GPS receiver recommendations required.

APK1

After nearly a year with an Emtac Blue tooth, whilst on holiday in France it let me down 3 times, with the green satelite light not coming on, it meant nearly 3 days unable to use sat nav. The supplier has agreed to a full refund, and so I now need a replacement quick. It will be used solely in the car, the bluetooth unit was always plugged into the charger, hence defeating the point of bluetooth, so I feel I may as well save my money and go for a corded unit, or possibly a sleeve ?

Any suggestions as I need the sat nav for work so wish to order ASAP.

Thanks

Tony

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:25 pm Post subject:

Sleeve's don't fit any of the newer models and are less efficient than BT or Mouse types.

You don't mention what model PDA you have but the Leadtek 9532 is hard to beat if you're considering a mouse type solution as is the Royaltek Sapphire.

Another alternative is the Haicom 303 MMF which is a CF Card that also works as a GPS Mouse.

All have been reviewed here.
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Darren Griffin

APK1 · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:06 pm Post subject:

Thanks Darren, Currently using an ipaq 3950 with bluetooth sleeve, seen the Royaltek Saphire and quite fancied that, use the unit in 2 cars, one is a citroen picasso, with heat reflective front screen so would need to place unit at top of screen for reception, so I guess I'll also need a unit with quite a long cable.

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:16 pm Post subject:

My wife has a Royaltek in her Peugeot which has the same screen issues as the Citroen. She finds it works fine in the far corner by the tax disc and the lead is plenty long enough to reach under the dash and up the door trim with some spare.
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Darren Griffin

APK1 · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:27 pm Post subject:

Thanks again, still like the idea of a sleeve, seems far simpler, and also gives a degree of use away from the car, in real world use do they struggle on reception ? main car is a Rover 600 where the unit is used on an arkon powered mount stuck to the windscreen, so I would expect to be ok, but on citroen it is fitted down on dash next to stereo, so I would imagine it may struggle ?

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:35 pm Post subject:

It'll be hopeless in the Citroen unless you plug in an external antenna but should be OK in the Rover. The Emtac GPS Jacket is better then the Navman Jackets and is relatively sensitive but still a much poorer performer than a mouse or BT GPS.
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Darren Griffin

APK1 · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject:

With an external aerial would it compare favourably with mouse type?After a year of trailing curled cords for receiver, and ipaq/arkon all over the car I'm trying to make it look a bit more professional, am I right in thinking the sleeve is powered, and can be semi hard wired, and the ipaq drops into the sleeve and draws power from it ? if so the sleeve could be left in the car semi permanently with hidden cables.

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:50 pm Post subject:

Even with an external aerial it would not be on equal terms with a mouse type or BT. I'd hazard a guess at it bring 65-70% of the efficiency of a Mouse without external antenna and 75-80% with.

The Jackets' are much slower acquiring initial fix and more sensitive to signal interuptions during use which result in delays whilst fix is re-aquired. Are you sure another BT GPS wouldn't be a better solution? There was a simple fix for the problem your Emtac suffered which involved bridging two jumpers inside to force a reset. Most of the BT units have proved very reliable and would suit your requirments much better!
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Darren Griffin

APK1 · Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 8:58 pm Post subject:

I hear what you are saying about bluetooth, I have now lost confidence in current unit, and whilst I appreciate there is a fix, as described in the forums, I don't see why having paid £240 for the unit I have to open the unit up and effectively short it out to reset the memory.

As far as bluetooth generally though at the moment I have to use a bluetooth sleeve, and as I leave the unit plugged in permantly I feel I am not really benefitting from the bluetooth's ability.

I concede though that it is more flexible, and that it is probably more "future proof" in that it will work with any blue tooth equipment, also now that prices have come down it is not that much more.............now you've started me thinking again !!!

DavidW · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 12:52 am Post subject:

If you are completely set on a sleeve, I'd buy a Haicom HI-303MMF and an expansion pack that allows you to use it with your 3950 instead. You would have been a candidate for the CompactFlash and Bluetooth expansion pack that Compaq produced, but it's now discontinued (and isn't supported under Pocket PC 2003).

If you just want a CompactFlash slot, Expansys have a pack that will do for less than 40 pounds - see here.

There's plenty of other alternatives to get a CompactFlash slot on your 3950, though.

I'm using a HI-303MMF with an iPAQ 3970, a PC Card Expansion Pack Plus and a PC Card / CompactFlash adapter.

David

APK1 · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:08 am Post subject:

Thanks for your reply dave, I actually already have a bluetooth sleeve with CF slot, I am tending to think about bluetooth again now, as the additional cost over mouse type is now far less. However reading through the forums, all makes seem to have problems, I am considering the fortuna, any comments ?

DavidW · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 1:37 pm Post subject:

The Fortuna Clip On is one obvious choice.

The other, slightly more intriguing possibility, is to order a Haicom HI-303MMF and a HI-401 Bluetooth slipper - so you have the option of using the GPS as a CompactFlash card or a Bluetooth GPS. However, this will almost certainly be more expensive than the Fortuna.

David

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