[swarrans]

I have the rather fun task of finding my neighbour an in-car (but removable) sat nav system and have started research and it looks like the cheapest is to go via an Ipaq PDA with either Tom Tom or other software BUT my neighbour is not "techno" so it needs to be very simple to use. He will be driving from the UK to France, Spain and Portugal so it needs to be able to do this without him downloading new data - so will I be able to put all the countries onto disk for him before he goes and will he be able to manage the transitions?
The more expensive solution seems to be the Magellan 600 with it's 10GB disk but it's rather expensive (and perhaps not as "good").
He'll never use a PDA on it's own so that's not an advantage.

Any thoughts?

Simon

[gizlaroc]

I have used the tom tom software and it is OK, no more than that, the software is alright but the hassle of having wires and cradles etc. just got on my nerves.

I had o.e.m nav in my BMW, and again in the Merc, and just changed over to a used audi which didn't have nav, so I thought it would give me an excuse to get a new pda with sat nav on it. But as I said above, the cables, cradle and most important of all lack of TMC means I have just bought the Audi Navigation Plus off ebay and have got rid of the PDA.

TMC is a godsend, it tells you of traffic problems ahead and will give you the length of tail backs etc. and re route you if you desire. Pricless !!

If I wasn't bothered about keeping the Original look of the car I would have gone with teh new Pioneer all in one unit, the AVIC-X1.
It uses a standard Din size head unit with the navigation stuff built in, so no boxes to fit in the boot, you can buy an adapter to make the install painless, and all you would need to do is add the gps antenna.
There is memory built in so you load your destination from the Europe DVD and it will save the route leaving the drive free to play cds or dvds.

http://caraudiosecurity.com/catalog/...oducts_id+2444

Dabs are also doing it for around the same price but with buy now pay in 12 months.

Maybe a bit more than he wanted to spend? but probably the best out there, plus if he is driving with the family he could add a monitor in the rear for around £200 and let the kids watch a dvd while he listens to the radio.

[swarrans]

Blimey, that's a piece of kit!
Probably not suitable for my neighbour though - the car in question is a vintage Bentley, so it definitely has to be a windsheild mount/removable system!
I've just seen the Tom Tom Go all in one system which looks like it might fit the bill (at least the idoit-proof bit!).

Thanks for the response though!

Simon

[gizlaroc]

If he doesnt mind the cradle etc. then Tom Tom will do the job, plus you can get a bit of software to give you speed camera alerts, just the job for cruising along @ 110mph in a Bentley

[JohnG]

With the Ipaq 2210 you can get a bluetooth version of tomtom so that there are no connecting cables between the PDA and the GPS device. It also has it's own battery supply and so won't drain the power from the PDA.

[Crocodile]

Swarrans,

Have a look at this:

http://www.smartnav.com/prodinfo/product_info.asp

It's not removeable but it is a very discrete, minimal installation as there is no screen. Not sure about European coverage but the system works extremely well in the wife's Corsa. The SOS & recovery facilities may be a plus given the vehicle....

And it's only £500.

[swarrans]

Thanks guys.
John, a dealer pointed me towards the wired options rather than the Bluetooth as he said my non-techno neighbour may have problems with Bluetooth loosing it's connection etc.
Crocodile - interesting option, but as you say the Euro coverage looks in doubt and actually he needs the display - not least because the speedo in 1920's cars were a bit less than accurate so having a digital speedo is a major plus.

I think the new (to be released in the next 2 weeks) Tom Tom Go system looks like the best option - the only major problem is he leaves on June 10th and it might not be available by then!

Thx

Simon

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

I have just started to use TomTom on my 4150iPaq and can say the following. It has worked more times than it hasn't. It doesn't pick the routes I would consider fastest and I am having trouble learning how to see the routes it chooses before setting off to see if I can get it to re-calculate going down an alternate path. It doesn't have a very accurate address database. For instance it thinks my street where I live is in Caerphilly.....so if anyone is going tpes drive to Fraser Dr, Caerphilly they are going to end up in Central Scotland.....probably not what they were expecting. It also got several other towns wrong. All this would have had me sending it back were it not for one thing....a third party piece of software that allows you to jusst punch in a postcode and let it plan the route. I now use this all the time and it is FANTASTIC. It's makes it all worthwhile. I don't think the postcode thing works outside UK though so I would be slightly concerned about the consistency of TOMTOM on the continent

Gordon

[swarrans]

That doesn't sound too encouraging Gordon. It seems all/most of the dealers recommend Tom Tom over NavMan or others, so God knows wht they're like!

