Which PocketPC / GPS combo?

[Covenant]

Okay, I admit I'm a complete novice in the world of Pocket PCs as I've been quite happy using my Palm M130 for a couple of years now to organise my life.

But now i'm sick of getting lost in my car and think it's time to get a GPS system... so I might as well get a pocketpc to go with it. Hope much should I be looking to pay for a decent small Pocket Pc and GPS system/software? And any suggestions where to buy bundles?

Any help appreciated! Thanks!

[Jonny M]

See if you can get hold of an HP iPAQ 4150, discontinued now, but very good PDAs (Bluetooth and WiFi), then get a bluetooth GPS adaptor for them (something like a TomTom).

Otherwise have a look at the Dell Axim range, they do GPS bundles.

[Flibb]

All the PPC are virtually the same, the question is what other features do you want? I would suggest blue-tooth, WIFI and both compact flash and SD/mmc slots. That would give you the best all round option, but also the highest cost. I ended up getting a used Toshiba E750 cheap of ebay, it has everything above apart from the WIFI, I added this with a separate card costing £23, but its a slight hassle carrying the extra card. You will also need a storage card, a 1 gig SD card can be had for around £70, beware that some SD cards are better than others (compatibility). Software wise most people use TomTom 3 (I use TT2, cant be bothered to upgrade). GPS wise you can go cabled (cheap), CF card based (mid price), or blue-tooth (loadsa money). I prefer blue-tooth as I can use the GPS for other things outside the car, and unlike CF card based you can put the GPS / PDA where you want. My setup is as follows

Toshiba E750 BT
Various cards including a dedicated backup card (for the PDA)
Fortuna clipon BT GPS
TOM TOM 2
Arkon powered amplifier mount with a suction base.

I have also setup a very cheap system for my parents thats wired, its only used for satnav. Thats also a cheap Toshiba with a rikaline wired gps and a cheap mobile phone mount. That system cost around £200.

If I was buying a new system just for satnav I would get a TomTom Go, if I wanted a full pda as well probably something like ipaq h2210 (£200 ish), think thats been replaced with a newer model. You can run satnav on the new palms, might be an option.

[smashie]

Hmmm, I've got an rx3715 and a tom tom 3, I had the bluetooth version and found that it was very slow to update (no I don't drive too fast ) so I swapped it for the cabled model. Still got the same problem. I'm still looking for an alternative The ipaq is fine, talking to other people it seems to be a problem with tom tom.

[Flibb]

TT updates every second, but there have been issues wit heh TT gps drivers, there are a variety of versions to try. Was the blue-tooth gps an xtrac one? Some of these have slower update times, my fortuna can be run in sirf or xtrac. Xtrac is usefull in areas with bad reception.

[Covenant]

Wow, quick responses on this forum! Just looking at the deals on the Dell Webpage - Are Dell PDAs any good? What would be the limitations to this one ?

Really don't know where to begin with this - thanks for the input so far. Really just want something simple to use in the car (i.e. key in start postcode and end postcode - and then drive). But seeing as I'd be shelling out a fair bit, I might as well replace my rather dated palm!

[Flibb]

Linky to good gps sat nav site

[smashie]

thanks for that link, seems to be helping, problem is I now have to buy one of these

[Bunjiweb]

Thought about getting an 02 XDA 2 with tom tom upgrade? Its a 400mhz PPC with a phone built in. Would be perfect if you want it for your car..? Car cradles for it can be had for about £30. The XDA2 cost me £160 upgrade but can be had on contract for £150-180 if you shop around and get a good tarrif.

As for SD cards for storage upgrades, 1GB cards can be had for less than quoted above. I have seen Kingston and Panasonic 1GB SD cards for £55. I recently got a 512mb Kingston card for £28

Ben

[Flibb]

Hmmm Lexar 32x SD cards are now £61at ebuyer, thast a dam good price. Might be worth checking on pocketgpsworld if its worth buying high speed flashram. Last time I read up, it was ment to make a big difference with complicated route finding. Buttt that might have been the old snake oil, peoples oppinions change. There were several people runnning rout bench marks with different makes / speeds of card. Could be a load of crap not shure

[iMc]

bringing this thread up again...

wondering if Covenant had made a decision yet as I'm in a similer boat and unsure.

[Covenant]

Still working on it iMc.

I'm currently looking for a cheapish pocket PC and tomtom3 combination. Seems like you can get full tomtom kits (receiver, software, cables and cradle) for between £120 to £180. As I'm mainly getting this for my car the cheapest pocket PC that's supported will probably do me.

Looked at cheaper Palm combinations but the software doesn't seem as well developed/supported (even tomtom on it is a very old version) so would rather spend £100 more and get something decent.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[ikonia]

as much as I hate to admit it.

The ipaq tomtom combo is superb

[Marcos]

as much as I hate to admit it.

The ipaq tomtom combo is superb

Whats an average price on that combo?

[ikonia]

Hmmm I picked up pretty much the top spec Ipaq - brand new with latest tom tom, tom tom blue tooth GPS device and car kit for £600-ish

you can get the lot for around £300 with a lower spec ipaq, the ipaqs the thing that batters the price

If you just want it for the GPS get the lower spec ipaqs it will work fine, but I wanted to replace my palm pilot and get something with a bit of room to grow/be used so gambled and lashed out on the top palm, with wireless,gps,bluetooth, good screen, loads of memory, etc etc

[Marcos]

£300 sounds fair, but what about that all-in-one Garmin PDA/GPS device? How does that compare? I think its only £400 but does it all in one device.

Also, is 3D useful? Can the iPaq combo do 3D?