Database Users

Which GPS unit for XDAII?

Could someone point me to a GPS unit which works well with the XDAII. There is a large choice, and i'm not sure what to go for. Going to be using Tom Tom 2.
Many thanks!
Faisal

Are you looking for a cable type or bluetooth?

I bought the TomTom package with their BT GPS unit and loved it. It worked great for about a week and was very handy for a 1,600 mile road trip. Then one morning it just simply wouldn't work right. Took a bit of time but I finally got in touch with a human at TomToms U.S. office and they agreed it sounded messed up and that I'd need to send it in for repair, which should be a one day turnaround.
Outside of the faulty device (no idea how common that is) the performance was very pleasing in general.

cruisin-thru said:
Are you looking for a cable type or bluetooth?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looking for a either really but with preference to BT.
graah... was thinking about purchasing it with the gps unit, but can buy the software from a mate who's now using Navman. So looking for unit only.

GPS with TMC
Woohoo!
Managed to order a RDS - TMC unit today + soft ware ( Navigon) . I hope to get it next week.

using XDA2 with digitraveler bought from US - works great!

I have used many gps systems both with xda1/2 and ipaqs, the digitraveler was quite impressive but stocks are no longer available, I am at the moment using a Fortuna Gpsmart bt unit, this works as both a nmea at 38400 on cable and also as a blutooth gps, at the same time if required, I have found this gps to be extremely accurate, very fast and with the added bonus that it operates as a handheld standalone gps. I bought a cable to power the gps and then bought another cable which powers both the gpsmart and the xda, however if you want totally wireless obviously the gps can be battery operated although battery life isnt wonderful.

GPS reciever with the magician

Hi,
does anybody have any recommendations abt bluetooth gps reciever?
Example: http://www.oncoursenavigator.com/item.aspx?itemid=6009
What is important to think abt when you buy a GPS reciever?

Royaltek RBT-2010...
SirfIII, 17 hrs battery, small, light and cheap.... marvellous!
A week with it and I'm still astonished about the skills of this GPS.
Look for reviews of it and check it!

Thanks for the tip!
Googled but only got results in: spanish, italian, russian or german sites!!! Don´t know any of these languages.
My guess is that it´s called something else in other countries. Anyone knows?

I've got one like this Oasis Media Bluetooth GPS Receiver: € 79,-
www.pdashop.nl probably in others shop as well
M

I can recommend the Holux GPSlim 236. It lasts about 10 hours, is small, light and very good at acquiring and keeping a signal (it's SirfStar III).
Generally you should go for a SirfStar III these days, especially if you want to use it in cities with tall buildings or out hiking in woods.
There is one slight problem with them however. For car mode you should really engage static navigation mode (this prevents the map rotating or recalculating when you are travellig very slowly or stopped). But for hiking and geocaching you really need to have static navigation turned off. There is a windows app that can switch it on or off but I've found that the pda app to do the same doesn't seem to work on my setup. I therefore use mine with static navigation turned off and get the occasional recalculation and map spins.

Thanks for your reply!
Are there differences between recievers considering static navigation mode? What I mean is if it´s in the software you do the setting or if you change directly at the reciever unit?
Been looking at this one;
http://www.dustin.se/DustinPictures/PDF/G/5010079858.pdf

Nice one, how about the price?

In Sweden the best price is abt 125 euro. Plus delivery costs.

Hmm,
That's about the same price I paid 8 months ago for my GPS, simular to the Oasis one I posted. A collegue of me bought a SirfStar III GPS 2 months ago for around €160, you're deal is much better (depending on the shipping costs). We tested both devices & his device got a lock on more satellites & quicker as well.
So it's up to you whether you want to pay twice the price for the better GPS. Usually my GPS works fine even in cities, but I guess a SirfStar III chipset will be much more capable with tall buildings. I'd go for a SirfStar III chipset, when I had to buy one now & knowing my own experiences.
Regards, M

