Which Format GPRS

[The Doc]

I have an Ipaq 3970, and have used it for months. I now want to purchase a GPS syste, mainly for the car but occ for walking in Scotland and the Lakes. I am unsur which way to leap. On one hand I cannot stand a lot of trailing wires in the car and thought that Co Pilot with sleeve might be an option. On the other hand I could use Bluetooth bundled with what I am lead to believe is a better software in Tom Tom. However 8 hours only before the charge goes on the Blutooth receiver means that I would have to revert to those wires trailing over the Dash?



I would appreciate any advice.





The Doc

[René]

Hi Doc



I'm presently using The Ipaq 3970 together with Navman 3400. I have just recently aquired the TomTom Navigator 2(now upgraded to 2.2) software (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland)and the add-on maps for Western Europe. I have tried other navigation software solutions and trust me, nothing kicks a.. as TomTom Navigator 2.



If you want to se what a Navman looks like then check out the Navman: http://www.navman-mobile.com/html/3400.htm



I also have the SmartST navigationsoftware since it will follow your Navman but it is several versions from achieving the results you will get in TomTom Nav 2.



It is easy even to a non Ipaq nerd as my self to make Navman 3400 and TomTom Nav 2 cooperate.



Finally, I do not hold any shares in either companies but I have spend a lot of euros before being satified with the result.



PS: In TomTom you can even let your wife, mother or mother-in-law record the driving instructions.



PPS: Any clarifying questions - just ask - and I will answer if I can.




_________________
Regards



René

[DavidW]

My Brodit Active Mount helps to keep my 3970 based installation tidy in car. The cable disappearing behind my dashboard and is wired to an auxiliary lighter socket I installed behind the dashboard.



I'd recommend going for the appropriate Brodit mount (if you're going to use a CompactFlash or Bluetooth GPS, you probably want the straightforward Active Holder) suitable for a Dual PC Card Expansion Pack if you use any expansion packs on your iPAQ.



My Brodit 968529 happily takes my PC Card Expansion Pack Plus with the screen protector folded behind the iPAQ - it helped when I wiped the mount over with some Autoglym Rubber and Vinyl Cleaner (yellow square on the Autoglym packaging) to help the flexible sides of the screen protector slide easily into the mount.



Pretty much an expansion pack available for my 3970 should fit into this mount. The door of my PC Card Expansion Pack Plus isn't left swinging freely as I think it might be had I bought one of the Brodit mounts recommended for Expansion Pack Plus products.





The GPS is a Haicom HI-303MMF in my 3970's PC Card Expansion Pack Plus (using a Pretec PC Card / CompactFlash adapter). The Haicom can be bought from www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk. I'm running TomTom Navigator 2 2.22 UK on this setup.





This way, the whole installation is powered from my Brodit mount and can be used out of the car, though it's not as rugged as some alternatives for walking. The HI-303MMF is particularly nice in car as you can angle the antenna to be horizontal with respect to the sky.



If you haven't got a suitable expansion pack on your 3970 for a CompactFlash GPS, Expansys have the original CompactFlash Expansion Pack (the one without a screen cover or battery) for just over 35 pounds shipped here. Alternatively you could consider the CompactFlash Expansion Pack Plus and enjoy the extra battery life!







If you're serious about the walking (and I'm not, being a wheelchair user), you may want to consider putting the iPAQ into either the HP/Compaq iPAQ Rugged Case or one of the Otter Armor products. This is where Bluetooth comes into its own - you can put your Bluetooth GPS into a separate Otter box. Trying to cram an iPAQ and a CompactFlash GPS into a waterproof case is going to be tricky! The HI-303MMF is unlikely to go into the Rugged Case's "Extended Card Cover" as it project too far backwards, and I doubt many other CF GPSes will fit in that cover. If you can fit the Otter 3600 Through The Box POD kit to the top of the Otter 3600, you may cram a CF GPS into it, but I have my doubts.





For my very limited out of vehicle use, a CompactFlash based setup is fine. I really can't justify the cost of full-on waterproofing and the extra expense of a Bluetooth GPS over a CompactFlash one.





The TomTom Bluetooth GPS appears to have a little docking cradle that I suppose will be possible to mount in car. If you could somehow mount that on a Brodit mount / ProClip combination, supply power to it, and hide both the power cables behind the dashboard, that would provide an extremely neat installation.







David

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