gps for pda

[tritan]

After getting lost this weekend and my wife and I screaming at each other over who's fault it was (hers) I have decided I need a GPS system for my pda. I currently have the TX and wonder what is the best system out there for Palm? bluetooth or wired? I also own a 2000 Chevy venture that has a reflective coating that will not allow my handheld extrex gps to work on the front dash. What ever solution I have needs to have a longer cord to run to the side windows or rear windows or use bluetooth. I would be willing to switch pdas to a PPC if opinions think the ppc would be better for GPS systems. I have heard of a few systems , namely TOM TOM, co pilot, garmin systems. What do you guys think?

[JesterMania]

I don't have experience with Palm systems but for Pocket PCs, I highly recommend using a Bluetooth solution. My reasoning behind it is that you can then use this receiver not just on a Bluetooth PDA but on other devices with a BT interface (laptop, smartphone, etc.). My bluetooth GPS is a Sirf Star III chipset solution and I was amazed that it continued to work while I was driving in a tunnel and in buildings as well, so it may work on your reflective-coated window (although I can't be sure). As for GPS software, I use TomTom (against everybody's suggestion as its coverage of North America is said to be bad) and love it. I'm not sure what software is available for Palm though.

[Cybrid]

After getting lost this weekend and my wife and I screaming at each other over who's fault it was (hers) I have decided I need a GPS system for my pda. I currently have the TX and wonder what is the best system out there for Palm? bluetooth or wired? I also own a 2000 Chevy venture that has a reflective coating that will not allow my handheld extrex gps to work on the front dash. What ever solution I have needs to have a longer cord to run to the side windows or rear windows or use bluetooth. I would be willing to switch pdas to a PPC if opinions think the ppc would be better for GPS systems. I have heard of a few systems , namely TOM TOM, co pilot, garmin systems. What do you guys think?

You could get an extension cable to get the etrex to work inside...
You could even glue the Etrex outside to cable it to the Palm Tx.

So obviously what Etrex model? is the first question and if it is an absolutely useless (unconnectible in any way) one... BT GPS and try www.mapopolis.com Palm compatible/ has a time limited free trial... I recommend it entirely.

[tritan]

thanks guys , I am wondering if I do get a gps unit and software will I have to change units if i jump to ppc? I like the idea of high rez screens and bigger realestate then my tx.

[Sven Johannsen]

thanks guys , I am wondering if I do get a gps unit and software will I have to change units if i jump to ppc? I like the idea of high rez screens and bigger realestate then my tx.

Not if you get a BT GPS. You just need to make sure the PPC has BT, which most seem to these days.

It is becoming harder to find a PPC with serial capability these days which is what you would need for most cabled GPS solutions, which the eTrex falls under. Note that very few PPCs have a USB capability that would support a USB GPS. (I believe none, but am not positive of that)

Software is another matter. Unfortunately that is really the bulk of the purchase price, running $100 - $300. I am pretty sure you could use Mapopolis on both units. The software is free, and I think the data files are the same for both, and that is what you buy. I wouldn't recommend DeLorme Street Atlas Handheld, but it does come with both PPC and Palm versions for pretty cheap.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Note that very few PPCs have a USB capability that would support a USB GPS. (I believe none, but am not positive of that)

I am positive you're right - USB host on PDAs are restricted to mass storage and interface devices only. Anything else requires a custom driver.

[Cybrid]

I am positive you're right - USB host on PDAs are restricted to mass storage and interface devices only. Anything else requires a custom driver. Seen a Toshiba E-830 connect successfully to a serial GPS through a USB hub, USB to serial adapter....

Fun experiment. :lol:

[Nurhisham Hussein]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Another W?BIC moment?

[Cybrid]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Another W?BIC moment?
It was....
We basically connected a powered 7 port USB hub and added devices to see when it would freeze. A keyboard, mouse, GPS, USB key and USB HDD later...it had had enough... :twisted:

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I once went up to four devices (2 HDDs, USB key, and keyboard)...I'll have to try that!

[rhmorrison]

I have heard of a few systems , namely TOM TOM, co pilot, garmin systems. What do you guys think?
I think that you could buy a dedicated unit (such as the TomTom One here in Europe) for what the software plus bluetooth receiver (http://www.tomtom.com/products/product.php?ID=103&Language=4) would cost you. Unfortunately in America this device is not offered. I wonder why? Here it costs only 349 Euros.