emil73 said:
Thanks for your reply!
Are there differences between recievers considering static navigation mode? What I mean is if it´s in the software you do the setting or if you change directly at the reciever unit?
Been looking at this one;
http://www.dustin.se/DustinPictures/PDF/G/5010079858.pdf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some manufacturers of SirfStar III GPS may provide their own software for switching between modes - but they may not. The software I use on the PC is provided by someone at SirfStar I think. As I said it works fine on the PC but obviously you really need it on your pocketPC. So far I haven't found any software that will change modes on the pocketPC - I have software but it doesn't seem to work. Maybe someone here can suggest pocketPC software for switching modes?
At the moment I leave mine with static navigation off and it doesn't have too much of an effect on car navigation where I drive.
The PC software seems to allow you to also alter the signal strength at which a satellite's data is disregarded. Upping this a little may help with the problem at the slight disadvantage of making the receiver a little less sensitive. I think you could lower it a reasonable amount and still have a sensitive receiver - mine works fine in the glovebox and I can get a fix in the middle of my house - that's how sensitive they are!

Look on manufacter page http://www.royaltek.com/content/view/97/27/
about the Royaltek. It's in english (or Chinesse :lol: ) and you can search there for a distributor in Sweden.
Good luck!

Is there Soft GPS on MDA

Hi,
Have a T-Mobile MDA/HTC Wizard.
Is there some GPS software which can connect via Wifi/T-Zones or Internet and do the same routing/function such as a GPS Device?
I dont want to spend $600 to buy a GPS device and then connect it to my MDA. Rather buy some GPS software which can work on the MDA by itself.
Thanks.
--

No GPS software is going to work properly without a GPS receiver from which to extrapolate your current position.

If you want GPS capability of any kind at all, you will need to get a receiver, period. There's nothing GPS related on the phone except for a settings applet that is disabled by default and only lets you set the port of a bonded receiver. There's also no way a network connection is going to be able to determine your position and software that attempts to do so using cell towers are only accurate to within a few miles, if it works at all. There's a bunch of receivers available on ebay (and elsewhere) for cheap...I got a Holux GPSlim236 for a little over $100 and it works great with the wizard via bluetooth. They are your options....getting a receiver or forgetting about it.

Or try Navizon. It was created to do exactly what you want. http://www.navizon.com
Used to be free, now you have to pay for it. But theres a 14 day trial i believe.
B

nextbond said:
I dont want to spend $600 to buy a GPS device and then connect it to my MDA.
--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw some bluetooth GPS receivers as low as $80. And you can use your GPS receiver anywhere.

If I have the tomtom software, do I have to get the tomtom gps receiver or can I use another brand?

I have TomTom 5.21 and use a non TomTom bluetooth GPs reciever.

Hi all,
Thanks for the responses. Seems I will need a GPS device. If thats the case, why bother with a PDA? Should just buying a Gavin or TomTom GPS device be enough?
--

Depends on what you want. If you have the phone already, $100 for a GPS unit and maybe $100 for decent mapping software is a whole lot cheaper than $500-$800 for a decent Garmin unit. Plus you get a phone and a PDA out of the deal. I went on vacation a few weeks ago and the mapping software plotted a route and told me how to get there. Once there, I used slingplayer to watch my home cable channels while sitting on the beach, I used the camera to take pictures of the beach and whatnot, the network connection to upload those pictures to a phlog, IM with friends and coworkers and check the weather and news with IE. Oh yeah...and it rang when I got a phone call or text message. Then it plotted a route back home (presumably the same way backwards but I didn't really check) and told me how to get there. Depends on what you want.
TomTom can work with other bluetooth receivers. Works with my Holux, at least.

I'm interested in buying a bluetooth gps receiver I found a few on amazon but this one caught my attention because of the price
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6698/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-8138642-5399340?ie=UTF8
is that one any good?

I strongly advise you to check the type of GPS chip used in the receiver. The best one for the moment seems to be the Sirf star 3.
It's not as much of a detail as you may think : older chips can take a very long time to get fixed (which means that you might wait for dozens of minutes before even getting a GPS position), and are usually more power consuming.

