Can anyone give me some advice.
I am looking for a very cheap external GPS adapter I can use with my TyTN.
But I dont want to end up with the worst crap that wont really work.
Any tips would be appreciated. Never bought a GPS device before and have no idea what to look for.
I got an iBlue 737 for Christmas, and so far I really like it:
http://www.semsons.com/ib737blgps32.html
Have had great luck with a Holux 1000. Ive had it for a while. Picked it up on fleabay for about $24 (I think).
SoulSeekerHS said:
Can anyone give me some advice.
I am looking for a very cheap external GPS adapter I can use with my TyTN.
But I dont want to end up with the worst crap that wont really work.
Any tips would be appreciated. Never bought a GPS device before and have no idea what to look for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the Holux GPSlim 236. I have had it for more than a year. Works pretty well. Great battery life. Simple to set up. Available for under 50 buks on ebay. This is just the GPS hardware - no navigation software included.
As far as software is concerned - TomTom i smy favorite. This forum would give you lots of guidance in terms of GPS software options. Just search through the archives.
I've been very happy with my QStarz receiver.
Battery runs for over 10hrs and never had a problem with signal.
http://www.qstarz.com/
Ok cool, thx for all the suggestions.
Will look arround for good deals on those, maybe I find something used on ebay.
The specs of the qstarz Q818 look very promising, but 70€ is a bit more than I can spend at the moment. Will rememeber it for richer times tho hehe
so again, thx all. That has helped me alot
GPS
I have one of these and it work like a charm. Good battery life, and fast fix.
its NMEA instead of SIRF, but I can't figure out the difference. Works with Google maps, Live Search, TomTom, FFF and everything else using GPS i've tried.
http://www.factorydirect.ca/catalog/product_spec.php?pcode=BT0005
well....
i've seen all goods listed above...
it's a difficult thing for these merchants to ship GPS over the Atlantic to China....
Where can i find a cheap GPS that included shipping costs....
thanks~
re: GPS Receiver
Hi
I use the freedom keyring mini gps receiver, It is Sirf III , also used holux gpslim 236 before that, both awesome, why don't you try from the famous auction site considering that a lot of the sellers there sell to the UK from china, with you the postage costs should be reduced
Chudiy
Irony
Its actually kinda funny when you consider 95% of these came from either China or Taiwan in the first place....
ss1271 said:
well....
i've seen all goods listed above...
it's a difficult thing for these merchants to ship GPS over the Atlantic to China....
Where can i find a cheap GPS that included shipping costs....
thanks~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my Holux from this guy about 6 months ago:
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/digichoice/
He's in HK.
nanastas said:
Its actually kinda funny when you consider 95% of these came from either China or Taiwan in the first place....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its really kinda depress when I go to another country and buy some goods that marked "Made in China"...
I use Nokia Bluetooth GPS Module LD-3W, very slim and stylish.
Battery lifetime 12 hours.
I use the Freedom Keyring GPS, but previously had the Holux GPSlim 236 (which suddenly died even though it was babied).
So far I have had excellent luck with it. It's very solidly built, has good battery life, and seems to pick-up signal very quickly. I was sceptical at first due to Freedom's no-frills packaging, but I would definately recommend it.
SiRFStar III is considered the standard, though they all pretty much work well nowadays. My Holux 236 works very well, had it for over a year now. Holux do some even smaller ones now.
samcham said:
I got an iBlue 737 for Christmas, and so far I really like it:
http://www.semsons.com/ib737blgps32.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes - I have also this GPS - it´s great - very fast!!
i have the Holux Slim 240 .. VERY happy with it. Its the smallest I've found out there, looks good up on my dash (have a tiny dot of Velcro there to hold it in place), the battery life is superb at 10hrs, uses the same charger as my phone, and has the standard SiRFStar 3 for amazing accuracy. Once its locked, I can even put it in the "dime bag" pocket of my jeans facing out and will never lose signal (motorcycle, bicycle, walking). It takes a minute or two to get an initial lock but my understanding is that they all do. Highly recommended, < $60 if you shop around: http://www.amazon.com/Holux-GPSlim-240-Bluetooth-Receiver/dp/B000HDJSNA
If I were still in the market, I would consider that new keychain one .. it would be nice to always have it on your person.
Quality GPS
I'm not sure if it is within your price range, but I love my Garmin GPS 10. It is several years old and still retains a charge for a long time and is incredibly accurate. I use it in my car and I use it for Geocaching.
