There's a lot I don't know about GPS

when I've used the TomTom Rider (and bluetooth to the ear piece), I've
done so as needed. Heading into Brisbane from the unaugural, I turned
it on at Beaudesert and I was where I needed to be within an hour or
so. Then in from Gympie into Strathpine a few days later, probably
used it for closer to two hours. I turned it on when needed (as I
wasn't sure how long the bluetooth headset would last). But it did
last long enough. The tomtom rider does have a decent screen though
which can be used without the headset. I found however that I was
using both the head set and voice instructions - complemented each
other. The visual cues on the screen gives distance countdown to the
next turn, and shows whether whether it is a fork in a freeway or
turn/ exit.

And there is still the option of using earphones plugged into a mobile
phone.


ymmv,

Bill

 

waterpoofness mainly... you could use a car one if you kept it from
the weather

google howto bittorrent

mh

 

Ok but the maps r they their 4 all the models in tomtoms range? Even the
new ones?

 

Which unit are you using George?

Garmin GPSMap296
It's an overkill for the bike but the versatility works for me
George
<<<


Lovely!

I had been using iPaqs with WinPilot in a previous life . . . but they are not very dust/water resistant!!

Have tried TravRoute's CoPilot too (for streets) . . . It is harder to use than Tom-Tom (which is very easy) but had superior features. One that I liked in an older version was that it would announce the next turn with the street's name - very handy - but the v5 that I have now just gives the distance. Damn - newer aint always better - again!

Probably will add OziExplorer to an iPaq; and wait to see what the new Garmin Zumo 660 is like (if it ever gets to Aus).

For those of us that are lurking . . . it is important to understand that opinions are based on the version of each product of familiarity - and they change quite dramatically over time. For better or worse!

My hope was to find a brand/system that is trying energetically to keep itself and its users up-to-date at minimal cost. Spending good money for an 'upgrade' and finding it still riddled with old mistakes and new faults, and less features . . . stops one's urge to continue updating . .. . !

Cheers,

Jim Kelly

 

All a bit precious I reckon. When Hardley Normal dropped a coupon
for a $109 Tom Tom One in my letterbox, I took the coupon to
JB Hifi (I think that Gerry Harvey is a fucking crook, I'll never
give him a cent of my money) and they matched the price. Took it
home, charged it up, put it in the top of my tankbag and I was
set.

That same approach will work with anything from Aldi.

The voice directions are useful for the first kilometre, funny
for the next two, and damned irritating after that. An occasional
glance down at the tank bag obviates the need to listen to the
inane voice, use an inane bluetooth headset, or spend an insane
amount of money on a 'bike ready' GPS receiver/navigator.


The only problem with the Tom Tom is one of design. The twits
use a FAT12 base filesystem on the devices, and Microsoft are
busy sueing them over that at the moment. That isn't something
that affects the end customer though.


GB

 

Even the high end models aren't immune from that I'm afraid. The best
you can hope for is that the mistakes are correctable on the fly, but
that's being a bit henny penny. CASA does not condone GPS only
navigation - you must back GPS results up with dead reckoning or
another approved system.
Provided you are aware of it's limitations though, I believe GPS is a
boon to bike safety.
As an aside, the GPSMap 296 doesn't lower itself to frippery like
speed camera locations etc - it leaves that to it's cheaper cousins

 

As with anything else, you get what you paid for, and the cost:benefit
thing is for you to judge. It boils down to how you intend to use the
thing, what you consider to be important features, and all of the
other things you look at before making a purchase.

 

www.fuckinggoogleit.com

 

As someone else pointed out, if you're looking at using a GPS for a
motorcycle, they do not replace maps. They are a useful aide to
complement the map. A GPS out of the box will get you from A to B in
a car in the best possible way. A GPS on a bike will probably not
want to take you down any of the roads you want to ride down.

Probably a unit which is bike specific. The screens on the units
designed for bikes are probably going to have much better daylight
viewing visibility. A cheap unit designed for cars will probably be
useless in daylight unless under a shadow.

You probably have to pay to get map updates.

see above

not even for someone i didn't like

Just about anywhere on the planet with direct visibility of at least 3
of the 30ish satellites in orbit.

My Tomtom rider has a bluetooth headset. I used it once. Now I don't
use any voice navigation aids. I just look at the images on the
screen. Occasionally I miss a turn. If I wanted someone nagging me
all day I'd buy a bike-to-bike intercom.

My Tomtom Rider was supplied with the worst mounting system ever
invented. I had the mount replaced twice under warranty before I
bought a better mount. Lockable vibration-proof mount from Touratech
which cost more than an Aldi GPS. Worth every cent.

As far as using the GPS goes, I have found that a bit of planning
effort is required to get the best results. The night before a ride,
I look at the maps of where I want to go. I use some thirdparty
software which can interface between the tomtom and Google maps to
plot the course with google maps, creating an itinerary, then
uploading that to the tomtom and activating it. Because the mapping
algorithms between tomtom and google are similar, but not identical
it's necessary to place waypoints at strategic points to ensure it
will follow the path i expect.

