navman PiN 570 - thoughts

[nacoya]

Hi,

had originally posted regarding the medion md96800 but missed the boat on that one.

I hadn't thought about a pda with gps but then thought that if they were just as good as a similarly priced dedicated gps then maybe worth a look.

What about the Navman PiN570. Anyone recommend one or provide links to reviews etc....

or is there something else around the 200-230 quid mark ?

cheers,

nacoya

ps. one more thing on the pda/gps .. can the screen orientation be changed to landscape ala a dedicated gps...

[Adek]

Hi Nacoya, I've not long had a PiN570 (about 1 month now), and it works fine enough. The SatNav part works well, and I don't suppose is any better or worse than the other main companies. You can download POI files (like cameras etc) so does what I need it to. Tomtom software seemed easier to use on a friends unit, but its probably personal preference.

I should point out that The PC version of the navman software (which you need to have on your PC and use it to change the maps or add active POI's ) is " intersting" to say the least ,and does take some playing around with, but once you have it sussed it works, but it is a bit flakey...


The PDA is basic enough, but again does what I want. MP3s, contact list, address book, excel and pocket word, outlook etc..If you want the cutting edge PDA, then buying a top end PDA will no doubt give you a better PDA performance and functions - the Navman does not have bluetooth or wifi for instance that a dell axim, IPAC , only the old IRDA and USB (active sync).

Most stand alone PDA's require an external jacket/gps cradle of some kind, this can be wired or bluetooth then the software added on top or as a bundle. For me I could not justify the added expense to go this route.

Landscape format - no idea if the PiN570 can do this. In theory the latest version of MS pocket PC should allow you to run in landscape on a PDA, but I don't see how to do this on the PiN or if the navman software will work with it. I actually prefer portrait though since you are normally following the map move from bottom to top as you drive, so you see more of the roads that you approach in portrait( rather than left to right).

Finally, when I looked into this there were a number of lowish priced GPS PDAs around, the PiN570, a similar unit the AcerN35 (basically same hardware, but different software and maps), then the Mio168, (but this last one looked less well configured as a PDA -older unit design from what I could see but I am no expert). The Navman had the edge in that I knew someone who already had a navman 520 which worked OK as a black box SatNav, so I went that way.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

If you go for the PiN 570, I have made a number of posts over the last couple of weeks with comments on problems or success I have had with the unit.

hope this helps

[nacoya]

thanks for that,

so no glaring problems then.

I hadn't thought of your point re: the portrait vs landscape aspect. Fair point and i can see it's benefit.

I'm not looking for a powerful pda (or necessarily a pda at all) but if it has one and it covers the basics like address books etc and i may use mp3 and photo viewing capabilities when handheld then fair enough.

I can see it available on the currys site for 229 and that really seems to be the cheapest. had a look today in stores but saw nothing at any 'sale' price, which is a shame.

It's a major purchase and i want to make sure i get the right one, your post has been of good help. thanks.

nacoya

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