Windows Media Player

[Chorlie]

Cheers Dave,



I've just read that thread, I did download version 3.1.2 onto my mates PDA last night, I also didn't like the idea of the 2 way sync and after downloading everything found it showed no POI, so I'm going to put v2 onto my Axim and use the POI updates from this site.



Just 2 questions, does v2 have its own sound wav. or do I have to uses a third parties and is there a manual for it or does it work the same a v3?



Many thanks
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

Chorlie,



So glad the SimpleTech worked out - the performance sounds great and hopefully a wonderful improvement in the performance of your system.





I'm using a similar 256MB card to your SimpleTech in my iPAQ 3970 - though it's actually Lexar branded. This is a Hitachi based card (SimpleTech cards seem to be either Hitachi based or Toshiba based - both are good) from before the time when Lexar switched to rebadging Sandisk cards for a while. I don't know what Lexar are shipping now, but I wouldn't recommend buying a Lexar SD card as it's pot luck as to what you get!





There are now reports that the N technology code Sandisk cards (the new ones) don't work reliably on all Axims, so avoiding them completely does seem the best bet!



It sounds ebuyer.com have slipped their price of the 256MB SimpleTech cards up a little (quite possibly a small change in the shipping price) - but I still think they're a good buy for a very solidly performing SD card in all Pocket PCs, and one that seems to work reliably in Dell Axim X5s. I hope you agree!







David

[Chorlie]

Hi Dave,



I ordered a SimpleTech 256mb SD Card (10mb per second), from Ebuyer at a cost of £67.82 in total and it arrived today.



I've just loaded the Full GB Map onto it and plotted a route from Manchester to Oxford (165 miles) and it took about 10 seconds to calculate it. The card states 'Made in Japan'.



So many thanks for your tip.
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

There are some reports of some faster cards around, but for a card that's reliably way above average in performance and has seemingly top notch compatibility, your best bet is to buy a SimpleTech card.



The last time I looked into this seriously, the cheapest source was ebuyer.com. At the moment, they're out of stock of 256MB (which is probably the 'sweet spot' when considering price and capacity), but I expect they'll have more soon.



If you go to www.ebuyer.com, select UK, then search for "SimpleTech SD" (without the quotes) you'll be offered whatever they have in stock. However, if you then press the link to "See all n results", you can then choose "All items" and press "Filter search" - at which point you can see price and availability information for all sizes.



256MB shipped is currently £65.60.





The alternate UK source for SimpleTech SD cards is Clove - but they're charging rather more.





There are now some new Sandisk cards around - AR0307NS is the marking on the back. Not only do they tend to work in Dell Axim X5s (unlike the earlier cards which really do sulk in Axims - I'm surprised yours is working without data corruption), but they're reportedly much faster as well.



The snag is that there's no way to tell what you're getting to my knowledge. I'd go for SimpleTech - particularly as you're an Axim user.







David

[Chorlie]

I've been away the last few days in Newcastle and its worked fine, picking up a signal in around a min. so what you said before seems to have worked.



My only real problem now and something you mentioned in another thread was the SD Cards issues.



I have all my Maps on a ScanDisk 256mb SD Card (AR0303LR Taiwan), it took ages to calculate a route if I had the whole map on the card, so I put all the small area maps on it and it works the route out find now, but I have to keep swopping maps when I move out of the area. So the question is where can I buy a good fast SD Card, in your thread you mention SD Cards from Japan are quicker than other Cards. Any advice or is it just pot luck.
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

The 2D / 3D thing is simply that if a GPS receiver only has a fix on three satellites, it will offer a 2D position - that is one without altitude. If and when it picks up a fourth satellite, it offers a 3D fix with altitude information included.



This should work automatically. If you're only picking up three satellites, then your GPS hardware will output 2D positioning information, and the TomTom GPS driver will happily use that.





The bigger problem with just having a fix on three satellites is that HDOP is probably rather large - in English, your positioning error is larger than if you have more satellites in the positioning solution. In an environment like a city centre, this may have Navigator confused as to your precise location!





Your Fortuna is a SiRFstar II based receiver (the specification available online here says that it supports the SiRF binary protocol, so it must be a SiRF chipset, also it supports WAAS, so it must be one of the SiRFstar II chipsets).





I'm therefore very surprised at your Time To First Fix results. Even from a factory start, a SiRFstar II based receiver typically is working within five minutes and often within three minutes. Certainly this is how my Haicom HI-303MMF behaves, which is also SiRFstar II based.



I wonder whether you've got some kind of signal issue in-car and/or a faulty GPS card. It would certainly be worth seeing if you get a fix any faster with the hardware outside the car (easy enough to test with a CF GPS!).





Meanwhile, if you choose the option for TomTom wired GPS (I can't remember its precise name), then you should have working "Reset GPS to this location" functionality, which could potentially make a huge difference to your slow Time To First Fix issues.



What this "reset" option does is send the correct time and date to the GPS, also the location you have on the map. This means that the GPS, assuming it has a usable almanac, immediately knows which satellites are overhead and which it should start looking for.







