advise on pda gps + memory-map AusTour

I have a Garmin I Que M4 PDA/GPS.It came with City navigator built in (with voice direction). This covers the whole of Australia. I use a 2gig card to run Oziexlorer and Track 4 Australia. Between all these, i can never get lost again i hope...:).
As soon as i turned it on i was able to get things going in the direction i wanted, but even now, six months later i'm still finding bits to learn on it.

meow.

rick.

The iPaq RX5965 PDA will run anything you need. As it has Navigator 6 preinstalled you are already setup for Voice controlled street directions.

I assume the PDA must also have a GPS Receiver either built in, or attached.
The PDA on its own is not a GPS.

Have no knowledge of Memory-Map Austour.
You may be better off with OziExplorer CE which will run on the PDA. Plenty of support here for that product.
OziExplorer can reference any digitalized set of Maps you wish to use.
Natmap Premium, Hema Australia 4WD Raster Map Collection, etc.

NatMap Premium maps are great for most situations.

Another point of consideration.
If you go the PDA path, you will need something to hold it and power it in the vehicle. There are PDA holders available to suit most brands, including the iPaq.

I have a Haicom 4in1 holder which, although I am having a hissy fit with, tying to get Bluetooth comms to work, is good for holding the PDA, powering it in the vehicle and amplifying the sound on its built-in speaker.

The Ipaq 5965 is a great product to use. The suction mount works very well.

I run Oziexplorer CE on it. I purchased all the VIC Maps from an EBay seller for under $40 delivered. Try contacting the seller to see if they have the NSW maps available!

Site Link

Mike,

Go to GPSAustralia and put your name down for FREE Nsw and Vic Topo maps rather than feed some of the thieves currently advertising on Ebay.

Thanks guys for the replies.

Did some enquiries today on using a smartphone pda such as HP iPAQ rw6828 or o2 Xda Atom Exec for running of street GPS and oziexplporer as well and general consensus from sales persons is that they are generally slower due to running of more apps and the GPS disconnects when there is an incoming call. Any truths in that?

I run a 5965 (comes with a suction cap window mount, which is quite adequate, but worth also getting a cigarette lighter power plug), oziexplorer & natmap raster.

I have a swag of other maps, but find the natmap the most versatile and best suited to the zoom levels I use (ie if I use a local fire map at a zoom level which provides reasonable forward vision, all the text is too small to read. Natmap seems to have larger text, so I can zoom out further and still be able to read it).

Although my old garmin II+ is easier in so far as I turn it on, and it goes, the pda is much more versatile and once you start doing slightly more advanced things, like waypoints, routes etc, the pda is streaks ahead.

I've not used any of the new, top range garmin or magellan, but some of the advantages I like with a pda;
the memory card allows
- multiple maps to be stored,
- multiple waypoint files, track files
and probably a boat load of other things which don't jump out at me know.