I have been considering getting a PDA to play with for a while, as i have never had one before and im always keen to learn about new toys!

HappyJacky has really caught my attention with this thread:
http://www.gpsaustralia.net/forums/...read.php?t=1229

Looks to me like i could pick one of those up for $199, then i would need:

Bluetooth GPS $100ish
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Holux-236-Bl...Qcmd ZViewItem

PDA desktop cradle $20 (doesnt come iwht one of these)
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GENUINE-HP-i...Qcmd ZViewItem

So for $320 plus the price of a decent size SD card i would have a very good PDA nav setup???

Also is a PDA like this capable of playing all the usual video / music formats if i fill the sd card up with media files? I am thinking it would be great for long plane trips being able to watch a movie and listen to some mp3...

Anything else i should know before purchasing one of these??

thanks

you'll need maps as well $

__________________
another DBWer
and Suzuki 4wder
Explorist 600
Ozi on the Lappy
Garmin 310 Forerunner and HRM

Hi Vincent,

As always I reckon 99% of the value of most devices is in the Third Party Support!!

Long after HP discontinue the PDA you probably stil have it and want this or that for it....!

I was reading through some other boards about PDA's and I reckon HP PDA's have the widest user/support base...and you will find 99.9% of the things you want!!

I got a Toshiba e800 ($400) recently and while it is no longer supported by Toshiba...all the neccessary stuff to make it's 4" VGA screen more usable was found at a PDA or PPC board.

eg. Brighthand
I'm sure there are lots more!

My e800 is a bit on the slow side for movie playback @ VGA, and haven't tried QVGA, but mp3 is no problem.

OziexplorerCE (if you want that) is so much better when at VGA, than QVGA.......

__________________
King of the Who?
King of the Britons!
Who are the Britons?....

Software i want to run:

destinator
oziCE
tom tom

Will this thing run all of these no problem?

Thanks for the link to that forum - i will check it out

I recently bought my first PDA. My main criteria were
builtin GPS (I can claim PDA for work therefore tax deduction and free GPS also 1 less wire when it is in the car)
WiFi (using GPSGate gives you a connection to laptop. Again 1 less wire when it is in the car).

Ended up buying ASUS A636 MyPal(http://au.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...52&modelmenu=1).

Gamedude Computers in Brisbane has them for $549.
Also bought 512mb SD card($55).
It comes with windscreen suction mount and 12v adapter.

It uses Windows Mobile 5 and it runs Destinator, TomTom, GPSGate and OziCE with no problems.

main problem I can see with that deal is that you dont get a sync cable/cradle, so you cant actually connect it to your PC to get anything loaded onto it. Work out how much one will cost you first before buying...possibly you can sync it via BT, however ive never been able to get mine working (syncing via bT that is) so be ready for frustration if you try that route...

otherwise it looks like it will do what you want it to do fine...

also "240v travel charger / Adapter (attached 22pin adaptor) meaning it can be charged in the car

Wall charger (Note the charger connects onto the cradle [not included] to charge the unit)

22-pin connector adaptor to plug into the pda is not included "

looks like you cant even charge it with the included stuff, and it may not even come iwth a stylus... lots of dorrar worht of stuff there if you need to buiy it all individually... unless you can wait and buy cheapo stuff from ebay as you work out what you need...

That was one of my most pleasant surprises with my E800!!
I read reports of how Toshiba had written their own bt stack...etc, and causes all sorts of problems with BT-ing!

Never a problem with my PC (with cheapo USB-Bt dongle) or my mobile phone

I can't seem to active sync with a bt connection...but that seems to be a ActiveSync problem....

But FTP/filesharing is easy and quick! Using the software that came with the Bt dongle.


There is always the possibility to load any PPC software via the removable media card!

__________________
King of the Who?
King of the Britons!
Who are the Britons?....

uncyspam:

it comes with 2 stylus and if you see my post above the cradles can be had off ebay for $20..

I guess i will jsut have to make my mind up when they become available again

If you use windows mobile or pocket pc 2002/2003 there is heaps of software available for it including dvd compression to shrink a 90 minute dvd down to 128 mb to play on your pda.

Like laptops without bluetooth, a PC can have a bluetooth dongle for it to then communicate with other bluetooth devices.

I have an ipaq and just picked up the following goodies off ebay - usb bt dongle $15, 1 gig sd card $56, bt gps $100 - ipaq i found in the middle of the road near my place

Hey!..... I llike the sound of your street........I'm coming over!

__________________
King of the Who?
King of the Britons!
Who are the Britons?....