Monday, Feb 05, 2007 at 00:10
I spent a fair bit of time researching GPS and I've been wanting to share my thoughts for a while.
My shortened opinion:
If you're talking about ultimate then PDA is far ahead of the handheld GPS units, which i leave a lot to be desired.
The most powerful, versatile and thorough option is a PDA running OziCE and (something like) TomTom with a GPS receiver. This requires that you're reasonably cluey and don't mind doing a bit of work preparing your trip and maps. If you are a bushwalker and want to take a GPS walking, get a cheap handheld (i.e. eTrex) as the receiver for your PDA.
If you only want to use the unit in a vehicle to follow known tracks, the easiest option is the eXplorist XL.
My long opinion:
The real value is in the maps, base maps on standalone GPS are useless for our purposes, you'll immediately have to go out and buy extra maps (or get a travellers pack). In my research the Garmin map offerings (tracks4aus) didn't come close to being usable, this ruled out Garmin for mapping GPS right from the start. Magellan has good map offerings in DiscoverAus Topo but i found that the explorist 400, 500 screen was too small to be useful, the main downfall being that detail only comes up as you zoom in, so you lost the big picture. The other downfall was that the maps only come on SD card which left no obvious way of backing up the maps, if you lose the SD card (physically or due to corruption) do you lose your whole mapping system? Someone else might correct me on this, but i don't like supporting companies that do things like this, why not just sell the CD?
With a bigger screen the explorist XL seemed OK (not good) in relation to the zooming problem above but i found the joystick a bit dicky to use, it felt weak and the unit in the
shop was broken (wouldn't scroll to the NE) which wasn't a good advertisement for the durability. In terms of hiking the unit was too big and power hungry to be useful, which leads me on to the old maxim of carrying paper maps and compass, which you should be carrying anyway, IMHO this makes MAPPING GPS units irrelevant for walking. You've got a map/compass and know how to use them. Anyone doing proper off-trail walking would find mapping GPS cumbersome, with Magellan being the only option that might be useful. The useful functionality for hiking is keeping a track log (i.e. for later reference or backtracking) and the convenience of knowing your lon/lat. which you can get in a more power friendly eTrex for $200.
I walked out of the
shop feeling kinda despondent about the whole GPS thing, which is when i started researching the PDA option. So my choice came down to the XL and the PDA.
eXplorist XL
* Has reasonably good maps for driving and even though the maps aren't useful for off-track walking it still has the most basic functionality (lon/lat., waypoints, etc)
* Is a single unit so not as much stuffing around with cables and such
* Power hungry when not running from external power source
* Limited to maps which are in DiscoverAus
* Large size for walking
* Clumsy controls when driving
PDA with eTrex receiver and OziCE
* Has whatever maps you can buy/scan/download/"borrow" from a mate
* Easy to control while driving (zoom, add waypoint, switch between maps)
* You get the most useful walking functionality in the eTrex in a much smaller and less power hungry unit
* You can load auto-routing software like TomTom, a lot of people don't get a GPS for this functionality (i didn't) but it is really useful, it has a lot of roads in it and you can use it to calculate your distance and ETA to
places, sometimes i load it up just for that and then switch back to OziCE. If you've got it, you'll probably find yourself using it to get around civilised areas.
* The PDA can be used for myriad other things (never imagined using one but find it pretty useful)
I have the following hardware setup:
HP iPaq 2490 - $550
Garmin eTrex - $199
Combined power and data cable - $99
RAM mount for PDA - $88
Mount for eTrex - $59
2GB CF card - $89
You can then add your software and maps on top of that. I've been told you can get away with an iPaq 2190 for $450 and you can save with a smaller CF card and just sit the eTrex on the dash (gets a bit hot).
