Portable GPS car navigation systems

Verno, generaly the units that you are thinking of are tied in with using propriety maps. These are well and good for 2WD type major & minor roads but fall short on detail when looking at 4wd track work.

A comparison would be to compare the detail of the Raster 250K series maps with the detail found in the Rooftop series. The former may have you travelling on a un-named red line or in a vacant place where the latter will show you the name of the track with comments on the terrain etc.

If you must use a moving map type display, consider using a PDA running Oziexplorer CE and maps suitable for your desired area. The PDA can be hooked up to any type of GPS with NMEA output.

My set-up uses the PDA in a Haicom mount with a compact flash GPS. It works very well. I also use a Garmin GPS11+ but it is not connected to the PDA (connection cables are not worth it).
If you have somewhere to mount it, a Laptop could also be connected up to any type of GPS (nmea output) to provide a larger screen version of a moving map display running Oziexplorer.
Oziexplorer / CE will not give you the turn to turn navigation provided with Tom Tom etc.
Cheers Tony, VK3CAT

Verno the car navigation systems you mention are average at best in the main cities, poor in the country & almost useless outback or up the bush. As Tony previously mentioned a PDA will be more useful through all area's & I know Tom Tom have a Voice Nav program to run on the PDA, then you could run your more detailed maps with Oziexplorer etc.
Cheers Craig......

Verno,
Ditto to what Tony wrote. There are systems around such as the Asus MyPal A636 with CoPilot Live Version 6, which should give you the best of both worlds. They are far more versatile than Tom Tom and similar set ups. Even Navman have a PDA based system but I can't remember the model. You don't have to stick to the Asus but look at what it offers and then shop around for similar or better setups in the PDA range. I use the Asus as purely an example.
Toolman

I am using Garmin Quest. I find it is superb in the City and equally at home in the country. It has a PC (USB) connector and therefore can 'drive' the usual well know mapping software that is regularly mentione on this forum. I have also used it whilst in NZ and was very impressed with the detail (on the suppled base map) and didn't get lost once. It is also a great little unit to use as a hand held device, I have found my way around several interstate cities again without getting lost. In my (humble) opinion, good value for money although I'm sure that there'll be plenty with various viewpoints.

DIO

Hi Verno,

I agree with Tony M.

I run a PDA using co-pilot street navigation software when on main roads (meaning all roads shown in street directory), and I use Oziexplorer when off road.

I have found this the best way to achieve both options you require

If you want any specific details, only too happy to help (if I can)

Hope this helps

TonyG

I am thinking another option is to buy a GPS Receiver with BlueTooth, it is mounted on dashboard with an external Antenna.

Get a support Arm which you can screw your Laptop on it , with a USB - bluetooth receiver. Where can I buy this support arm for a Nissan Patrol ? Do you guy know ?

Another vote for the PDA.

I run bluetooth stuff in the vehicle. A Dell Axim X50V PDA with a Globalsat BT338 GPS reciever. The mapping software loaded is Tom Tom for city stuff and Ozi Explorer for touring. The maps are on a 1gb SD card and 4gb CF card.

I also carry a laptop from time to time with Ozi loaded and use a bluetooth dongle. The bigger screen size is much easier to plot waypoints etc.

In addition I have a Megallen 315 which is still useful enough not to get rid off.

I have the basic NMEA serial connection out of my GPS, what is the normal connection for a PDA and how do I acheive this if there is only USB connections. All advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Craig