I am a beginner, please be kind

Swagman · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2004 Posts: 5

Hi all,

I have been reading through the forums, but still have a few questions that remain elusive.. I hope you can help

I would like to buy a PDA (pocket PC 2003) that I can use not only for work but also for SatNav in the car, and external to the car.. eg walking and bike rides..

I havn't been able to find a run down on what features I will NEED for this setup

Does Bluetooth work outside the car ? eg what's it's power source.. ?

If I use bluetooth do I need a receiver card plugged into the CF port ? or is that what the bluetooth receiver will do ?

Which is the best option for all round use, Receiver card or Bluetooth ?

Which will have less wires in the car, I suppose Blutooth as it's wireless.?

If I go Reveiver card in the PDA I will need 2 slots, 1 for the card and 1 for memory, if I go integrated bluetooth do I still need 2, or just a memory slot ?

Finally, does anybody have any favorites for a bluetooth/non bluetooth enabled PDA and a SatNav Software package (if I get a package that somebody else finds favorable, I almost onto a winner straight away, and needn't fight my way through the jungle of technology)

Thanks in advance for all your help

DavidW · Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 9:25 pm Post subject:

This looks like a really well constructed question to me - no need for apologies.

It sounds as if you're possibly looking for two different software setups - it's often best to start talking about software. You are clearly after a street navigation program, and it sounds like you may be after a topographic map setup as well (such as a program that displays Ordnance Survey mapping in the UK - or USGS topo mapping in the US; I'm not clear what country you're in).

Bluetooth could well be a good option. The Bluetooth GPSes are powered by their own battery when out of the car. If you know you want Bluetooth, it's best to buy a Pocket PC that has Bluetooth built in rather than messing around with plug-in cards. Many of the iPAQs do - and this feature is no longer limited to the more expensive models.

Wires in the car - let's start by dismissing a GPS mouse, as that's no use away from an external power source. Your choices then are some device that fits to the PDA (such as a CompactFlash GPS or, in the case of 3000 and 5000 series iPAQs, an expansion pack such as a Navman 3450) or Bluetooth.

Bluetooth has one more wire if you choose to power the GPS in car (which is a good idea) - a CompactFlash GPS will draw power from the PDA itself. However, for flexibility, as well as the ease of ruggedising your setup for outdoors use, Bluetooth has the upper edge.

You're quite right in saying that if you go for a CompactFlash GPS (which is what I presume you mean by a 'receiver card'), you need two slots - one for a memory card, and one for the GPS. With Bluetooth you'll get away with a single slot, assuming you choose a Pocket PC with Bluetooth built in.

Let's give you something to start your investigations which is mid priced and a favourite of many these days.

Take a look at an iPAQ 2210. This has built in Bluetooth, and both SD and CompactFlash slots.

Team it up with at least a 256MB SD card of a good brand (I recommend SimpleTech cards; they seem to avoid relabelling the Sandisk cards that give so much trouble to so many people - in the UK, these are available from clove.co.uk). At the moment, 512MB SD is really rather expensive - 256MB should suffice in most applications.

With this combination, you have a CompactFlash slot spare to insert whatever accessories would suit your usage at any particular time, be it a CompactFlash GPS, CompactFlash wireless LAN card or even a CompactFlash memory card or Microdrive for high capacity storage.

Street navigation software - it depends to an extent on which country. There are several very good options now - choose between the reviews. I'm using TomTom Navigator 2 on my setup in the UK, which is a popular choice.

GPS - Bluetooth seems the best for your application. There are many good choices. The Emtac/Socket was the first on the market and is still highly rated, but there are many good alternatives these days! I'm intrigued by the concept of the Fortuna Clip On (as it has both standard SiRF firmware and the ability to switch to SiRF Xtrac) - but I've no direct experience of it. Another possibility is to buy a Haicom HI-303MMF with the HI-401 Bluetooth slipper, which gives you the ability to use the GPS as Bluetooth, CompactFlash and, if you buy the cables, as a GPS mouse! The one bundled in the TomTom Navigator Bluetooth pack may actually be one to avoid - there seem to be quite a few reports of these receivers suffering hardware failure on charge.

Topographic mapping - if you want this, it's very dependent on geographic location and how much you're prepared to pay. The premium product in the UK seems to be Memory Map - but it is not cheap.

