Newbie seeks info on PND's

travelagent · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 27, 2006 Posts: 15

Hi ,I'm new to this wonderful world of GPS navigation and am searching round for my first purchase and for information generaly on the technicalities.The information on this site and forum has been very helpful in getting me started on the learning curve especialy who to (or not ) to purchase from!
My requirements are for in car,walking and cycling navigation in one unit.I would also like to use it as a PDA but only if the GPS side of it is very good. The two options for me seem to be :
a) A standard PDA with SD/MMC and CF slots and an add on CF type GPS receiver.
b) a Personal Navigation device ,i.e with the GPS integrated in the PDA

The versitility of the first option was initialy very appealing and I was keen on a combination of the Dell Axim x50 or 51 PDA with Rikaline CF GPS which I have seen advertised as a bundle with car mount etc. from PDA MODS
This does have the advantage that I could change the receiver and/or softwear at a later date.
However I have to admit I am not realy an experimenter and realy want something that will work "out of the box" This option also tends to be more expensive, so I now favour the second option.
I have read favourable reviews of the Mitac MIO 168 on this site but have also read some user feedback on another site that reported screens blowing up while powered in the car and connectors failing and bad aftersales service from suppiers and Mitac.
An alternative is the Naveman PiN 570 (I prefere the "portrait" config of this model to the "landscape" config of other Naveman models).
I read the review on this site which seemed positive .I especialy liked the fact that it included a comprehensive suit of office programs .However I noted that the review was only from information supplied ,rather than hands on use by the reviewer.
Two important points were missing.
1) is there a connection for an external aeriel for car use?(is one ever needed?)
2) Can other software such as Tom Tom 5 be used with it?

Has a hands on review been carried out yet on this ,or any other site?

I have also seen a review of the Garmin iQue 360 which marked it down for poor battery life so I'm discounting this one.
If I could be convinced that a PDA/ CF GPS bundle would work out of the box I might go back to that.
Any advice on all this (and where to buy ) greatfully received.
Travelagent Question

maxqa · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 30, 2005 Posts: 27

Hi

Im a a Mio168 user and have nothing but praise for this unit. Have not experienced any problems and works fine with TomTom5 etc.

regards

max

travelagent · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 27, 2006 Posts: 15

Thanks for your input maxqa

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