Are you also using Bluetooth and have you had problems with that?

My other concern is that Tom Tom Go (the hardware/software package) may not support the useful 3rd party software as it's not a Pocket PC, but a standalone device.

Thx

Simon

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

I don;t use the blue tooth one i use the standard one. I read all the glowing reports of Tom Tom etc before purchase and if I didn't have that postcode app I'd probably still be happy but it would be much more awkward to use.

I think the issue you will have is that anything like this is not going to be idiot proof to the level you are after. The danger is that you have implicit faith the thing will take you where you want when it might only be taking you where IT thinks you want. Perhaps I have just been unlucky.

I am sure that once I have spent more time with it and learnt it idiosyncracies I'll love it. Actually I do love it and am very glad I bought it but I just want you to be aware of the issues it has that may be a problem for your guy.

Gordon

[JohnG]

A good source of information is http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/

Sorry - i tried to insert a hyperlink there and for some reason it wouldn't let me

[CARLOS]

This months PDA Essentials mag has got reviews of all the Sat-Nav systems for PDA the top two seem to be Pocket Copilot Live 4 and TomTom Navigator 3.

Also the latest version of TomTom now has postcode search built in

I`ve just ordered an Ipaq 2210 and TomTom software from PC World where its on offer for £299 complete.

[Fat Tony]

Originally Posted by CARLOS

I`ve just ordered an Ipaq 2210 and TomTom software from PC World where its on offer for £299 complete.

Yes, Dixons are doing this too (same group of companies) - saw an ad in the Telegraph yesterday, but since binned it. Tempted to get this - anyone know if is this a limited offer and also what TomTom version it is?

[CARLOS]

Originally Posted by Fat Tony

Yes, Dixons are doing this too (same group of companies) - saw an ad in the Telegraph yesterday, but since binned it. Tempted to get this - anyone know if is this a limited offer and also what TomTom version it is?

Its TomTom 3 latest version and the offer is on until 1/6/04.

[swarrans]

Originally Posted by CARLOS

Its TomTom 3 latest version and the offer is on until 1/6/04.

Fantastic offer - but both websites say they're out of stock unfortunately.

Simon

[swarrans]

I called around locally and managed to get the Dixons Icaq/Tom Tom offer (last one left!) for 349 including a 256MB card - fantastic!

If this is too difficult for my neighbour to manage, at that price I'm happy to keep it myself!

Simon

[swarrans]

Well, I have to say I was very pleased with myself initially for getting this bargain, but it's not going too well at the moment!
I'll go and look at some of the other forums soon, I have some initial problems you may have experienced.
1. Can you actually run Tom Tom using just the Ipaq's battery? Mine only seems to work when I plug the ciggie cable in. I think this must be because the Tom Tom in car kit doesn't pass the Ipaqs power to the GPA antenna
2. I thought it was supposed to have postcode searching on TT3 - mine doesn't!


It's probably my learning curve as much as anything!

Simon

[CARLOS]

Originally Posted by swarrans

Well, I have to say I was very pleased with myself initially for getting this bargain, but it's not going too well at the moment!
I'll go and look at some of the other forums soon, I have some initial problems you may have experienced.
1. Can you actually run Tom Tom using just the Ipaq's battery? Mine only seems to work when I plug the ciggie cable in. I think this must be because the Tom Tom in car kit doesn't pass the Ipaqs power to the GPA antenna
2. I thought it was supposed to have postcode searching on TT3 - mine doesn't!


It's probably my learning curve as much as anything!

Simon

I haven`t got mine yet so can`t really help, I think the best place to look is on the Pocket GPS forum as mentioned in one of the posts above.

According to the review on there its supposed to have post code search

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

There is no postcode search in my TOMTOM 3 package I got a week and a half ago.

I use this
http://www.digitools.co.uk/home.php
Works a treat!

[swarrans]

Loaded it this morning Gordon - thanks, it's fantastic! If only Tom Tom had something like this as standard in the first place, I wouldn't have felt so fed up initially.