These are only starter ideas - but I hope this helps. In the end, there are a lot of very good products on the market, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. If you post your location, and give details of what you're considering, others may be able to offer opinions.

David

Skippy

Swagman · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2004 Posts: 5

thank you DavidW and Skippy,

to clarify a few points, I'm from England and really the SatNav in the car is more important than the bike riding, although I do travel alot and was wondering if when visiting foreign locations I could use the same set up to find my way around, either by foot or by car ?....... it seems that I can, as long as I obtain maps of the country ?

Newbie question here..... I take it that as the satellites are in orbit, taking the set up to another country will make no difference ?, will it still pick up the satellites, or would I have to re-configure anything to get it to work from a different location ?

It seems to me from what you have both very kindly said, that my best all round option is for a BT enabled PDA, and a BT receiver like the TOMTOM BT kit, this I can then use in the car when needed and on foot if required (some extra maps will be needed, possibly some new application software), and I can use the PDA for normal business uses.....

Can I be cheeky and ask another question..

As Long as I have enough memory, can I have a duel application set-up, eg TOM TOM for the road, and some other GPS software for walking ?

I will have to read up on GPS as I have really only seen satnav software, I take it that it uses the same satellites ?, but gives a more walking friendly output on screen ?

Thanks once again..... Laughing

DavidW · Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 9:07 pm Post subject:

You're still asking good questions!

Yes - you can use the same setup, no matter where you are outdoors, no matter where you are in the world (it is a Global Positioning System).

You're right in saying that if you opt for a Bluetooth equipped Pocket PC and a Bluetooth GPS, you can use the same setup in car, on foot and for regular Pocket PC use. You simply need appropriate application software.

You can indeed have multiple applications on the same Pocket PC, subject to sufficient memory - there's a slight wrinkle with recent versions of the TomTom GPS driver, in that you have to uninstall it once to remove a block it places on using a Bluetooth GPS in other applications. However, we can advise you stepwise what to do.

As I wrote in my earlier reply, I'd suggest not buying the TomTom kit with a Bluetooth GPS in it - I believe that GPS is the worst of all the Bluetooth GPSes on the market, and there's quite a few reports of hardware failure (seemingly relating to overcharging - which should be impossible). There are many good alternatives, and the TomTom Navigator 2 "software only" pack is just the same save that it includes no hardware.

The Fortuna Clip On that I mentioned in my previous post is a Bluetooth GPS with the ability to switch between standard SiRF mode and SiRF Xtrac. There's a Pocket GPS article about the differences between the two SiRF options here - on this GPS you just have to switch off, move a small switch with your stylus, and switch back on again to change mode. Xtrac can be useful in poor signal areas, but can introduce a lag when driving - so having the ability to choose is wonderful. I've no experience of this product, but, on paper at least, it sounds to be a good one.

For an in-car mount, I believe the best products are the Brodit mounts - that's what I use myself. See http://www.brodit.com for details of those - you need a ProClip for your car and a mount to go on it. They're available in the UK from Handnav. If you're confused as to precisely which Brodit products to order, post again and someone should be able to help.

I believe the best screen protectors on the market are WriteSHIELD from Pocket PC Techs. Not only do they protect your screen, but they're durable and they're also somewhat anti-reflective. They're available in the UK from Expansys. I recommend the Deluxe pack - the cleaning spray in there is not only useful for Pocket PCs, but also for laptop screens and flat panel monitors. If you follow my suggestion of an iPAQ 2210, the deluxe pack is here.

For a copy of TomTom Navigator 2 and a Bluetooth GPS, there's many good companies. I've always used globalpositioningsystems.co.uk for these things. They've got the Fortuna Clip On and TomTom Navigator 2 software - also software like Memory Map if you want maps for walking.

For a SimpleTech SD card (a brand that seem to be problem free, unlike many), you can get those from clove.co.uk here. I recommend 256MB - unless your budget will stretch to 512MB.

If you follow all my suggestions, you'll be ordering from several different companies. If you want an iPAQ 2210, buy from whichever of these companies offers the best deal!

In case you hadn't realised, anything in slightly smaller type is a clickable link - so everything I've mentioned here is linked.

