PDA Sat Nav

[antonymark31]

Hi

I am not sure if this has been covered before but I am interested in buying a PDA based Sat Nav system or even the Tom Tom portable all in one system which goes for between £399 (web sites-£499 Dixons)

Have seen a number of complete PDA/Sat Nav pachages for £269 (A Dell PDA)
Anyway wanted to know if anyone had any experiences on these devices
How good are they,ease of installing and moving around etc

regards

Antony

 

[swiv]

Hi there Antony,

I have one of these in my A2. I 'recycled' my almost 4 year old Casio Cassiopeia PDA to run TomTom Navigator 3. It's fixed to my dash with an HR Richter PDA holder.

I love it to pieces. But that's only after I put the sat receiver ('mouse') in the back.
TomTom is a very good piece of software, and its maps are highly usuable and accurate (using 'Benelux' at home, and also Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy while on holiday).

In installation can be very simple, but depends on how well you want to hide any cables. I made the effort to run all cables behind the panels/dash, except for the lead to the cig-lighter and to the PDA-holder. Clean enough.

About moving around: what exactly do you mean? Do you want to take the nav system out of the car, while operating?
You can take out the PDA easily (as an anti-theft measure), but it needs the 'mouse' to receive GPS signals. And the mouse is dependent on a 12v power source. So that won't work.
If you want to move away from the car too, you might look at 'gps sleeves' for PDAs. The receiver is then part of the PDA (albeit a bit bulky, and the position on the dash might be less than optimal for good reception IN the car). I don't know if TomTom Go works outside the car. I guess it could, since it's an all-in-one system.

Well, lots to tell. If you have any specific questions or if you'd like to see a picture of my 'installation', then feel free to ask.

Regards,

Edo

--
(2003 Silver 1.4 Tdi Exclusive(SE), 95bhp/235Nm chiptuned by ABT, black interior, sport seats, heated mirrors, JVC KD-SH909RB cd-receiver, Infinity Kappa 63.1 + Vifa on-dash tweeters, 12" Subwoofer on 300w Amp)

 

[preppeller]

im really interested in TomTom Nav 3.. i have been looking at reviews for a while and it looks great.

What difference does it make with the mouse in the back of the car?

Also, does it ever take you the wrong way? i mean, on a route you know of, has it taken you on a strange antiquated route?

finally (sorry for the questions)... how do you get behind the dash to hide the wires? i still have a small buzzing behind there and want to sort it out once and for all!

Thanks
Andrew

[img=left]http://homepage.ntlworld.com/preppeller/audiicon.jpg[/img=left] A2 1.6FSI Sport in Azure Blue with strange blue sports interior
climate control, scratched front offside alloy, tape player.

 

[tdi]

Hi,

I have a Toshiba PDA running tomtom 3.
And i was so impressed i now sell them on eBay.
For fitting i would recommend a Compact Flash GPS receiver.
These fit directly into the top of the PDA so you have no wires.
This also makes it very easy to move from car to car.
Or even use on foot.
In my A2 i have gone for a vent mount as this works well.
If you are in the UK i can supply a full kit based around a Dell axim X5 for £300 all items brand new.
This will fit in your car in around 3mins.
Just clip on the holder and plug in the charger.
Any questions on tomtom software or hardware, please send to [email protected]

 

[antonymark31]

Thanks for all your comments and advice

Am really interested in the out of the box pda plug in
and 3 minutes later its working solution.

Is it really that simple?

My DIY/installation skills are terrible so needs to be idiot proof

I have a three and a half year old Ipac but doubt if this has the right operating system

Plus doubt if I could install all the software etc

the ready made solution sounds very appealing

regards

Antony

 

[swiv]

I put my receiver in the middle of the lower edge of the rear window (so sort of below the spoiler), because I had best reception there. Before, I had the mouse 'inside' my dash, hidden below the passenger side vent. However, that obscured satellites that were lower on the horizon, coming from the side where the side of the car is, and also the roof hides some sats.
I also had the receiver on the dash, in the corner where dash and windscreen meet. Putting the receiver more towards you dimished reception considerably, probably because the windscreen is tinted/heat reflecting. So that's why I wonder if the 'all-in-one' solution works well: it is on the edge of your dash, far from the windscreen and with part of the sky being obscured by the roof.

