Palm 680 with free tomtom sat nav

rogertb · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 03, 2007 Posts: 63

Hi - I'm thinking about buying this package Treo 680 and Tomtom (Navigator 6) now I'm going to sound really stupid but I'll be putting my Virgin sim card in the palm - do I have to pay their extortionate download charges (Virgins) when I use the satnav ? Oh and does anyone have any experience of this system. I am inclined to get this as I need a new phone and quite like the idea of a pda and don't want a phone and a satnav - what's the poit of carrying around 2 bits of kit ? Thanks to anyone for taking the time Roger

mikealder · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject:

You will still end up with two bits of kit though as that unit doesn't have built in GPS, so you need an external Bluetooth GPS.
I would question your need for Palm as the OS though as this can be restrictive in terms of the software available for the device; a Pocket PC device with built in Phone, Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS is a much better bet in my opinion.

Have a look at the HTC Artemis P3300 or its derivatives the O2 XDA Orbit or T-Mobile MDA C-III (this latter device has no WiFi though) Have a read of This thread for some information on the Artemis, I have been using mine every day for over a year, it is by far the best phone I have ever purchased. It comes pre-loaded with TomTom software as well, there are quite a few of these devices around a bargain prices at the moment.
There is a newer model due out soon with the same dimensions and screen, but it has more memory and a faster processor, code name for this newer unit is "Polaris", you might find quite a bit of information on the internet stating the Polaris has a VGA screen this is NOT true - Mike

rogertb · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 03, 2007 Posts: 63

Thanks Mike - yes, food for thought. I am after (I think) a new phone - fm is good and satnav (though having an external gps doesn't really concern me I can just throw it into the glove box so the palm would be OK) and the camera is acceptable. I'm principally on a mac, which the palm can handle (though I do have a laptop and can jump into PC mode if needed) - diary and address would be nice. I looked on ebay and the price is comparable. I don't think the palm has wifi so that is an advantage for the Artemis though the palm has a keyboard. Your link provided - thank you - had a lot of really useful information but my requirements are pretty basic. I manage pretty well with an SE K800i at the moment but I'm on Virgin and have to pay a lot for satnav ("nav for all" is pretty expensive in download costs through virgin hence my search for some kind of stand alone device). So I am now a little confused - can I put my virgin sim in the Artemis ? any further comments may help clear my fuddled brain. Many thanks Roger

mikealder · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:54 pm Post subject:

You can put any sim card you want into an Artemis as it is supplied unlocked, so it will work with any network provider. You will have to enter some very basic details about logging on the GPRS system on the phone but this is easy to do.
Using a navigation package that downloads the maps to your device as you drive is very costly (as you have found out) - the advantage of TomTom (or plenty of other sat nav software packages) is that the maps are resident on the device which means no downloads and no incurred additional costs. If you want Traffic updates or Weather information or you use the Buddies function this does use the GPRS data which costs, but these are add ons that are not required for a normal mapping/ routing display.
The big plus point about the PPC is the wealth of software available to run on the unit, you can have TomTom to guide you in the car, Memory Map for OS maps when out walking. The Artemis can also be "adjusted" so that it geo-tags photos taken using the on-board camera, when loaded via Google Earth the picture appears where you took it on the Google map - Mike

rogertb · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 03, 2007 Posts: 63

Thanks so much for taking the time Mike- you're beginning to convince me. The wi-fi is the swinger I guess - downloads are so expensive otherwise and there are loads of wi-fi locations around these days. You suggested that there were some good prices around, could you point me in the right direction please. Best Roger

mikealder · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:41 pm Post subject:

The Artemis is supplied from a number of the advertisers to the right of your screen while on the forum, it is available in two different ways:

1/ Taster pack where you get TomTom and can download a small town/ city map for your immediate area.

2/ Premium Pack where you get the full maps covering Western Europe including the UK.

Here are a few links to check out:

Taster pack
Premium Pack
Taster Pack
Premium Pack
Taster Pack
Premium Pack

Or if you don't mind waiting have a look at the Touch Cruse, this is the new name for what I mentioned earlier as the higher spec device, it is not yet available but should be within the next few weeks (it is what I refered to as "Polaris" )

Touch Cruse

At the end of the day check out the prices, if you want TomTom with it go for the Premium Pack deal, check out the postage costs as this can make a significant difference - Mike

rogertb · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 03, 2007 Posts: 63

Thanks again Mike - and for all of the other informative contributions you've made on this site - I read more or less all of them that relate to the Artemis last night and they really confirmed my decision to go for this kit - having looked pretty hard I don't think I can find anything to compare. All the others have something missing be it 'phone 'wifi' or whatever. I'm glad I "met" you. Regards Roger

mikealder · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:22 am Post subject:

Glad you like it, you must have been reading for quite a while as there is a lot about the Artemis on the site, cracking phone and even 12 months + I am still more than happy to use mine as a daily device.
This in itself says quite alot, I typically used to go through phones 2 or 3 a year, since the Artemis very little has come along to tempt me away from it.
There are those using the iPhone, no GPS so its not much use to me, also very little in way of decent software, if I want to I can "skin" the Artemis" to look and work like an iPhone, I did this back in March, got bored with it so I changed the screen for something else. This is the beauty of PPC based devices you can allways add or remove applications themes etc - Mike

	PocketGPS
	Web