Toshiba E400: Good starting point??

LondonLuke · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 29, 2004 Posts: 1

Hi...First post and all that!!

I have just been given a Toshiba E440 by my |brother. I only want to use it for GPS. Postcode to postcode.

Should I start with another PDA or will the toshiba be a OK unit??

I notice that another member has posted that they are finding it hard to find leads etc. 1 member recons they dont work!!

What I want to buy is the Receiver, Mount and software. What to buy (new or second hand)

I have noticed the TOMTOM gets most votes. Also there is a free download on here to enable Postcode to postcode.

Cheers

AlanW · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 7:49 am Post subject:

It should be possible, although the lack of bluetooth & a single SD expansion slot will limit you to using a serial 'mouse' type gps, as the SD slot will need to be used for a 128MB (or larger) SD card. Thus as you noted, the difficulty will be locating a suitable cable. You also need to consider whether you want to use it in the car, in which case a suitable mounting kit is required. I suggest you look at www.globalpositioningsystems.com and www.widget.com and see if you can locate suitable cables/mounting kits. You could also type 'e400 gps' into google & check the references that come up. I noticed a number of pages on the pharos gps & one discussing tomtom mounting kits. The applicable tomtom kit is their 'universal' kit, which in my view isn't as nice as some of the custom kits for the iPAQs

Lastly, not having an e400, I don't know how well the combination works, so you'll have to suck it & see.
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AlanW · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 7:52 am Post subject:

Whoops: That should be www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk & www.widget.co.uk Embarassed

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AlanW · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:25 am Post subject:

I also found this compatibility table at Clove http://www.clove.co.uk/index/gpsguide.asp

However, it is a bit suspect as CoPilot CF won't work as the e400 doesn't have a Compact Flash slot. Looking at the other posts on this forum suggests that the Haicom 204 doesn't work on the e400. This probably leaves a tomtom wired GPS + carkit as the solution most likely to work (although again I must stress I haven't tried this). www.Globalpositioningsystems.co.uk supposedly stock this, but the e400 version of the carkit is out of stock.
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Pc-Mobile · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:35 pm Post subject:

There should be no problem using GPS with e400.

Many vendors are selling Haicom 204E/S package. There should be other makes too.
You can use it only in car though as they all need car power.

Of ourse you need to buy software separately.
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Pc-Mobile
http://pc-mobile.net/gps.htm

Tyrog · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 15, 2004 Posts: 8

The Toshiba E400 is a wonderful lightweight Pocket Pc that I would not swap. However the lack of CF port does lead you to being restricted to wired options.

This is where the problems start. The Haicom 204 is being retailed with the option of a cable for the E400. I purchased this option and spent many frustrating hours attempting to get it to work. In a final attempt I hard booted the PDA, obviously losing all my stored data, and tried to install with only the gps software loaded onto the fresh system. Unfortunately this also did not work and subsequently the Haicom was returned to Globalpostitioningsystems. If you check the reviews on their site you will discover I am not alone in being unable to get a connection.

Rikaline also do a gps mouse with E400 connection, but as to whether this works or not I cannot comment. After my experience with Haicom and Globalpositioningsystems I opted for a dedicated gps unit rather than having to purchase a new more compatable PDA.

Should anyone find an option that is guarenteed to work with the E400 I'm sure all of the E400 users would be most interested in hearing about it.

Pc-Mobile · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:26 pm Post subject:

Haicom 204 with the Haicom lead does work with e400.

You either had a faulty lead or more likely, you did not configure your software correctly.

No driver is needed (actually com port driver is needed but it is already installed or built in the e400).

If you are using TTN, configure it to use Tom Tom GPS or NMEA, and COM 2 !
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Pc-Mobile
http://pc-mobile.net/gps.htm

Dave · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:29 pm Post subject:

I suppose the other thing to check also is do you really have the 204-CHG-T400 cable and not the 204-CHG-T800 or 204-CHG-T740 cable sent by accident ?

I'm not sure if they all contain the same pin's, but if they do I suspect pin-outs will be different.

Pc-Mobile · Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 3:08 am Post subject:

We do not have a e800 to test so cannot confirm that.
I am actually a little concerned that the lead that we have is labelled for e400/e800.
As far as I know the com port in e400 and e800 are different so a different lead should be used.
But it seems that almost all manufacturers indicate that both e400/e800 can be used with the same GPS/lead.

Dave probably confirms that a different lead is used.

May be this where the problem/confusion arised.
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http://pc-mobile.net/gps.htm

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