GPS....Advice / experiences???
 

I'm considering the purchase of a gps system.....
It will be used for car & bike & I'm hankering towards a PDA based one as the unit can do a lot more than just get me here & there.
Obviously a PDA is not waterproof but it would be used in a map case in the top of a tankbag on the bike.
Any ideas what to go for or what to avoid?
Anyone got one they want to get rid of for a paltry sum? ;)
Any and all comments welcome.
Cheers & a Happy New Year to one & all.
Andy
:roll:

Andy,
I've been using a tomtom go for a couple of months now - very easy to use straight out of the box. Also easy to download the UK speed camera database. The only downside so far has been that you can't enter a postcode for the destination. I believe Navman make an all-in-one that is designed for bikes.

I shied away from the pda ones because they always seem to crash at exactly the wrong time. Not a problem for me, but Mrs Chicken is a technophobe and wanted the simplest solution. The pda kits start around £300. If you already have a pda, you can get a gps add-on, car kit and software for a lot less. If you don't have a pda, I have a compaq ipaq that you can have for the postage and a drink - I'm warning you though, it is $h1te (why else am I giving it away!)

Whatever you get, you should find a way to get the voice prompts to your helmet - without these you won't know when to look down.

cheers, Chi

I've got a gps back to my Ipaq PDA. It is without doubt the most frustrating piece of technology that I have come across. When it works it's great but it only works half the time - usually the half when you actually need it. The problem is that where it sits on the dash it doesn't get a clear enough view of the sky without the roof getting in the way. The result is that it gets 'lost'. A lot.

If I was going to get another one it would have to have a separate gps reciever that you can place in a better position. There are units that connect to the pda with BlueTooth so it doesn't even need wires.

When it works it is very liberating - in the car it's great not having to struggle with maps and having it count down the distance to the next instruction. Getting something to work on the bike would be fantastic. Not having to 'cram' a route and guess on the road means a better riding experience furshure.

[Edited on 1-1-2005 by Rally]

I have a Navman PDA I use in the van. About 98% happy with it as it has the odd idiosyncrasy, but nothing serious. Power connection for the bike may be a problem - battery life is not brilliant - but sure it can be done.

I had a Navman s/w package running on an IPAQ - its a very good solution and worked well - was a while back though.

The TOMTOM system was also very good. There are loads of these on ebay - "no 5hit" I hear!!!

Not sure how much of an issue it might be, but back then if the car has a heated windscreen, you'll need an external aerial as the wires in the screen will prevent the system from getting a satellite signal.

Maybe worth checking.

Good sites for info -

http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/tips/GPS/

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/

Tim:frog:

[Edited on 2-1-2005 by Rattler]

Used a Garmin Etrex Vista for a couple of years off road. It survived massive abuse (although the screen needs a bang every now and then) and still serves me perfectly well.

Battery life can be a bit of problem if it's not wired in, and the software isn't exactly cutting edge, but overall no complaints. It was the only handheld at the time with a map on it but I think many of the newer units have far superior user interfaces.

If it's just for the bike I should go with one of the new traffic-focussed jobbies. If you're reckoning on using it travelling, city navigating, finding your way back to your hotel at 4am, etc... then consider a handheld!

I have a Garmin GPSmap60cs and its rubbish, in fact they have replaced in 4 times and if you ring them to enquire if the map60 is any good they sing its praises and claim that they have never hade one returned. The problem with this particular model, and I beleive there is a design fault, is that it will not pont towards a way point which makes it useless! its about 30 - 40 degrees out.

I also use TomTom and can thoroughly recommend it to others. Like Chicken, I have also downloaded the Speed Cameras file but the latest version certainly has postcode entry as an option.

It runs on a PDA (XDA2 from O2) which allows me to use TomToms "Traffic" system via GPRS to give constant updates of traffic flows, volume etc., and allows instant replanning. I have a "wired" receiver in my car but also have a Bluetooth receiver that I use in hire cars etc. It's easy to switch the PDA between the two types.

I can't find the postcode entry option on the Go :(
Is this function only available on the pda models?

