The new SiRFIII chipset definitely consumes the least amount of power from the battery. My older BT GPS gets roughly 7 hours of use before I start to worry. But that's what power cords are for, right? I usually top off the charge when I'm expecting to use it a lot.

My Siemens SX66 phone is only something like 400Mhz... which was fast back in the day... like a year ago. The Axim should be fine. I'm also running a hacked version of WM5... which might be bogging it down a bit.

Ken

 

That's what I hear as well: Low power consumption, fast fixes, great accuracy. It's great to hear a first hand recommendation from you, as S2000 drivers are an extremely sophisticated and perceptive group!

 

cool.


again -- more great info. i'm digesting all the different links and researching the products one at a time. -- so still a bit behind all of the postings.
i need to move on this by the middle of next month at the latest, as we'll be doing some travelling, and i want to have it installed and proven before we go.

awesome. thanks guys -- yall are incredible for helping me out like this. the time alone you're saving me from wandering around the net is priceless.


LATEOTT - i appreciate the media assessment. that's about what i had figured, but having an experienced confirmation was what i wanted. anytime we're doing serious travelling, we'll have a laptop with us, so adding new maps as we go shouldn't be too much of a problem (i wouldn't think).

 

i have a seidio mount for my dell x30 and use the earthmate bluelogger receiver and use the software that came with it.
good thing about bt gps receiver is that i can pair with my cell phone and have gps on my cell too.

 

dang it -- came to do some reading and almost lost this thread.

personal keyword: evenflo

thanks again -- gonna have to move on this soon.

 

Phil, might want to wait on Jim's review on the blackbird. They are on EBAY in the 550 range, and might be better than a PDA navi.

 

the same thought occurred to me.... (thanks Dave)

 

thanks again for all the recommendations. it took me a while to finally get this in gear and make it happen, but i've acquired the software and should be receiving the bluetooth GPS receiver this week or next.

in the end, i decided to go w/ iGuidance 3.0 for my mapping software and the BT-359 for the GPS receiver.

the USGlobalSat BT-359 seems to be widely acclaimed for it's accuracy, battery life, and usability. and it appears to be the followup receiver for the BT-338, which you guys suggested. (also, i'm landing the BT-359 via an authorized dealer for $99 - so the pricing is great as well.)

iGuidance 3.0 has generally been well recieved as a fast and low overhead application that's easy to use on the run. a friend of mine is also running this on his CarPC, and when i played with it, i really liked the way it worked. (not to mention the pricing... ) so, i loaded it on the Axim, and it seems to be very quick and easy to use. finally, since it works w/ laptops, carPC's, and PPC's, it has some good future proofing as well.

i've got her loaded for most of the southeastern region with a SD card cost of about 600 MB, so well within her current 1 GB card's ability.


i've also since acquired a HTC TyTn (Cingular 8525) PPC phone that i also plan to load up and use the GPS with it. we'll see how that goes. it's a bit slower processor wise (404 Mhz - Samsung), with only a 320x240 resolution screen, and is much smaller physically as well, but it's been quite robust so far.

thanks!

(btw - one of the iGuidance 3.0 reviews that really helped sway me: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...TOPIC_ID=65361 )

 

Phil,

Funny I should stumble onto this thread..... My brother and I have been having this long debate: Pocket PC GPS vs dedicated GPS. I have had my Garmin StreetPilot 2610 for a number of years, and just love it; he has had his Pocket PC GPS (don't know many details of it) for a few years, and he loves his.... Or did.

Apparently, the Pocket PC GPS happened to be a little TOO portable, and he brought his into the bathroom to do some "last minute programming" while using the facilities.... Yes, you can guess.... While he was washing his hands, he accidentally bumped it off the counter into the toilet. Needless to say, regardless of brand, NO Pocket PC can handle that much water at once. POOF!

Funny, I've never had that problem with my DEDICATED GPS, as it usually stays in the car.

 

note to self. leave the magic smoke in the PPC and keep the water out of the PPC.