Sat nav solutions?

[icsys]

I'm considering sat nav for the Surf but it is a minefield out there!
There is so much to choose from and the bods at Currys, Comet PC World etc... are not really much help so hopefully there is someone reading this that has good knowledge of PDA/GPS combinations.

Was hoping to shell out around £300 ish but I quickly realised that I may have to go above £400. Ideally I would like voice guided road mapping but which? Navman 4400, Tomtom II, or perhaps something else?

Wired or Bluetooth?

Then theres the PDA... Could i get away with a cheap one such as the Ipaq 1940 @ £206 or perhaps the Tosh e400 @ £199.

There are bundles too:
TomTom II Kit with iPAQ 2210 - Voice GPS, UK Maps + FREE Car Kit.....£468

NAVMAN 4400 kit with ipaq 1940 - Voice GPS, Europe maps, Bluetooth, + car mount........£468

TomTom II kit with ipaq 1940 - Voice GPS, UK maps, Bluetooth. + FREE Car Kit......£445

Could I possibly ask one more question... Could I use Autoroute 2004 to create maps for use with the TomTom or Navman GPS or would this require a totally different setup??

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[rockey]

If you have a lap top then go here http://www.gpsw.co.uk/ and you can purchase just a gps antenna which will run via autoroute or route 66(cheapest way). personally I use an Ipaq with a Navman sleeve but you will also need to buy a 're-radiating' antenna (about £50) to use it in some built up areas such as London as it drops the signal sometimes, but on the whole its great, one thing to bear in mind is you will also need quite a large capacity add on card to store the map software on.
hope this helps
John

[Guest]

I'm considering sat nav for the Surf but it is a minefield out there!
There is so much to choose from and the bods at Currys, Comet PC World etc... are not really much help so hopefully there is someone reading this that has good knowledge of PDA/GPS combinations.

Was hoping to shell out around £300 ish but I quickly realised that I may have to go above £400. Ideally I would like voice guided road mapping but which? Navman 4400, Tomtom II, or perhaps something else?

Wired or Bluetooth?

Then theres the PDA... Could i get away with a cheap one such as the Ipaq 1940 @ £206 or perhaps the Tosh e400 @ £199.

There are bundles too:
TomTom II Kit with iPAQ 2210 - Voice GPS, UK Maps + FREE Car Kit.....£468

NAVMAN 4400 kit with ipaq 1940 - Voice GPS, Europe maps, Bluetooth, + car mount........£468

TomTom II kit with ipaq 1940 - Voice GPS, UK maps, Bluetooth. + FREE Car Kit......£445

Could I possibly ask one more question... Could I use Autoroute 2004 to create maps for use with the TomTom or Navman GPS or would this require a totally different setup??

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

I have an Ipaq 3850 with TomTom Navigator 2, you could get a bundle like this on eBay for less than £300 second hand .

Alternatively you could get any Pocket PC and run some other software like Mapopolis (this has UK, Europe and US maps available with spoken prompts). I use Mapopolis when I am in the US on business and it's excellent. You would need to get a GPS receiver for it but you can buy these separate. I have an Emtac GPS Jacket for my Ipaq which the Ipaq slots into. I mount it using an Arkon GPS mount.

You could use Autoroute with a TomTom or Navman setup same as I use Mapopolis with the TomTom setup. Most of the GPS receivers are compatible and are either already setup with the correct interface or use a SIRF interface.

Cheers

[Silver Surfer]

I need to have one that accepts post codes rather than just street numbers, because I live in a remote area, and ALK Co Pilot Live seems to be the only one that does this in conjunction with a PDA. Try this site for ideas, but don't try phoning their help line it's always busy.
John

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk

[rockey]

This does post-codes http://www.gpsw.co.uk/details/prod1353.html but it's intended for a lap top, not sure about using it for a 'pda', give them a ring I found them really helpful.
John

[wibblywobbly]

Being a cheapskate

Not being one to spend money when I don't need to, and enjoying the challenge of making something work that shouldn't, I bought a new Handspring Treo 180 off Morgan Auctions, you can get them on Ebay for £50, even the colour 270 for under £100. The big bonus is that these double as mobile phones and have GPRS so that you can surf the web too.

Now, I bought a Haicom Satellite Receiver off Ebay, along with a dual cable that connects the cigarette lighter to the PDA, plus it links into the Haicom. Also included was a windscreen flexi mount and a dashboard mount. £50.

I went onto the web at home and downloaded various free GPS detectors. The most useful is Cetus. But I also have GPS Pilot and a couple of others.

Ok, so now I have basic electronic compasses, latitude, longitude, speed, average speed, distance travelled etc etc. The Cetus program at least allows you to enter a destination using co-ordinates and the on screen compass will point you in the right direction. This came into its own on the way from Portsmouth to Bristol when I was in a rush and a road was closed. Everyone else followed the tortuous diversion, I followed my compass!

There is another free program called Cartographer. This allows you to scan any paper map, enter the Lat/Log co-ordinates, and have on screen positioning.

I have searched high and low for super cheap digital maps, with navigation functionality but have found zilch. It has to be Palm compatible. There are a couple of GPRS suppliers whereby the maps are downloaded onto the Handspring as you drive along which is cool, but there is also an annual subscription fee, which isn't.

I will resolve this one day...I won't be beaten!!