Yippee! Just found out how to do it. 2005 turning out to be a great year already!!!

[Edited on 2-1-2005 by chicken]

GPS
 

I run a Jornada 545 with TomTom 3 with the speed camera database running in the back ground. This is a significant improvement over TomTom 2 which used to freeze.

A good source of info

http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/

Do you want audible directions Andy or just a standard GPS type thing? You are welcom to borrow my GPS3+ for an extended evaluation if you want.

Or to borrow my IPAQ navman.

I've got a Garmin Street Pilot III which is a self contained GPS system - it's the same unit that BMW and Ducati sell in rebadged form (although it's just been superceded). I got it several years ago when GPS on PDA's wasn't really a big thing. It is a portable unit that has different mounting attachments so that it will transfer between my car or my wife's car very easily. It would also fit on the ST, somewhere on the top yoke. I bought a spare power cable to wire it into the ST's loom (since you can always tuck the unit's power plug somewhere out of the way when it's not on the bike) but I've never got around to finding a suitable mounting kit for the bike.

Upsides are that it has worked perfectly for about 3 years, it has a few quirks (like not recognising that a roundabout is a roundabout unless it has a kerbed island - it treats mini roundabouts that are just painted on the road as if they're an ordinary junction). It got confused when I was in Ireland, but then again the Garmin website does point out that the Ireland map only has partial coverage. Other quirks are that it (if you use it locally) it will take you by a logical route and not necessarily the way you would normally take, you have to assume that it does this in every locality so it doesn't navigate like someone with local knowledge would, but it always gets you there even if a road is closed it quickly recalculates.

The navigation view is pretty good, colour screen and audio prompts as well, although if you wanted to use audio on a bike you would need to have all the gubbins, earpieces in the lid would be a minimum, it would work OK although it would work best if you ran it through an Autocom or summat like that (getting a pricey deal then though)

Downsides, battery life is limited so rechargables or plugging it in to the vehicle are are must. The updates that you can download from the Garmin site are always a bit of a faff (I do them so infrequently that I forget how to do it between downloads) and there are two sorts of download - one for the maps, one for the firmware in unit. Other downsides are that they use a system of licenses and unlock codes for the map regions, you get an unlock license when you buy it, but buying more regions is very expensive. The memory chips are also very expensive, they're only the same technology as a digital camera chip but because they come in a proprietary shape and size they cost a comparative fortune (I think I paid about £120 for a 256Mb? - could be wrong it was a while ago). Obviously the bigger memory chip you fit, the more map regions you can load.

Having said all that, I think that the latest versions come with the biggest memory chip as standard and free unlock codes for the whole of Europe.

[Edited on 2-1-2005 by Jools]

What Jool's said re: Garmin Streetpilot III. Brilliant, done loads of trips, UK and Central Europe with it. This year, flogged it on the web (inside two hours) and upgraded to Garmin 2610. Touch screen (even works with wet gloves) was doubtful about value of upgrade but It's truly loads better. Faster processer means it re-calcs on the fly much, much faster. This is a must have when you have just missed a junction in the middle of fast moving, town traffic (Obviously not in UK, LOL)

Can't say enough good things about it.

Oh, yes; mounts easily on the BMW or the 888.

Rgds, Rob

Mmm, interesting thread. I've just ordered a nice little setup that should be with me by next week. Gone for an iPaq HX4700 and TomTom Bluetooth GPS receiver. Will be running TomTom Nav 3 with the usual POI's added.

Went for the BT version so the receiver can be placed in the best spot in the car. Also makes it handy for moving to other vehicles as I use my mums Shogn for trackdays. Can also be used on foot if need be, maybe good for visiting other towns on holidays etc (also have most European maps too).

