What GPS unit?

I've just come into a little cash for some new toys and I think the next one will be a GPS unit for my Palm TX. I'd like to know if anyone here has any experience with PDA GPS, what models are junk or overpriced etc. I havent been able to come accross much info on my own.

Much of what I've found comes bundled with software which I dont really need since I've already got mapopolis which seems to be ok. Though the TomTom pack might be interesting.
(i.e here http://www.buygpsnow.com/gps-for-palm_93.html)


My main concern is good battery life of the unit, and if a change in software is suggested I'd like to avoid anything with recurring fees.

im actually interested in this same topic so any help to him is appreciated

but i do recommend a Bluetooth GPS receiver since the TX and my MDA both have bluetooth

check out zdnet http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6460_16-5135545-1.html they have reviews of the best.

altho i already purchased MS streets and tips 2006 with the USB GPS at a nice discount i still in search for one for my Tmobile MDA and a few different ones for other devices.

I've done a little more shopping arround and I think I'm going to go with the Holux 236.
Bah, Ebay prices are no cheaper than retail.

Hey--I've got a Holux with my Axim x50v, and it's pretty decent. I don't have much experience with other GPS's so I can't speak to them, but it's pretty small, and it does a good job of getting me where I want to go. It's not the newest GPS on the market any more, but it does a decent job. Every once in a while I have a bit of trouble connecting to the Holux, but I believe that's the flaky Bluetooth stack on the x50's and not the fault of the GPS.

I downloaded the Mapopolis trial and frickin' HATED it. The maps were not only bad for my area, they were ugly. Looked at the other packages and liked them just fine, except for the prices. Many have licenses that are tied to specific devices, so if you upgrade (or lose) your PDA you may have to buy another GPS software license (!). At $100+ for a license, that's a big deal. I ended up getting Arkon Mobinavigator for $60 off of ebay. I was stoked about the price. There actually isn't any funky key code or internet activation copy protection on the software (actually there is none) , and it comes with both Pocket PC and laptop versions for those interested in that.

The maps are prettier on TomTom and the like, but I just couldn't justify spending twice the $$ on those packages.

You can save some money if you buy a bundle with GPS + software from many manufacturers. However some hardly discount it at all.

The battery life is fine on this GPS--I think it's somewhere around 10 hours, but I've never run it down, really.

Have you looked at the BT 338? Looks like a good unit to me and battery life might be longer. I'd probably look at that one pretty hard, too. Here's a link to a pretty reputable shop that has a 10% discount going through aximsite.com at the moment:
http://www.buygpsnow.com/aximsite_discounts_for_members.asp

By the way, don't even consider DeLorme or Microsoft Trips. They are utter crap. I tried the MS package and immediately knew it wasn't what I was looking for.

I've got a BT-338 and it's great. The first week I had it, I flew to NYC and had some problems getting it to pick up in Manhattan, but I had no clue what I was doing really and the "jet lag" GPS units can experience when being turned on one place, then being turned on 800 miles away the next time.

Whatever you get, be sure to get a SiRF Star III chipset. I heard about some newer ones on the near horizon coming out, but right now SiRF is hands-down the way to go. A lot of SiRF Star III receivers are basically the same internally and operate near identically (but the BT-338 was cheap enough and had gotten such great reviews that I figured, why get something else?).

For the record, I got mine at BuyGPSNow.com and used the coupon code BGN01, which seems to have been valid for a long time. Got mine last December, still holding up great. Customer service was great, too ... when I bought mine, I got two - one for me and one for the bro. Both came with free vent mounts. They had a deal where you could get some nicer power mounts with like $10 or $20 off if you bought them at the same time as your GPS receiver.

Well, I forgot to add it when buying the second unit. Upon receiving it, I wrote BuyGPSNow.com and asked if I could still get the discount, and they said sure - just order it and give them the order number, and they'll credit the difference to the bill afterwards. Worked like a charm. =D

I spent a while reading up on PDA and GPS navigation over at www.gpspassion.com before I bought anything. Give it a look-see. Kinda confusing to navigate when I was there, but the forums had good info and helpful people, and the articles were good (when I could find the up to date ones).

For the record, I'm using TomTom5. It gets a little confused sometimes with all the construction we've had (and once told me to make three right turns at an intersection instead of just a left turn ... crazy little thing), but all in all I've loved it. Pretty maps, good voice direction, very accurate 99% of the time, and when you make a different turn than it has instructed, it's pretty fast in recalculating your route.

I used it on my way to a wedding just outside Knoxville, actually. I told it I wanted the fastest route possible, and it had me turn off the main road and start taking all these crazy backroads. I thought for sure I was screwed until I finally hit the next big road ... about 200 yards away from the church, and about 300 yards in front of the people I'd been behind before I turned off originally.

PerlAddict said:

I've got a BT-338 and it's great.

Click to expand...

Thats what I like to hear, I ordered one a couple days ago.

What software are you going to use Shuruga?

I'm starting out with mapquest. I already have it and all the Canadian maps and I find it runs really well on my palm. It doesnt look as pretty as some, and some of the courses it plots are a little out of the way but for the most part it's pretty accurate.
If I can find some free trials of the others I'll give them a go.
Many of the programs I've read the best reviews for are EU only...

Wow, it got here pretty quick.
I like it, its nice and compact and has a good feel.

I've got it connected to my pc right now and i'm locked on to 7 satalites from my balcony rail.
I havent had great results wiht my palm just yet. I've been able to set it up as a trusted device, but I dont know how to get mapopolis to recognise it yet. And mapopolis is telling me that my maps are not gps capable. I find that strange since any time I select a point on my map it gives me complete Lat/Long coordinates.
I'll play with it more in the morning.

Edit:
Well, turns out that GPS doesnt work with all those Platinum maps I have, and only appears to work on the demo maps???
I gave the demo map a try and things seemed to go well till the palm froze up, now it continues to freeze ever time I start mapopolis. (Fixed, dont know how)

Well I've been playing with things for a while and I'm still really happy with the receiver.
I've settled on TomTom 5 for the most part. It has a better feel as a navigational piece of software but isnt as good at handling movement off of its set roads.

I'll probably get the Holux 236 and either use tomtom5 or mapopolis.