Acer N35 PDA GPS sat nav system

[davidstone28]

I travel around the country a fair bit, and having got lost more times than I can remember, I decided to buy a GPS sat nav system for my car. The Acer N35 appealed because of its price and the fact it was an 'all in one' system with integrated 'flip up' anttenna and accessories.

Specifications - click here

The PDA comes with the Destinator 3 navigation / route mapping software. This is often bundled with PDAs (probably because its comparatively cheap). The software is quite good though far from infallible. The issues involving incorrect mapping of roundabouts in v3.0.25 have now been largely resolved in v3.0.75 which comes with this PDA.



However, the software still has some rough edges and isn't as polished, user friendly or as comprehensive as some of its rivals, particularly TomTom5 Navigator. For example, when navigating through roundabout the visual signs for turns are often wrong. If I approached a roundabout and I have to take the 3rd exit, it would sometimes display a sign showing a U turn when the exit was easterly! This isn't usually a huge problem as the voice commands and 3D map show you which direction you need to be heading but the software clearly shows it would benefit from more development time. The software also appears to have problems if you ask it to navigate to a contact in the Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 contact list. I selected the address for CCL Computer which is on Inmoor Road (off Cross lane), Tong, but it didn't get me there - it took me to Tong Village which is close by but quite there. Typing in the address manually was fine.

I used the PDA/GPS/Destinator to take me to Bromsgrove from York - a completely 'cold run' - a new route to me and a town that I have never been to before. It took me to the door of my destination - excellent. I also programmed it to take me from York to CCL Computers and it came up with a excellent route through fields which cut my usual journey time (using motorways and A roads) from 50 minutes (congested) to 25 minutes (via country lanes). Excellent.

I also had the opportunity of trying this PDA/GPS system with TomTom's Navigator 5 software (this isn't bundled with the Acer and has to be bought seperately). Without doubt, TomTom5 is a more polished product. It's just has more usuability than Destinator. Both do the same thing - get you to the destination - but TomTom5 does with with more style and greater usability - the 3D maps are superior (with road names which Destinator lacks), the voice commands are less intrusive, and you don't have to type in the same destination again and again. I also tried TomTom5 with the speed camera databse (POIs) and again, this worked well.

TomTom5 is fully compatible with the Acer but appears to put more of a strain on the PDA's CPU than Destinator 3 - when I was searching the database for road names, there would occasionally be slightly pauses. Strangely enough the map redraws seem to be more responsive on TomTom5 than Destinator 3.

If you go 'off route' on TomTom5, it will recalculate the route for you, whereas with Destinator, it will generally try to force you back onto the original route calculated. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation or location that you're in - sometimes its better to get back onto the original route whilst other times, it would make more sense for the route to be recalculated from your 'off route' position. Clearly, the more 'off route' you are, the better it is for it to be recalculated. TomTom5 probably has slightly better 'on the fly' re-routing capabilities but if you've ended up several miles off route, you clearly haven't been following the instructions properly!



If all this makes you think that TomTom5 is infallible - think again. I was navigating a roundabout with flyovers and a bit of a spaghetti junction of lanes and exits, and it threw a bit of a wobbly in terms of the graphical directions - at one point visually telling me to go down two different exit roads. The graphical 'wobbly' cleared up once I had chosen an exit road in accordance with the previous voice command.

Also on the way home, along Headingly Lane in Leeds, I got stuck in traffic and it decided to recalculate the route (when it had previously told me to keep straight) and started telling me to turn left, right and then u-turn. Travelling forwards 10 yards, seemed to send it out of its 'I'll throw a wobbly mode'. Travelling from Hudderfields to Meanwood, Leeds, it directed me through Headingly from the motorway when going via Meanwood Road would have been a faster route.

A slightly strange quirk with the TomTom5 software is that 'takes over' your PDA with the GPS software, so you have to quit the application to access the Windows Pocket PC 2003 OS, which you don't have to do with Destinator 3.

Pros

• Excellent price - £230 from Comet online
• Convenient 'all in one' solution - PDA, integrated GPS receiver, Destinator 3 software, dashboard mount, car charger etc
• Good entry level GPS system
• Robust - I accidentally dropped it from a height of 1 metre onto a concrete pavement
  and it didn't shatter into 100 pieces!

Cons

• CPU is slightly underpowered
• Battery lasts 3-4 hours (CPU under load and max screen brightness)
• The fundamental routing of Destinator 3 software is good but the interface / usability could be improved
• No bluetooth or WiFi
• There are more sophisticated (but more expensive) PDAs on the market
• TomTom Navigator 5 software (not included) has superior functionality / usability
  though the basic routing is probably about the same as Destinator 3.