The "current" version is called the Garmin Mobile™ 10. They have it for PDAs, SmartPhones, Blackberries, laptops, Sprint Mobile, etc.
The best part is that it comes with software that can be loaded on a laptop, phone or PDA ... all you need is a bluetooth connection and you are ready to go! So, I can use my GPS with all my toys!!!
Mine came with a velcro strip, but I don't have to use it. The protective rubber piece that is over the adhesive part acts like non-slip ... so I don't use the velcro ... and the GPS does not slide.
I don't care what anyone says, Garmin has always been and will always be one of the best manufacturers of GPS technologies. They work hard to continue earning and maintaining their reputation.
Yes, it might be a little more $$$ up front, but you won't need to replace it for a very long time! Go for QUALITY!!!!!
Dual mode USB and Bluetooth?
Could be used in PC as well PDA?
Mine can. USB or over bluetooth. Came with drivers on a mini-cd
Related
which one is the best and which one would u recomand , please help !
If you are just looking for a gps reciver (not including software) I would look into one that has the SiRF StarIII chip like the Holux GR-236.
Checkout the i.trek, just picked one up. Been using it with TomTom and it works great...
Just bought Holux 236 BT from ebay. Waiting for it to be deliverd..
Don't yet know which program to use, I'm located in Sweden, so I'll se what works best here.
I've been using the (I-Geo pro) now for 2 Months. It is Sirf III. Fast to locate, good batteriy, Small, good looking, and CHEAP.
Bought mine on Ebay £49.
Thoroughly recomended.
I've been using the (I-Geo pro) now for 2 Months. It is Sirf III. Fast to locate, good batteriy, Small, good looking, and CHEAP.
Bought mine on Ebay £49.
Thoroughly recomended.
I purchased a Solarius V3 Bluetooth GPS Receiver (SiRF III, WAAS) (Solar Powered) 2 months ago from Semsons.com . It came as a bundle with TomTom Navigator 5. Works great. I like that it uses a mini-usb for charging (same as the Wizard). It has a external antenna port but don't think I'll need one because I still get a full signal with the reciver in my pocket walking around. This SiRF III blows away my first GPS from '98. It also has a reasonably strong magnet in the base, have not gotten to work with my plastic dashboard.... It comes totally black with no goofly labels telling the theifing world that it is a GPS.
I also love the powered mount (CM799) they sell for the Wizard. It comes 2 USB ports for charging both GPS and K-Jam simultaneous. Also has speaker with volume control.
If you join gpspassion.com you get a 10% discount coupon at semsons.com
Very pleased with my Holux GPSlim 236 & Tom Tom. excellent product. Been using it now for a few months.
Has anyone found a good fm transmitter for G1 yet?
I've seen few on ebay, not sure if they are any good, one of them called FMTalk.
Thanks,
Dmitry
yeah the ones on ebay actually work great, it was $20 on ebay included shipping and i cant complain. you have to turn the volume down on your g1 handset and turn up your volume on what ever your playing your music through. i also love the fact it has a bulit-in mic. i use it as a hands free unit too. its worth spending $20 and much better than griffin transmitters for the iphone/ipod.
lilwill2806 said:
yeah the ones on ebay actually work great, it was $20 on ebay included shipping and i cant complain. you have to turn the volume down on your g1 handset and turn up your volume on what ever your playing your music through. i also love the fact it has a bulit-in mic. i use it as a hands free unit too. its worth spending $20 and much better than griffin transmitters for the iphone/ipod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thanks for the info, just ordered one.
no problem !
can you guys provide the link or item number for this item on ebay?
thanks
blufabric said:
can you guys provide the link or item number for this item on ebay?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260356034462
This is the one I ordered, it just shipped out, hopefully it will be good when I get it (wrong item pic on the auction)
thanks, let me know how it goes..
tchort said:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260356034462
This is the one I ordered, it just shipped out, hopefully it will be good when I get it (wrong item pic on the auction)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ordered the one in the pic and it was total crap. It would transmit but the sound quality was bad and it was full of static.
I just got mine, took about 5 minutes to find the right frequency so far seems like it's actually working really well, will test it out over next few days and write a quick update here.
Any more word on these? I want one but don't want to waste my time.
You can always just use an extUSB to 3.5mm headphone jack converter and then plug that into a generic fm transmitter.