Please treat my recommendations only as a starter in your investigation - of course you're welcome to choose alternatives. I'm simply recommending a mix of what I use myself and what seems a popular choice for people buying today to give you a start in your investigating.

David

Swagman · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 21, 2004 Posts: 5

I must thank you again for your speedy and in depth response....... this really is a big help.... and with all the links, making my life so much easier.

Although you are only 'recommending' the TOM TOM and the HP2210, I have had a look at them and the 2210 is the only PDA I can see at a realistic price with both a SD and a CF slot, whilst already being BT capable, an all round good choice..... the choice of TOM TOM also seems to be a wise choice, as it seems so many people are using it, that updates/enhancements and add ons for that particular product should be plentyful, and easily obtainable.

I can't believe the price difference between the 256 and the 512 SD cards, almost 3 times the price.... I'll go for the 256 I think.....

I'm glad you clarified the point about the TOM TOM BT unit and suggested getting a different brand..... after all that's the good thing about so many people buying it, the reports come back thick and fast if they are no good...

You have given me a lot of information that I now need to go and research, before taking the dive...... google here I come....

Thanks once again for your invaluable help and knowledge..

Thumbs Up

DavidW · Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2004 9:51 pm Post subject:

The iPAQ 2210 is a very popular choice and easy to recommend. If I was upgrading now, I'd buy an iPAQ 5550, but that's because I already have an expensive expansion pack that, like all iPAQ expansion packs, only works with 3000 and 5000 series iPAQs. I would also use the built in 802.11b wireless LAN capabilities and would appreciate 128MB of RAM as well. That said, I will almost certainly hang on to see what HP eventually launch to replace the 5550 before upgrading - unless my disabilities deteriorate to the point where I am forced to switch to a lighter setup. before then.

The 4000 series iPAQs have built in 802.11b, but no CompactFlash slot - I'd argue that the 2210 is a better buy than the 4000 series for many people, as you can easily team up a 2210 with a CompactFlash 802.11b card, but you can't add back lost expansion capability in the 41xx and 43xx models (to which you can't even add CompactFlash capabilities with an expansion pack).

For most people, the added expense of the 5550 is not worthwhile. Indeed, for someone buying new, the 2210 really has very little to say against it. It's in the mid-price bracket. It is, as you say, the only model with a CompactFlash slot, a SD slot and Bluetooth built in (the popular Dell Axim X5 is similar, but lacks built-in Bluetooth, also it has no SDIO capabilities on the SD slot). Several of the Pocket GPS staff use the 2210. I very much doubt you'll be disappointed with it.

TomTom Navigator 3 will probably be with us in the next few months - but if past experience is anything to go by, the upgrade will be cheap (the upgrade from Navigator 1 to Navigator 2 cost 39 Euros). Navigator 2 is a very popular choice - and you can get completely free speed camera warnings in TomTom Navigator using the free Pocket GPS database with the free CheckPOInt software (I recommend 2.0.2 in the downloads section of this web site). As with an iPAQ 2210, I doubt that TomTom Navigator 2 will disappoint (I'm using it on my iPAQ 3970 based setup).

SD cards - for a long time 512MB has been the limit as to what is commercially available. I know someone who was given a prototype 1GB SD card to evaluate, and it had dreadful compatibility issues - far, far worse than the problems with Sandisk manufactured SD cards. I think it's a case of the manufacturers having to refine the technology before they launch it - at least one (Sandisk, I think - not that I'd buy any of their SD cards) had indicated 1GB SD cards would be available in the third quarter of 2003. That clearly didn't happen!

I expect that we will see 1GB SD cards launch some time this year, and prices of smaller cards drop. For now, as you say, 256MB is clearly the "sweet spot" on the price / capacity scale and is a good choice. The TomTom Navigator 2 UK map takes around 95MB - so you should have plenty of space on a 256MB card (though I'm down to 600KB spare on mine - whoops!).

So far as choice of GPS goes, Dave has indicated that a review of the Fortuna Clip-On is coming, but that he regards it as a "good GPS". See this thread for details of that. You can also take a look at the postings in the Fortuna forum here on Pocket GPS.

Anyway - I think you're now in possession of plenty of information to inform you in your research. Happy hunting!

David

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