Pocket Pc - Cf Or Bluetooth

[Vlad]

I'm thinking of picking up a Pocket PC and am wondering whether I should go with a CF-based GPS or a Bluetooth unit - the PPC I'm thinking of could support either.

 

What would you choose?

[+Renegade Knight]

Depends on your use. Bluetooth is more versitle as you can use it with your PDA and your laptop, and probably 3 other PDA's just for kiks.. Garmin has a nice CF unit, though they may have bluetooth as well.

[+Wienerdog]

Garmin does have the GPS10 BT unit. It more or less turns an iPaq into a poor mans laptop. Works very well. The only hassle is telling the PDA to stop looking for the GPS when you leave the car to go for the cache.

[Vlad]

Hmmm, well i guess i could always take the gps10 and hide it under my hat...

[+Wienerdog]

That would be the ticket. A Groundspeak Geo hat with a magnetic mounting plate on top. It would be great for good reception!

[+Renegade Knight]

Garmin does have the GPS10 BT unit. It more or less turns an iPaq into a poor mans laptop. Works very well. The only hassle is telling the PDA to stop looking for the GPS when you leave the car to go for the cache.

Then I'd be in for blue tooth.

[+Wienerdog]

The BT solution does have a big plus in battery life. The GPS 10 turns itself off after 15 minutes or so if it can't 'talk' to the PDA. In the short time I have been using it the time between battery charges is measured in days whereas the PDA is a handfull of hours even when set to turn off after 2 minutes.

[+Alan2]

I use a CF GPS on my Ipaq PPC. The CF GPS does not have to be charged as a Bluetooth does. It gets its power from the PPC. With Bluetooth, you'll be charging two devices instead of the one PPC and have to worry about both. I get about 3 hours of continuous use on my PPC with the CF GPS plugged in with a full battery charge.

 

My setup is I have my Ipaq with CF GPS plugged into the car lighter as I'm traveling to the woods. The Ipaq is mounted on a windshield suction cup mount for autonavigating. This way I can leave the backlight on all the time without worying about the battery. Yet, the Ipaq battery is charging while I'm driving. I;'ll have a full PPC charge by the time I reach the parking spot. I then slip the PPC with CF GPS in my pocket. I don't have to worry about carrying separate Bluetoth and PPC devices. (I also take my regular GPS, a Vista. If I use the Vista for navigating in the woods, and the PPC only for paperless caching, I can pull the CF GPS out and extend PPC battery).

 

I'm not saying this is a better setup than the Bluetooth since I haven't tried the latter. But the CF GPS works for me.

 

One other note. There a little jack on my CF GPS. I believe that's to pick up the NMEA satellite data stream if you want to hook in to another device such as a laptop. (I haven't verified its purpose but you can check gpspassion.com for a lot of info on these devices) Of course, you need to be plugged into your PPC to provide power.

[+Alan2]

Another option is to get a cable that connects the PPC to your regular GPS. Then you son't need a CF or Bluetooth GPS. I have the cable too but have settled on using the CF GPS setup.

[+Poindexter]

I use the i.Trek bluetooth GPSr. It will run up to 20 hours at full operation and even comes with an extra battery free. Fits neatly under my hat. No hassle with cables or reception problems while hiking to the cache area.

 

Oops. Looks like the extra battery isn't included free anymore. But you'll never need it anyway.

Edited March 10, 2005 by Poindexter

[+Xangxa]

Bluetooth or CF? The answer is yes.

 

I bought the HAiCOM 303 bundle, which includes the GPS in CF format AND a Bluetooth slipper. I get the best of both worlds. You can also get a USB or serial cables and connect it that way. My bundle included an Arkon vent mount, and a magnetic gooseneck mount for the windshield, carrying cases (GPS can be clipped to belt or backpack, or worn with lanyard around the neck) and iGuidance 2 software. Not in the bundle, but purchased at the same time was an external magnetized antenna.

 

Some prefer the 303mmf versus the 303s because the 303s can create a sling-shot effect (due to SirfXTrac I believe). But the high sensitivity has its advantages too.

 

http://www.buygpsnow.com/item.aspx?itemid=357

[+Greymane]

The ideal choice would be a BT GPS with datalogger capability. This way, if you are just tracking your route, you can turn off the PDA and the BT is still logging your track. To see where you are, simply turn the PDA back on and it loads the track stored in the GPS. You get the battery life of the BT and the flexibility to position the GPS for a good signal without having to expose your to the elements.

[+TetrAmigos]

I just grabbed a Holux GR-230 bluetooth to work with my PDA and PC, and I don't think I'll ever look back. I thought the CF (SD in my case) was a good choice, but the more and more I thought about it, I realized that I'd have surrendered my only card slot, so I went bluetooth.

