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Garmin Palm Device With GPS
Moritz writes "Garmin is introducing a PalmOS5 handheld with GPS, MP3 and 32MB of memory. That's very nice, but why is there no bluetooth? Why can't somebody just get the spec right? Other than that this seems to be a nice addition to the PalmOS lineup."
So, if this is SD/IO capable then you can drop a bluetooth card in there.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
Secure Digital Slot.
This is functionality that is being moved out into secondary cards, because the chipsets and antenna have become small enough. A GPS Antenna has to be significantly larger, hence, the Handspring cards, and this Antenna. Personally, I use the eTrex Vista a LOT, and this will probably be my next handheld, after a Visor Platinum. Good work Garmin.
One Token Ring to Rule them All, One Search Engine to Find Them, One WAN to bring them in, and TCP/IP Bind them...
No, Palm OS is a lot smaller than the equivalent Pocket PC or whatever Microsoft is calling it now.
32Mb is a lot for the average Palm device. Mine only has 8Mb and I've never got close to filling it.
However, 32Mb is smallish for GPS mapping. I have a Garmin GPS receiver with 24Mb which is not enough to get the Garmin maps for the whole UK in.
All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
Thats why it has a SD slot. Add as much storage as you like.
What do you know I wrote a novel
The specs of this new gadget don't sound too different from the Tungsten T...they exchanged Bluetooth and the 5-way navigation pad for GPS and twice as much memory. It's likely to have the same audio problem, unless Palm is supplying Garmin with a fixed version of Palm OS.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
screw bluetooth, gimme 802.11g
add 802.11 would be nice, but the point is:
You cannot compare Bluetooth with 802.11g...
Bluetooth is a standard used mostly by small and portable devices to connect to eachother.
802.11g is a wireless networking standard.
both are great technologies but they just can't be compared.
sure you can use Bluetooth for wireless networking but they quality of your connection will surely be beaten by 802.11... cuz that's not what BT was designed for...
These kind of posts are even worse then "M$ sucks and Linux rulezz!!" At least they're comparing two of the same things.
The other night I was walking through a rat shack and noticed a GPS unit for handhelds on the wall for $99. I did a little research into it when I got home and found out that it's actually made by DeLorme, comes with XMap/Street Atlas 2003 and supports the NMEA output standards. Output from the GPS unit itself is an RJ11 jack, and it includes three cables (Palm mSeries, iPaq 31xx/36xx, iPaq 38xx/39xx) with others supposedly available online for laptops. After a little tinkering and figuring, I got it working just fine with my monochrome iPaq 3150.
I went to a different rat shack last night to pick up the unit, and found even more surprises. It's on sale right now (if you can catch the promotion before they pretend it doesn't exist - one place said it never existed, the other said it -shouldn't- exist even though they had the red and white tag on the wall) for $69. It runs on batteries or 6 volts of DC for maximum flexibility. With my particular iPaq of the non-sync-charging variety, there's no reason I can't charge the iPaq and the GPS at the same time with a decent dual outlet inverter.
For a total cost of $300 (Including the $150 iPaq) I have a perfect wardriving kit in need of software. Yes, I'm rambling. Time for Concerta.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
One of the best things about the T68/Tungsten combo is how easy it is to get online with it. The Tungsten discovered the phone quickly and I was able to set it up easily. Having the two connected is great - I sent all of my phone contacts to the bluetooth with a couple of clicks and use the Tungsten SMS software regularly.
Getting on to the internet was also fairly simple. My phone is connected to the Orange network in the UK, so I called them (dial 156) and got them to activate GPRS. With GPRS activated Orange become my ISP and I pay them for KB downloaded.
Then I opened the preferences on Web Pro and set the service as orange, the user name as orange, entered the password, and chose my 'BT to t68' connection. In the phone number box I wrote "*99***1#" (information I got from a newsgroup) and I set up the primary and secondary DNS information from the Orange web site.
I'd reccommend turning off images to safe money.
Setting up Versa Mail was a little trickier, but the system very useable once set up.
Now wash your hands.
That said, what I've found most lacking is good GPS software for the Palm. I wonder if the authors of the GPS software actually use their own software. The best I've found so far is Cetus GPS. What it does, it does well--but there are many "obvious" features missing, IMHO.
I'm working on new software, though... :)
> Mapping Software. You have to travel pretty
> extensively to require a pocket atlas. Most
> 'normal' people can take a quick look at a map
> before they leave and maybe scribble a couple of
> notes on a PostIt. If I have an appointment, it
> is not unusual for someone to email me a local
> map in advance.
I'll be getting something like this because my job will require me to be shipped off to all kinds of different places. However, I won't be getting this particular device but rather a StreetPilot III. My research has shown that the current PDA-based solutions really don't hold a candle to the SP3. And although the SP3 is a bit pricey (US$750 minimum), you really can't put a price tag on the peace of mind that being able to drive aorund in a strange place without fear of getting lost will give you.
The GPS PDA is one of the first devices to contain the new DragonBall MXL (MC9328MXL), according to this.
Its ARM9-based, is 150mhz and does 150mips. Doesn't sound like much, but its only US$10.30 in "low volumes". It has an MMU so it would run linux. I'd like a cheap, small, LART style computer with some useful IO (ethernet, serial ports etc) I can run linux on and generally hack about with. This seems like an ideal CPU (shame it doesn't have integrated ethernet though).
The Garmin device uses a different ARM chip (the Motorola Dragonball MXL) from the Tungsten T (which uses a TI OMAP 1510). This means different sound playback hardware, and its almost certain, much clearer sound playback. The OMAP's DSP handles sound processing, and Palm installed a low-pass filter in the DSP to improve sound quality for voice recording. However, they didn't make this switchable, causing grief for music playback software. This will likely be fixed when Palm does an OS update for the device.
I don't see why everyone keeps using the MSRP to bitch about something being to expensive. When was the last time you paid the MSRP for anything?
http://www.tvnav.com/ will have the iQue for $455. You can pre-order now. They are very reputable.