Try this one.
http://www.designtech-intl.com/fm.asp
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=fm..._trksid=m270.l1313&_odkw=fm+voyager&_osacat=0
I was personally involved in the design of the audio section of the FM Voyager before Directed Electronics purchased it from the company I formerly worked for.
In particular, I designed the bandpass circuitry that normalizes the frequency response. Most FM transmitters have no such circuitry - and so their end frequency response is nothing like a normal radio station. During developement this unit was compared to literally dozens of other transmitters, some costing upwards of 100 dollars. While this unit - like everything on the market - had its share of reductions/limitations in order to meet cost and engineering goals, the final result was a product that sounds better (in my opinion) than virtually anything else on the market - including the transmitters that cost many many times as much.
As a side note: Some FM transmitters are *NOT* FCC legal. The 12 channel version of the FM Voyager is. The result of being FCC legal is that the power output is limited - and that power can result in some (usually minor) static being received depending on the surrounding environment such as other transmitters and receiver design. In addition, you of course have slightly less channels to choose from, although this is not normally a major issue. While technically innaccurate, the basic thought for lack of better explination is that some receivers have such a low sensitivity that a legally operating portable transmitter may not provide a strong enough signal to eliminate static. The downside of not being FCC legal is primarily that the device could transmitt farther than intended - and it could effect other receivers/stations as a result. There is an older 14 channel version of the FM Voyager, but thats all I am going to say about it.
Call me biased, but its the transmitter I use exclusively and I am very happy with it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not, and never have worked for Directed Electronics. The information from this post is based on first hand knowledge acquired during employement at the company that was originally responsible for the dwevelopement of the FM Voyager. Its possible the design has changed and as such it is possible that nothing in this post is meaningful or accurate at this time.
Kieth
mightykc said:
I ordered the one in the pic and it was total crap. It would transmit but the sound quality was bad and it was full of static.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was the same. Unuseable.
myron bennell said:
Any more word on these? I want one but don't want to waste my time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used it for few weeks now, there is some static for sure, finding a clear channel is a bit of a pain, and station that works today, tomorrow might have more static. Also another negative is car charger plugs into the transmitter, but does not charge the phone.
tchort said:
Also another negative is car charger plugs into the transmitter, but does not charge the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the biggest negtaive.
Henchman said:
That's the biggest negtaive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. that was one reason i wanted to try these out. The phone only goes so far on a charge as it is.
So, I've decided to turn my G1 into PMP recently. I purchased a 2300mAh battery, along with the MUGEN battery cover(it looks awesome lol), and both items are on the way. Now, I'm trying to find a Bluetooth headset that works with the G1. I'm currently running a Hero ROM and I do understand that BT does not work, but I'm planning to switch to Cyan's latest whenever I finally pick what headphones I'm going to purchase.
So I'm currently looking at 2 options, a good friend is selling his Insignia NS-BTHDP for $25, he's been using it on his iPhone 3GS and it still works well. The other option is this:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8422~r.11584639
It's simply a BT dongle. I personally would much prefer this as I'm not too fond of over-the-ear headphones, and I've got a pair of excellent Sony headphones that I've been using for almost 2 years now. Now the problem is, I've heard a bunch of conflicting reports with this dongle. A search on XDA led me to a thread with a user saying that his does not work, and another user giving out links that it does indeed work.
So I guess my question is that, do any of my 2 options work well with the G1?
And if not, do you guys have any suggestions for BT headphones that work well with the G1? Preferably something that's less than $30 because I'm starting to run on a tight budget here.
Thanks.
did someone used it? or buyed it. I'm seriusly interested in... but it worth the cost???
check out motorolla s805's or ht820 or s9, should be able to find on ebay new for roughly 30 dollars. I currently use the s805's with my G1. they work great, i purchased a pair of ht820's in the past for my Wing, i found them uncomfortable for extended use though.
I would avoid that second "dongle" you linked to. Very cheap and probably rubish!
I am currently using a Jabra BT3030 with my G1 and love it! Like you I don't like the over ear/round head ones and find them very uncomfortable to wear so wanted something to just use with normal earphones.
Works very well with a super long battery life. The earphones included with it are very good too!
http://www.jabra.co.uk/Sites/Jabra/UK-UK/Headsets/Pages/JabraBT3030.aspx
I got a Sony DR-BT101 for G1. Works like a charm.