Overall

7/10 - a good inexpensive entry level 'all in one' GPS system at a very good price.

Note: Rival systems with more powerful PDAs and TomTom5 software will cost in the region of £350 to £400.

*UPDATE*
01.07.05 - I have noticed a problem which I think is significant. During poor weather condition particular when here are cloudy skies, and the unit is started from cold, the time it takes to lock on to enough satellites (Time to First Fix) to pick up a sufficient GPS siginal can be suprisingly long - up to 15 minutes on one occasion. This makes it frustrating to use on short journeys if the unit is used from a 'cold start'. Once it has locked on, things are fine, irrespective of weather conditions. In the reviews that I have seen of rival products eg. Mio, other reviewers also comment on the fact that the Time to First Fix on GPS devices can be longer when there is bad weather. I initially thought that this might be a problem with the TomTom5 GPS Driver v1.20 rather than the GPS receiver used in the Acer but I experience the same problems with Destinator 3, when in cloudy weather conditions. I am unclear as to what is causing this problem (GPS antenna insuffucient powerful?) and what the solution might be (a booster antenna). Until I resolve the issue, I am going to have to reduce the final score for this product from 7/10 to 6/10.

*UPDATE2*
12.07.05 - The TTFF / initial satellite lock on issue is now resolved. After much experimenting it seems to be caused by 2 main things - the heated windscreen in my car and the presence of tall buildings when initially trying lock on. Think of someone standing in an alleyway between 2 tall buildings and the problems that that might cause with satellite lock on and you get the iidea. The solution is to stand outside of my car with the PDA, or even better still, make sure I am outside of the car in a open space eg. 10 metre radius clear of tall buildings. Lock on in those cirucmstances takes less than 1 minute. Once locked on, putting the PDA in the car is fine. As a tip, use the satellite configuration screen and make sure the round circle at the top right hand side of screen is spinning to show its trying to lock on. Once the vertical bars turn from grey to blue, you've locked! Also, pointing the PDA in different compass directions can sometimes increase the number of grey bars it picks up, which speeds upon blue bar lock on. Overall score now readjusted to a satisfying 7.5/10 (using TomTom5), 7/10 (using Destinator3).

Footnote: The Mio 168 which is a similar sort of device is currently being sold for £230, which makes it a reasonable alternative to the Acer. Both will pretty much do the same thing.

I also bought a nice alu case for it:-



http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=121378

* UPDATE 3 *

04.08.05: Well, I bought that antenna recommended by Soroushk (see below), and I agree with Soroushk's comments - its excellent! I can do a TTFF from inside my room (brick walls on 3 sides), in less than 1 minute with at least 3 signal bars at their maximum levels. Excellent stuff. I'm amazed how well the antenna improves reception. I've stuck the antenna onto the rear parcel shelf of my car and reception is excellent - at least 5 bars almost at 100% strength.

BTW, thanks for the tips everyone. That seller recommended by Soroushk was also excellent - prompt delivery, and very pleasant to deal with communication wise.

However, I've found there are a few quirks (though these are straightfoward to overcome).

* UPDATE 4 - SETUP TIPS WITH TOMTOM *

1. Make sure you have a decent quality antenna - mine is a Glisson one which is good one as you can probably gather from the Acer N35 thread.

2. When you're seting up TomTom for the first time, or you're otherwise in the TomTom setup screen that you select "NMEA external aerial" (or whatever its called - sorry I don't have my PDA in front of me whilst I write this) as the option (there are other options such as Blutooth, TomTom receiver etc but don't use these), then select the max baud rate on the slider bar - 192,000kbps or something like that. Then select "GPS on Navigator". Your TomTom should now be configured to use an external aerial.

3. When you plug in the aerial make sure it "clicks" into position though be careful not to use too much force or else you'll break the tip. Be careful and precise when plugging it in ie don't wiggle it about or anything like that.

3. Turn on Acer. Select TomTom, select preferences and select the "show satellites" button/option (or whatever its called). You should see several vertical bars and on the top right hand of the screen a small circle that looks like a pie chart. If the pie chart is spinning, it means its trying to detect a signal. If its not spinning, unplug and plug the aerial back in again. You need to get that pie chart spinning. Sometimes you might need to exit tomtom and restart it, or even turn off the Acer and then back on again. I've found its easier to use that "show satellites" screen to initially lock onto satellites at the start of the trip. Wait about 30 seconds or so, and once the satellite has locked on, the previously blank vertical bars should be blue showing how many satellites you've locked on to. 3 will be sufficient, although the more the better.