However, if you're not a DIY person, you will probably not like to unscrew/unclip major parts of your dash and/or panelling to lead your receiver elsewhere. It's a compromise in any case.

Therefor the fully 'cordless' option that tdi mentions will suit your need for simple installation and moveability.

Your 3.5 year old Ipac might just work. Like I said, mine is (over) 4 years old. It 'only' has 32Mb ram and a 133 Mhz MIPS processor but it works fine. If your Ipac is similar, then you might get away with buying just the software, some leads (or GPS sleeve) and a PDA holder.
Also, whatever you buy, new or old, the software will install on your PDA, but the maps are ALWAYS too big to be installed on it too. So you need to buy a suitable memory card for the PDA you use.

Sounds complicated, but it really isn't. If you knew how to connect your old PDA to your pc, then you can also install TomTom now.

Oh, about the mount. The vent mount is nice, but it blocks a vent and I personally find it a bit too close to me and too far from my passenger (which should/could also look along). Nor can the vent mount be 'bent' to dimish reflections when the sun shines in at odd angles.
So I went for the flexible gooseneck mount with suction cup. I'll post some (bad, mobile phone) pictures tomorrow.

And more final words: wrong directions. In TomTom2 I ran into some strange stuff, but that was very very coinidental. Also, I don't know how good the maps for the UK are. The Dutch maps are great, as well as the others I've mentioned.
Moreover: with a satnav you never get lost, even if you take a wrong turn. It will always re-route you. I love that when I'm on a holiday! No more arguments over paper maps! (but take one along as a backup anyway, in case you lose reception )

Cheers,
Edo

--
(2003 Silver 1.4 Tdi Exclusive(SE), 95bhp/235Nm chiptuned by ABT, black interior, sport seats, heated mirrors, JVC KD-SH909RB cd-receiver, Infinity Kappa 63.1 + Vifa on-dash tweeters, 12" Subwoofer on 300w Amp)

 

[Johann]

Also have a look at:
http://www.a2forum.net/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=2577
http://www.a2forum.net/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=2573
http://www.a2forum.net/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=2547
http://www.a2forum.net/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=1630
and maybe also http://www.a2forum.net/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=2880

You'll find in there that Tom Tom is not voted best sat nav out there... Co-pilot is as it actually speaks to you and reads road names and numbers to you and not just things like "left" and "right" etc...

____________________________________________________________________________________
[img=left]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/11882/a2andme2.gif[/img=left]
2001 A2 TDI SE Crystal Blue with Open Sky, 6CD Symphony II, BOSE upgrade, DIS and HALF a winterpack!

iPAQ 3970 with Sat-Nav sleeve, rear cupholders, luggage net and floppy wiper!

http://www.a2oc.net/pic_show.asp?picid=1572&type=1 On www.A2OC.net pictures UK160 to UK183

 

[daveyjp]

I have a Garmin Streetpilot 3 - it's been updated now so is older technology and quite bulky - but it is a good system and it works out of the car on batteries. Only sent me wrong twice - once up a road unsuitable for vehicles and once down a road which had been washed away by high tides!

The aerial is part of the unit, an external one is available if required.

It does take time to trust it as it sometimes sends me a totally different way to what I am used to and what it calculates as the quickest route may not always be!

The Garmin came with a weighted holder which sits neatly to the right of the instrument binnacle and is therefore easy to see, but not directly in the line of sight. Its much easier to look at than the centre mounted ones fitted as standard on some cars - the one in the Jags is awful as the screen is too low down.

 

[swiv]

Just a quick followup on the picture part. Four pictures to show you where my PDA is located and how it is fixed. Didn't shoot the gps receiver, but like I said: it's on the lower edge of the rear window.

Left hand drive car, mind you...................and where my cables run together

The gooseneck. Suction cup stuck to plastic base that is stuck to the dash with adhesive tape. And a shot of where the cable runs from the center console. It does not hinder me, my passenger, the glove compartment or the airbag.

Hope that helps....Well it doesn't really. You still need to go out and buy something by yourself. And install it .

Regards,

Edo

--
(2003 Silver 1.4 Tdi Exclusive(SE), 95bhp/235Nm chiptuned by ABT, black interior, sport seats, heated mirrors, JVC KD-SH909RB cd-receiver, Infinity Kappa 63.1 + Vifa on-dash tweeters, 12" Subwoofer on 300w Amp)