Wanting SatNav for Compaq ipaq3660 any good or waste of time

horris · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 07, 2004 Posts: 5

Hello

I am totally new to the sat nav game so any advice is appreciated. I have had my compaq ipaq 3660 for a few years now but never really used it, however I have now discovered that sat nav can be run on these and seeing as rover have told me you can only have it fitted at the factory from new I thought it might be time to blow the dust of the old ipaq and get some use out of it. I live in Barnsley south yorkshire and don't travel far very often but thats the problem when I do i easily get lost.

Firstly i'd like to know if the 3660 is worth using for sat nav or am I better off spending the extra and getting a new pda, Secondly basically what else do I need to get up and running and which is the best items to get, there are so many different items it gets very confusing, and I have read quite a bit of these forums over the past few days.

Things I would like if possible: -

Voice Smile

Postcode if possible Confused

Speed camera detection would be nice Laughing

Accident redirection, but I have been told this requires coupling to a mobile so can't see me doing that. Sad

What I have: -

Compaq ipaq 3660
Extra Jacket with a 256MB Compact Flash card

Thanks in advance for all your help, it's much appreciated as i've been going round in circles.

Cheers.... Thumbs Up

lbendlin · Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:42 am Post subject:

The 3660 works just fine as a navigation processor, provided there is not much else running on it, and you have as much of your software (not just the maps) installed on storage card as possible.

I have a 3630 with a dead battery, and it is enjoying its last years (i hope) of life as the perfect car navigation system, running all kinds of nav programs without fail. (see above for storage directions)

You will need to get a good active mount, and a serial GPS receiver. Anything else doesn't make sense for the 3600s.
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Lutz

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horris · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 07, 2004 Posts: 5

Hello

Thanks for the info, I have been doing a bit more searching and I am just wondering if the SysOnChip GPS CF Plus II with XTrac II would be any good for my ipaq with the compact flash jacket as it got 100% in the review on the forum, so if it is any good would it be best to run with the tomtom3 software as it looks good and seems to have plenty of options etc.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers....

Darren · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 10:44 pm Post subject:

A CF GPS is out as you'll then be left with no place to store maps (you'll need a storage card).

Your options are a GPS Jacket i.e. Emtac or Navman or a GPS Mouse (requires a 12v supply so only any use in-car).
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Darren Griffin

horris · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 07, 2004 Posts: 5

Hello

Thanks for that, I knew I needed a memory card but forgot all about the fact that if I put the SysOnChip card in I wouldn't be able to put the memory card in.

I did want one of the Emtac Jackets or Navman jackets, that was one of my first choices, however I phoned globalpositioningsystems.co.uk regarding there Navman GPS3450 and they told me it wasn't compatible with the compaq ipaq 3660, that is why I then came here looking for advise as to what would work.

I have seen a couple on ebay at just over £100 which I didn't think was too bad like this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15005&item=5704036131&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW.

Do you happen to know if these are any good, I want it mainly for the car but might be handy to take with me elsewhere. And I take it they still need software so is tomtom 3 still ok.

Cheers for the help, but still confused as to what to buy.

Thanks....

lbendlin · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 11:42 pm Post subject:

Why would the jacket not be compatible? Strange. Anyhow, the Emtac jacket is better.

If you go for the jacket please be aware that it doesn't have its own battery, and that your iPAQ's battery life will be limited outside the car. Also, the antenna may not be placed optimally. (Think about an external antenna) I would still recommend you confine yourself to a serial receiver.
_________________
Lutz

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horris · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 07, 2004 Posts: 5

Hello

Cheers for that, battery charge wouldn't really be a problem in car as I have a car charger for it, however I thought it might not last long outside the car.

Ok so obviously you know best as I don't know one from the other and you know plenty so if I go for the wired version like alot seem to go for and you recomend, which one should I choose as theres so many about and I don't want to get lumbered with something rubbish, and also which active mount is preferred, I know there is a tomtom 3 package for sale with a wired GPS but don't know if it's any good as I havn't found anything that mentions how good it is.

Thanks again....

Darren · Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:13 am Post subject:

I use an Emtac Jacket with my 3630 and it's a great receiver, much better than the 3450.

Jacket's aren't as sensitive as a GPS Mouse so first fix is slower and they can lose satellite lock in marginal areas more often but it's portable and works fine most of the time.
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Darren Griffin

footman · Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:23 am Post subject:

you could also consider an expansion jacket with a cf slot and battery.Then you could have the choice of a bluetooth receiver with a BT card in 1 CF slot and the CF card in the other or a CF GPS receiver and maps on the 2nd CF card,all with the extra battery power.

HTH

Laurence

Darren · Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:31 am Post subject:

Is there such a beast as a dual slot CF Jacket with battery? I know only of a dual-PCMCIA Jacket but that makes it very bulky especially with CF-PCMCIA Adapters.
_________________
Darren Griffin

footman · Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 9:07 pm Post subject:

what I meant was.......the Ipaq has a CF slot,the battery expansion jacket also has a CF slot which gives the possible combination of BT card/maps or CF GPS /maps

Darren · Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 9:23 pm Post subject:

You're forgetting that the original 36xx series iPAQ's had no memory slots at all, you needed to add a jacket if you wanted access to a CF Slot.

38xx and later 39, 54 & 55xx models had an SD slot though the OP was enquiring about a 3660.

One option not mentioned is a CF/Bluetooth Jacket. That way you have a CF Slot for the maps and can utilise a BT receiver which you can re-use should you upgrade to a newer PPC.
_________________
Darren Griffin

footman · Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject:

yes I'm sorry,although I had a 3600 series I forgot about the absence of a slot...doh!
I am using aTDK BT/CF jacket on a 3850 with a Fortuna clip on...works great

Pc-Mobile · Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:02 am Post subject:

Just throw in my 2p Smile

You have to consider that even if you are keeping the Ipaq forever, you are likely to get a new one in the near future so you should consider one that you can use with other PDA should you change one day.

So I would strongly advise against a dedicated jacket GPS, which cannot
be used with any other PDA.
A CF GPS can be used for some other PDA (newer PDA usualy have SD slots). I am never a fan of CF GPS as you have to place it to get good reception and in turn you may not be able to see the display satisfactorily.
And in your case you already have the CF jacket and I would not invest on further hardware.

As suggested at the top of the thread, a serial GPS connecting to the bottom port is your best solution. And there are still many choices it you chose this route.
Basically you can get a mouse GPS (with Ipaq cable), and you can just change the cable when you upgrade to a new PDA.
The other is a handheld GPS (Garmin/Magellan with the correct cable). I usually advise beginners to get a handheld GPS which can be used on its own and there is lots of fun using it on its own with its own display.
_________________
Pc-Mobile
http://pc-mobile.net/gps.htm

icsys · Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2004 12:46 pm Post subject:

Without repeating everything said above:

You would be better getting a wired GPS as jackets are confined to the older PDAs (36xx 37xx 38xx 39xx - Current new models will not support them) so the jacket will become obsolete should you decide/have to upgrade to a new model PDA.
The software for your requirements I would suggest is TomTom Navigator.
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