poohlikeshunny

Has anyone here used a pda for their navigation and had it set up in their TL? I'm looking for some pictures if anyone's got them. All I really need is a navigation. I'm not really looking for tv's or anything so the idea of having this would be the perfect solution. Thanx!

erdoc48

PDA based navigation aids can be difficult to use when driving (try to use a stylus when driving- it can be dangerous to take your eyes off the road even for a minute). A better bet is a small portable GPS unit. I recently bought a Garmin Quest through eBay (new) for $485 including shipping (overnight). I used it on a trip to Connecticut and it works very well. It comes with a windshield suction cup mount (very solid), charger, and map software. I can't recommend this device enough. If you want a larger screen, there is the Magellan Roadmate series or the Garmin 2650. All of these give voice prompts when driving.

poohlikeshunny

I've looked into them...I'm not sure. They are great products, but I was hoping to use the pda so i would be a little more aesthetically appealing...I have seen software out there that have voice prompts though. You think that would be better? I've heard ofs ome people doing it..and I'm wondering...will the whole stylus touchscreen thing be too much? Anyone have experience?

erdoc48

It all depends- a sled device for the PDA or an antenna that plugs into the card slot will work, but there is no automatic basemap, which is automatically in a dedicated GPS unit. You would have to download all of the maps into the PDA or onto a card. Then the PDA has to have a fast enough processor to be able to quickly draw the maps from the internal memory of the device or take them from the card- this could take some time. Also, having owned a sled device for a Palm M500 (Palm Companion from Magellan), I can tell you it was a little slow in drawing the maps. A dedicated GPS unit is typically a one wire hookup- plug to cigarette lighter port, and you're ready to go. With the PDA GPS kit, which still costs ~ $ 200-250 depending on brand, you need a bracket for use in the car, power wire and a separate antenna wire (unless the PDA can be directly connected to the GPS antenna).
The only exception to this is the Garmin IQue, which is a PDA/GPS in one, but it still costs >$400, and it doesn't come with the mounting bracket for use in the car. I also have a 00 TL w/o Nav, and now I'm real pleased with the Quest. It is small, unobtrusive when driving, but clear enough to see (and hear voice prompts when plugged in to the power outlet- the speaker is on the power cord), and I can take it from car to car, and even use it on my motorcycle. It even comes with the windshield mount.
Check these sites: http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2660/ (bigger unit with internal hard drive, but much more expensive)

http://www.magellangps.com/en/produc...asp?PRODID=955 (this is the Roadmate series by Magellan- 3 different units with varying features- some with Flash memory, others with an internal hard drive).

Obviously, nothing beats a factory installed Nav. system, but dedicated GPS devices definetely fit the bill for cars w/o one.

The Quest I keep mentioning has 115 MB of free memory for downloading street level maps and points of interest (gas stations, restaurants, etc.). I downloaded NJ, lower NY, CT, and eastern PA on 88 MB of the memory. Granted, if you're going cross country you might want to use a hard drive based system with all the maps pre-loaded, but I'm real pleased with the Quest.

Good luck in your search.

Go to a local Staples or CompUSA to geta hands on look and feel for each of these units.

acura_fantacy

there you go:

acura_fantacy

here you go:


this is really working great for me, you don't need to use a stylus, finger nail works just find, I can do all the searching while wait at the traffic lights, hit a botton on the pda to zoom in/out so I can do it while driving, has voice direction prompt (like .5 mile to turn right onto xxxx road), sounds funny but get the job done well.

I use Dell Axim X5 that I traded from my friend with a Tivo box, lol. you can find the car mount/charger/gps reciver from www.buygpsnow.com, cost about $125 including shipping. software I use Mapopolis which is very good, also got the Destinator trail version from buygpsnow but hasn't tried it out yet.

you'll need a additional memory card to hold the maps, I use a 256MB SD card (cost like $20) which can hold like at least 10 states.

erdoc48

That's a nice clean installation- do the maps draw quickly on the Axim? I guess I'm biased because I previously had a Palm M500 with a 33 MHz processor, so map drawing by the PDA was kind of slow.

erdoc48

I forgot to ask- will the GPS for the Axim do an automatic route recalculation if you go off course?

jj0822

I have the Garmin IQue3600 palm based PDA/GPS, the beanbag mount which holds the unit down, charges, and has an external speaker, and a Gilson external antenna which speeds up the satellite acquisition. You can get a lot of information on the Garmin at: www.pdastreet.com

There is a Palm -> Garmin Ique 3600 & 3200 subforum.

Before I had the beanbag mount I used small velcro squares to secure the Garmin to the top of my closed cupholder cover and used the Gilson and mostly navigated off voice prompts. I think there are various mounts available, but I'm not a big fan of stuff hanging off my vents etc...

HTH

2003 TL-S

acura_fantacy

draw maps pretty quick unless you do a reset, if I power the pda off then power it back on, all the maps are still there and shows instantly. usually get gps signal within 20 sec. After a reset which you really don't do it often, first time you run mapopolis, you choose which map to load. it takes 2-3 min to load 3 states map.

route calculation takes about 10-15 seconds depends on how long the trip is, short trip you'll get the direction almost instantly. If you miss the turn, it calculates a new route on the fly and prompt you with the next turn, not necessarily to make a "U" and get back to the previous route.

acura_fantacy

BTW, this si my previous gps, the pda solution is much better.



only concern is I took the pda off the mount everytime I park, I don't want to leave it hanging there and someone break my windows to steal only $200 worth of stuff, fixing the windows (and possible other interior damage) will cost much more than the gps.

poohlikeshunny

Wow thanx for the detailed info everyone! You've got me really looking into the garmin's erdoc...still deciding...I like my toys multifunctional...so hopefully if I can't find everything for me E310, I can find a garmin that is multifunctional. Acura-Fantacy, I like your Axim setup...how much did it run total? It's pretty good at recalculatins, huh? I'mon the road a lot and thqt owuld be very handy...