Also some other tricks I have found is to place waypoints on specific
roads, rather than letting the GPS plot points itself using its own
idea of where things are. Particularly useful where you want to go
via a particular small town, but the main road through town is not the
main street of town. By only plotting the town name as a waypoint,
the GPS might detour you off the hwy, down the main street of town,
then back onto the hwy again, so I will use google to place a waypoint
using the town name, then physically move that point to a point in the
hwy at the far end of town.

The best thing about the GPS is having the luxury of staring a the
maps over a table, or computer, and not needing to consult the maps
when on the road during the day. Also being able to find distances
and approximate times to different destinations on the fly is a huge
trip planning tool on the road as is being able to navigate directly
to a specific address in a strange town/city.

 

Hytram wrote:

What happened to your ALDI one?

Mine is currently in transit to/from a warranty claim, but, apart from
the bugger of getting it to "talk" to the laptop using ActivSync, it's
worked like a little beauty!

I'd love to find a straight executable program which I could load to the
ALDI GPS, by SD card, then execute from the GPS that does file handling.

If I had one of those, mine wouldn't be "in transit" at the moment.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

I like the way that you can set the destination to a point (that you might know well) and then travel a different route to normal . . . knowing that it will always find a way 'home'. Although the damn thing will always recalculate the shortest (usually most boring) route there is absolutely no need to follow it's instructions! But it is mighty handy to know that it can get you there!

These are also good reasons for not connecting it up to a headset!

Nev, the method that you describe is very well suited (apparently) to the OziExplorer facility that runs on normal PCs and on Pocket PCs (that act as the GPS). There are dozens of maps available from a variety of sources including 250k:1 topographical maps for the whole of Australia. I'm thinking of going this way. Have you (or others) tried it?

Linking up with Google Maps/Earth sounds excellent, and perhaps makes OziExplorer redundant? It has been around for years so probably has lots of clever features.

Cheers,

Jim Kelly

 

I'd love to find a straight executable program which I could load to the
ALDI GPS, by SD card, then execute from the GPS that does file handling.
<<<

This site might have what you are looking for (somewhere):
But don't bother if you are not comfortable with hacking it and possibly destroying it . . .
http://www.gpspassion.com/FORUMSEN/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=101001

That particular thread is discussing making an hp iPaq 312 work with other products . . .

Pretty sure I saw an Aldi one discussed there too . . .
. . . basically saying the hardware is good but software crap, so change it! . . .
that applies to the hp 312 as well . . .



Jim Kelly

 

this may be even more useful:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/gps/59154-how-customise-ipaq-310-a.html

Jim Kelly



I'd love to find a straight executable program which I could load to the
ALDI GPS, by SD card, then execute from the GPS that does file handling.
<<<

This site might have what you are looking for (somewhere):
But don't bother if you are not comfortable with hacking it and possibly destroying it . . .
http://www.gpspassion.com/FORUMSEN/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=101001

That particular thread is discussing making an hp iPaq 312 work with other products . . .

Pretty sure I saw an Aldi one discussed there too . . .
. . . basically saying the hardware is good but software crap, so change it! . . .
that applies to the hp 312 as well . . .



Jim Kelly

 

tee hee - love it!

betty

 

FWIW, my wee cheapo ALDI gps runs the CE version of OziExplorer quite
happily from the SD card.

Is this common to other GPS/Navigators?

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Strangely enough, almost everybody, except me, can get the bloody thing
to talk to a laptop using ActivSync. That's been my major bugbear. :-|

regards,
CrazyCam

 

[chortle] The British do good humour, don't they. Their women are
ok too...

=================

Onya bike

Gerry

 

FWIW, my wee cheapo ALDI gps runs the CE version of OziExplorer quite
happily from the SD card.
Is this common to other GPS/Navigators?
<<<

It can only be with gadgets based on Pocket-PC or CE, which means NO to all the usual suspects (Garmin's, Magellin's, etc) . . . Perhaps YES to the Tom-Toms?
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/gps/59154-how-customise-ipaq-310-a.html


My hp iPaq 312 has a lovely 4.3" VGA display so perhaps I should try the OziExplorer SD trickery too!
It's street based software (iGo I think - but hp branded) shows signs of brilliance but is certainly not intuitive.
And it came manual-less (none on hp's support site either).
And the PC based mapping software is impossible to get running - the weblinks are broken and I have lost interest in trying anymore.
So only buy one if you want the hardware!!

Jim Kelly

 

Strangely enough, almost everybody, except me, can get the bloody thing
to talk to a laptop using ActivSync. That's been my major bugbear. :-|
<<<

If you look at the bottom of the left side of Windows Explorer . . . is there any sign of it?

It is not uncommon for quite a lot of prodding (double clicking) needed to drill into such devices.

Tried taking the battery out for while?

Has it got a soft-reset 'hole' to prick?

Jim Kelly

 

Jim Kelly wrote:

Is that a backhanded offer of an iPaq for sale?

If so, I'd bid a case of beer.

regards,
CrazyCam