walk about and in-car

tony1 · Occasional Visitor Joined: May 14, 2004 Posts: 1

As an absolute beginer I would like ask some questions please.
I saw the advert in the paper this week from Aldi, and thought it was exactly what I was looking for, but then realised that the hand held unit is not a stand alone receiver, just a small computer.
So, is there a small, mobile phone sized, unit that can be used for walking around cities, finding places of interest, "London eye" "leaning tower of Pisa" for example without knowing post code. And also fit into a holder to be powered by the car for navigation throughout Europe.
I have a computer with XP, also a card reader and a digital camera using SD cards, so a further question do can these receivers have card slots to insert pre programmed info as you get to a new place.
Sorry to have gone on so long, but I guess I have now been hooked into GPS.
I would be very interested to hear from anybody.
Thankyou.
Tony

DavidW · Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 6:40 pm Post subject:

Most of the systems we discuss on this site, including the Medion package, uses a PDA (usually running Microsoft's Pocket PC, but some systems can operate on a Palm OS machine) matched up to a GPS receiver. If you're buying with the intention of using GPS applications, the Pocket PC will give you many more options.

The Medion package can only be used in car because the wired GPS receiver supplied needs external power to operate; there are other types of GPS receivers that don't have this restriction. The software supplied with the Medion is a street navigation package; on suitable hardware such software can be used for finding places in town on foot, but it's no good for outdoor pursuits, where 'topographic' software is used that displays OS maps or similar.

The best thing to do is to keep reading both the forums and especially the reviews on this site; hopefully you'll soon have a pretty good idea of what is available. Of course, you're always welcome to ask more questions!

David

Tree · Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 10:48 pm Post subject:

What about the Garmin GPSMAP 60C? It is very mobile as well as in car guidance is v. good

lbendlin · Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject:

It may be very mobile but its in car guidance is rather inferior. For in car use you would expect more or less complete road maps, voice navigation instructions (optionally even saying the road names) and an automatic rerouting when you are off track. The Garmin just shows Topo maps.

And then there's the problem of antenna placement. The Garmin has a fixed antenna which means you may see problems both with in car reception and with conflicting requirements towards the screen and the antenna orientation (they will have differing optimum planes)
_________________
Lutz

Report Map Errors here:
TomTom/TeleAtlas NAVTEQ

Tim Buxton · Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 11:45 pm Post subject:

Lutz,

icsys · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 12:01 am Post subject:

The Garmin GPSMAP 60C has quite an impressive specification:

Sunlight-readable display with 256-color transreflective TFT display (1.5" W x 2.2" H; 2.6" diagonally); color operating system with new look-and-feel.
Faster processor, with auto routing, turn-by-turn directions, and audio alerts along city streets or trails when using MapSource® City Select® or 24K Topo software (optional software).
56 MB of internal memory for storing map detail.
Permanent user data storage.
Each day’s best hunting and fishing times—along with sunrise/sunset times—on the integrated Outdoor Calendar.
Special geocaching navigation mode.
Geolocation games, such Virtual Maze, Nibbons, Geko™ Smak, and Memory Race.
Fast map transfer, with support for both USB and serial port interfaces; navigation instructions can be shared with repeaters, plotters, and autopilots using NMEA protocols through the dedicated serial port
Detailed basemap with general map data, including highways, major roads, river, lakes, and borders
Dedicated "mark", "page", "enter", "quit", "menu", "find", and "zoom out/in" buttons; four-position rocker pad
WAAS GPS receiver with accuracy to 10 feet in North America; built-in quad-helix antenna for better satellite reception.
30 hours of battery life under typical-use conditions (uses two "AA" batteries).
Multi-platform navigation for easy navigation in a car or boat, or on foot.
Accepts data from MapSource products (City Select for driving, U.S. Topo and 24K Topo for hiking, Recreation Lakes for freshwater, and BlueChart® for saltwater applications).
Waterproof to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (can be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes).
50 reversible routes, 10,000 track points with TracBack® technology. (navigate to any track point on the displayed map), and 1000 waypoints with additional graphical icons for location identification.
Proximity alerts for anchor drag, arrival, off-course, proximity waypoint; built-in alarm clock.
User-configurable track-line color, waypoint projection, display color scheme, large-numbers option, audio tones, and pages (turn on/off main pages or change the sequence in which they appear).
Trip computer provides odometer, stopped time, moving average, overall average, total time, max speed, and more.

	PocketGPS
	Web