David

[Chorlie]

It can take anything from 2 mins to 45 mins for it to pick up the signal. I'm using a Fortuna Pocket Track CF Card GPS Receiver (12 Sats) (I can't find any reviews on it), it doesn't have a battery. Once it has the signal its fine, it got me through London the other week and I'm off to Newcastle next week, but does take an age to pick up the signal when frist turned on. I've read it can take 30mins+ the first time its used but after that should like you said take less than a 1 min.



I've just tried the "Reset GPS for this Location" and its still trying to pick the signal backup (it just has, taken the time its taken me to type this, I'm a slow typer....)



I've read your comments on a different thread, aboutWinFast GPS and didn't know if it would help me, to be honest I didn't fully understand what it does, so thought best not to play for once.



Is there anything on here for how best to set TTN2 up (Pros/Cons etc). Also in your reply you say "three satellites (for 2D - four for 3D)." is this the 3D mode within TTN2? and if so is it better to have TTN2 setup just for 2D?



Many thanks again.
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

The GPS icon thing is a red herring. It should be disappearing when all TomTom applications are closed - otherwise it can use processor power and possibly spuriously keep the Pocket PC powered on depending on the settings of the GPS driver.



A soft reset on your friend's machine will restore normal operation.





The different in TTFF (time to first fix) between the two setups is explained by your different GPS hardware. I suspect your mate's GPS mouse is connected to a permanent power source - so it always has a position lock.



The situation with your CF GPS is different. When you fire it up, the best you're likely to have is an up to date almanac. This means you can't get a fix until your GPS has found and obtained an ephemeris for three satellites (for 2D - four for 3D). This process typically takes around 50 seconds.





If your CF GPS is taking much longer than that, then it's possible that the internal battery (if it even has one) is going flat between uses. This is where tapping on the map in Navigator and choosing "Reset GPS for this location" can help!







David

[Chorlie]

I've set it all up, very easy, picked up the PIO I'd downloaded off this site. I like it better than v3, it looks like I can set it up and forget about it and seem far easier that GPS Assist.



I don't know if you can help me on another thing. I use a CF GPS with my Dell, all the maps are on a 256mb SD card and it works fine, but it takes an age for the GPS to get a signal. My mates has the full Tom Tom GPS and on his, (again a Dell Axim, he has his maps on a 256mb CF) the GPS icon stays on at the bottom right, even if the GPS and TTN2 is turned off / not connected, when its reconnected the signal is picked up quickly. On mine the GSP icon goes when I turn off TTN2 and it then has to regain the signal.



Any ideas how I can get it to pick up the signal again quicker?



Thanks for everything


_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

I'm not sure - I used some noises already on my iPAQ.



CheckPOInt 2.0.2 uses WAV files - so if the sounds available for version 3 are WAV files, you can use them.





Manual - really, you don't need one! Just go through the four setup screens in turn, making sure that you set up the overlay one for all installed overlays that you wish to have alerts for.





To go with your CheckPOInt 2.0.2, I'd install POI Edit, set up the POI sync service with Pocket GPS, and enjoy what is an amazing setup for free.







David

[Chorlie]

Hi,



I have a Dell Axim Pocket PC (2002). I installed the free (40 logons) version of GPS Assist version 1.3.3, it works very well (apart from the Sunrise settings) and was going to buy the full version. I noticed of late my Windows Media Play wasn't working, but thought nothing about it, I must of deleted something by mistake. I've ordered Pocket Windows 2003 and when I install that it would re-install my Media Player, but with all the problem with 2003 I thought I'd just reset 2002 to correct the problem.



All worked fine, re-install my backup but GPS Assist didn't work, I re-install that and guess what Windows Media Player stopped working....



I've re-set 2002 several times to double check and the Media Play worked until GPS Assist is install, has anyone else had this problem, is it a known problem and is there a fix?



All help will be greatfully recieved.



Thanks
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

See my long post (and the discussion between Richard (Oldie) and me) in this thread for some comments on version 3.



Admittedly I was writing about version 3.0, and there have been some bug fixes since then, but many of the basic objections I raised to the changes in version 3 still hold. I believe version 2.0.2 is more suited to use with the PocketGPS speed camera database.







David

[Chorlie]

Hi again,



I've done a search on google and found there web site http://checkpoint.oabsoftware.nl/index.html I see they have a version 3.1.2 which was released this week & there is a couple of add-ons sound file and an address integrator, any veiws on any of the above?



Thanks again.
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[Chorlie]

Thanks again David.



Is there a review on CheckPOInt 2.0.2, I've had a quick look on this site but found nothing. I'm guessing that you can load the POI which I download off this site and you can setup a sound warning at a set distance for these POI.



Thanks again
_________________
Chorlie
If it isn't broken, play with it some more...

[DavidW]

Yes - I'm with Steve on this. I use CheckPOInt 2.0.2 (which is what I'm sure he meant). The advice seems to be to steer clear of version 3 at present. Certainly I was unimpressed with 3.0.



Version 2.0.2 is on the downloads page of this site - though if you want a direct download link for the Pocket PC 2002 version (which is probably OK on Pocket PC 2003 as well), click here.







David

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