How the GPS works for the wizard

I was curious as to how to get GPS working on my wizard. I see some people purchasing a GPS device of some type, but can't the wizard just act as the gps itself? Why the need for a device?
Maybe im just missing something here. If someone could post up to me how it is I can get one running on my MDA i'd appreciate it as that'd be a great help for me when traveling.
T.c.

veritas17 said:
I was curious as to how to get GPS working on my wizard. I see some people purchasing a GPS device of some type, but can't the wizard just act as the gps itself? Why the need for a device?
Maybe im just missing something here. If someone could post up to me how it is I can get one running on my MDA i'd appreciate it as that'd be a great help for me when traveling.
T.c.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well congrats this is the 1000000 thread regarding the GPS topic. Ok sorry to be sarcastic but people need to learn to use the search button. As to your question, the MDA does nto have a built in GPS chip. You need a GPS device and software in order to use it like a gps unit such as a tomtom car unit.

... Ya know I did look that up by the way. All the topics I found spoke about the tomtom6, tomtom5, or isomethingmap and people BUYING the device but no one saying WHY they were purchasing it. No need to come into the topic and flame me I did search, I always search and it wasn't like I placed a bunch of half thought out questions in my post either.
T.c.

What you need is a Navigator program (eg. TOMTOM) installed on your Wizard and a satilite receiver (GPS - Wire or Bluetooth (better)). Link your device with GPS via bluetooth or wire, open Navigator program and you are now up and running. It is that simple.

Thank you WLove. That's all I was wanting to know was why people had to have a secular device to have it running (the satilte receiver). Now I see i'm going to need to pick up that 2.gig mini sd chip.
T.c.

I just started using my navman 4410 GPS with iguidance v3 and they work like a charm!

while we are on the topic, anyone have any reccomendations on some bluetooth GPS receivers?

Just thought I;d point out that it may be slightly easier to get confused as to whether the Wizard has GPS or not, as when I rang O2 for my upgrade I explicitly asked 3 or 4 times if it had built in GPS and they said yes. I also stressed it was GPS not GPRS I was asking about. They still said yes. And also I believe one of the chips in the Wizard has some kind of gps related capability, even though it is not a gps receiver, so maybe someone read that also. I know I have somewhere on this forum.
Thirdly, the search function is useless here.

Magor said:
while we are on the topic, anyone have any reccomendations on some bluetooth GPS receivers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just google for Bluetooth GPS receivers. You'll find loads. I bought the cheapest at about £35. Works a treat. I think it's a generic model sold by many sites. Has a pic of a satellite on it!

Magor said:
while we are on the topic, anyone have any reccomendations on some bluetooth GPS receivers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy a receiver with SiRFIII chip: quicker, more accurate and better reception than any other chip available on the consumer market. If you want to spend a little less (say about $/€ 50) you could buy a SiRFII receiver. Don't blindly believe claims like "supports up to 20 satellites". In most situations you are lucky to receive 10 satellites or more! Even with as little as 4 or 5 satellites calculating your location is accurate enough for road navigation.
If the software supports TMC (traffic updates free of charge by RDS on certain radio channels; not sure if this exists in the US) you could buy a GPS/TMC combined receiver. Unfortunately TomTom does not support TMC as it has its own paid traffic service.

In regards to the GPS units with the SiRF chipsets, can anyone vouch for the cheap $50 on eBay that are solar/battery powered with linking via Bluetooth or wire? I am getting a T-mobile MDA to unlock for my personal usage and I am highly thinking about getting one, just I wanted to know if anyone had any good things to say about them.
Here's a link for an example: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Solar-Bluet...34QQihZ016QQcategoryZ4668QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have never ONCE seen "GPS" listed as a feature for any Wizard... I can't grasp why people would ever think it has a feature that is never listed any where :? :roll:

Rutter said:
Magor said:
while we are on the topic, anyone have any reccomendations on some bluetooth GPS receivers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just google for Bluetooth GPS receivers. You'll find loads. I bought the cheapest at about £35. Works a treat. I think it's a generic model sold by many sites. Has a pic of a satellite on it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what I've been doing, but I'm new to the GPS stuff so I wasn't sure what to get 8)
Thanks to AgentSmith for the info, something like this should do the job for me http://www.engadget.com/2005/06/02/holux-gpslim-236-bluetooth-receiver-reviewed/

Agreed, the Holux 236 is the one to go for. Has the added advantage of using the same in-car charger as the O2 XDA Mini (i.e. a USB style one).
Don't get Holox (cheap rip off), get Holux.
Get SiRF III, not II.
Don't be fooled by lots of channels, 20 is plenty.
And you don't need a 2GB card. A 512MB with high transfer speeds from a decent manufacturer will be far better than a cheapo no-name 2GB one. I have a 512MB with TomTom 6, full UK maps and speed cam database and it only takes up about 250MB.

