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MadPanther Regular Visitor
Joined: Nov 15, 2003 Posts: 106 Location: Blackpool - Lancs
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:41 pm Post subject: New Medion PDA/GPS |
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Well i've bought the new PDA / GPS from Aldi this morning..
Not had chance to play with it yet ! BUT.
I don't like the case thats included !! Its large and looks strange..
Anyone know of a suitable 'cheap' case that will fit this pda ??
Thanks |
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Jono Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 11, 2004 Posts: 19 Location: North Yorkshire
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, the case is somewhat *bulky*, but I suspect it's more for when you attach it to the handlbars of your bike, or take it out walking, to save it from getting rained on/splashed. wink:
I stood in a queue for 20 mins this morning, I believe the store I went to (Yarm road, Darlington) only had one box of these things in, so maybe 8-10 units and 3 of those went with myself and the two people either side of me in the queue. They weren't putting them out in the store, but had them under the tills (in case anyone looks for them in the aisles)
I set it up in the car, installed the software and programmed in my home address, took a few seconds to hook itself up to 7/8 satellites and off I went. I think it's a fantastic bit of kit - I decided I knew best, and ignored the directions, going a different way to what it had planned, once it realised where I was (took less than 5 seconds) it had planned an alternative route to my destination.
I wouldn't mind a pocket-sized case, but I suspect most you'll be able to buy from phone shops etc.. will fit, no bother. :D : |
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ianr17 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 49 Location: Stoke on Trent
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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I really want one of these,but just not sure if its just a bit of a gimmick i might not need...my local Aldi has some left (well it did 10mins ago)
Will it be a life changing purchase.. or will i get bored & leave it in a cupboard? |
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Jono Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 11, 2004 Posts: 19 Location: North Yorkshire
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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Honestly,
I've always wanted a GPS/PDA unit since they first came out. I was unimpressed by the ones that were available as an option for my car, so I didn't get one fitted.
How much do you travel/drive? I've bought mine for the use of myself and my family. It's £250 which is considerably cheaper than most other such devices on the market, depending on how much you shop around, of course.
Yes, you can just use a road atlas, but what if you're not just going on major roads, if you know an address/postcode, but not the area. I can see this thing being invaluable to me 8)
I do a fair bit of driving, and I hate getting lost because I don't know exactly where I'm going. If I have to divert from my planned route then I'm pretty screwed...I'm talking about this sort of scenario:
You have Autoroute on your PC, or the AA/RAC routeplanner website...got your route all planned out, but when you get halfway there's been an accident, and the road's closed, but some diversion signs aren't in place yet.
You can fanny on with a road atlas, and try to get around the problem another way, or you can have a GPS system that'll do it for you. I know which one I'd prefer.
If you don't like it you can take it back or sell it. I would buy it while you can, otherwise you might kick yourself like I did last time I missed this offer. Then I got lost in a city I didn't know. I wasn't happy
G'won, you KNOW you want to! ;) |
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MadPanther Regular Visitor
Joined: Nov 15, 2003 Posts: 106 Location: Blackpool - Lancs
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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If you do a lot of driving they're a god send...
I have bought quite a few for my company, help the enginners and sales guys get to site ontime... No more 'Oh I got lost !'.
The Aldi I went to must have sold 10 - 15 in the few minutes I was there..
I queued from 8:20 and was 3rd.. Both of the people in front of me were buying the PDA !!
Now to nip to Woolworth or radio shack and see what cases they have ! |
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nej Frequent Visitor
Joined: Jun 16, 2004 Posts: 454 Location: London, Ingerlund
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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I went to my 'local' Aldi at lunchtime and they had all gone
The lady at the cashdesk said people were queing from 7:30 this morning and they all went then.
Damn annoying - I was going to get one for my wife for Xmas. |
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RichK Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 10, 2004 Posts: 25
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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I sent my Gopher to the Aldi in Ilford for me this morning. He got there at 10am, and there were 3 left (don't know how many they had to start with). |
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en1gma Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 10, 2004 Posts: 7
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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The Feltham branch sold out by 9:20am - I missed out by about 3 people! However, the next nearest branch is in Hounslow - went there and there were loads left :P (at 10am). I think that was because the store's new and not everyone knew it was there... Maybe some stock still available?
