In Car Navigation - Ozi / Tom Tom / PDA

Hi Beast of Bodmin

I run a Garmin GPS not maps on it to a thinkpad laptop and used the Hema Desert maps on our last 4WD trip to the Centre. That included the Oodnadatta Track, the Old Ghan Track, Dalhousie, Boggy Hole, Palm Valley and across the Gulf. The Maps were acurate and fine to navigate with. Also have NATMAP Raster 2005 which give abit more detail. The system works well and you can also add the UBD street directories from all over Australia. All are available from the shop on line (some on back order Dave's selling too many)

My son uses a pocket PC connected to a USB GPS. His limitation is that he carries cards with the maps on as they don't all fit on the Pocket PC. The only maps he cannot load are the UBD street directories, he uses Oziexplorer CE and a 1gig card and TFT screen is fine

Ray

Yup, TomTom or Destinator are only of use on roads, though if its a named track then Destinator will likely have it. Destinator has better mapping than TomTom but TomTom has the better interface with more useful options and better display of info when its telling you where to go (IMO).

Add GPS-Gate (Franson) to the shopping list if you would like to run both OZI and a turn by turn package at the same time and flick between them (useful if you want to track your route along the roads too but use TomTom or Dest to get you to the offroad place).

A 1gb card will get all the maps for TomTom or Dest for AU + a large proportion of Australia in the NatMap's.
Just be sure that if you're using a PDA that you buy the fastest SD card you can get, a 66x will be OK, but a 150x would be better. They are more expensive than the standard ones you see, but they will work and not lock up all the time. Its a known issue, expecially with the XDA phones, but I've seen complaints about the slower cards in other PDA's too.

G'day Bodmin

If you go PDA go for as much as you can afford. A high end PDA iPAQ hx4700 or Dell Axim 50/51 can be had for around the $700.00 mark or less (not on ebay) I run a iPAQ hx4700. The Dell's have a much shorter battery life than the iPAQ.

Make sure your GPS will connect to any PDA/Laptop you purchase without to much difficulty or conflicts. Can your GPS run an external antenna?

I suggest the below, including a bluetooth GPS setup.

Your PDA should have bluetooth and WiFi with both SD and CF card slots available. Have a look at Hiacomm bluetooth slipper/CF card GPS setups and get the Sirf III chipset in any GPS you purchase ( the performance difference is well worth the extra money).

PDA powered mount from Arkon, large capacity CF and SD cards ( 1gb or more but not mini hard drives, stay solid state. These will get much cheaper throughout 2006) with high transfer rates, some accessory software for the PDA such as Franson GPS gate if you wish to run more than one bluetooth GPS using program at a time along with some WiFi, SMS (if you have a bluetooth capable phone) software.

Software such as Destinator/Co Pilot for voice navigation and Ozie Explorer CE and Windows versions plus suitable digital maps.

A budget of around $2,000.00 should get you well setup leaving you with a nice learning curve.

A good starting point is Johnny Appleseed GPS and Oziexplorer

PDA software may be found at Handango and Pocket Gear Both as a quick reference as there are others

Have a Google around using " PDA + your favoutrite brand name here" " Bluetooth GPS" "Hiacomm" "Sirf III"

Also do a search here (ExploreOz). This topic is much discussed on this site.

Using a high end PDA gives you a lot of flexibility and good functionality minus the bulk of a laptop.

Doing it cheaply will only disappoint and cause frustration.

An extra $100.00 is worth the support from places such as Johnney Appleseed over the potential difficulties obtaining support for an ebay purchased product may present.

My thoughts

Regards

Paul

Hi Bodmin. Some sound advice from some knowledgeable people. I'm suprised that NO ONE thought to recommend GPS OZ. They not only advertise (and support) this site/forum, but also offer great advice, support and better still VERY competitive pricing. Have a look, you won't be sorry.... GPS OZ Cheers

hi Beast Of Bodmin
Is this a trick Question
snailbate

Hi Beast of Bodmin,
I have the DiscoverAus topo maps from Magellan, and in a word the detail is "awesome" (best $400 I spent).

You already have a capable GPS, so there's no need for Navigator or TomTom...etc!!

The POI database in the DAST topo maps is great, and while your GPSr can't do auto-routing, I hardly thoink you're going to need it on the Uluru trip! :)

The only problem with the DAST topo maps, At The Moment, is there is no PC software yet!
This was due in Dec '05 :)) but! has now been delayed till about Feb '06.

If you had DAST (with the PC software) you wouldn't need any other mapping software!
(You may WANT other mapping software, like Oziexplorer, only for use with picture maps!)

I'm currently using DAST v1 and you can use this for moving map (on a laptop) in the car if you need to.
My idea is/was to run an old (broken screen) laptop using one of those touch screens you mentioned (around $300) as the front end to DAST or Ozi.
(Of course I have oziexplorer too!)

If you want to save money, get DAST topo(and wait for the PC software, will be sent out to you by Magellan??) you will get all of Aus on a map.
Or spend more money on a PDA?? then the software and the maps........ and have virtually the smae thing (but prettier pictures!)

There are some bugs I found with DST topo and my MeriColor, if I use firmware v5.40, but it seems fine now that I've gone back to fw5.36.

If you want more info on Magellan stuff (of what I know) come see us at GPSAustralia

And there are tons of free maps available for your trip (and more). You may need broadband though! Do you get it in Eltham ;-)

Hi Beast of Bodmin

The Hema maps were easy to use on Oziexplorer and we found that with the map up on the screen we went to places we would have missed ie not sign posted and also took several interesting short cuts on the trip we just did.

The laptop in the ute was secured in a holder on the back wall and we had a 7 inch screen attached to the mirror.

With the room in the new unit it will sit on a table between the front seats

Have a great trip
Ray