I've used an Belkin BT GPS (rebadged Fortuna Clip-On upgraded to Xtrak2) on my Ipaq, both over two years old, which worked well with Belkin's version of iGuidance v1.1. So when I upgraded to the TMo MDA (US version) I kept the Belkin and purchased iGuidance v3, which has worked well.
A friend who also owns an MDA wanted a GPS, but since Belkin quit selling this GPS 18 months ago I started researching, and like others here have noted the Holux GPSlim 236 looked like a winner. I'll know for sure next week when she gets the unit, but I expect it to work fine.

That Holux model seems very good, but you can actually find cheaper SiRFIII receivers (less than 100 bucks).
The needed storage space for maps depends on your personal wishes. If you travel internationally often, you might want a 1GB memory chip for borderless maps like Western or Central Europe. Such maps often occupy 900 MB or more. Otherwise a much smaller card for just one or two countries or regions is indeed enough.

AgentSmith said:
That Holux model seems very good, but you can actually find cheaper SiRFIII receivers (less than 100 bucks).
The needed storage space for maps depends on your personal wishes. If you travel internationally often, you might want a 1GB memory chip for borderless maps like Western or Central Europe. Such maps often occupy 900 MB or more. Otherwise a much smaller card for just one or two countries or regions is indeed enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Holux one I found for $90
I also already have a 2GB card and TomTom so once I get the receiver I'm good to go

I don't see the point of using the MDA as a GPS without having a powered car mount, since you could run out of battery quite easily. Go to semsons.com and find what's the best for you. I got mine there along with the M3.itrek+itrek mount for MDA+iGuidance3.0 for around $200 (but you can surely mix&match what you need). It really worths. I mean if you can get a phone with so many functionalities for such a cheap price (mine is USD $250, sounds expensive, but try to search and compare the price with PPC phones from other countries then you know what I meant), why not having it does the most for you at the least cost. You might not use the GPS all the time, but will definitely love it when needed.

best gps software and bt gps receiver...

Hey guys,
I want to buy some gps software for my dopod 838pro and a bluetooth gps receiver. I was wondering what ones work best with your hermes devices and what problems arise when using them.
I was looking at the papago software and it seems pretty good. If there is anyone here using it I would like to know your feedback on how it performs and also what kind of gps reciever you are using.
Thanks for your time and input
oh I am also in Australia..I don't know if that makes much difference or not
Cheers

I suggest IBlue 737 with the latest MTK chipset, it has nice auto on/off feature an 25 hours of battery life. another more expensive option is the Garmin Gps10X (the new Sirf3 model only, the old one is crap)
Software that i use:
Garmin Que + Franson GPSGate
OZI Explorer
IGO
TomTom

sorry to threadjack.
but regarding the IBlue 737, will it or does it need anything else other then my 8525 to work?
I have google maps on the 8525. will it work with that alone or do I have to add something else?
Once again sorry to threadjack but I think it fits into the OP's questions.
if needed delete this and I'll make a new thread.

google map is good with any GPS. (just nmake sure you have unlimited data) else it could be expensive.

ive used iGuidance 4 and iGO my way plus 2006 with BT-Q818
GUI:
iGO rocks.. smooth.. and really nice...
iGuidance .. just plain and dull.. gps tracking not smooth as iGO is.
what i really like about iGuidance though is the TTS feature, and it tells you which side the destination is.. iGO does not..
if the features i liked in iGuidance would just be integrated in iGO, ill get it in a heartbeat.

