Which PDA + GPS for the budget-conscious user?

[Richdog]

Well first of all hello folks, I haven't posted here in ages, been travelling a lot due to work and my computer use has seen a sharp nosedive hehe.

Anyway i'm currently in the market for a GPS solution and am looking to pay the least possible for a decent-quality kit that is known to work well together. I've been looking on Ebay at PDA's lke the HP 2210 and the HP 4150 which can be had for £150 or less and am confused as to which one represents the best buy.

Obviously if i'm going the PDA route I want it to have the standard features such as bluetooth and at least a semi-decent CPU/batter life so can ou PDA gurus please reccommend me a kit that doesn't break the bank (ie: as cheap as possible) while still getting more than passable and stable GPS performance and a functional PDA?

Thanks in advance.

[icq3800846]

My wife has a MIO 168 which I am impressed with, it is an integrated GPS revceiver with a Windows Mobile 2003 PDA which is a budget device which can be had very cheaply. The original package did not have any navigation software (we specified this) but did include as standard a windscreen mount, car charger and external GPS ariel for people who have heated windscreens and cannot receive a normal GPS signal. Incidentally she has a heated front window on her car and it works fine anyway. She drove for three hours with Tom Tom 5 navigating her and still had 50% battery life left as she had left the car charger at home. It does NOT have bluetooth but in reality I am not sure what you would use bluetooth on a PDA for as you can still load files with the USB cable.... unless you wanted to fit a bluetooth head unit in your car to route the sound output from the PDA through the car speakers, or use a mobile phone as a modem.

If you are thinking of using the PDA to access the internet on the move with a bluetooth mobile phone then I could recommend the MIO A701 which is a Windows Mobile 5.0 phone with integrated GPS receiver and camera. SIM free it is £380.00 but it does function as your phone, PDA and Sat Nav all in one dinky form factor. Sat Nav software such as Tom Tom is separate though and there is no WiFi. This device is quite narrow compared to earlier PDA phones which felt like you were holding a dinner plate to your ear. It is comfortable to hold and you don't feel like a self conscious idot when you use it in public. Being Windows Mobile 5.0 the device uses ROM for everything, which is a little slower than using RAM, but has the benefits of retaining the memory if the battery is run to a point of being flat. Syncing and file transfer is incredibly quick compared to early iPAQ models and with the high availability of cheap but large capacity SD cards, you can haul round all your MP3s and Videos with you to play with Media Player 10. You can even get DivX players and with a 60 quid 2.0 gig SD card you might fit quite a few full length movies on your phone, useful for long journeys when you are NOT the driver.

[Richdog]

Mate just been looking at that one you suggested and it looks ver good... if a little over what I was budgeting, and there seem to be some issues with the screen exploding after a long charke? I'll check it out, and if anyone has any other suggestions they are mroe than welcome.

Rich.

EDIT -Just seen the Mio A201 and thats even better... may as well stretch to that I suppose.

[icq3800846]

You ought to know, it's not a big deal, but the build quality, and the level of support available, isn't quite as good with the MIO devices as it was with my iPAQ. You get what you pay for, but the MIO still feels dead sturdy and capable.

Getting one with an integrated phone is a great idea, you never leave home without it if you are used to carrying your mobile phone around, and it does street level for pedestrians too, but the battery gets sucked dry in 3 to 4 hours which might not be convenient if you really rely on your phone.

As with most devices nowadays, mine charges off a mini USB lead, which means I can even charge it off my laptop which could conceivably be useful if I were stranded on a desert island which strangely enough had a mobile phone signal, a flat battery in my phone and a charged up laptop...... what definitely IS useful is the ability to bum a charge off of a mates computer as nearly everyone has a mini USB cable already plugged into their computer for their printer, or their digital camera etc..... and just a 10 minute quicky is sometimes enough to get you home with.

Getting an all in one also means that you aren't convenienced by hauling around an extra bit of kit (The PDA) which you quite rightly always remove from your vehicle upon arriving at your destination! lol

Just a couple of extra thoughts from a guy who's used a few devices.