PDA's /gps etc

need to buy Gps for for gs1200 for planned summer trip to france. thought i'd kill 5 birds with one stone.
get rid of mobile phone, diary, etc
get pda that can do the following: phone/gps/camera/play music and take notes. does such a thing exist??
have i been watching too much star trek?
also would need to mount on bike either in waterproof cover or something similar. anyone got one, tried it and failed? help
the wifes map reading is useless in uk let alone france! au revoir

DON'T be tempted by an XDA - Crap phone, reasonable PDA. Don't know what the XDA II is like, but the original is worth avoiding...

Mike

Yes, it does exist (like the iPaq 6310 although it doesn't have an integrated camera when sold in Europe, only in the US) http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2208&review=HP+iPaq+6315, but usually the compromise on at least ONE of these components is unbearable, so I would strongly discourage the all-in-one route. Especially on a motorcycle, you want at least the music source to be separate, so that it can be interrupted when GPS voice instructions/phone calls comes in (and not get a muddled phone-gps-music all at one, trying to fiddle with small buttons at 90 mph on the motorway...).

Here is what I've got:

- An iPod 40Gb for the music (with the great freeware eupod volumeboost http://espen.se/index.php?subaction...789276&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&category=1 to be able to hear something!), in tankbag
- An iPaq HX4700 (VGA screen, really good for PDA, viewing films, occasionally listen to a few MP3 albums when not on the bike) in a waterproof Otterbox with a RAM mount http://www.otterbox.com/ (which allows me to use only the GPS when it's raining, withou the tankbag). A cheaper PDA can do fine, although you have to be careful, most PDA screens are not readable outdoors in the sunlight (I previously had an iPaq 2210 and that point was awful). I use TomTom Navigator 3 as my GPS software.
- A bluetooth GPS (Royaltek BT-1000, small, reliable) either in my pocket for short trips or connected to power in my tankbag on long journeys
- A sony Ericsson T630 (bluetooth) for phone calls and integrated (crap) camera connected to the Autocom through a BT handsfree HB-H20. The reason why you want a separate camera is that you don't want to have to disconnect everything (or get the iPaq out of the Otterbox!) when you want to take a picture on the side of the road.
- I'm planning to get a separate, good camera like a Canon Ixus 400.

All this is hooked up to my Autocom, with their special cable (part 57) to get GPS and phone plugged simultaneously in such a way that they can independantly cut the music when necessary. I plan to add soon their bluetooth module (part 55.5 and 55.6) for my phone (they're out of stock right now at least until next week), that will mean one less cable to connect (and onle less device to charge!).

I've powered my tankbag and the Ottercase through a homemade cigar lighter plug in the front of the bike, but I've ordered a new power kit from http://www.powerletproducts.com/ with direct connection to the battery and quick disconnect.

Hope this helps

Have a nice time in France, let me know if you need some advice/tips from a local (I'm based in Paris and London but am originally French)

Manni said:

- I'm planning to get a separate, good camera like a Canon Ixus 400.

Click to expand...

D'you mean the new Canon Ixus 40?

I've just bought one. Went up to Tottenham Court Road, so I could see them all in one place, looking at either the Ixus 500 or maybe a S60/70 and the guy showed me the 40, which threw everything up in the air again.

Nice bit of kit. Cheapest place I found was Amazon for £225 with free camera case. Bought a 512mb card for £35 too.

Tottenham Court Road ain't what it used to be, that's for sure...........

getting lost is part of the fun.

Ah-ha....I've just bought one of these:



...from here: http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/4170.htm . Ordered Monday, arrived Tuesday - great service.

It is sim-free so I put my normal O2 SIM into it. Downloaded Activesync 3.8 from the Microsoft website and hey presto, all my appointments and contacts are synchronised.

Now I had the first 2 models of SPV from Orange and they were, frankly, totally sh*te. However, this one is really pretty good. Surprisingly small, good screen, seems quite fast, good battery life. Looks quite slick too.

The plan is to put TomTom GPS onto it. This means I'll have a bluetooth GPS receiver linked to the phone and tucked somewhere on the bike. There's a review of TomTom mobile here:

http://www.coolsmartphone.com/index.php?option=articles&task=viewarticle&artid=376

...and here's a pic (my phone is black not silver though - black is obviously much better)



It takes mini SD cards which go up to 512Mb so I'll be able to have TomTom on one with quite a bit of space spare for some favourite MP3s as well. This means for shorter journeys I will abandon my iPod and GPS V and just use this phone.

TomTom gives spoken directions, and should work well with the phone functionality as well, just needing a single plug in to the Autocom system.

Just need to find a waterproof cover with a RAM mount that is suitable and that's me sorted.

So, phone, GPS, contacts, appointments and email all in one little handset. I'll keep you posted if I manage to get the whole lot working!

Andy

I also have an orange spv, ill be interested to hear how you get on with it once its all geared up.

Jon said:

D'you mean the new Canon Ixus 40?

Click to expand...

Yes, I meant the Ixus 40 4.0. which I really like because he's got an optical zoom (3X) and SD cards instead of CF cards. I don't need big blow ups, so 4MP is more than enough for me.

Tobers said:

Ah-ha....I've just bought one of these:

...

It takes mini SD cards which go up to 512Mb so I'll be able to have TomTom on one with quite a bit of space spare for some favourite MP3s as well. This means for shorter journeys I will abandon my iPod and GPS V and just use this phone.

TomTom gives spoken directions, and should work well with the phone functionality as well, just needing a single plug in to the Autocom system.

Just need to find a waterproof cover with a RAM mount that is suitable and that's me sorted.

So, phone, GPS, contacts, appointments and email all in one little handset. I'll keep you posted if I manage to get the whole lot working!

Andy

Click to expand...

Hi Andy,

That's very interesting in theory, but I'd like to know, once you've tried this in REAL life (ie DRIVING our beloved GS):

- When you're listening to MP3, and a phone call comes or a GPS instruction is given, how do you manage to actually hear it with blaring music? Is music automatically muted? It's not on the iPaq...
- When you're stopping at a toll booth, with your gloves on, how do you stop/lower volume of the music? I use the remote of the iPod to do that, but I couldn't do it with gloves on the iPaq itself (especially through the Otterbox screen).
- How do you actually see the GPS instructions on this tiny screen, especially when outdoor in direct sunlight?

If it's possible to do this with the SPV or if you find solutions for these problems, I may reconsider the all-in-one option, but everyting I tried was great when walking, or as passenger in a car, but completely impractical on a bike...

One last thing, unless there is a hardware limitation on the SPV specifically, you can get SD Cards up to 1Gb now, which is handy if you want to have a full country and some room left.

By the way, I'm still in love with my Tobinators, they changed my life, so thanks again for that...

Hi Manni,

You're quite right. I anticpate problems of being able to read the display properly, pressing buttons whilst on the move, and keeping it waterproof.

Apparently, TomTom does mute the volume when a call comes in, and a call will also override the music player as well - yet to test this (though it should be pretty easy to test right now).

Also, it may be impossible to see the screen in sunlight.

It's all a mystery really. I'll try it & see what happens and let you all know.

Glad to hear the Tobinators are keeping you happy and enabling you to attract women, making you rich etc

hmmm it does appear that i have been watching too much star trek.
thanks for all help/replys. seperate units seem the way to go if you want a good degree of flexibility. as it surely is a MUST that you can easily turn down music and or hear gps instructions. may get away with it in the uk with vaguely familiar roads/signs but abroad , riding on wrong side of road possibly at night would be testing to put it mildly.