I have just acquired my latest gadget, an O2 XDA Exec. It is a PDA, phone and just about everything else all rolled into one. I intend to replace my mobile phone and rather scratchy Palm PDA, which I have never really liked, with my new toy. I had a Psion 5 at one time, which hinged open to reveal a good size screen with a modest keyboard. The Exec has a similar capability and in addition the screen swivels round to fold flat similar to a tablet pc. Well, I just couldnt resist it and got one last week. I intend to run Tom Tom on it as well so that I have one machine that does everything that I can use in the office, car etc. However my enquiries suggest that PDAs with Windows Mobile v5 are very new and that Tom Tom or other systems are not yet upgraded to run on these machines. My daughters boyfriend has a Dell Axim which has a sat nav system bundled with it and we are going to try that shortly, but I would be very interested to hear of any experiences with sat nav running on WM5. Also although the Exec has bluetooth,I understand that some PDAs, especially the Ipaqs, had a problem with bluetooth gps receivers. Would it be advisable to go for a wired one instead?
I hope this is sufficiently car topic oriented, apologies if not.
Thanks MGs
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Hope it works well for you. Anyone else got any input on using phones as sat nav tools? I'm considering upgrading to a Nokia smartphone and putting Tom Tom or similar on it.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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I use an XDA II1 with a wired GPS receiver and TT3, works great for me. My father has an XDAII and uses a Bluetooth GPS reciever and TT3 but has had some issues with a new SD card causing it to lock up. He has tried to install TT5 but it wont see his GPS receiver so he upgraded to an XDAII1 but had the same problem so has now sent that back and is keeping the XDAII. From what I gather having read lots on various sites, TT5 is not very stable and you have to choose your device carefully. Having said that the XDAII1 is not the most stable of platforms either, and you have to choose your programmes and SD card carefully. Havent heard too much about the Exec, but try xda-developers.com as there is loads on the site that may help.
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you have to set the bluetooth to a comm port, and trick tom tom to run on a serial (not bluetooth) gps on your chosen bluetooth comm port.
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Think very carefully before you buy a WM5 device. A lot wont run on it - yet
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you have to set the bluetooth to a comm port, and trick tom tom to run on a serial (not bluetooth) gps on your chosen bluetooth comm port.
Yep we did all that - and more, just wont see this particular BT gps receiver - TT is a great programme but it has AOL syndrome, it likes to invade, devide and conquer the device it is loaded on!!!!
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Just got a Nokia 6680 with Navicore system. Found it very effective and surprisingly usable. See other thread "New Toy"
Tim{P}
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For the last year I have used the TomTom Navigator 5 on an Orange SPV m2000 (same as XDAII) I use this with a bluetooth Holux GPS receiver and I upgraded the SD card to 1Gb. It works perfectly, never experienced any problems whatsoever. I have loaded in the safety camera database and it works just great.
I have even used it on my bike
I also upgraded from TomTom 3 without a problem.
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I have been running TTM on an SPV E200. I think it's great. Dirt cheap - have a look around eBay - and it's always with me. It was very important to me to have a device that was easily ported between vehicles - and quite frankly I forget to take my mobile with me, let alone a satnav thingy.
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I have an XDAII - not the best bit of kit I find - I'm always having to re-set it so I was thinking of chucking and if I could get sat-nav at little extra cost I might go for it (although what's wrong with an £2.99 road atlas and using your noddle still isn't all that clear to me). So question is where do you go to get good face to face advice that isn't coming from some spotty Kevin/supergeek?
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Many thanks to all for your comments so far. My understanding is that running TT on WM5 can be challenging, but no doubt all sorts of software will come along shortly as this format becomes more popular (the XDA Exec is a badged version sold under various different brand names). I am keen to get satnave/pda/phone all in one box to make life easier. Yes its true a 2.99 map does for most jobs, but it doesnt tell you where you are when you get lost, or find specific addresses. If, like me, you need glasses then it is difficult to read the map with just my driving glasses and at night, in traffic the technology just makes life easier. I borrowed a TT standalone unit the other night to get to an unfamiliar part of London to pick somebody up, it took me through a maze of streets and I parked directly outside where, unknown to me, I needed to be. Fantastic.
MGs
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Regarding SD cards,it is the Chinese and Taiwanese ones that give problems,pay a bit more for a Japanese or American one.I paid £73 for a 1gb 32x Lexar with made in USA stamped on it.
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