Thinking about GPS? Some things to consider.

[paddlenbike]

I mostly use mine in the truck, so I leave the PDA plugged into 12 volt power at all times. If I unplug the power, the screen dims to save battery life and the screen goes to sleep after a few minutes. The GPS receiver has a 35 hour run-time, so I rarely need to plug it in.

There are larger batteries available and you can buy those adapters that allow you to use AA batteries in place of the lithium ions if you need extra capacity and do not have the ability to charge via 110V or 12V power.

[ryanmb21]

Well I've been surfin the net looking for a good PDA...

and I'm clueless, Dell doesn't sell the Axim anymore and HP has on with integrated GPS. Seems pricey.

Experts, if you were to buy a new system for yourself what would be on the shopping list? (I don't really need for anything besides GPS) Which PDA? Which GPS receiver? Which software for on-road and off?

I appreciate the help!

[paddlenbike]

I knew Dell was discontinuing the Axim at the time I bought mine. The market is basically demanding integrated PDA/phones, something for which I have no interest. The ultramobile PCs will apparently be the next fad, but in my opinion, they're too small to be as useful as a laptop and too big to carry like the PDA. There are some great deals out there on PDAs right now since everyone is trying to close them out. They were listed in Dell's "outlet" a couple of weeks ago.

[Seanz0rz]

i often find that the 7 inch wide screen in have in my truck is too small, and very inadequate for topo maps. regular maps using iguidance 3.0 umpc is awesome, but topo usa just doesn't show up very well.

im working on a 15 inch "digital map" screen that will fit in the glove box or center console for when i need topo maps, or maps with greater detail.