I bought the cheap "dongle" from deal extreme and it wouldn't pair with my g1 or my n95. I figured it was a bum unit, but it would have cost more to ship back than it was worth.
Others have posted in various threads that they have had success with it however. I am considering buying a 2nd one and seeing how bad my luck is.
Seriously... you're waisting your money! Save your money and put it towards a decent/brand one!
Even if you do get it to work it's never going to be as good as a decent one. By the time you've bought two you could have bought one decent one!
Phil
Try These
http://cgi.ebay.com/Comfortable-Bluetooth-Stereo-Headphone-Mic-SK01-/320507927257
Thats what I use.. They can be easily inserted into a helmet (snowboard/ski) I havent tried any other helmets..
Love em, they are 4 months old now and I go everywhere with em'..
2 thumbs up on this set... buy with confidence!
Lets be honest. these are not android phones. they have evolved past that. They are quite litterally PC's. or PPC's to be more accurate.
They are Portable Personal Computers and they are amazing.
With this rash of new and inevitably more coming "CHEAP" yet powerful android powered portable PC's coming out such as the $30 score and $50 vitality and PLENTY for under $99
suddenly things that were silly before or just too expensive are suddenly viable.
I WOULD LOVE to make this a HUGE threat for coming up with creative non phone uses (IE no celluar plan) for these amazing little devices.
I am going to dedicate the first few posts to listing in one place the great ideas you guys come up with. I will start off with just a few of the ideas we have come up with to use these phones for and links to software examples to do such with them.
Please ANY idea don't care what it is post it. Let's see just how much we can do with these amazing little devices.
I don't care if its free or paid software.
the only condition is it has to be useful without a cellular connection.
Most of these idea's are not mine but were posted by others in the $30 and $50 android threads. some where mine hehe
IPWEBCAM
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...lt#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5wYXMud2ViY2FtIl0.
This program turns your droid into a streaming webcam. you can access it from anywhere on your network and with some port forwarding and convenience from say dyndns anywhere in the world.
Combine with "tinycam"
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hbGV4dmFzLmR2ciJd
and you can watch up to 5 at a time live from your other android phone anywhere.
works VERY well. I plan to try to rig one up with a solar panel and external battery for wireless convenience.
----------------------------
Lapse It
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS51aS5MYXBzZUl0UHJvIl0.
WONDERFUL WONDERFUL software. turns your droid camera into a "timelapse" camera. this takes a picture at "intervals" that you can later combined into a "video" (you can do it on the phone but it obviously takes along time at higher resolutions)
I have done 1080p timelapse films with it. this is the primary reason I got all these devices (I have 7 of them)
---------------------
Motion Detector Pro
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...HJvaWQubW90aW9uZGV0ZWN0b3Jwcm8uYWN0aXZpdHkiXQ..
This one has a running internal video stream and when enough pixels "change" at once (ie "motion" is detected) it snaps a picture and e-mails it to you and stores it on the sd card.
right now its stream resolution 480x320 I am hopeful of a higher resolution version can be found! its free too!
--------------------
Navigon (with permissions denied tweak)
$40 cheap full feature GPS without a network connection. GOod quality maps and good quality routing most of the time (like any other gps I am pleased)
You just have to permissions denied disable the license check since it checks EVERY single time you start even though it downloads the maps to the SD card. which means no data connection SPLAT it crashes out.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...vbS5uYXZpZ29uLm5hdmlnYXRvcl9jaGVja291dF9uYSJd
--------------------
Navionics
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=navionics&c=apps
Very nice just like navigon but for Nautical Charts for boating !! very very nice. I can't wait to try it out this summer when I get the boat going.
--------------------
Digital Dash for your car
I love Ulysse Speedometer its gorgeous and feature rich. there are LOTS of other options many free but I always come back to Ulysse
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wxLDEsImNvbS5iaW5hcnl0b3lzLnNwZWVkb21ldGVyIl0.
it (and many others) can also do HUD inverted to project the info on your windscreen at night.
--------------------
Slacker and Pandora when in WIFI for streaming music.
if you pay for slacker premium $4 a month you can also CACHE stations to your SD card and now you can use it anywhere. whenever your in wifi it will "sync" adding new songs etc.. Very very nice.
--------------------
MP3 Player. I Love poweramp. you can shove a 16 or in some of them 32gb card in them and have a Media Player that will make an ipod cringe in envy.
