2 GPSs or one PDA...

[Peter_Soper]

I have a decision to make. Having recently broken my Dell AXIM X50V PDA, I have an insurance cheque on the way, and need to spend it. The question is, should I go for another PDA, and run various applications, or go for two seperate GPS units. The budget is around £300 or so.

Having recently upgraded to a Blackberry smartphone, I no longer need the PDA for contacts, diary etc. So, the primary purpose of the PDA would be for GPS appliacations. For me this means:

Geocaching (Beeline GPS)
Cycle route navigation (Memory map)
In-car navigation (TomTom/Igo)
From next year, on-boat GPS when sailing (Memory map)

I am leaning towards a mid-range Garmin or similar for the outdoor applications (particularly for the boat), and a TomTom One XL for in the car. The only downer that I can see is that I would not be able to use the excellent Memory Map, with its OS and nautical Maps. (or is there a Garmin-type device that will run MM?)

If I go for a replacement PDA, and reload all the GPS related software, I would have to be very careful about using it outdoors -particularly on a boat - something like an otterbox would be essential - but then again very bulky!

Any advice from anybody out there? Anybody been through the same decision - did you make the right one?

Thanks in advance,

Pete

[Darren]

There isn't a one shop solution for your requirements short of using a PDA again.

Satmap have an excellent handheld colour topographic device that uses OS mapping and is waterproof but it would consume your entire budget.
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Darren Griffin

[philpugh]

You will need a Windows Mobile device to run Memory Map and you can't use MM mapping on any other device or s/w.

The plus side is that since DELL has effectively pulled out of the PDA market you can pick them up at quite good prices. I would recommend an X51v if you can get hold of one - the VGA screen resolution is really very good for mapping work.

If you intend to use one whilst sailing - make sure you have a very good quality waterproof/rugged housing for it - salt spray is just what PDAs love

However you may find the small screen size (PDAs in general) make it less useable than you expect. I've done a bit of sailing on yachts using in-built GARMIN chart plotters. These have a very good screen size and the charts have the ability to alter detail as you zoom in and out - making for easy viewing of fine detail as well as an overview of the voyage. I haven't used MM with charts so I can't say if you have this ability. You also get a repeater at the helm so you can navigate the plotted course that bit easier. What you don't want is to be worring about the safety of your PDA when chopping about off the west coast of Scotland in a breezy force 6 pushing 7. Been there - didn't get the handheld unit out of the holdall as most things were trying to fly around the cabin as it was.
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Phil

[robertn]

I agree with your thoughts about getting two devcies......

I have a PDA with Memory Map and Smartst, and also have aquired a Navman iCN635 (I am a bit of a gadget freak, much to my wifes disgust). I mountain bike and hike, and used to sail and climb mountains.

I love the PDA solution as a "one size does all reasonably well", but its's too fragile for my liking. If starting again, I would probably go for a cheap in car system, and a Garmin CXS60 (is that right?) - top end, if I could afford it. Loss of Memory Map would be a concern though.

As for sailing - I have sailed many times in less than ideal conditions, and in those conditions, forget the PDA, and probably any handheld device - screens will be too small and you need one hand to save yourself, so you will only have one hand for the device, if that, unless you tie yourself down:eek: - A PDA mean time to failure would be measured in minutes in these conditions. An otterbox would maybe increase that to months, depending how often you opened it, once opened with any salt contanmination, you are back to weeks before the PDA dies. With a PDA, open the otter box and the PDA electionics are exposed to the atmosphere. If you look at say a Garmin device, when you open the battery compartment, the rest of the electronics is still sealed. The battery compartment has a couple of bits of stainless steal it. You may loose a memory card, but the devcie itself will survive pretty hash treatment.

Where you would get a handheld out is ideal conditions, or for navigation in fog, when the wind is down and sea smooth.

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