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CM4 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 10, 2003 Posts: 20
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2003 7:37 pm Post subject: Good GPS for car Naviagation and occasional city walks. |
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Hi,
I recently got a HP IPAQ h2210/15 at an amazing price (£165 from Ebay US - got lucky with no VAT or Customs paid!) :D (I know...I usually end up paying loads..but hey every dog has its day!)
I also bought Tom Tom 2 from Ebay UK (however having some probelms with it due to the CD's not working....but hopefully will be sorted).
Now all I need is a GPS Reciever.
My uses for it will be primarily for Car Navigation and occasionally finding places around town whilst on foot.
I'd like a Bluetooth solution becuase its more portable and hopefully less hassle then the wires - I might need to use the system in more then one car.
My selection choices are:
Rikaline GPS 6031-X7 - £130ish from Ebay
Fortuna GPSmart - £115ish from Ebay
GlobalSat BT 308 - £120ish from Ebay (but not Uk seller so can expect VAT and Customs to push the price up to around £150)
I like the Rikaline battery life but cannot find a decent review of it. This great site has reviewed both the GlobalSat and the Fortuna but I don't really know enough about GPS to make a definate decision.
I was slightly turned off from the Rikaline when I read these comments on this forum:
Quote: | It seems (from Gpspassion) that the X7 really is an Xtrac device. Maybe they called it HS before the term Xtrac was widespread. Anyway, it makes it more or less useless for driving. |
Why is that?
At the moment I am leaning towards the Fortuna GPSmart because its the cheapest! But in photos it does look ugly and the yellow makes it look abit cheap (sorry to offend any GPSmart owners)
Thanks in advanced for any help offered. |
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lbendlin Pocket GPS Staff
Joined: 02/11/2002 22:41:59 Posts: 11878 Location: Massachusetts, USA
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2003 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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Using XtTrac improves the sensitivity dramatically but since it uses data from multiple cycles to do its magic you have to expect some slight delays - your position will not be updated every second, but , let's say, every three to four seconds. That's quite a big difference in standard traffic conditions. Best would be to choose a device where you can switch Xtrac on and off at will...
As for the body color - I recommend using something lighter (silver or white) rather than darker (black or grey). Remember last summer...
So, why not have a look at the TomTom BT as well? ;-) _________________ Lutz
Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ |
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Dave Frequent Visitor
Joined: Sep 10, 2003 Posts: 6460 Location: UK
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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The X7 will use XTrac and you really only get the enhancements of XTrac when you're using it out and about walking. You will see benefits if you are driving under heavy trees though. We will have a review of the X7 as soon as it arrives. |
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CM4 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 10, 2003 Posts: 20
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Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the replies...much appreciated.
The Tom Tom GPS does look good but its out of my price range to be honest!
The Rikaline X7 seemed perfect but with it being XTrac that pretty much means it won't be able to update the screen fast enough to make it useful for Car Naviagation; or so I thought!
I have read on the Rikaline X7 specification that it updates the screen every second, so that seems to contradict Ibendlin
Quote: |
With low power consumption, the GPS-6031-X7 tracks up to 12 satellites at a time, re-acquires satellite signals in 100 ms and updates position data every second.
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I just wish Dave's delivery of the Rikaline X7 would get a move on! Then I would know for sure!
If the Rikaline is no good then I may as well get the GPSmart which I know is pretty good for Car Navigation, however I have read on GPSPassion forums that it does have trouble getting a fix sometimes - which is obviously not good.
The GPSmart would also end up being the second most expensive of my selection since it would require the USB/Charging lead which is another £20. This makes the Rikaline X7 the cheapest solutuon.
Oh the World of GPS - I'm so confused!
Good thing I found this site otherwise I'd be REALLY stuck! |
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Dave Frequent Visitor
Joined: Sep 10, 2003 Posts: 6460 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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Me too! I'm going to chase it again today. |
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CM4 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 10, 2003 Posts: 20
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Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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Seems that maybe the new Fortuna Dual Mode Bluetooth GPS could be just what I'm looking for!
Has both standard mode and Xtrac mode!
At £154 its more expensive but probably the best bet in the longer term. Anybody seen any reviews anywhere?
Ofcourse PocketGPS World will do the "ultimate review" but anybody know of any other links?
Thanks. |
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israel_id Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 06, 2003 Posts: 14
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2003 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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just orderd mine of expansys for £174inc and also bought the tomtom city maps for my nokia phone, so can't wait to test it out with the gps. Thankfully i still have my wonderful Garmin Emap system so i could try and compare their performance. |
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CM4 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Nov 10, 2003 Posts: 20
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 12:39 am Post subject: |
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cool! If (When ) we get stuck we can help each other out! |
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