[+Rubberhead]

Hmmm, well i guess i could always take the gps10 and hide it under my hat...

Bluetooth transmits as 2.4 GHz which is the resonant frequency of water and the same frequency as a microwave oven.

 

I don't think I'd wear one on my head.

[+TetrAmigos]

Funny as it may be, I just carry it around in my hand. My PDA and GPS unit are both very small.

[+LSUFan]

One other note. There a little jack on my CF GPS.  I believe that's to pick up the NMEA satellite data stream if you want to hook in to another device such as a laptop.  (I haven't verified its purpose but you can check gpspassion.com for a lot of info on these devices)  Of course, you need to be plugged into your PPC to provide power.

 

I believe the little jack you are talking about on the side of the CF GPS is for an optional external antenna. At least this is what the one on mine is for. You can lay your pda on your seat and hook up the optional antenna, then lay the antenna on your dashboard with the five foot cable attached to your cf gps. This gives you better satellite reception for when you are driving.

 

My opinion on CF vs Bluetooth is one of preference and maybe necessity. These are the questions you need to ask yourself. If your PDA (mine is a dell axim 5) has both a cf slot and a sd slot, then you can use the sd slot for memory (maps) and the cf slot for your gps card without any problems. If you only have one cf slot and no other, then does your pda have a built-in bluetooth or do you have to use a cf bluetooth card in order to have bluetooth capability. If you have to use a cf bluetooth, then you still don't have an option for the maps and mapping programs except for the built in memory.

 

With a cf gps that runs off of your pda's battery, you will only have to keep up with one piece of equipment as opposed to two pieces if you use a separate bluetooth gps. Granted battery life is better on the separate bluetooth gps, but how long do you plan on being away from your cars power source at a time. I carry an extra PDA battery for my pda, which is something to consider.

 

You can also use a cf gps with your laptop while traveling. All you need is a $7 pcmia to cf slot adaptor for this.

 

These are just my personal observations and the questions I asked myself before I chose either a pda and a gps for it.

 

LSUFan

Edited March 10, 2005 by LSUFan

[+Right Wing Wacko]

There is another option!

 

Get the CF PDA and add a $40 Bluetooth CF Card. Then you have both!

[+caderoux]

I use Mapopolis on my iPaq with both the ALK Pocket CoPilot Sleeve and/or Bluetooth GPS. The Bluetooth seems to give me longer battery life. With a battery-powered sleeve instead of the non-battery GPS Sleeve using CF, I would probably get longer battery life, too, but I don't have a CF GPS.

 

Either way is good - I think the BT option now let's me migrate to a non-sleeve iPaq or other Pocket PC without having the sleeve be my only GPS.

 

I don't have a "traditional" GPS.

[+Alan2]

I believe the little jack you are talking about on the side of the CF GPS is for an optional external antenna.

 

You're correct about that. Also, I ddin't think that some people only have one memory slot. In that case Bluetooth makes more sense. I have both the CF and SD slot so I still have all my data in the SD while the GPS is in the CF clot.

[+TetrAmigos]

There is another option!

 

Get the CF PDA and add a $40 Bluetooth CF Card. Then you have both!

Or you could just buy a Dell PDA.. they've got Wifi and BT both built in with a spare SD card.

[+Team Noltex]

If I use a CF GPS with my PDA (Dell Axim X5), can I still use the PDA for regular functions like GPXSonar and just switch back and forth between the two? I use my PDA for paperless caching and don't want to give that up but it would be nice to have a GPS with a large color screen and auto routing for the car.

[+Xangxa]

If I use a CF GPS with my PDA (Dell Axim X5), can I still use the PDA for regular functions like GPXSonar and just switch back and forth between the two? I use my PDA for paperless caching and don't want to give that up but it would be nice to have a GPS with a large color screen and auto routing for the car.

Yep, do it all the time. I run GPXsonar, Pocket Internet Explorer (showing the cache page details), Pocket Streets, and GPSTuner (or Vito Navigator II) simultaneously. I use a task switcher to jump between programs. For iPAQ users there's the built-in iTask which has a hardware button mapping. Or if you own SPB Pocket Plus tap and hold the upper right corner (the "close" button) until the menu appears.

 

GPSgate is a program that allows multiple programs to use the GPS at the same time. But I found the cost too high for my situation, so I only connect one GPS-enabled program at a time (i.e., either iGuidance, Pocket Streets, GPStuner, or Vito Navigator II). E.g., when using GPStuner with my Bluetooth GPS, I am running Pocket Streets in "non-GPS" mode.