305III availability

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

Semsons lists the Haicom 305III for sale on their web site with a note reading: "Pre-order, ship end of July".

As the reviews I've seen indicate this appears to be a highly respectable GPS I ordered one last week as my first GPS ever - along with the BT401 for use with my Axim X5. Also bought the latest V2.1.1 iGuidance software. Am also picking up a Sandisk Ultra II 2GB SD card which should suffice for storing map data files.

Anyone know if "end of July" is realistic for the release of the 305III? I'm hopeful that Semsons hasn't been overly optimistic in their sales pitch! Smile

At any rate, I wanted to thank all the folks who've contribuited posts and reviews out here that have helped educate me on the options for GPS using my Axim X5.

Hawk

nulusios · Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 6:43 pm Post subject:

I'd give it a week more. You see Haicom themselves told about sending mine end of July. I suspect retailers will be receiving theirs about then (and NOT shipping to end clients same day... I dunno could be, though).

In any case Haicom delayed them not anyone else.
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NLS

davegns · Occasional Visitor Joined: Aug 01, 2005 Posts: 1

Now the order for Haicom 305III has been delay to "end of August".
Wondering why's the delay.

nulusios · Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:34 am Post subject:

Indeed there is delay. I'm trying to find out why.

It's not a mass availability issue I fear, since they don't even send out a sample. It must be something else (some production error? some design fault?).
_________________
NLS

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

Anyone know how long before the HI-305III is shipping?

If the HI-305III is going to be delayed a lot longer I'm tempted to amend my order with semsons and get something else. The 305N seems worthy of consideration - or is it comparable at all?

Having never owned a GPS I recently placed a "pre-order" for the 305III w/BT-401 based on reviews and the ever so wishful thinking that this kit will be the "state-of-the-art" in GPS devices! Smile

I'll wait it out if you folks think the Sirf III version is worth it. Otherwise, point me to a good substitute. I'll be using it in a Jeep Liberty CRD with an Axim X5 and iGuidance v2.1.1 software (maps stored on 2 Gig SD card). Not for off-roading, but routine highway and city navigation.

I planned to initially use it via the CF slot, but opted for the 305 model to allow me flexibility to move it to a BT or wired connection later if the placement of the receiver needs relocation. I already owned a BT card for the X5.

Have got the Seidio G2500 powered car mount installled and waiting for the GPS unit to arrive.

I've learned almost "all I know" about GPS devices in this and a few other web sites in recent weeks. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge and I would like to thank all who have contributed.

And thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hawk

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

The following is a reply to my email request for an update on the HI-205III ship date:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We apologize for the delay in your order. Unfortunately, Haicom has
delayed shipment to around August 8th due to a shortage in the SiRF III chipset.

Our latest news from Haicom is that they will ship on August 8th and we
should have it ready to ship by August 10th or 11th.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

I hope so. Had not realized this new chip set was in such high demand.

nulusios · Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 8:51 am Post subject:

Just to repoert that the delay is over.

I would have mine tomorrow (it's ready for shipment since yesterday), but since I am leaving for vacations (just 8 days mind you) TODAY (sh*t I'd like to have it with me... I'll take the 305N instead), I told them to hold on to it till the week after the next.
_________________
NLS

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

The www.semsons.com web listing for the 305III changed a couple weeks ago from "ships late July" to "ships early August". Early August ended yesterday! Laughing Out Loud

The latest email reply I got from them (they've been quite gracious responding to my two inquries) said their units were scheduled to ship on August 12th from Taiwan, and they would ship to customers asap. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas - just hope it isn't THAT long a wait!

Anyone know if there's a real chance this will actually happen THIS August? The target ship date has slipped a couple of times already. Since there have been Sirf III units out for a while now from other suppliers, I'm curious as to why Haicom is so slow to get theirs to market...? Maybe they waiting for the firmware issues to be resolved?

goldeneye243 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 19, 2005 Posts: 5

The latest that I have received from semsons is

"Unfortunately, due to production and firmware upgrade delays, Haicom did not send out our shipment of the HI-305III along with other Haicom products and we will not be receiving them until next Tuesday, August 22nd."

Hope it turns up soon.......

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

Received a Semsons email confirming that my H305III order shipped today. Hurray!

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

A quick update on my HI-305III and iGuidance initial impressions.

Took a trip Sunday and visited relatives in 2 cities. 250 mile round trip. On the outbound leg iGuidance (2.1.1 set to QUICKEST ROUTE) did great. Except for a tiny shortcut I usually take to the nearest interstate it mapped the proper route. And when I headed off down the shortcut, it immediately recalculated the route to include the shortcut. Only problem on the trip was some recent highway construction that had shut down the exit iGuidance was expecting me to take. It did recalc the route promptly though when I was unable to make this exit.

