[Newbie] Emtac Sleeve Vs Wired Mouse

biggy7 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 53

hi guys

im just getting into the realms of Pda sat nav, im going to be getting an ipaq 3660 just for the purpose of sat nav, using tomtom.

Now ive been reading up and im not sure on which sleeve to go for,

the emtac gps jacket which has CF slot can be had for £72 from http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=112533 and the wired gps mice go for about the same price from ebay, but with thid option, id need to get a CF sleeve which will be a little extra.

now which one do i go for? i dont wanna spend a fortune, so which one do you think best value for money, i like the idea of the emtac, as its got the built in gps receiver and can be portable from car to car and maybe on foot, but how does it perform compared to a wire mouse?

any reason why i shouldnt go for the emtac? cos if go for it, id only need pda - emtac and CF card.

if i go for the mouse type, id need, pda - gps mouse - cf sleeve.

any advice would be most appreciated!

thanks

DavidW · Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 8:18 pm Post subject:

Personally I wouldn't recommend someone to build a system using something as old as a 3600 series iPAQ unless they already have the iPAQ. As I've posted in the past, such an old machine probably has a failing main battery by now, and the 3600 series didn't have that big a main battery to start with.

Unless it's been upgraded, a 3600 series will have Pocket PC 2000 (there was a Pocket PC 2002 upgrade, but it's long since discontinued), which means that software is getting increasingly hard to find, as most developers have given up producing software for versions of Pocket PC before 2002. I can't see it ever being possible to use GPSAssist 2 on Pocket PC 2000, as I don't think there's a version of the .NET Compact Framework for Pocket PC 2000.

Some of the the 3600 series are relatively short of RAM (though I believe the 3660 has 64MB, which is fine). 32MB of RAM can be tight with a modern navigation program, especially if you want to use add-ons.

Finally, the screens of older iPAQs are rather inferior to the later models. The 3900 series had a rather better screen than older models.

I would suggest that a better buy would be looking for a second hand 3970, or possibly a 3950 (which lacks the Bluetooth of its cousin).

It's also important to know that the expansion pack / sleeve format is coming to the end of its life. It looks like the current 5150 and 5550 are the last machines that will support these expansion, and both these machines are likely to be superseded within the next 3 to 6 months. Once that happens, there'll be no new iPAQs supporting expansion packs. It looks like some of the next generation of iPAQs will offer CompactFlash capabilities, as the current 2210 does - most people that have an expansion pack capable machine that bought an expansion pack did so to add a CompactFlash slot, though there was a market for GPS sleeves.

You could buy the system you propose, and you'll probably be happy with it. However, even if you're getting the iPAQ for nothing, you would be buying hardware to go with it that you couldn't use with a newer machine. Increasingly the tendency is to go for Bluetooth GPS and SD card memory. With a 3970, you could use both of these and have hardware that would work just as well with not only any of the current iPAQs (apart from the bottom 1930 model, which lacks Bluetooth) but almost certainly with all iPAQs likely to be released in the next 6-12 months. You can, if you wish, upgrade a 3970 to Pocket PC 2003 (which is chargeable), though I doubt there'll be a Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition ROM.

The oldest 3970s are coming up to two years old now, and they don't have easily replaceable batteries, though there is a kit available that allows you to change the battery yourself if you don't mind opening up your iPAQ (the current UK price is GBP72.95 plus shipping). Having said that, my 3970 is one of the older ones, and I find the battery is still fine.

David

devulderj · Frequent Visitor Joined: 07/01/2003 09:56:05 Posts: 413

Hi,

I haven't read the whole thread but I saw the question about the compact framework for PPC2000. Below is a quote from someone at Microsoft

"The CF will run on all Pocket PC devices starting from PPC2000 and upwords and devices that run WinCE.NET 4.2."

The GPSAssist installer will correctly install the compact framework if your device supports it.

Cheers,
Jo.

devulderj · Frequent Visitor Joined: 07/01/2003 09:56:05 Posts: 413

Hi,

I haven't read the whole thread but I saw the question about the compact framework for PPC2000. Below is a quote from someone at Microsoft

"The CF will run on all Pocket PC devices starting from PPC2000 and upwords and devices that run WinCE.NET 4.2."

The GPSAssist installer will correctly install the compact framework if your device supports it.

Cheers,
Jo.

DavidW · Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 9:05 pm Post subject:

Wow - options that I didn't think existed do exist, then!

Even so, the point holds. Even if Jo produces a version of GPSAssist 2 that works on Pocket PC 2000, increasingly software requires at least Pocket PC 2002. Indeed, some developer tools produce code that only works on Pocket PC 2003.

David

biggy7 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 53

thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated

ive been told that the 3660 im getting has indeed got Pocket PC 2002 installed.

im not bothered about upgrading later as i am around pcs through out the day and dont really need a pda for my personal needs. I just want one for the sat nav stuff.

as long as it works, id prob wont ever change it, for the forseeable future, but who knows ;)

so back to the main question, which sleeve should i go for? emtac or the cf sleeve?

DavidW · Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 10:08 pm Post subject:

Fair enough - I would still look at the second hand price of a 3970, though.

Be aware, too, that if the 3660's battery goes flat, the machine will 'hard reset' itself, which will wipe your installed navigation software necessitating a reinstallation. The main memory of a Pocket PC is RAM, which requires battery to retain its storage. Even if you install the software to your memory card (which is not recommended), you'll lose various registry settings and similar needed for it to operate properly.

One recommended product is Sprite Backup - it's a great way to recover from a hard reset!

The Emtac sleeve seems to have quite a good reputation, and seeing as it doesn't seem worth spending a lot of money on a 3600 series based setup, is probably the way to go. You'd probably spend something like half the cost of the Emtac on a CompactFlash sleeve (to get yourself a memory card slot for your maps), and you'd still need to pay for a wired GPS if you went for that option.

That said, I've no user experience of the Emtac sleeve.

David

Talkingbollox · Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 11:14 pm Post subject:

I'd go with the Emtac Sleeve. You can buy also buy a CF WiFi card to use the iPaq to surf.

Mind you, I would say that - I've bought the very same kit.

I'm hoping to pick up a cheap 5550 when they become end of line items so I can continue to use the sleeve, mounts, cables etc which I already have for my 3870.

biggy7 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 53

does the emtac lock onto the sats better or worser then a gps mouse?

Talkingbollox · Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 11:47 pm Post subject:

biggy7 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 53

thanks mate Smile

does the emtac also have a bracket so you can attach to the vent in a car?

Talkingbollox · Posted: Sun May 23, 2004 8:35 pm Post subject:

No, you need to buy a mount.

I've got a Brodit in one car and an iMount in another. It fits in both.

I'll take some pics of the Emtac in both soon.

biggy7 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 53

cheers mate!

also, assuming im gona go for the 3660 and GPS jacket setup

which power lead will i need? ive no idea what to look for, also where can one buy the lead that will power up both the jacket and the ipaq?

thanks!

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