Simon

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Yeah it makes it all worthwhile...I was getting fed up trying to put in towns that are large and well known only to not have them listed...very frustrating. The real annoying thing is that when you stick post codes in TOM TOM suddenly does actually have the address's except listed in some stupid incoherent manner.

I sent the guy £20 paypal for his efforts. Suggest if you are going to use it alot you give him a little gesture too. I think mine was alot but I use it alot.....

Gordon

Oh to cheer this thread up a bit... my Ipaq has a wireless lan. When I am driving about with the lan on it immediately fires up a little screen asking if you want to connect to internet when it finds a new network. It's AMAZING how many wireless networks there are in broadband areas. Even better most don't seem to be protected so I can park up and check my email in the car! To all those reading this who don;t have closed networks please keep it that way, you are doing the country a service......or me at least.

[gizlaroc]

Originally Posted by Gordon @ Convergent AV

To all those reading this who don;t have closed networks please keep it that way, you are doing the country a service......or me at least.

Funny you say that, there is a young lad accross the road who lives with just his mum and I have left my wireless network open so he can use it too, we are moving in a month or so though and he is going to have to go without, but I can see another wireless set up somewhere so I need track down who it belongs too and ask them if he can use theirs instead.

Originally Posted by Gordon @ Convergent AV

There is no postcode search in my TOMTOM 3 package I got a week and a half ago.

Gordon, have you tried just typing the postcode into the navagate to search?? TT3 has defo got postcode support as well as the new traffic update, have you seen that baby working...'tis great

[swarrans]

Yes, I discovered that too Taz - however it's still nothing like as good as the 3rd party piece of software because it doesn't do full postcode searches and has great chunks of postcodes missing! In my first 2 demos to my (less than impressed) neighbour it claimed the postcodes didn't even exist!

The 3rd party one is wonderful and I haven't been able to catch it out yet.

More bad news for me - my Ipaq kept shutting down so I had to return it and get a new one! Which is OK, but now I've had to send an email to Tom Tom because of course it thinks I'm trying to activate the software on another machine!

Simon

[Crocodile]

I would be interested in what response you have had from Tom Tom. The same situation would arise when updating the system ROM on the iPaq.

[swarrans]

The response from Tom Tom was that they asked me to send them proof that I exchanged the Ipaq for another one in the form of a faxed receipt. This was fine as of course I had the receipt from Dixons showing the swap over (and an increase in price from £299 to £399!).
Are you sure updating the ROM will mess the numbers up? I guess I'm not exactly sure how the system "recognises" the Ipaq but I presume it has a unique number related to the chip or something. As long as that doesn't change when you re-load the software the same numbers you used the last time should work.
Good news for me is this has completely resolved the shut down problem (and the ROM on my new Ipaq is the latest version).

Simon

[CARLOS]

Originally Posted by swarrans

The response from Tom Tom was that they asked me to send them proof that I exchanged the Ipaq for another one in the form of a faxed receipt. This was fine as of course I had the receipt from Dixons showing the swap over (and an increase in price from £299 to £399!).
Are you sure updating the ROM will mess the numbers up? I guess I'm not exactly sure how the system "recognises" the Ipaq but I presume it has a unique number related to the chip or something. As long as that doesn't change when you re-load the software the same numbers you used the last time should work.
Good news for me is this has completely resolved the shut down problem (and the ROM on my new Ipaq is the latest version).

Simon

Out of interest what is your ROM version now ?

Cheers

[Crocodile]

I don't think the software is recognising the Ipaq as such. It's more that when you try to obtain another activation code, Tom Tom's database has a record of already having issued a code against your software serial number.

Which version of the postcode database did you download? The site offers Pocket PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003. I believe the 2210 has Pocket PC 2003.

[swarrans]

Yes, PC2003. I think you'll be fine updating the ROM and using the same code, but if not presumeably Tom Tom will provide another.

My ROM version is now 1.10 and was 1.00 on the old machine. The HP website has the download available but I'm glad I didn't have to do it myself 'cos I know it's possible to screw it up and get a non-functioning PDA!

Simon

[Crocodile]

Sorry if I'm being particularly thick but PC2003 is not an option. Did you download Pocket PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003?