4. You're now ready to use TomTom.

Bear in mind that some cars have heated windscreens which block the reception. On my old Mazda I had to position the antenna receiver on the back parcel shelf, whereas on my Alfa, anywhere near the windscreen is fine.

[Howard]

TomTom 5 is fantastic


Good review

[Jonny M]

I want to see this reviewed:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en...-12224978.html

[davidstone28]

It's sort of been reviewed - there's the "HP Navigation Bundle" which includes the HP iPAQ RZ1710 with TomTom Navigator Go bundle (cut down version of TomTom software). There's a review at the Pocket GPS website. The main gripes is that the 1710 is seriously underpowered and the TomTom software is a cut down version (misleadingly named TomTom Navigator 4).

TomTom (off the record) have also slated the RZ1710 for being underpowered. It was one of the alternative packages I looked at before getting the Acer. Incidentally, TomTom5 allows you to rotate the screen 90,180,270 degrees and use the PDA sideways.

The model that you linked to does appear to be a self contained unit with its own bespoke software - no idea whether "Michelin Navigation for Pocket PC" is any good though - apparently its based on the 'Mapsonic' navigation software.

[soroushk]

First of all many thanks to davidstone28 for his excellent review.

I actually saw this review after buying Acer N35. I was going to return it since I thought the poor reception is because the device is faulty! After reading this review and leaving the device searching for about 10-15 minutes (in my room at home) it started working (with TomTom5).

Any ways, I started looking for external antenna on the web to see if that can help and bought one of these from Ebay which cost me £18 all together with delivery. (might cost you a little bit more depending on your winning bid)

In my room, the best it could do on its own was locking on two satellites after 10 minutes with frequent disruptions but after plugging in the new external antenna, it took it less than one minute to lock on 6-7 satellites!

It seems the poor reception problem of Acer N35 can easily be sorted out using an external antenna.

The external antenna is classified as “Amplified GPS Antenna” by the manufacturer (Gilsson Technologies). The model name seems to be “MMCX” which is the name that is used for the external antenna connection of Acer N35 and many other products that use the same standard. It is actually designed for Navman iCN 510 and PiN Pocket PC but it seems to be perfectly compatible with Acer N35 as well.



I recommend (paul_a_wright)’s “GPS at Eamont ” ebay shop. The seller is very friendly and trustable and you will get the antenna in less than two days if you pay for it instantly using Paypal or other payment methods that he accept.

DON’T FORGET that there are other models with the same name but different connection. Look for the model with “MMCX” connection. Best thing to do is to email the seller and ask him which of the products support Acer35 and he should be able to direct you.

[davidstone28]

Many thanks for the tip - I'm actually looking for an extenal antenna.

I had a look on eBay but couldn't find any of those Gilsson ones. Any ideas?

[soroushk]

Originally Posted by davidstone28

Many thanks for the tip - I'm actually looking for an extenal antenna.

I had a look on eBay but couldn't find any of those Gilsson ones. Any ideas?

I emailed the seller to see if there is any more of the ones that I got left and I will let you know as soon as he gets back to me.

Meanwhile, try searching for the word “MMCX”. I found couple of other products (different makes) which seem to support AcerN35 but I can not guarantee that they would be as good as the one I have (Gilsson). Well who knows, they might even be better!

[Howard]

There are a few MMCX connector antennas available. I bought one for my PDA. The Holux ones are good, they'll be just as good as the one you have. It's just another brand

[davidstone28]

Thanks for info - do these antenna required a cigarette lighter for power or do they have have their own power / don't require power?

[Howard]

They're passive. They're just an extension of the internal antenna

[soroushk]

Originally Posted by davidstone28

Thanks for info - do these antenna required a cigarette lighter for power or do they have have their own power / don't require power?

Howard is right, No external power is needed, all you have to do is to plug it in the MMCX connection.

[Hobart Paving]

[posted in error - sorry]

[davidstone28]

Well, I bought that antenna recommended by Soroushk, and I agree with Soroushk's comments - its excellent! I can do a TTFF from inside my room (brick walls on 3 sides), in less than 1 minute with at least 3 signal bars at their maximum levels. Excellent stuff. I'm amazed how well the antenna improves reception. I've stuck the antenna onto the rear parcel shelf of my car and reception is excellent - 5 bars at at 90% - 100% strength when fixing onto satellites from a cold start.

BTW, thanks for the tips everyone. That seller recommended by Soroushk was also excellent - prompt delivery, and very pleasant to deal with communication wise. The seller also enclosed a little warning sticker saying that MMCX connectors were delicate and that brute force should not be used when plugging/unplugging them.

[skydragon]

i having problem with my acer n35 with the tomtom software. my is version 6 and everytime i used it, it jam in half way, any solution for this? thanks for helping me.