Handheld GPS Systems

[neK]

Hi

Im thinking of buying a GPS for myself, and im trying to figure out whats good and whats not.

A few ive considered are the Navman ICN520 and ICN530, the TomTom One.

Ive read that the ICN520 has a slow GPS fix, and have been told that TomTom's are much better.

Has the GPS fix issue been retified in the ICN530?

Also my gf's father is in the market for one, except he wants one that can also play MP3's, and if possible speak in Vietnamese.

If anyone can give me opinions on what is good that would be great!

Thanks!

[Saiya]

I cant really recommend the Navmans as we get alot of complaints from customers about there units not working properly, crashing and having issues.

Tomtom is quite popular and we really dont too much issues with those.

I would recommend a Garmin as I have one and very happy with it. I got the Nuvi 310 which might be out of your budget but the unit is very easy and efficient to use.

[Dennis_ZZE122]

go TomTom One

PS. i am a Navman ICN510 user

[neK]

The only reason why im leaning towards the ICN530 at the moment is because i can pick it up for $350 new (someone i know has corporate connections with Navman or something along those lines).

From the specs ive read both Tom Tom one and Navman ICN530 use the same SirF Star III chip.

How much is the Nuvi 310? Does it speak in Vietnamese?

[Saiya]

The Nuvi now selss for around the $900.

Bit of a difference from your $350 budget, still 350 is a very good price for a Navigator these days.

Ill check when I get home if it can read back in Vietnamese for ya.

[leasaunce]

Hey,

if you have a Symbian Mobile phone, you can use them as a GPS. All you need to buy is the Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

Im using the N70 as a GPS and it works amazing with TOMTOM Software.

[neK]

Hey,

if you have a Symbian Mobile phone, you can use them as a GPS. All you need to buy is the Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

Im using the N70 as a GPS and it works amazing with TOMTOM Software.

How much is a Bluetooth GPS receiver?

Are there phones out there that already have a GPS receiver built in?

[BigBum]

Hey,

if you have a Symbian Mobile phone, you can use them as a GPS. All you need to buy is the Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

Im using the N70 as a GPS and it works amazing with TOMTOM Software.

How much is a Bluetooth GPS receiver?

Are there phones out there that already have a GPS receiver built in?

Bluetooth GPS receiver can be bought from as low as $80 on Ebay. Although many people don't recommend a bluetooth one as you will occasionally get connection problems and also the battery life problem as well. If you can get a USB then deffinately go with that as you don't need to worry about those problems. I use a USB one and it works absolutely fantastic on the laptop.

As for Vietnamese voice, you will probably need to find a Vietnamese language pack. I've no idea if Handheld GPS units on the market today have Vietnamese voice built into them :( I don't think they do.

Navman or TomTom, I don't think you can go wrong with either really.

[Tivo Matt]

Hey,

if you have a Symbian Mobile phone, you can use them as a GPS. All you need to buy is the Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

Im using the N70 as a GPS and it works amazing with TOMTOM Software.

How much is a Bluetooth GPS receiver?

Are there phones out there that already have a GPS receiver built in?

Bluetooth GPS receiver can be bought from as low as $80 on Ebay. Although many people don't recommend a bluetooth one as you will occasionally get connection problems and also the battery life problem as well. If you can get a USB then deffinately go with that as you don't need to worry about those problems. I use a USB one and it works absolutely fantastic on the laptop.

As for Vietnamese voice, you will probably need to find a Vietnamese language pack. I've no idea if Handheld GPS units on the market today have Vietnamese voice built into them :( I don't think they do.

Navman or TomTom, I don't think you can go wrong with either really.

I have a Tom Tom One (Mark 1) and i love it. Its a simple unit and does everything i ask of it. I know people who have had Navmans (and i have used the 510 i think) and i simply find the tom tom easier to get around. I can't comment on the 530 as i don't even know what it is like. Buying a GPS is probably something that all depends on the user. From past experiences i have noted that the Garmin's have tended to have a few more features in their software (things like a track back feature and basic traveling statistics and things like this) whereas the Tom Tom doesn't seem to have this as standard issue as yet.... however there are add-on programs which perform things along the same line, although they are nowhere near high quality programs. The good thing with Tom Tom is that they release regular firmware upgrades with REAL feature additions. I mean it was only a couple of months ago that they released a firmware upgrade for their whole range (right back to the early GO's) that added the Tom Tom Buddy feature that allows you (via your phone) to see where someone else using a tom tom navigator is and navigate to them, or send them a location, message or for the higher models, pictures etc. Sure, not everyones cup of tea, but it was a big selling point for their new range and they followed through and released the update for ALL of their navigators losing a lot of potential customers wanting to upgrade for those features.

NO i do not work for Tom Tom or anyone else, just trying to give you a view from my experience so far. (i have commented on my GPS somewhere else before in this forum).

BTW, i don't know if the Navman 530 has it or not, but the thing that swung me most towards tom tom was the fact that everything is finger friendly on the Tom Tom, whereas on the Navmans at the time, everything was tiny and you had to use a stupid pen to get around most things.

[Jonn0]

I have not really used navman (except in hardly normals stores), I currently am using TomTom on my PDA and the new version is alot better then the old (just some little fixes and features).

I've also used Destinator for about 6-12months and find that TomTom maps are much better and there 3D routing is the best out there for clarity that I've seen... go the TomTom :-D

Cheers

Fudge :)

[eggbert_99]

Ive got a navman 520 and its been perfect for my use ...

life saver ... esp when we went fishing hey les .......

had some problems with reception ... but that was just coz we were using in a renault ....

[leasaunce]

The Bluetooth GPS is excellent. I dont have any problem with my GPS Receiver. also the one i have it uses the same battery as my mobile phone :D hehehe...