Buying a PDA

General Skanky · 27-09-2003, 5:53 PM

Put simply, which one?

Dell Axim, the current crop of Ipaqs (of which there are many), or the Fujitsu Siemens Loox?

So much choice.

My main need would be to plonk TomTom II on it for in car navigation. Also I may tinker with the remote control possibilities as highlighted by Messiah with his Axim. I's also like to use it as a general day to day diary too.

Cheers.

CARLOS · 27-09-2003, 7:46 PM

Hi Guy

Long time no speak

I`ve been looking at the same thing myself, GPS satnav without the costs of a custom fit.

I think i`m being swayed towards the IPAQ 2210 + TomTom II as it seems quite a bit smaller than the Axim though the price of the Dell is very appealing.

I have found a very good site here for all things GPS which has a lot of reviews.

Let us know which one you decide on ?

Cheers

General Skanky · 27-09-2003, 8:09 PM

Same site I've been perusing too.

I've been following Gordon's thread on what to buy.

I think TomTom II is the software to go for, just what pda to put it in?

I think it'll come down to the upgradeability an davailability of accessories for it, ie car kits etc.

Keep an eye out for next month's PCPro magazine, there is a mega pda test promising to cover all the bases. It's a pc mag I do trust, they tend to be pretty good. Their current favourite is a compaq ipaq. Looks good.

(I'm happier now that The Lion King is out on DVD. That's my most missed LD).

CARLOS · 27-09-2003, 8:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by General Skanky
(I'm happier now that The Lion King is out on DVD. That's my most missed LD).

Lol

Unfortunately Aladin which is mine is still a while away yet

I`ll keep a look out for PCPro

Cheers

General Skanky · 28-09-2003, 7:34 AM

Just reading up on the Dell Axim. It has a lot going for it including a great price. It's also fully supported for/by TomTom with a car kit.

I think that's my ref point to compare others to.

General Skanky · 28-09-2003, 11:35 AM

Found this site for quite a good run down on Ipaqs -

http://www.davesipaq.com/index.shtml

Good comparison between models.

It's a US site, but it should be fine.

hornydragon · 29-09-2003, 8:45 PM

I looked at the axim Ipaq route but may settle for a more basic Clie as i dont have £400 to play with anyone a got an opinion on the now discontinued PEG 625 as chocollect dont seem to have anymore XBoxes!

CARLOS · 29-09-2003, 9:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hornydragon
I looked at the axim Ipaq route but may settle for a more basic Clie as i dont have £400 to play with anyone a got an opinion on the now discontinued PEG 625 as chocollect dont seem to have anymore XBoxes!

Aren`t all Clie`s Palm software, which would limit its use with GPS as most of the software is for Pocket PC ?

hornydragon · 29-09-2003, 9:39 PM

Higher spec Clie are MS based i think is there any palm software that does navigation.

Zef · 30-09-2003, 1:31 PM

Clies are all palm based. Tom tom does not do palm. I think Navman does palm as well as PPC

As for a PPC look at the smaller cheaper IPAQs - it all depends on how much functionality you need really

hornydragon · 02-10-2003, 9:18 PM

I stand corrected (happening way too often at the moment).

Ekko Star · 08-10-2003, 12:28 PM

small does not always = better. You really do want quite a decent screen size as if you are using for GPS in car it needs to be fairly legible from a fixed distance.

The better Ipaq's have some of the biggest and best PDA screens yet not as bulky overall as say a Dell Axim. Horses for courses and there is not that much to choose between all PDA's in all honesty, but Ipaq's generally still rule.

I run a 3970 and a 3950. If you want GPS and you use it in the car Tom Tom is the better way to go as their GPS Rx works better in the car. If you are an outdoor person then Navman is better as it is a "Jacket" solution.

nfordenfield · 11-10-2003, 1:57 PM

I have the hp5450 with the tom tom bluetooth and it is fantastic.

Very fast and accurate.

neilneil · 14-10-2003, 3:33 PM

I've just (last 3 weeks) bought a IPAQ 2210 and TomTom Nav2 as a good bundle from :-

http://www.globalpositioningsystems....product_id=574

It came bundled with the Ipaq 2210, Bluetooth GPS unit, Arkon car mount, 128Mb CF memory card.
The great thing about their setup is you get everything including a car charger which will run both the GPS and IPAQ at the same time if you want.
However the battery on the Globalsat BT-308 GPS is larger than most so it runs continuous for 8 - 11 hours on a single charge so you can wonder around with it switched on on cycle rides, then just switch on the IPAQ when you need to see where you are.

I am very pleased with my purchase, however, the pros and cons are:-

Tomtom is the best software but the maps appear to be a couple of years out of date in some locations.

The globalsat reciever is excellent and tiny too, mine just sticks to a piece of velcro on the dash to stop it sliding about.

The instructions to first set it up are a bit lacking.

There is a reported issue with IPAQ 2210s dropping connection with BT GPS recievers if the maps are stored on an SD card, perhaps thats why they supply a CF card since I have not experienced any of those.

However, I'm sure I've read of an issue where dell axims run VERY slow reading an SD card also.

Great battery life on the GPS, however I think the battery life on the IPAQ is only 5 hours.

The IPAQ 2210 is a perfect size, fits nicely in a shirt poket.
The included carry case is a bit pants.

Tomtom 2 can load up 3rd party points of interest like speed cameras!

Tomtom 2 can be a bit fragile, I've had it lockup a few times, mostly when I've been running other programs. Easily fixed tho with a soft reset which doesn't loose any data, just like restarting a PC and you're up and running again in about 30secs.
When TT2 is the only program running it seems fine tho.

IPAQ also has a remote controll program included called NEVO, works my telly, vcr, cd, dvd etc.

Err, I think I've covered everything!

Ask if you want to know any more.

-Neil

EDIT
AH just remembered there is a win 2003 mobile / IPAQ bug which locks up the IPAQ and needs a soft reset. If you turn off the ipaq with an active bluetooth connection going, then, the ipaq will not restart without the soft reset. Just remember to close the BT connection and I close TT2 as well before you switch off. Pain in the neck tho.

General Skanky · 29-10-2003, 6:26 PM

Sounds good overall.

I'm still looking at the Axim for £243 from Dell and add TT2 later.

robocop · 29-10-2003, 7:53 PM

General
Quiet a few issues with the Axim and Bluetooth at the present time. It does not have a Bluetooth Manager and Dell aren't saying when it will be released for PPC2003.
Have a look here http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...d=aximwireless

I bought a Dell Bluetooth Card and had to wait a month just for them to release the drivers. I can pair it with my phone, but cannot using ActiveSynch over Bluetooth.

Consequently, I sold my Axim last week and bought a iPAQ 2210.
A fantastic bit of kit. I can now surf the web, from the comfort of the "bog" ,if I wish, using Bluetooth.

The cheapest place to get one, and where i got mine was here http://www.eurosimm.com/sites/eurosi...de=UKDV-5P9M2T for £295 inc delivery. Thankfully work paid the VAT, so it cost me £250 (£7 more than my Dell)

HTH

General Skanky · 29-10-2003, 8:26 PM

Thanks.

I've never used Bluetooth before on any pc kit. Is it of great importance?

My laptops are both wireless and that's fine.

I've got the latest PCPro who have done a pda test. The Dell is on my list simply because of price.

Whatever pda I get, the main use will be gps until I discover other uses for it in time.

robocop · 29-10-2003, 8:29 PM

Hi General

If you intend to use GPS via a Bluetooth unit e.g TomTom's version, it MAY be a problem.