Great 'Sat Nav' Hunt (merged)

romeo13

Good comments on Palm Zire 31 setup at ebuyer here for £189.99 plus p+p


Makro are now doing the same set up (via michelin) for £149 +vat (£175)

bob_a_builder

To : MacBrains

but also a device that I can take out of the car with me when I'm walking in the country.

I woudl have thought one of the pocket PC based one would do the trick
You can see from HERE there is quite a selection of maps, walking and road available, (check all 5 pages)
Not sure if the walking one are of the scale you need or if they can give you directions like road ones, may be difficult for them to prevent you walking off the side of a cliff !

StavRoss_4

I recently bought an Acer N35 with Sat Nav(Destinator) included. Not quite the cheapest Sat Nav BUT I reckoned it was the best value for money as you get a Palmtop Computer with Pocket Word/Excel/Outlook/Windows Media etc... Also has car kit - holder and cig lighter power thing.

Works superbly with good clear audio directions. Very handy instead of laptop most of the time so I have added a small flexi keyboard and a 1Gb sd card for business data.

£232 delivered from http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/647.html

dca001

i have a medion gps system and i'm going to the usa at the end of this month, is there any way of loading american maps into the system??

shopaholic_2

RufusA wrote:

I managed to pick up a Kirrio SatNav system for the Palm Tungsten E for under a tenner at my local Dixons near Victoria (they were having a stockroom clear out):

http://www.dixons.co.uk/product.php?sku=859022

Comes with GPS mouse, car holder with 3 ways of connecting, ciggy charger, software and UK maps (though early 2004) etc.

All I need now is a Tungsten E - Argos are selling for £75, so a full Sat Nav for under £85 by my reconing!

Rufus.

I'm trying to buy a cheap Sat Nav for my 2 kids. Do I need anything else with this? Would it work like my TomTom?

dejongj

I'd tread very carefully buying old stock with old maps....If the maps aren't up-to-date then it won't be of any use and the cheap Sat Nav will just start gathering dust. If Kirrio provides an upgrade path it may be worth it, but otherwise do not do it...Maybe cheap be if it is not used it is still expensive....

macbrains

bob_a_builder wrote:

To : MacBrains



I woudl have thought one of the pocket PC based one would do the trick
You can see from HERE there is quite a selection of maps, walking and road available, (check all 5 pages)
Not sure if the walking one are of the scale you need or if they can give you directions like road ones, may be difficult for them to prevent you walking off the side of a cliff !

Bob that's really helpful, many thanks - I didn't know all those options existed! If its pocket PC based hardware that I need, would anyone care to recommend a particular device or offer? Presumably these can also "talk" you to a destination? As you can see I'm pretty clueless about all this!

Many thanks again
macbrains

trouty_2

I've been baffled by the whole GPS thing but interested enough to persevere!! I eventually bought a C320 for £399 delivered form a guy in Scunthorpe who was good to deal with over the phone.(http://lincstowbars.com/#gps). It comes fully programmed and setup for your vehicle (something i don't think I'd manage to do!!??) I'm not sure that it's the cheapest deal for that model but seemed pretty good to me and I'm well happy with the performance.

xueta

macbrains wrote:

If its pocket PC based hardware that I need, would anyone care to recommend a particular device or offer? Presumably these can also "talk" you to a destination?

If you're a keen walker / rambler then a pocket PC may not have the battery life that you're after - important if you're up a mountain with no electrical socket in sight! A dedicated handheld GPS device may be better - these have a simple monochrome LCD screen which is less draining on batteries. You'd probably find they use the same software as listed by bob_a_builder . Garmin seem to have the market in handheld GPS devices - look up the Garmin etrex models, but Magellen also have a good reputation. These devices will not talk to you, but rather are to be used as a navigation aid in conjunction with your map and compass! Commonsense is also important; it is quite possible for you to program in a route that takes you over a cliff, you just have to be sensible enough to find an alternative route at that point!!

Personally, I haven't used the trekking models but am a fan of the Garmin Forerunner series which are GPS devices for distance runners. These are great gadgets for determining distances, gradients and lap times which can be built up into a logbook to monitor progress in training. Be aware that handheld GPS devices need to be outdoors, with an uninterrupted 'view' of the sky and satellites - signals cannot be found under dense tree cover nor for that matter in tunnels or in areas where there are tall buildings (hence the need for your map and compass).

Having said that, in my opinion portable GPS devices are like mobile phone technology. Give it a year or two and we will have portable GPS systems which are slim and lightweight, have incredible battery life, detailed colour touch screens, have upgradable detailed world maps, can speak to you in 20 languages and cost 99p from lidl :rolleyes:

glen912

I purchased the Palm Zire 31 GPS Solution - Incl. Zire 31 and Voice Guided GPS from Rymans for £179 but the offer no longer seems to be available. It is available from ebuyer for £189.99. http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=10422862619&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=77993
It comes with a 256mb sd card with maps pre loaded. Michelin are offering a free upgrade initially to v 3.0 and then to v 3.1.
I have used the gps in London, for holiday trips to Shropshire and Norfolk and generally it works well.
Routes are re calculated quickly when turnings are missed or an alternative route is preferred/demanded.
A local bypass has just been opened and is not included on current maps. The gps is completely lost until the bypass rejoins the old road.
It does not always take the shortest or quickest route but has never failed to get me to my destination. The Zire 31 can also be used independently for contacts, calendar memos, music, photographs etc.
Whilst not the most sophisticated unit around it is good value for money