Which system is best for my needs? Any ideas? Forums

peterthegrate

These PDA thingies are all very well, but without a microscope, are invisible. An alternative (which I use) is a bog standard tower style PC on antivibration mounts, behind the driver's seat. The screen is an 8" touch sensitive LCD mounted on the dashboard. The USB connected GPS receiver came bundled with Microsoft Autoroute.
Costs:
PC = nuffink, not a very demanding application
Screen = £160 e-bay (NB: VGA, not TV standard)
GPS Rx/MS Autoroute = £80. www.cpc.co.uk
The PC also has a wireless network card.
It's all powered from an inverter, which is a mandatory item, due to the cook's hair drying requirements.

Advantages, apart from GPS;
WiFi access
Offline storage of relevant websites (eg camp sites/directories)
Webcam for reversing
Somewhere to download photo's when the camera card is full
AND I CAN SEE THE SCREEN!
plus DVD player, if you are into such things.

MS Autoroute? - does the job, but doesn't "speak"

Peter H.

Paulway

Hmmmmmm, Martin I believe that you may have to put one feature into your quest, that is 'compromise'.
I believe you are right to go down the PDA route, ours has probably one of the smallest screen sizes and there is no problem whatsoever clearly viewing it (it is normally at centre screen in our Boxer and we can both clearly view it), it certainly does not need any magnification. The inbuilt speaker is loud and clear, even above a reving Peugeot deisel 2.5 lump and radio (you can have an extension speaker plugged in but we don't think it is neccessary).
The problem with your wish list is it is probably the ultimate, with the best features of all the individually available PDA's. e.g. you have larger screen but no inbuilt aerial. As I posted earlier, (not a problem just sorry to repeat), several mapping programs use 3D interfaces, not all have full or comprehensive street level mapping for Europe. I can only speak for the Navman PiN 300 in respect of map capacity and that is fully capable of placing most of Europe (leaving out Scandinavia) on one 1Gb SD or MMC card.
Only a couple of PDA's (currently) have inbuilt aerials, Mitac Mio 168 and clones being the most prolific. Personally for a transferable and portable (walking about) system I would not want a seperate aerial but a Blue Tooth one is a quite good compromise in this respect too. A friend uses an HP with Bluetooth aerial and Smart ST 3, this gives the advantage of larger memory cards and bigger screen but is nearly twice the cost.
I am afraid you just have to compare individual units to your 'wish list' and decide what you can compromise on.
Good Luck.

Bluenote

Thanks Peterthegate but I want the many advantages that a PDA has to offer, but I admire the ingenuity.
Thanks Paulway, I think your right I`m gonna have to make a compromise somewhere. I gather bluetooth Gps ariels are quite small. Screen size I have convinced myself is not too important, standard PDA screen will suffice. I would like wi-fi and bluetooth though as they will be more than useful.
Going to have to make a decision soon though, but I cant find many examples to view in shops in and around Nottingham.
Martin

Paulway

You probably already have, but just in case have you looked on net at www.expansys.com www.pocketgps.co.uk www.totalpda.co.uk www.travel-i.co.uk www.supertrader.co.uk www.bargainpda.com www.handtec.com
there is a wealth of information that may help you to narrow to what you want and maybe find a purchase. I can only vouch personaly for Expansys where I got my Navman from, ordered 1500hrs on Friday did not expect until Monday, but it arrived Saturday with no extra carriage charges (carriage free).
On their site is a support forum that anyone can view, that covers all makes and you can see various problems, likes and dislikes being posted there (bear in mind people generally only post to these if they have a problem or grievance).
Yes Bluetooth aerials can be only small, my friends one is just 25mm by 35 mm and very light and magnetic so he just sticks it to anything metal be it car, M/home or bike, with the PDA in his pocket. He also uses his Blue Tooth enabled mobile phone to get e-mails etc. and a Blue Tooth Wi Fi connection, probably would have used this route myself had I been more computer literate and as big a smart arse as him LOL Smile

By the way I really admire your restraint, once I had decided I wnted GPS I had to get it, now, then straight away!!!

Bluenote

Yeh, thats usually me too, but we`ve been making so many decisions lately regarding purchases for our ever nearing venture that I`m getting used to checking things out sideways. I want to try and insure that we get as much as possible right first time and as space is going to be of a premium the more we get for our space the better.
I`m trying to be as thorough as I can, believing it`ll be worth it in the long run. In the meantime though time is running short and I`ve got loads to do including selling a VW camper and ridding myself of a lot of possessions, I`ve been a bit of a hoarder of unusual things so its gonna be some task.
(If anyone reading this thread is a collector of odd antiquities PM me to see if I`ve anything you`d like, old toys, woodworking tools, kitchenalia, victoriana, goebbels monks, pashley tricycle, electric bike, fairground 'one armed bandit')
Thanks for the web addy`s I`ll check them out and let you know how I get on. I should`nt mind being a smart arse on this one, your mates set-up sounds really good Smile

All the best for now, Martin.

philjohn

Just a short note to say that I have navigated all round Europe with a PDA and Tom Tom Navigator 3. Without exception it has been spot on. I have just upgraded to version 5 and will say that the added facilities make what was good into something excellent.. Phil Johnson

navman

Hi Phil

I have to say I agree.

For us TomTom is the business.

I use SatNav in aviation, on a system that costs 6 figures ( no I do not have to pay for that someone else does Laughing

) and there a couple of errors in that.

Normally you can see that Chipping Norton should not be off the coast of Canada and you try again. Any SatNav should not be relied on 100% as it is a computer.... In my experience computers crash!

Looking forward to my TomTom 5 upgrade that should be here tomorrow! Very Happy

Bob

Malc

Hi, Have to agree with Navman, just spent 14 days in the Highlands, difficult to adjust from fastest/shortest distance and still not to be directed down roads with grass down the middle, also it would be a help if when the mirrors are brushing the hedges and the road narrows signs appear! Perhaps we can persuade the software writers to intergrate a vehicle width/height/length equasion in the thing! Use, very useful, but still use caution and common sense.
Malc

johnsandywhite

I must add my little bit here. My wife and I have nagivated through England (loads of different routes and destinations), Holland (several routes), Belgium, Germany (several routes), France (several routes), Pyrenees (from France and from Spain), Spain (countless different routes and destinations) all with the aid of a 1995 map of Europe (Free - given to us) a couple of Service station throw away Spanish maps, a 1995 British Map (Free - given to us) and Autoroute 2000 (very rarely used). They have never malfunctioned, need no power and no updating of software. Also they are much cheaper in the long run. Wink

navman

and I thought all motorhomers were gadgeteers
Wink