Cheers

Rob G

[Guest]

Not being one to spend money when I don't need to, and enjoying the challenge of making something work that shouldn't, I bought a new Handspring Treo 180 off Morgan Auctions, you can get them on Ebay for £50, even the colour 270 for under £100. The big bonus is that these double as mobile phones and have GPRS so that you can surf the web too.

Now, I bought a Haicom Satellite Receiver off Ebay, along with a dual cable that connects the cigarette lighter to the PDA, plus it links into the Haicom. Also included was a windscreen flexi mount and a dashboard mount. £50.

I went onto the web at home and downloaded various free GPS detectors. The most useful is Cetus. But I also have GPS Pilot and a couple of others.

Ok, so now I have basic electronic compasses, latitude, longitude, speed, average speed, distance travelled etc etc. The Cetus program at least allows you to enter a destination using co-ordinates and the on screen compass will point you in the right direction. This came into its own on the way from Portsmouth to Bristol when I was in a rush and a road was closed. Everyone else followed the tortuous diversion, I followed my compass!

There is another free program called Cartographer. This allows you to scan any paper map, enter the Lat/Log co-ordinates, and have on screen positioning.

I have searched high and low for super cheap digital maps, with navigation functionality but have found zilch. It has to be Palm compatible. There are a couple of GPRS suppliers whereby the maps are downloaded onto the Handspring as you drive along which is cool, but there is also an annual subscription fee, which isn't.

I will resolve this one day...I won't be beaten!!

Cheers

Rob G

Mapopolis is Palm compatible.

Cheers

[icsys]

You could use Autoroute with a TomTom or Navman setup same as I use Mapopolis with the TomTom setup. Most of the GPS receivers are compatible and are either already setup with the correct interface or use a SIRF interface.

This sounds good! I presume I would need to install Pocket Streets onto the PDa in order to get the Autoroute maps to work?

With this in mind, would I simply need a PDA and a GPS receiver and then I could download custom maps from Autoroute?

***********
Just discovered this on the Microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

[jazzer]

tomtom navigator 2

I have been using tomtom navigator 2 for about 6 0r 7 months and find it excellent, i have an ipaq 3650, no bluetooth and use it a lot for my work, it has helped me out a hell of a lot and i would certainly recommend it,
there is also a lot of supported software and gps gear for pocket PC

I would advise a bluetooth setup just to elimenate some wiring in the vehicle

Try totalpda.com for great deals on gps and handhelds..
any questions i can answer just ask!

[Guest]

This sounds good! I presume I would need to install Pocket Streets onto the PDa in order to get the Autoroute maps to work?

With this in mind, would I simply need a PDA and a GPS receiver and then I could download custom maps from Autoroute?

***********
Just discovered this on the Microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Yep you need pocket streets for the PDA but that comes with Autoroute I am pretty sure.

Yes you could buy a PDA and get a GPS receiver - either a GPS Mouse like the Holux one or a jacket like the Emtac one (presuming you get an Ipaq).

Cheers

[Silver Surfer]

Yep you need pocket streets for the PDA but that comes with Autoroute I am pretty sure.

Yes you could buy a PDA and get a GPS receiver - either a GPS Mouse like the Holux one or a jacket like the Emtac one (presuming you get an Ipaq).

Cheers

Autoroute 2004 comes with Pocket Streets, and costs about £50. Check out the jacket before you buy a PDA rather than the other way round. I have an iPaq 2215/2210 Bluetooth for which a jacket is not available. A usable and complete PDA based SatNav setup can cost from £400 to nearly £1000 for a Kane type system. Either way, do your research before you shell out your hard earned.
John

[icsys]

A final bit of help before taking the plunge.

I have an iPaq 2215/2210 Bluetooth for which a jacket is not available. A usable and complete PDA based SatNav setup can cost from £400 to nearly £1000 for a Kane type system. Either way, do your research before you shell out your hard earned.

I am looking at the ipaq 1940 and either TomTom II or Navman 4400

Am I right to assume that the TomTom is NOT a jacket but the Navman IS? It's difficult to see from photos. Cant find any local store that can demonstrate them.

I must say that the Navman looks the neater of the two but its the maps that count. Is there any difference between the maps of TomTom and Navman?

Thanks for all the previous helpful replies.

[Silver Surfer]

Try this site, it gives full run downs of the various system, and there are reviews by users as well on some systems.
John


http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/index.php

[icsys]

Well, after some extensive trawling of the net I have decided to ditch the TomTom II idea in favour of the Navman ( its dependent on the vehicle for power )
http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/...0003822,00.htm

The Navman 4400 however has the option to run on batteries and boasts up to 30 hours run time. Being Bluetooth and having its own power supply it has the added bonus of being used as a handheld whilst walking.
http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/navman4400.php

Thanks to everyone for their input.

[Guest]

A final bit of help before taking the plunge.

I am looking at the ipaq 1940 and either TomTom II or Navman 4400

Am I right to assume that the TomTom is NOT a jacket but the Navman IS? It's difficult to see from photos. Cant find any local store that can demonstrate them.

I must say that the Navman looks the neater of the two but its the maps that count. Is there any difference between the maps of TomTom and Navman?

Thanks for all the previous helpful replies.

TomTom comes with an external GPS Mouse but can be run with almost any compatible GPS receiver including those fitted as Jackets. I run mine with both depending on the mood and will eventually be fitting an external aerial and using the Jacket with the external aerial connected. That will make it much more portable.

Cheers