On the initial part of homeward leg of the trip iGuidance kept trying to redirect me to an interstate highway some 20 miles south that ran parallel to the state highway I was on. After telling me for some 15 miles that I should do a U-Turn and/or turn left (toward the interstate), it gave up and accepted the route I was on and did a perfect job from there on home. Later I found that had I selected "SHORTEST ROUTE" it would have given me my desired route all along.

The 305III unit itself does great. Outdoors and inside my Jeep Liberty it gets quick and stable locks on anywhere from 4 to 7 satelites. It did play a couple of tricks on me though. Once when we went under a large array of power lines it apparently lost lock long enough to think I missed a curve in the road, and Miss Chatty Cathy started up with the "Procede to the nearest road" stuff. But very shortly it reestablished me on the correct road. The only thing missing was lyrics from "On the Road Again!" Now that would have been pretty cool actually. iGuidance should consider it! Smile

The 305III does work somewhat inside my office - which is a concrete building that doesn't provide acceptable AM or FM radio reception. I left it on my desk running, and every now and then it would lose lock and go into hunting mode again. More times than not it was locked on 3 or more satelites. I guess those nav satelites are in constant motion, huh?

One time something strange occurred. I glanced at the screen of the PDA on my desk and it surprised me to see it reading 28 mph, and the little vehicle icon scurrying cross-country, going through areas I knew to be quite heavily wooded. I watched with fascination as it slowed and then sped up several times. And for the most part appeared to stay on one heading. Then suddenly it stopped. Sat there for about a minute like it was resting - then the screen refreshed and just like Dorothy, I was back in Kansas (well, at my office location!) How normal is this? The only thing I can summize is that due to the inherently weak signals (inside this building) it tried to lock onto - it got confused and once it thought I was moving, it assumed I was still traveling that course until it was able to establish the fact that I was NOT! Is this how these gizmos are supposed to work? Not complaining mind you - just trying to educate myself.

Anyway, I'm delighted with my HI-305III and iGuidance combo. Might even load up the laptop version and see how the GPS experience feels with a big screen.

Hawk

philpugh · Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:52 pm Post subject:

philpugh · Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:46 pm Post subject: 305III - first impressions

Well it arrived today.

very easy to setup - installed s/w and popped the unit into my iPaq 3660.

OziExlorer got a fix within 2 mins - cold start! - between 3 and 5 sats.

This is inside an old brick house with a window about 4 metres away from the unit. And it's adjacent to my work's PC.

I popped in a 512Mb SD card, copied my TomTom 5 info from my CF card and started TT5 up. That got a fix also - hardly a suprise - but I did not have to tell TomTom about the change of map location.

But it does support my theory above that a fix from inside a house is 'inaccurate'. Although upto 5 sats are locked in; TT5 keeps hopping from the actual street to an adjacent one (100yds away). I get to try it in the car tonight but not expecting any real problems. It's a very neat package. The unit stands about 1.5cms proud of the CF slot - so dropping it onto a hard surface will probably be quite detrimental!

Full marks to Handtec for delivery times over the New Year hols. Virtually next business day (actually about 1.5 business days)!

philpugh · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 6:53 pm Post subject:

Been using the 305III daily since it arrived.

With iPaq 3660 and TT5 there are absolutely no problems what so ever. (Famous last words?)

I'm still experimenting with OziExplorerCE - just need to remember if I use scanned OSGB images that I need to set the datum for them to WGS84 otherwise I am about 50 metres off!

I also have Anquet 6 with Pocket Anquet. I'm having all sorts of issues with this - I am in contact with Anquet support and I suspect (given the faultless performance with TT5 and OziExplorerCE) that there are still some bugs to get out of their software. Their support people are very responsive and helpful though - so I have a good feeling about the eventual outcome.

Hawk521 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 17, 2005 Posts: 12

The 305III was my first GPS equipment. It has worked great with my Axim X5 either as a CF device and as a bluetooth using the BT401 slipper. The iGuidance software has worked especially well and I really like the fact it works on a laptop PC as well as the Axim X5 PDA.

Now, to simplify things so that my wife can better manage the GPS on her own - I'm going to buy a Magellan Roadmate 700 or 760. Best as I can tell this is as near "plug and play" as a GPS gets.

And I may be selling off my current setup soon. Speaking of which - PocketGPSworld caters primarily to enthusiasts in the UK and Europe. Is there a GPS forum oriented toward US enthusiasts that would be a more appropriate place to advertisel my components?

John
john@mcdermon(dot)com
North Carolina, USA

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