I was wondering what peoples experiences where with PDA based navigation in the Z. How does it compare to an automotive based navigation like the Alpine NAV-200 system. I know that the PDA has a lot less storage on it, but is it enough to get the job done? What other features would I be losing out on by going with a PDA based solution?

The second concern I have is how good is the reception on the PDA based GPS receivers? If I get a PDA nav setup I would like to mount it kinda low in the Z. I am considering a powered mount from Arkon. This is a potential problem with PDA's with the GPS receiver built in since it would be rather low in the car.



The two PDA's I am looking at are the Garmin iQUE 3600 or a Palm T3 with a Mapopolis GPS system (Bluetooth or Serial GPS).

 

A friend of mine had a Viewsonic V35 and got Mapopolis (free) - downloaded a bunch of maps (free is you set your date to 2010 before installing. No 30 day timeout). It worked pretty well. But that was without the GPS (although the software supports it.)

They work pretty well, but are useless for any long trip. There's never enough storage.

Check out www.pocketpcpassion.com for reviews on PDA GPS systems.

 

I've got an iPaq w/ the Navman 3420 sleeve. You should be able to fit the entire US on a 1 GB CF card. I have 256MB and only carry TX and OK regions. The maps are from Navtech, the same people that provide maps on many OEM navigation systems.

Time to lock on a cold start varies from 2-5 minutes. TTL on a warm start is less than a minute. I get no reception indoors or under cover.

I looked at the Arkon cradle, but I found another one that clips onto the vent.

Michael.