[geewhizz]

Hi Guys

I am Looking for Sat Nav, I dont know whats the best and easy way to go about it.
Do i get a PDA, or one of those smart phones, Also what else would i need.
Not looking for the most expensive equipment cos it would be more of a gadget than a life line.

Cheers

[BestGear]

Personally.... I find using a phone and tomtom is great.

You allways have a phone with you....

If you go for a pda or Tomtom go type device, you allways need to remove it when you leave the car... or it probably wont be there on your return....

The phone really is less hassle...

The smaller screen is no proba either, as it does speak the directions too...

DJ

[geewhizz]

Cheers DJ

I agree i would rather have just a phone to carry rather a phone and a PDA.
What phone do you use and is it easy to get it up and running.

Cheers.

[BestGear]

Hi

I have a Nokia 6600, which was just what I had at the time.

If you search on ebay for bluetooth gps and look for a xtrack model... these later ones even work indoors... and is happy in your glovebox in the car.

I personally prefer symbian based phones... having had hassle with the MS Smartphone based phones... but that is just a personalpreference.

As for Tomtom... v5 is around and there are maps for nearly anywhere you would car to go...

DJ

[BestGear]

...having just re-read you post, I did not answer it all...

So, you need tomtom, which comes on a memory card. You willneed a min of 128mb for the app or buy a bigger card if you want more maps.

You also need a gps..preferably bluetooth for convenience.

I would also add... you can add all the gatsos etc as points of interest (free download) so it will warn you of all speed cameras etc etc ...

D

[geewhizz]

Cheers DJ

Thats sounds the business, So i found the tomtom but cant find the bluetooth, is that the receiver ? if so roughly how much are they.

Thanks

[Daddy k]

i have the orange spv m2000 (xda 2/ pda2k/mda2)
and have just got tomtom 5.
its great!!! spesh with the downloadable and free speed camera warnings.

i got the wired one because i prefered the idea of having bluetooth free for hands free and more importantly i just drop my phone into the cradle job cone, the gps receiver is powered by the car, rather than have to take out the bluetooth receiver to charge it each day, but the bluetooth one is great if you want to walk around with it, but thats it. installing the wired receiver in a tidy hidden manner takes 5 mins and then u forget bout it.

also i did have a symbian phone (nokia communicator 9500) and i liked it a lot and found it very stable and a lot of thought had gone into it, like the easy task switching etc the only reason i got my new pda is coz i use it a lot to web browse and the symbian browser just dont cut it!
it lays the web page to fit the screen great!!!!! but its too slow at loading and i tried everything to help it, where as the browser on my new phone is only a second behind a normal pc

[geewhizz]

Originally Posted by krismc

i have the orange spv m2000 (xda 2/ pda2k/mda2)
and have just got tomtom 5.
its great!!! spesh with the downloadable and free speed camera warnings.

This sounds like what am looking for,

Cheers guys

[fortean]

Have a look at http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/

[Monty Burns]

I can only speak for the MDAIII and the Socket Bluetooth GPS running with Tom Tom 5 but this setup got me all the way from Heathrow to Nuremberg, Germany very easily and reliably in our little Renault Clio.

Its also getting me around the small streets of Nuremberg and it surrounding villages very well!


Makes you wonder how people did this with just maps!

[dave_bass5]

I have the Nokia 6680 with TT5m and a Globalsat bt-338. the 338 is one of the best (and under £100) and you can get a signal indoors and in the middle of london while walking.
its a serf3 chipset and there are a few other brands about that use the same set (including tomtom's).
it really worth spening the extra £20-30 over the BT-77 type if you need the stronger signal but if your out of town i find both work very well and the Bt-77 type is around £50 on ebay.
also make sure you get the postcode file as its so much better for finding places on unmarked roads.
been to both ends of the country making lots of detours on route and TT5 hasnt let me down.
Not sure if it does take the fastest route all the time but if you dont know the area's its fantastic.

hope this helps

Dave.

[Steve.EX]

I use an HP hx4700 (vga pda) and a Holux slim236 receiver.
I have the PDA which is neither small or cheap but over the years my pda has become indispensible. It is truely one of the few items that if broke i would immediately replace.
I use Tomtom 5 which whilst not perfect is so user friendly that after a short period of time you never find yourself questioning it and trust it like your mother. It is generally very good.
If you can stretch to it buy a GPS unit running the newer sirfstar 3 chipset. There are several about now (i paid £100 inc. for my Holux). They are no quicker than older models from a cold start up but so much more sensitive. Other models and chipsets can struggle through certain types of windscreen glass, urban enviroments and even dense cloud cover. Once tried it is difficult to imagine or justifying the purchase of another imo. These devices will work indoors and once "started" and locked on, can be placed in the glove box and forgotten about. They are stable from far weaker signals and are (generally) looking and alternating between more satellites.
I cannot speak for smart phones but i like the larger screen of a pda for map directions, i can only imagine that trying to see an 1.5"x1" screen whilst driving might require a little more effort.

Steven

[Steve.EX]

And of course with a pda and a BT phone you can have full web page web :-)