Opinions Please!

[+DustyWalker]

My boss is looking at purchasing some iPaq rx5900 travel companion PDA's for our field staff, and has asked my opinion. I don't know much about them. Does anyone have experience with this unit and /or Tom Tom software? If so, what do you think of them?

[03HD]

I have the rx5915. It is my first PDA with GPS built in. I have always used Garmin GPS (still have a couple) and it has taken a some time to get familiar with the TomTom software. I like Garmin's software better and may switch when it is time to upgrade software.

The HP Ipaq works great, I had no problem with it connecting to my home WiFi and hotspots when I travel. The TomTom software is accurate and easy to use for simple navigation. It does not have a lot of the features that I have with my Garmin units such as trackback and planning routes on my computer to download. TomTom is not the software to use for offroad. You would need to buy other software to use offroad. I like having the gps software loaded in the unit and not having to download maps or take up the SD slot. It is easy (using the TomTom software) to download traffic updates and weather with just a click.

I bought the HP Ipaq to use when I travel instead of carrying my laptop and it does what I need as far as Navigation, reading e-mail, listening to music, and light websurfing. I also use to view pictures that I take with my digital camera. I have not loaded any movies on the SD card to view yet, but will do so sometime soon. I have not had a need to use the Bluetooth yet so I cannot comment on it. Only negative I can say is that cold start up of GPS can sometime take a couple of minutes to acquire satellites. Warm takes about 15 seconds. Everything you need comes in the box... windshield mount and charger, ac charger, usb cable, slip case, etc.

You do not state what type of work these are to be used for or what you need for it to do, so I cannot comment. If you have specific questions let me know and I will try to answer.

[+DustyWalker]

Thanks for the reply. They will be using it for basic road navigation (i.e. where are we now?) as well as to find their way to certain locations as required. They may also want to save waypoints, etc. My big question is- Is it efficient to use for navigation on foot? It looks to me like you would have to find your way on the map. (i.e. no navigation arrow, etc.) Can you comment on this? I realize that as a PDA it has it's limitations as compared to a GPS, but ... ? Thanks.

[03HD]

Thanks for the reply. They will be using it for basic road navigation (i.e. where are we now?) as well as to find their way to certain locations as required. They may also want to save waypoints, etc. My big question is- Is it efficient to use for navigation on foot? It looks to me like you would have to find your way on the map. (i.e. no navigation arrow, etc.) Can you comment on this? I realize that as a PDA it has it's limitations as compared to a GPS, but ... ? Thanks.

Does good for basic road navigation and navigation to locations you input.

Saves waypoints and POIs ( I like the way you enter POIs compared to the way I have to enter on my Garmins)

I do not use it for foot navigation, but as long as you are following streets I think it would do OK. You can change the screen orientation so that it would be easier to hold in your hand ( I use landscape in the car but portrait would be better for handheld ). It locks onto roads so it would not do for walking off road unless you purchase other software (not sure what software is avaliable).

It has a compass arrow that you can configure to show: arrow pointing north or arrow showing your heading or arrow pointing to your destination.

I am satisfied with this unit ( my first non-Garmin) and it does as I expected. For approx. $450 shipped (in US) it was hundreds less than the Garmin units that I had looked at and it has WiFi and PDA functions. Also it has a replaceable battery. I had planned on buying an extra battery but have found it not necessary. May buy an extra battery in the future just to have ... it is nice to know that you can change it out (some units I looked at had a battery that was not easy to replace). Hope this info helps.

[jmutchek]

I just tried GPS Tuner with my rx5915 this weekend. I was actually pretty impressed with it... lots of nice "on-foot" GPS features. I have no affiliation with them, but the product is worth a look.

 

When I bought the rx5915 awhile back I was betting on the fact that third party software options would turn out to be an advantage on the device. I'm not a hardcore cacher, but having one gadget that can do lots of things made the investment easier to stomach.