Laptop GPS World

Ken,
The 10x software on the IPAQ does offer integration with the Mobile Outlook address book.
The display is excellent, its just I am used to the variable fields in the Que software allowing you to show at the top of the screen the information you are interested in. The 10x software appears to have fixed fields.
I am the opposite of you. When our company offered managers Palm devices to store our contact information, I turned them down and used a Phillips Velo (CE 2.0). Although slower at contacts, I was interested in all the other things it could do. I also liked the integrated keyboard. Of course that functionality hasn't been available for years but I was hooked. The next usable device I had was the Axim X5 but the 4" VGA screen on the Toshiba dazzled me (I couldn't afford the IPAQ 4700). Unfortunately, it does not work properly with routing in the Que software and I use it for too many other things to do a hard reset and track down the problem from scratch. Also, it doesn't have Bluetooth support built in.
That's why the IPAQ 210 was interesting. Whether I stick with the new Garmin software or revert to the Que version, the IPAQ will give me the opportunity to start fresh. And the Bluetooth support is miles ahead of the card I have for the Toshiba.
Terry

I see Garmin will be introducing another update to their North American map product in May. Maybe that will have some more DMTI data.
Terry

Unfortunately the cutoff date for free upgrades to CNNA is to units/ software purchased after February 29th. I guess I'll have to order that UMPC friendly software just to see if the map is what I'm looking for.
It would be about the same price as the map upgrade. I'll decide in late May.
Terry

Terry, if you are referring to checking out the latest version of CNNA to see if it's worth purchasing, you know you can always check it out on Garmin's web site?

They have a map viewer online. You can use it to look at any of their currently available map products. If you have specific areas in mind to see if they have improved, it's pretty easy to check using the online viewer.

The limitation is that you can't check out the POIs to see what's in the new version. You can only look at the map itself.

...ken...

Ken,
The problem with the on-line viewer is it doesn't show whether street addresses have been programmed. For the towns I've been watching, street names have already been added.
However, I will check the viewer when CNNA NT 2009 is added.
Terry

I was able to perform a minor test drive with Mobile 10 on my iPAQ 210 yesterday. I had to go to an business in Nanaimo I hadn't been to.
The display was good; clean, bright and less cluttered than the Que display. There appeared to be enough information and the turns were well marked as they came up.
I couldn't test the voice prompts as the truck is way too noisy to hear them; I need an external self-powered speaker.
I also did not get a chance to try rotating the screen although I know it works fine.

Entering information for the waypoint is another story. I put the business address in the 'My Locations' category and the first annoyance was having to backspace over those words to enter the new name. Next irritation was the abc keyboard. While not a touch typist, I know the Qwerty keyboard better than the alphabet. Also, the Symbol list is so small, I had serious problems locating the appropriate symbol (important for an <add filter> search).

I also checked the 'Contacts' function which uses my Outlook address book. It was ok if it recognizes the address but otherwise pretty slow to set up. It does have a location (Lat/Long) function which I needed for a relative in the boonies. Make sure you have the right format.

I have not yet determined how to get my existing waypoints into the program but I will figure it out as I believe this is the same front end for the upcoming UMPC vesion of the Garmin software.

A pretty minor test so far and I haven't decided yet if it can replace the Que software.
Terry

Thanks for the update, Terry. In a nutshell, it sounds like the navigation is nice and the rest not so much.

That's about what I've found with anything else I've looked at. I try to be as objective as possible when looking at some other solution to be sure that I don't let familiarity be an issue in my reaction. So far it hasn't been an issue because any other solution I've looked at so far is so awful by comparison that I haven't had to worry about the familiarity bias.

I've had folks tell me that all they want is the route planning and navigation and they aren't much concerned about "all the other stuff". It's the "all the other stuff", especially how well "all the other stuff" integrates with the nav stuff, that interests me. It's what attracted me to the iQue in the first place and it's what has ruined me for any of the other solutions I've seen so far.

I still hope someday someone else will get it as right as Garmin did with the iQue. Otherwise I'm back to seperate units. I prefer two competent solutions (PDA and NAV) rather than a single badly integrated one.