I'm embarking on a long driving trip around Australia. I'm also a bushwalker and i like things to be as versatile as possible so when dropping money on a GPS i wanted some crossover for walking and my opinions are based around that. I've taken it on a couple of trips and i'm really happy with how it performs. One thing that i'm curious about is how the PDA will stand up to dust over time.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Neil M (SA) - Monday, Feb 05, 2007 at 10:42
Monday, Feb 05, 2007 at 10:42
This is a really good summary Fruers. I've run with PDA's and Oxiexplorer for several years. It is the most versaltile system because you can load any map. I started with an Ipaq running from a Garmin II+ but have recently changed to a Dell X1V and bluetooth Copilot GPS because the Dell has a VGA output which runs a 7" screen. I found the PDA screen to be a bit small with my eyesight - needed to put on galssses to see it. The largs screen sits on the console really
well. I don't want a computer clogging up the cabin. I haven't found dust to be a problem (Ann Beadell, Gunbarrell, Simpson,
Hay River,
Madigan Line). Cheers.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: NicI - Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 14:29
Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 14:29
Has anyone tried the new(ish) his-resolution Dell x51v ? It's 640x480 and most reviews rave about its great screen.
Also,for those of you who use a PDA with a GPS 'card' (is 'sleeve' the same thing ?) rather than an onboard GPS, do they need/have an external aerial ?
Lastly, again for the PDA/GPS users - do you load all your trip maps onto the PDA before you set off, or take a laptop to load them (or ones you didn't know you needed) as you travel ? Or (showing ignorance) can you fit all the maps you'd ever need in the PDA memory card ?
Cheers,
Nic
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: fruers - Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 21:30
Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 21:30
Sounds like a good setup Neil, when i referred to "ultimate" i wasn't particularly thinking of an external screen, that's taking it one step closer to ultimate :). I'm probably a bit younger than a lot of you guys squinting at the PDA screen but i do concede that it is a bit challenging to see sometimes, especially with sun on the screen (we're building a verandah to combat this). Gives me confidence that yours has stood up to the dust.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: fruers - Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 22:12
Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 22:12
I haven't used a 640x480 screen in the field but i did load up some maps on a friends Jasjar which can do 640x480 (or 800x600 with hacks) and the maps are really good at the resolution. It does accentuate the problem that people have with seeing the screen though. I would have liked to buy one but i was already at the top end of my "toy" budget :).
Sleeves and cards are two different things which serve the same purpose. You usually get a bit more out of a sleeve like a gps/mount/speaker/power cable in one unit, i haven't used one but by their construction you would imagine they would have better reception than an inbuilt receiver and you can find ones that will take an external aerial, both the cards and sleeves are
well priced.
My plan is to convert all my maps to the ozf format used by OziCE (automated but pretty lengthy) and store them on my laptop, this will save me time on the trail so i don't have to convert them on the fly.
On the PDA i would always have a selection of maps from Hema 4wd raster map collection at 1:250k that covered all of Australia, 1:250k is pretty standard for driving. As i approach different areas (maybe once a week) i would load the more detailed maps of that area onto the PDA and delete the ones that are no longer relevant.
I'm still converting the Hema 4wd raster maps (only the 250k topo sheets need converting to ozf format) but i'm pretty sure i would get most if not all of them onto a 2GB memory card, that should be more than enough for most people to get all the way around Australia on... but i'm a bit of a map fiend and like more detailed maps (1:100k and above).
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: fruers - Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 22:17
Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007 at 22:17
Is anyone interested in "trading" 1:25k sheets from other states for NSW 1:25k sheets? (Our taxes are paying for the mapping anyway :)).
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: geocacher (djcache) - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 00:44
Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 00:44
HP IPaq 4700 with 480x640 screen
Haicom Bluetooth GPSr
RAM mount
TomTom - amazing around town and in rural areas while on A - D class roads.
Then OziCE on the offroad stuff, or even round town sometimes using the Melway maps when I don't want turn by turn.
This is a great set up for touring and geocaching.
Then out of the car I run an old Magellan Platinum which these days really only gets used for geocaching.
At
home I run Ozi on the laptop, OziPhoto for linking photos to track files and creating linked way points, and for trip planning.
These days I only use DiscoverAUS to generate region maps for the Magellan. Other than that it's nearly useless.
The PDA setup for in vehicle navigation can not be beaten. For out of the 4wd use or in the boat a handheld GPSr is still the best option.
Unfortunately the 4700 Ipaq has been discontinued. I installed TomTom and Ozi on a mates QVGA screened Ipaq (quarter vga as opposed to true VGA) and it's not a patch on the VGA screen.
Dave
FollowupID:
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