I personally just implemented GPS in my car using my old true blue hp Jornada 568 PocketPC 2002 device and Navigon MobileNavigator 5 software. I have all of Europe (minus the northern states like Norway, Scandenavia, ...) which takes up 2 GB of my 4 GB CF card, the other 2 GB is mostly MP3 music. For the GPS Maus, cable, PDA holder and attachments I paid around 150 Euros. The Navigon software takes a long time to start and to calculate a route but after that works great.

I have read that the TomTom software is better in these two aspects but doesn't have all the features of the Navigon software. I have been very happy with my PDA solution so far.

I have played with the Mapopolis software but the way they have their maps set up is idiotic. Since my sister's live in Atlanta I wanted to see how it calculates a route from one sister to the other and then I had to figure out what county maps I needed to load into the thing to accomplish that. DOH! 8O

[Brad Adrian]

... The Navigon software takes a long time to start and to calculate a route but after that works great.
That's probably a function of the older Pocket PC model. I recently tried to configure an older device as a dedicated GPS unit, and I found it took forever, too. Once I decided to use a faster/newer device, it speeded up considerably.

...and then I had to figure out what county maps I needed to load into the thing to accomplish that.

I agree that it can sometimes be a little frustrating using Mapopolis (although probably no more than other similar apps), you don't necessarily have to know which counties you need, unless you need more detail. If you open the "main roads" map first and search for a particular address, you might be able to get the routing you need without knowing the county names. It doesn't bother me too much, though, because that keeps me from needing to install/load gigabytes of maps at once.

[rhmorrison]

I agree that it can sometimes be a little frustrating using Mapopolis (although probably no more than other similar apps), you don't necessarily have to know which counties you need, unless you need more detail. If you open the "main roads" map first and search for a particular address, you might be able to get the routing you need without knowing the county names. It doesn't bother me too much, though, because that keeps me from needing to install/load gigabytes of maps at once.Unfortunately, neither street was known unless the proper county map was loaded and I don't know about you but unless I happen to live in the county I generally don't know what county I'm in. Most other apps such as Navigon MobileNavigator and TomTom Navigator have maps based on country (in Europe) and by section in the U.S. (i.e. Eastern US, Central US, etcetera). At the worst the maps are per state and I always know what state I am in and what state I want to travel to.
Also the map display in Mapopolis is very simplistic (and I'm not referring to the 3D mode which I don't use).

But if you have a PPC and don't have (or want) GPS then you can calculate a route and go through the directions step by step. It's certainly more useful than carrying a normal Rand-McNally road map (or simular).

[Sven Johannsen]

If you open the "main roads" map first and search for a particular address, you might be able to get the routing you need without knowing the county names. It doesn't bother me too much, though, because that keeps me from needing to install/load gigabytes of maps at once.Unfortunately, neither street was known unless the proper county map was loaded and I don't know about you but unless I happen to live in the county I generally don't know what county I'm in.One thing that some people miss on Mapopolis is in the state roads maps, the counties are displayed on the state maps. They are the little star icons. So if you have an idea where in the state you are going, you can get the county names right of the state maps. You have to do a little prep before your trip, but I bet you either get more detail for less file size by just getting the areas you need.

[rhmorrison]

...You have to do a little prep before your trip, but I bet you either get more detail for less file size by just getting the areas you need.Who cares about file size? :roll:

I have a 4 GB CF card and the complete map of all countries in Europe with Navigon MN 5 is just over 1.3 GB. I don't know how big the US maps are for Navigon MN 5 but I would bet that it's under 2 GB.

[Sven Johannsen]

I don't know how big the US maps are for Navigon MN 5 but I would bet that it's under 2 GB.
I'd be interested in seeing if someone can confirm that. I've never bothered to extract all the files for all 50 states for Mapopolis to see if I could carry them all.

[rhmorrison]

According to the PC magazine article "TomTom ONE review by PC Magazine" (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2004417,00.asp) the maps for the U.S, Canada and Guam fit on a 1 GB card :!:
The TomTom ONE costs $499 (instead of 349 €) according to the article which is about $50 more than it should be considering the current exchange rate.