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HaiCom 303 GPS Newbie Buyers Summary

 
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Broomy
Occasional Visitor


Joined: Aug 20, 2004
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:08 am    Post subject: HaiCom 303 GPS Newbie Buyers Summary Reply with quote

Hi, I am fairly new to the world of PDA GPS solutions and currently looking to buy a Ipaq2210, Car Mount
and Compact Flash GPS. I have been google'ing and reading forums for a few days and have come up with some
conclusions about my decision on which GPS I should buy. My research has raised a few questions which are
partially answered in some of the threads I have read but, due to them being scattered it is difficult
to relate them. Maybe you guys would have a read through my thoughts and be so kind as to post some opinions.

Hopefully this post will be useful to others in my situation.

My requirement for the PDA GPS is car navigation in and out of cities, walking/cycling country side and cities.
(like everyone else Smile !!)

I believe the Haicom 303 range to be the most popular and best suited solution to my requirements. So this
leaves the choice between the 303MMF 303E and 303S.

Quick Summary of the options :

303MMF - SiRF I (Low power fast locking standard GPS require 3+ good sats to lock 90mA)

303E - Evermore (Not as good at locking higher power consumption standard GPS require 3+ good sats to lock 120mA)

303S - SiRF II Xtrac v2 chip (Low power fast locking clever XTracV2(XT2) firmware can lock to weak signal 90mA)

I haven't been able to find out why you would choose the 303E over the 303MMF apart from price because as far
as standard GPS's goes the 303MMF seems superior?

On first inspection it would seem the 303S is the best solution, it is the one I am mostly swaying towards.

Am I correct in thinking that it has the ability (due to the XtracV2) to switch from ST to XT2 when appropriate
i.e. strong signal lock has been lost therefore it will use weak signals (i.e. in a high rise city or tree
covered forest) to give a best possible position? Can you force the 303S to always use ST mode?

The down sides to the 303S are potentially some lag when travelling at high speed although I think this is
just assumed legacy from XtracV1 which had terrible lag at speed. Most people have said this is not a problem
for car navigation and missing junctions/turns.

The other down side to XT2 is what I think are inaccuracies when in good signal best described in this article:
http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=90&page=2
I dont really understand this because I thought the 303S would switch to ST mode in good signal.

And finally this article raised some questions for me:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13228
It would seem that for walking XT2 does not offer anything over a ST GPS as the info you
get is useless. But I can accept the trade off of the difficulty when walking slowly undercover
if the driving through a city is improved with XT2 because if you had a ST you wouldn't get anything any way.
The post also does detail if walking in good signal is affected, which if so would defiantly put me
off the 303S.

All the best Laughing

Jamie Broome
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Broomy
Occasional Visitor


Joined: Aug 20, 2004
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:26 pm    Post subject: Re: HaiCom 303 GPS Newbie Buyers Summary Reply with quote

Broomy wrote:
Hi, I am fairly new to the world of PDA GPS solutions and currently looking to buy a Ipaq2210, Car Mount
and Compact Flash GPS. I have been google'ing and reading forums for a few days and have come up with some
conclusions about my decision on which GPS I should buy. My research has raised a few questions which are
partially answered in some of the threads I have read but, due to them being scattered it is difficult
to relate them. Maybe you guys would have a read through my thoughts and be so kind as to post some opinions.

Hopefully this post will be useful to others in my situation.

My requirement for the PDA GPS is car navigation in and out of cities, walking/cycling country side and cities.
(like everyone else Smile !!)

I believe the Haicom 303 range to be the most popular and best suited solution to my requirements. So this
leaves the choice between the 303MMF 303E and 303S.

Quick Summary of the options :

303MMF - SiRF I (Low power fast locking standard GPS require 3+ good sats to lock 90mA)

303E - Evermore (Not as good at locking higher power consumption standard GPS require 3+ good sats to lock 120mA)

303S - SiRF II Xtrac v2 chip (Low power fast locking clever XTracV2(XT2) firmware can lock to weak signal 90mA)

I haven't been able to find out why you would choose the 303E over the 303MMF apart from price because as far
as standard GPS's goes the 303MMF seems superior?

On first inspection it would seem the 303S is the best solution, it is the one I am mostly swaying towards.

Am I correct in thinking that it has the ability (due to the XtracV2) to switch from ST to XT2 when appropriate
i.e. strong signal lock has been lost therefore it will use weak signals (i.e. in a high rise city or tree
covered forest) to give a best possible position? Can you force the 303S to always use ST mode?

The down sides to the 303S are potentially some lag when travelling at high speed although I think this is
just assumed legacy from XtracV1 which had terrible lag at speed. Most people have said this is not a problem
for car navigation and missing junctions/turns.

The other down side to XT2 is what I think are inaccuracies when in good signal best described in this article:
http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=90&page=2
I dont really understand this because I thought the 303S would switch to ST mode in good signal.

And finally this article raised some questions for me:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13228
It would seem that for walking XT2 does not offer anything over a ST GPS as the info you
get is useless. But I can accept the trade off of the difficulty when walking slowly undercover
if the driving through a city is improved with XT2 because if you had a ST you wouldn't get anything any way.
The post also does not detail if walking in good signal is affected, which if so would defiantly put me
off the 303S.

All the best Laughing

Jamie Broome
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dastardly
Occasional Visitor


Joined: Apr 11, 2004
Posts: 26
Location: Kent - UK

PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2004 9:05 pm    Post subject: Re: HaiCom 303 GPS Newbie Buyers Summary Reply with quote

Broomy wrote:

My requirement for the PDA GPS is car navigation in and out of cities, walking/cycling country side and cities.
(like everyone else Smile !!)

I believe the Haicom 303 range to be the most popular and best suited solution to my requirements.


I use a TT wired and a 303. My experience with the Haicom is that it's great for walking about in the country, but hopeless in the city of London.

With the PDA sitting on the dashboard, the 303 can't hack it in amongst all those tall buildings (and it's not that clever on heavily wooded roads either), whereas the TT beats it hands down because I can open the window and stick the magnetic mouse on the roof, where it gets a much better view of the sky.

I love the 303 for its compactness, but I always use the TT in the car now.

John
_________________
ipac 2210, Integral 128Mb, Haicom 303E CF (& TT wired), Fugawi, TT3 & POI Warner
Nuvi 610T on my motorbike
Tomtom 720 in my car
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