Well I Returned my Unit to Aldi

walpurgis · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 32

Looks like this forthcoming all-in-one may be what you need:

http://www.navman-europe.com/product_details.php?id=AA00XXXX

It looks like good value at £399, especially as it comes with street-level maps of 16 European countries.

I think it is based on same Mitac Mio PDA that Evesham are selling for £449.99 but uses different software, which includes 3D views.

It's due in June and, judging from the long list of retailers, may be available at discounted prices.

Darren · Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 7:33 am Post subject:

It is the very same unit as the Evesham/CoPilot bundle. I'm just finishing a review of the Mio 168 used and it's a very nice capable receiver, much smaller than it looks.

Evesham's bundle comes with a mount, external antenna, memory card, cigarette power lead etc, you'd need to clarify that the Navman bundle comes with these before comparing them on price but we'll hopefully get one in for review and see.
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Darren Griffin

walpurgis · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 32

According to the Expansys web site, which gives a bit more detail than the Navman site, the package includes a 128MB SD card and a "full car kit" including a mounting bracket and charger. Doesn't mention an external antenna, though.

The pre-order price is £384.95 (inc VAT). Sounds like a potentially good deal for anyone who wants to minimise in-car wiring, or who wants to use sat-nav away from a car.. or who travels around Europe a lot.

http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=113072

Global Positioning Systems are also offering the Mitac PDA with the built in GPS receiver, but without navigation software for £299.95:

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/viewprod.php?product_id=760&category_id=69

mastertek · Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 8:10 pm Post subject:

Thanks all. Took my ppc200 back last week on Thursday and was lucky to be second in the que. So far the ppc250 seems to be working fine though I have only done one sync. If I do another and all goes well I'll be happy. If it doesn't I'll take it back for a full refund and buy a different brand.
By the way folks Medion never did ring me back. What a shower!

budgie55 · Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 8:56 am Post subject:

Good to hear you got yourself sorted Mastertek Smile

I hope the new unit doesnt give you the problems the last one did!!.

I also bought one of the new units which (touch wood) has been working fine.

I have actually gone with DaveW advice on using Active Sync version 3.7 rather than 3.7.1 (which was giving me one or to problems and lockups).

My OS is XP Pro (no Service pack 1).

Dont give up on it to easily if you do have the odd mishap with active sync. It does freeze on occasions and foul up. I have found that if you end 2 tasks called wcescomm.exe and WCESMgr.exe then you can then restart Active sync from the start menu and all should be fine. Sometimes I have had to undock the unit and redock it for it to re-establish the connection.

Best of luck if you have any problems drop a thread on here maybe someone somewhere has a fix Smile

All the best

Allan Thumbs Up

TJM · Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 1:07 pm Post subject:

What is the difference between the new (PPC250) and old (PPC200) Aldi bundle (apart from the case and buttons looking different)? Is there more on-board memory? What is the DaViDeo software ? Is the case a little more fragile ? Have they moved tee position of the battery cover lock ?

I have the original package and have had loads of problems with the memory appearing to being corrupted. This happens if I insert the stylus when connected via USB to laptop. Also, I have to do a HARD reset every few weeks because a soft reset shows the start-up picture (with the lady in black and white) with some pixels being black. I have to do this when ACTIVESYNC fails to connect as well.

So I was wondering if it was worth trying to swap for the newer model.

Any advise from the forum members ?

walpurgis · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 09, 2004 Posts: 32

The PDAs are totally different and probably from different manufacturers. The PPC200 has been sold under other names including, I think, Mitac and Yakumo, and uses a 400Mhz XScale processor. The PPC250 uses a 266MHz Samsung processor and its closest equivalent appears to be Hewlett-Packard's Ipaq 1940 (without that model's built-in Bluetooth). Although the Samsung processor is slower, its performance is said to be close to that of a 400MHz xScale and it uses less energy.

I'm not sure what version of the Medion Navigator software was supplied with the PPC200 package, but the PPC250 comes with version 3.1 which, according to the manual, has new functions including a speed display, a quick search function, automatic continuation of a route, and assigning user-defined names to destinations.

Curiously, the latest version of the Aldi-Medion package that has gone on sale in Germany today (for €379 - about £250) appears to be based on the older PPC200 PDA.

http://germany.aldi.com/

I haven't tried the DaVideo software yet but apparently it allows you to store DVD films onto a memory card. You can then watch them on your PDA screen - although, with its limited resolution, I can't see much point in this.

So far I have had no problems with the ActiveSync, memory or battery lock with the new model... but it's early days.

druck · Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2004 4:54 pm Post subject:

fergus · Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2004 8:19 pm Post subject:

Nice idea Dave. I'd wondered if this would work but thought I would need 12v which would mean 4AA and a battery case which was too much hassle. I might give it a try next time I go to a city on holiday

Fergus

Darren · Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2004 8:25 pm Post subject:

Don't forget the voltage although 12v at the socket is stepped down in the plug to 5v to supply the GPS and PDA.
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Darren Griffin

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