I hope this combo works well enough for you.

...ken...

The Que software I use on the Toshiba PDA has the distinct advantage of directly using waypoints from my computer. I don't believe I have ever tried to enter a new waypoint from the PDA except at a location(a quick look at it and I'm not sure how to). Most of the ones I have are left over from the Garmin SPIII.

I couldn't find directions to transfer my existing waypoints so I tried the original method.
Hook up the iPaq with Activesync and start the Garmin Mobile program on it. On the computer, start Mapsource and loads the appropriate'gdb' file. Select 'send to device' and the program will find the iPAQ. Transfer the waypoints, routes, tracks as needed.
That means I can create any new waypoints on the computer as I wanted to do. Much better!
Terry

Hi Terry,

I've been playing around with a copy of DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2008 Plus. It has been interesting so far. As it relates to this thread, I checked out Ladysmith with rather positive results. SA 2008 shows the street grid with street names and it has street numbers. At least, when you hover the cursor over a block on the street it shows the number range on that block, so it would get you into the correct block of the street.

It also does a better job of drawing Ladysmith Harbour than City Navigator. Not quite as detailed as Metroguide Canada but hugely better than City Navigator.

Oh yeah, it also has the street "grid", street names and house numbers over on the first nations reserve across the harbour from town. It's as good as Metroguide in that regard and, again, miles ahead of City Navigator which doesn't even have the complete street network over there.

I have no idea, yet, what sort of display is on the navigation panel when running on the iQue. The good/interesting news is that SA loads onto the iQue. It knows how to use the full display if you, first, manually drop the virtual graffiti area out of the way for it. And it knows how to use the iQue's internal GPS. I've loaded a small map segment onto the iQue and I'll try a little drive with it this afternoon to see how it looks on the iQue.

Since this is the Garmin section I won't post any more about that in here. You'll have to drop over to the DeLorme section to see the follow-on if you're interested. I've already posted a couple messages worth of drivel over there at the end of this thread.

...ken...

I'm in the process of wiring a small 12v amp and speaker into my truck so I can actually hear what the direction lady is saying. I had considered an FM transmitter but that creates other problems. You can't use the radio. If you have music on the PDA, how do you make it pause while the directions are being spoken? Plus extra devices and wires!
The speaker is simpler.
I know this isn't an issue with you guys with quiet vehicles, but this old Dodge diesel is noisy!
Terry

Another thing that I truly love and hate to even consider losing about my iQue 3600. I got the kit that includes the car mounting stuff. The cradle has a cable that plugs into a 12V socket and there is a speaker built into the plug. It's far from high fidelity but it will blast Betty's voice over top of a fair bit of noise. The Que software is smart enough that if I'm using the MP3 software on the PDA to play music through that speaker it will mute the music while the directions play and then resume it until the next set of directions.

Have I mentioned that I love my iQue??

...ken...

I just did a quick check of the Que software on the Toshiba and the Mobile XT on the iPAQ. With WM playing music in the background, neither of them silence it when giving directions. That's the advantage of the iQue. It was designed for GPS from the ground up.
Unfortunately, the screen is way too small.

On another track: I glanced at the displays on each of my devices while I was doing the previous tests. These are both 4" VGA devices but the Mobile XT was definitely superior; the roads are better defined and the whole display is brighter and crisper. I do miss the ability to show the street address as you drive though.

Terry

Attached Images

Screen.jpg (72.7 KB, 4 views)

Here is a comparison with SA 2008 running in High Contrast mode to compare with the night mode of the Garmin product.

Attached Images

SA_Screen.jpg (72.0 KB, 6 views)

Thanks for the pics, Terry. In the pictures it looks like the iPaq just has a brighter screen in any case, regardless of what application is running. Is that true?

What are the dimensions of those two screens? (the iQue is 2.2"x3.2", 320x480 pixels)

As far as the map display, I guess that's a matter of preference. If the two displays were of equal brightness I would prefer the way the Que software renders the maps. I find the thicker lines on the Mobile XT display make it look a little crowded. I wonder if I would react differently if you had had the Mobile XT zoomed in to the same level as the Que in the first picture?

...ken...