Travel Technology - Are there GPS's for PDA's that work with the expansion slot?

Am a newbie to having a PDA with an expansion slot (Palm Tungsten C). Can you buy a gps that will fit into that card slot? I previously had a Palm VIIx and the snap-on Rand McNally/Navman GPS, and it worked ok although the package was a little bulkly.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cblaisd:
Am a newbie to having a PDA with an expansion slot (Palm Tungsten C). Can you buy a gps that will fit into that card slot? I previously had a Palm VIIx and the snap-on Rand McNally/Navman GPS, and it worked ok although the package was a little bulkly.

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Two possibilities. One is this: http://www.brighthand.com/article/SD_GPS_Receiver_Coming_Soon which may be out by now. The second is to get a Palm SDIO Bluetooth card for the Palm and a Bluetooth GPS receiver. You can probably get more details on the Brighthand site if no one has more details here.

Gadget freak is correct, I think the Bluetooth option will work best as you can then leave the Bluetooth GPS on the dash and don't have to worry about stuff hanging from the bottom.

Another option (cheaper) is the DeLorme eathmate, they have a GPS receiver with cables for the Tungsten PLUS they have palm software.

http://www.delorme.com/earthmate/accessories.asp

The trouble with these add-ons is that they often do not contain the maps you need, and they involve cables and junk to set up. Too much trouble for me, anyway.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by richard:
The trouble with these add-ons is that they often do not contain the maps you need, and they involve cables and junk to set up. Too much trouble for me, anyway.

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It's a tradeoff, you get a wired GPS receiver and add a 512Mb SD card with most of the US OR you get a bluetooth SD card and miss out on the memory expansion.

Better yet is to just get a nice little Garmin with a US (base)map. Or even better, get the Garmin iQue http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ScottC:
... Or even better, get the Garmin iQue http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif </font>

Sweet http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I'm actually more interested in using the Palm/GPS combo on airline flights (it's not prohibited on United), so the cables and external unit are a drawback.

And, Scott et al, a quick primer on what bluetooth is and isn't in this regard would be helpful if you're of a mind....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cblaisd:
Sweet http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I'm actually more interested in using the Palm/GPS combo on airline flights (it's not prohibited on United), so the cables and external unit are a drawback.

And, Scott et al, a quick primer on what bluetooth is and isn't in this regard would be helpful if you're of a mind....

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Bluetooth is a short-range wireless data service. It's also secure. Put simply, 2 devices that support bluetooth can communicate with each other if they support each others "profile". E.g. a PC that supports the BPP can print to a printer that supports BPP (Bluetooth printer profile). Profiles exist for COM ports, Audio, Handsfree, Dial-Up, Netowork etc...

Because Bluetooth also support "bonding" it's possible to prevent devices from talking to each other without proper authentication.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cblaisd:
Sweet http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I'm actually more interested in using the Palm/GPS combo on airline flights (it's not prohibited on United), so the cables and external unit are a drawback.

And, Scott et al, a quick primer on what bluetooth is and isn't in this regard would be helpful if you're of a mind....

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I love Bluetooth. I have a Bluetooth card in a Treo 90 and in a G4 Powerbook. I have a Bluetooth connector on the back of my HP Laserjet in my office and in my cell phone. This means I can use my cell phone as a modem for the Powerbook or the Treo. I can use the Treo to send SMS messages through the cell phone (the Treo like the Tungsten C has a small keyboard). I find the latter is a great, inexpensive way to keep in touch with the wife while travelling, especially cost saving in Europe. I can also surf or do AIM through the Treo or Powerbook with the phone as the modem using a GPRS connection. All done while the phone is in a pocket or briefcase, no cables. I can also dial phone calls from the Treo directory. With the printer I can print from the Treo with no connection. If I took the time to order a Bluetooth USB port for my desktop I could sync the Treo that way as well. All the software except for printing came with the Palm SDIO Bluetooth card or on the Mac. It is great stuff, love it!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cblaisd:
Sweet http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I'm actually more interested in using the Palm/GPS combo on airline flights (it's not prohibited on United), so the cables and external unit are a drawback.

And, Scott et al, a quick primer on what bluetooth is and isn't in this regard would be helpful if you're of a mind....

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I used my Garmin iQue 3600 on flights a few times now. It is difficult to acquire satellites using the built in antenna. I am planning on buying the external wired antenna from www.gpsgeek.com (http://www.gpsgeek.com) to suction cup to the inside of the window. I'm sure that would improve the performance.

As it is now, I have to hold the unit up to the window to get the signal. Also, the battery life is very short, around 2-3 hours at the most.

My previous GPS, the Garmin GPS V was very nice to take on flights because the batteries lasted forever, and it could get a signal even when away from the window. We replaced it with the iQue for so many reasons.

I think the issue with many of these PDA accessories is that many do not do auto routing and do not have voice prompts. Auto routing was our #1 feature when we were shopping for a GPS unit.

[This message has been edited by Tummy (edited 09-30-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Tummy:
...Auto routing was our #1 feature when we were shopping for a GPS unit. </font>

Can you explain what that is?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cblaisd:
Can you explain what that is?</font>

When the GPS has your location, you can select a point of interest (an address, restaurant, hotel, etc.) and the unit will give you turn by turn driving directions.

Most of the previous generation of mapping handheld GPS units could not provide the directions. They just showed where you are on a streetmap. I believe most of the Palm / PocketPC gps accesories support this feature now, NavMan units for the PocketPC is one of them.

We were looking for an intergrated solution so I didn't investigate using a PDA + expansion slot very much. I didn't like the bulk of the NavMan and other accessories we saw.

I found this site to be very helpful for GPS information in general but it is not organized very well:

http://www.gpsinformation.net/

They also have an article about Palm GPS solutions:

http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/Palm/pilotgps.htm

[This message has been edited by Tummy (edited 10-01-2003).]