Looks like a nice bit of kit, but I need to mention that a PDA WILL do what this does.
I use a Fujitsu Siemens N520 with inbuilt SirFstar GPS. I use Tomtom and Destinator. Tomtom is THE application for navigating public roads. For offroad PDA software there is Anquet http://www.anquet.co.uk/ or Memory Map http://www.memory-map.co.uk/. Both use Ordinance Survey Maps. Memory Map supply some European mapping software too. I know they have the French Alps available. You can also have a custom map made of the area of your choice within the UK. PDA's also support aviation and marine charting software.
The two weaknesses of a PDA based solution are 1) battery life (you could buy a spare battery or use a solar charger) 2) Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5 can be very slow and sometimes hangs when trying to get these applications running. This might have been due to the integration of the GPS into a WM5 device, but I have experienced other problems with my devices, such as the web browser taking forever.
I had an ASUS A636 prior to my Pocket Loox N520. Both of these were/are a bit tardy when it comes to getting the GPS to find a signal. The Asus was hopeless, so I got a refund and bought the Loox. The Loox fairs better, but i'm not over the moon with this aspect of WM5.
When you are out in the wilds and you need to know where you are, a device that is reliable and works as soon as you turn it on is very appealing. (My Asus took an hour to find a location when we arrived at Munich a couple of years back. An hour later, as we approached the Austrian border, it thought we were winging our way through a field Surrey!
My humble recommendation would be to opt for the dedicated device as it's engineered for that purpose alone.
A dedicated device will generally always be better and suited to the purpose it was designed for. Also they tend to be pretty rugged and water resistant - whereas your average PDA is not and will cost about the same too ;-)
The N9 has arrived. What we can say from our first experience is that we're in the presence of a fantastically designed device with a gorgeous AMOLED screen and some highly responsive performance.
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Looks like a nice bit of kit, but I need to mention that a PDA WILL do what this does.
I use a Fujitsu Siemens N520 with inbuilt SirFstar GPS. I use Tomtom and Destinator. Tomtom is THE application for navigating public roads. For offroad PDA software there is Anquet http://www.anquet.co.uk/ or Memory Map http://www.memory-map.co.uk/. Both use Ordinance Survey Maps. Memory Map supply some European mapping software too. I know they have the French Alps available. You can also have a custom map made of the area of your choice within the UK. PDA's also support aviation and marine charting software.
The two weaknesses of a PDA based solution are 1) battery life (you could buy a spare battery or use a solar charger) 2) Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5 can be very slow and sometimes hangs when trying to get these applications running. This might have been due to the integration of the GPS into a WM5 device, but I have experienced other problems with my devices, such as the web browser taking forever.
I had an ASUS A636 prior to my Pocket Loox N520. Both of these were/are a bit tardy when it comes to getting the GPS to find a signal. The Asus was hopeless, so I got a refund and bought the Loox. The Loox fairs better, but i'm not over the moon with this aspect of WM5.
When you are out in the wilds and you need to know where you are, a device that is reliable and works as soon as you turn it on is very appealing. (My Asus took an hour to find a location when we arrived at Munich a couple of years back. An hour later, as we approached the Austrian border, it thought we were winging our way through a field Surrey!
My humble recommendation would be to opt for the dedicated device as it's engineered for that purpose alone.
All valid points there Pete.
A dedicated device will generally always be better and suited to the purpose it was designed for. Also they tend to be pretty rugged and water resistant - whereas your average PDA is not and will cost about the same too ;-)