Not sure I'd trust a PDA-based system on a bike, it's probably not robust enough. Also, TomTom say they won't offer a mounting kit for their new "Go" system, as it's not weatherproof! A friend of mine has used a Garmin Streetpilot III on his FJ1200 and Monster S4R - gets him to the far end of Spain fine. The newer model 2610 is supposed to be ven better (as Rob says above)

Andrew

Garmin 2610 going for £610 on ebay. Bargain compared to tottenham court road...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...0578 005&rd=1

For me iPaq 5450 + TomTom 3

Wired antenna in the car, bluetooth on the bike. So bluetooth would be the best option for you in this case. TomTom annually update maps etc and it costs around 40 euros to update. There's lots of plugins (like postcodes from www.didgitools.co.uk )

On the bike stick the pda in a tank bag along with the antenna and it works like a charm. You can plug in an earpiece and get the voice directions as well if needed. I've used it a few times on the bike without any problems. I'm also thinking of getting a RAM mount to use it on a mountain bike too.

Some of the bluetooth recievers are a little "flakey" and have battery issues. Possible the best one at the moment is the Fortuna Clip or it's clones. It's got 2 modes of use and uses Nokia phone batteries whilst not being much bigger than a pack of matches.

This is an excellent site for more info

http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/

I use a Pocket PC PDA running Medion Navigator software with POI's for cameras-it works very well, does occasionally lock up but shutting software and re-starting always cures it. It uses a wired recever which is a bit of a pain as you have wires draped all over the dash-I haven't tried it on the bike yet but putting it in a tankbag should work fine. The screen is very bright and clear and the voice directions very good-re-calculates routes as you go if you miss a turning, and doesn't ask you to do a 'U' turn on a motorway. Oh yes, and I got mine secondhand for £100...............

John

I am running a Dell Axim X30 with a wired tomtom reciever and tomtom 3 and it works a treat even behind a heated windscreen in the focus.
If you want cheap then have a look at macro, a full PDA system with sat nav and car kit for £279

I have a Customer who trialed several Handheld GPS's over the last few months and the actually ended up but 250 of these
http://www.dabs.com/uk/productview?q...&referrerid=TS
So could be worth a look

Tom Tom question
 

Am also planning to get a PDA-based system. This was going to be a Palm T3/T4, which will fit landscape-mode on the top yoke of a 916 (if I can waterproof/mount it neatly) therefore in line-of-vision rather than under your chest. Am also considering the new X50 Dell, but am not sure if you can flip it it to landscape mode the same.

Anyway, Tom Tom software seems to get the best reviews and it has points-of-interest (err, speed cameras!). My question is ... can you use it in a non-directed way, ie. roaming freely, on whatever road looks interesting, with the map there on the screen for general guidance ... then when you get home upload your route to a PC to get a good view of where you went ... then use that route as directions if you wanted to retrace those steps? I like the idea of having a dynamic map on the top yoke, but not sure I want to be told where to go all the time!

Only had mine aday or so but as far as I can tell you can just leave it free roaming to follow on the map. I'll check it out on the way home tonight.

Only problem you will have is that the TomTom software won't let you run in landscape mode, regardless of what PDA you have.

Just confirming that TT Nav3 can be set to just follow the map as you're driving along.

Thanks for that Des. Whilst the Pocket PC machines do portrait mode, the Palm T3/4 definitely do landscape as well, and I'm pretty sure I've see screenshots of TomTom working in landscape. Last I heard though, the Palm version didn't accept points of interest to be loaded, but they're expected soon I think.

TomTom 3 definitely only does landscape on the Palm platform

For mounting to the yoke have a look at RAM mounts, the Veypour datalogging kit uses them.

http://www.ram-mount.com/index.htm

I'm looking to get one for my mountain bike, and have toyed with the idea of using the same system to mount to the 748.

Yep, the StreetPilot does that as well. I know that it's only marginally useful but I do get a childish delight out of seeing it display which number house you are just passing as you drive down the street, looking out the window and finding that it's spot on.

It's also useful having a GPS readout of the speed you're doing. Am I right in thinking that the speed that the GPS says you are doing is more accurate than your speedo?

Yeah Jools. Most speedo's over-read by around 10%. The GPS will be a lot more accurate.

Just buy a Garmin Quest and be done with it...

Small ... but yes, you can read the screen ... and its colour

20 hrs battery life
enough meory to store all you want
And aout the size of a TV remote
Also water resistant

350 GBP from PC world On-line ...