610 & this http://www.66.com/ Full GPS Nav for your phone, anyone tried this setup? Fancied this phone anyway & worked out cheaper than the Dell option, one less thing to carry around now too lol.
Jay
Jay
18 January 2005, 07:42 PM
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Here's a couple of links to some free software for your TomTom
1. Speed camera http://checkpoint.oabsoftware.nl/
Reviewed here http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/checkpoint.php
2. Postcodes http://www.digitools.co.uk/
Kevin
1. Speed camera http://checkpoint.oabsoftware.nl/
Reviewed here http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/checkpoint.php
2. Postcodes http://www.digitools.co.uk/
Kevin
18 January 2005, 09:30 PM
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Cool, thanks mate
I found this too: http://www.poidownload.co.uk/ - not sure how accurate or up to date it is, but it's very comprehensive.
I found this too: http://www.poidownload.co.uk/ - not sure how accurate or up to date it is, but it's very comprehensive.
18 January 2005, 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by JayPSC
one less thing to carry around now too lol.