Fantastic!
and yes I have the unlimited data plan, had it for a long time. I used to have a smt 5600 before the 8525.
one more question... will it also work with the yahoo go 2.0?
thanks guys, one more thing to spend money on

yes, it will work with yahoo go 2.0. i use one myself(live in UK). make sure u have a data package though.(unlimited would be the best). i use t-mobile wnw £7.50 and a BT gps.its amazing what you can do with this phone.i love it

The thread jacking is ok its all relevant
So any other suggestions with people who have the papago software at all?
And does anyone have any other gps receivers?
Cheers

My favorite GPS sw is TomTom, great features, easy to use and no bugs. I use it with a earthmate bt-20. Takes up 1gb of space but worth it. Tomtom automatically connects to my BT receiver, responds quickly and has nice smooth 3d graphics.
My next favorite is MSN streets. It is easy to use and has the most up to date maps of my area.
I really dont care for Google maps unless I'm in a G network. If you dont have internet reception which is often the case when you travel then Google maps is completely useless.
The Earthmate BT-20 receiver seems to work ok but it is the only one I have tried. Its a ugly yellow, blue, and black 2"x3.5" plastic box. I look forward to the day when GPS is built in.

im in aussie town too, tomtom 6 (soon 7) on the hermes with some bluetooth gps that i got off ebay works wonders.
also has no issues running on prophet (my wifes phone) and my now retired magician.
microsoft streets was good when running in offline mode however it looks like they dont support australia anymore with the only map set available being a few years old.

Thanks guys for the advice
Seems like tomtom might be the go..its what I've been hearing as being the best out there.
I think I will just get a gps receiver off ebay too
Cheers

I might as well throw in my .02 as well hehe
I'm in Australia and using Tomtom 6 with a Globalsat BT receiver and it works perfectly
Good luck with your decision

naughty said:
I suggest IBlue 737 with the latest MTK chipset, it has nice auto on/off feature an 25 hours of battery life. another more expensive option is the Garmin Gps10X (the new Sirf3 model only, the old one is crap)
Software that i use:
Garmin Que + Franson GPSGate
OZI Explorer
IGO
TomTom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the garmin GPS 10x and i get a weird error - ive only had it a week, long story short sometimes it wont turn on. --- how do you tell which model you have?
when it works, its awesome. tells you which turns to make, has a "recalculate" feature, good maps with a lot of detail
how do you connect it to google maps? i did it one time but haven't been able to do it since! would like to run it simulatneous with garmin XT the software that comes with it, google in satellite mode so you see from the sky where you travel to and hear from the garmin software which way to turn, would be pretty neat
i get confused which settings need to be put to which com port? i tried to add it in blue tooth and set up COM port 0 in there, and then go intot he GPS external setting (WM6) and set up both hardware and program port to 0 as well. cant get it to work alongside garmin XT software

Microsoft was offering a BT Pharos GPS for about $70 for PocketPC devices awhile back, not sure if they still are.
I got one and it works very well. The only difference between this and the typical Pharos offering is that it doesn't come with any software. Using it with Livesearch works perfectly -- the only thing Livesearch is lacking is vocal turn-by-turn directions and automatic trip recalculation. But of course you're not limited to just using livesearch with the GPS anyway.
Looks like it is still available:
http://www.amazon.com/Pharos-Blueto...6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1187064734&sr=8-3

Nokia Smart2GO.. It's tomtom but for free worldwide. (with some very minor limits/payable extras)
Have a search for the word nokia and posts by me and youll find some info about it in one of the hundreds of other gps threads around the hermes

thank you for your info. I am thinking of getting a bt gps receiver with software

my favourite is Navigon (you can tinker soo nicely with all the settings 'under the hood' ).
Dunno whether Navigon has a AU map at all, but they sell under a different name in the USA.
I would recommend any sirfIII GPS antenna with a good review in one of the navigation fora. I am using a cheap Mainnav that is OK.(great reception even behind metal coated car windows)

Wait for a Natural Disaster!!
I use TomTom 6 with a Nokia Bluetooth GPS reciever.. i got it for 29.99 from Fry's!!!
I live in central texas and when Katrina was on its way to New Orleans fries had CRAZY discounts on GPS units, Maglites, Waterproof cases for pdas.. basicly almost anything that can be used for "survival" so i grabbed a bunch of other stuff... now that Hurricane Dean is on its way i'm pretty sure they'll have discounts again... Time to hit up Fry's!!

lol its "natural disaster" sales at frys...for every hurricane that comes along we drop the prices by 20%
Cheers

WM5, iGuidance 3.x, i.Trek M5+
Never a hiccup.