Brendan Hughes

As you all know by now, I’m a luddite compared to most, so please bear with me.

I’m quite interested in a satnav system for my car, after having been in a mate’s one last night and been very impressed (I’m talking about the voice which says “turn left, now turn right”). I’ve just bought this P910 PDA, which I know has Wayfinder capability (I haven't a clue what this is, yet to try it) and perhaps some others in the pipeline.

I didn’t buy a thousand quid satnav fitted to the car a year ago, as no map that I tried had my street on it (the street has been around for 40 years). I live in a village outside Lisbon – Lisbon itself was well mapped, but the maps stopped at the city boundaries. As I knew, Portugal has awful mapping systems (odd for a country famous for its discoverers), and was years behind.

Sat in this chap’s car (brand new Merc) and tried his DVD-based system. It didn’t have my street, but had the one next to it, so the village in general is now covered. My interest is rekindled, as I presume I don’t have to spend a grand on fancy equipment. I understand the PDA screen’s tiny, but if I get oral directions , that will be fine.

So here are the questions:

How are these maps updated, and are they all the same or do rival brands compete with each other? Ie, should I be careful which system I get in order to get my street? He buys a new DVD – what do I do with a PDA?

And

His is presumably a GPS system, which (IIUC) links directly with the satellite. Mine’s a phone-based one, which I thought only triangulates with phone masts, making it more inaccurate in the countryside? [I have visions of hearing “turn right somewhere in the next two miles but not sure where”] Or will mine be as accurate as his? Or will it just give me a map, but no accurate voice commands?

And shouldn’t I be paying for the service somehow?

And

Or am I talking utter bollix?

Thanks as always

Brendan

Brendan Hughes

I'd also use it to warn me of tumbleweed blowing past...

Tim-Grove

FR05T1

Here you go m8, have a look around on this site you may find something that suits your needs.

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/

Graz

www.pocketgps.co.uk

Diesel

Yours has to phone up to check where it is with Wayfinder - a nonsense.

I hear March for a 'proper' GPS from Route 66 with maps on a mem card for the Symbian UIQ platform (that's YOUR phone Luddite ). D

FASTER MIKE!!

how good is wayfinder as its pre-installed on my phone as a try before you buy. but before anyone says "well try it" i never go anywhere worth trying. my phone has the Symbian compatability or what ever

mike

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

You have to buy a GPS receiver to use with the P910i. Wayfinder downloads the maps through GPRS which as mentioned before is not ideal. The prefereable way would be to have the maps on a memory stick which can then be updated via your PC. This is mean tot be on the way. If you also believe some screenshots I've seen TomTom will be converted for the UIQ phones (like yours). Would be end of the year though at a guess.

Diesel

Well that's a whopping 3 weeks away then mate Lovely!

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Doh!

Brendan Hughes

thanks folks! Damn - have to buy more equipment then

Wossis then? TomTom and Route66:
http://www.globalpositioningsystems....17c407a2c7e9a6

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

They're currently for the Series 60 smartphones. Series 60 being the opperating system on the phone. The P-series Se phones use UIQ. They will have to do a port for them to work on the UIQ interface. That's the reason for the delay.

Brendan Hughes

^^ this man knows everything ^^

scooby595

Lidl have a PDA / GPS offer on that started yesterday. My g/f got one, not bad really, not in the same league as my HP2210 & TomTom but never the less a good budget system.

Diesel

Yes Brend', but did you understand him

It has to be a wait and see for us P900 fans - dont want two cradles on the dash...

Tom Tom Go is quite tempting too...and GPS receiver is self contained.

jods

http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

£350 ish quid. Handheld or in the car. V accurate and 20hours battery life.
I got one for Xmas and it is gr8.

Big Lee

Loads of GPS info

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/forumdi...?s=&forumid=46

madou

NavMan 650 is a GPS based system with a 2GB internal hard drive, which gives enough capacity to store the whole of Europe in detail. Link to review below

http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/navman-icn-650.php

Map updates can be loaded onto the internal hard drive using a USB cable from a PC

Diesel

Lee useful link mate. Found a site via that that sells a 'GPS' out lead for my Road Angel. Now I cant really work out what I need to actually use that and get Sat Nav in the car via a PDA.

I simply need a PDA, car holder and a map source I guess. Any advice in choosing which ones would be FAB! Dont want anything flash as this is dedicated GPS (I have a PDA P900 already). D