Haven't had a chance to play with it, but agree that the cover is a bit, erm, pants, and the instructions are 'minimal'.
What's the actual navigation s/w? |
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ianr17 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 49 Location: Stoke on Trent
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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Cheers Jono,i am now a new owner of the Aldi GPS/PDA offer.Just a few things 1st can you navigate by postcode? & 2nd i have a bit of a whining noise from the hard drive...is this the norm? |
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Darren Frequent Visitor
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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ianr17 wrote: | Cheers Jono,i am now a new owner of the Aldi GPS/PDA offer.Just a few things 1st can you navigate by postcode? & 2nd i have a bit of a whining noise from the hard drive...is this the norm? |
There is no hard drive in a PocketPC, it's solid state memory. And no you cannot navigate by full 7 digit post code. None of the applications offer this although there is a free 3rd part plug-in for TomTom that achieves this. _________________ Darren Griffin |
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Darren Frequent Visitor
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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en1gma wrote: | What's the actual navigation s/w? |
It's a re-badged cut down version of Navigon's product. _________________ Darren Griffin |
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Jono Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 11, 2004 Posts: 19 Location: North Yorkshire
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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en1gma wrote: |
What's the actual navigation s/w? |
It is "MEDION-Navigator 4", which I can only assume is a rebadged version of Navigon Navigator 4 - it's this:
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/navigon-mobile-navigator-4-software.php
Basically. And very good it is too!
ianr17 wrote: | Cheers Jono,i am now a new owner of the Aldi GPS/PDA offer.Just a few things 1st can you navigate by postcode? & 2nd i have a bit of a whining noise from the hard drive...is this the norm? |
Hard drive whining? Well mine kinda makes a whiney noise for a couple of seconds after a voice command is made by the unit. I don't think it's a problem. 8O
As for postcodes, yes you can - kind of. The manual is utterly useless, as everyone seems to have found out.
Say you want to go to Ipswich if you type in the first part and the number of the second part of a postcode then the town name, e.g. "IP4 4 Ipswich" in the Town part of the destination selection screen, then when you go to type in the street name, you can just type in a few letters of it - e.g. I want to go to Colchester Road, so I type "col" and then hit 'OK'.
You get shown a list of possible roads that you might mean, so you just scroll to the one you want and hit ok again. Then enter the house number if applicable.
It seems to work better if you don't try to provide the whole street name, though I have no idea why. Same for postcode.
Still, no biggie as far as I'm concerned. Hope that helps, but I won't pretend I know how to work this thing properly yet! |
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MadPanther Regular Visitor
Joined: Nov 15, 2003 Posts: 106 Location: Blackpool - Lancs
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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You can navigate by postcode !
Start entering the first 3 digits and then the PDA will search and offer options for the remaining digits...
Works for me ! |
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nej Frequent Visitor
Joined: Jun 16, 2004 Posts: 454 Location: London, Ingerlund
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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en1gma wrote: | The Feltham branch sold out by 9:20am - I missed out by about 3 people! However, the next nearest branch is in Hounslow - went there and there were loads left :P (at 10am). I think that was because the store's new and not everyone knew it was there... Maybe some stock still available?
Haven't had a chance to play with it, but agree that the cover is a bit, erm, pants, and the instructions are 'minimal'.
What's the actual navigation s/w? |
I went to Feltham - didn't know about the store in Hounslow though!!! Oh well they're probably all gone by now... |
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Jono Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 11, 2004 Posts: 19 Location: North Yorkshire
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Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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Bah, beaten by Darren, I didn't think it had a hard drive, but it definitely makes a whining noise occasionally. Darren, do you know how much the software has been cut down? Is it vastly inferior, or just missing certain features, like the congestion aviodance thing on the classic FM carrier? |
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