Also works fine for netflix youtube etc.. when in WIFI. Most will also play many other video formats but the small screens tend to make them less desirable for this.
--------------------
Do you 4wheel? LOTs of neat apps for this.
I plan to mount 3 or 4 of these on my visor shelf when I 4 wheel
one will run Ulysse one will run TOPO software once I find a good one
another will run Inclinometer software
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=inclinometer&c=apps
once I pick the one i like.
really love the brain laboratories one but it crashes when the tilt alarm goes off (which is why I like it so much) turn off the alarm and its fine hopefully they can fix that.
----------------------------
Car DVR - record what happens as you drive think "dash cam"
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kYWlseXJvYWRzLnYiXQ..
is just one example.
I use a dedicated dash cam but here is a droid option.
-----------------------------
Have a 96 or newer car with OBDII onboard ?
get one of these 260827956350 (ebay) for under $20 and now you can use software like for example Torque to read your codes from your car or live data.
PLENTY of other "car" things you can do.
This is my preferred program for recording my tank fills up and tracking my fuel economy and my car expenses
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wOSwiY2guc2ltb25tb3JnZW50aGFsZXIuZnVlbGxvZyJd
Plenty of other software like this too.
------------------------------
HeyTell
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heytell&feature=search_result
PTT Push to Talk. Think Walkie Talkie for you droid. works great over wifi. I ALSO confirmed it works in conjunction with IPWEBCAM so now if you SEE someone on your webcam you can "talk" to them via heytell. (you hear them via ipwebcam just enable audio)
Very cool. if you have windows mobile and BB users use LOUDTALKS (zello) since that one has Winmo and BB clients.
-----------------------
Unit Conversion
Convertr
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...S5tYXRocGFkLm1vYmlsZS5hbmRyb2lkLnd0LnVuaXQiXQ..
plenty of others. convert literally any unit to any unit. very neat
-----------------------
Talking Timer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsInNwaW5uaW5naGVhZC50aW1lciJd
-----------------------
Calculators. Just search the market their are OODLES of them
-----------------------
Reserved for the wonderful idea's you guys come up with
Reserved for the even more of the wonderful idea's you guys come up with
Put all the music on a SD card.
Portable music player.
heck yeah and amke ipods cry
Tethering
You could use yor phone as modem for your PC.
ahh would that not require a cellular connection?
My ZTE Score has a hardware GPS so I can load topo or road maps on it and have a nice portable GPS unit. For only $30 it was cheaper than other portable gps units.
Imagine having this hooked up in your car multitasking as a GPS unit and MP3 player if you don't have or want to use your regular phone.
Cheap devices are also a great way to learn about the hacking side of Android. You can get experience rooting, flashing CWM and ROMs (if available for your device) without the worry of bricking your primary phone. I learned how to build desktops by tearing down and rebuilding older computers where there was no risk if I broke something. Think of cheap phones as the same thing. Once you master them you'll feel more comfortable flashing a ROM on your new $500 phone.
have you found any really good user friendly topo mapping software? trails software? (offroad and hiking)
what software do you use?
theres a neighor of mine living next door who's got 4 laptops.. and i'm thinking about breaking into his house and stealing them. then selling them all on ebay..
an ebook/comic and a divx reader, for me.
And a marvelous one at that, that can do a lot more than a 100$ kindle or a *input stupid amount of money*$ ipod and the such.
Even if unfortunately for me, being in Canada, i couldn't benefit from the Zte Score at 30$ and Samsung Vitality at 50$ good plans.
I'm curious bout the "PLENTY for under 99$" sentence, tough?
I saw 4 or 5 on the shelf for under $100 at best buy including the samsung vitality ($99 with speaker) I think vitality alone was $79.99 the ZTE Score was $49.99 and the ZTE Chorus was $69 IIRC.
I think the boost "warp" was either $99 or $119.
and that was just what I saw at best buy. metro has plenty in that price range as well.
and on craigslist its not hard to find a droid for under $100 even pretty nice ones. all 3 of my EVO 4G's I paid under $100 for and thats a kick butt droid.
I even found EPIC 4G for $100 a pop once (pair of them $150) I should have bought them. dumb me.
its amazing how much "hardware" you can buy for $99 or less now. though the $30 range is what REALLY made these things delicious. almost an impulse buy at that price point.
remember the point of these is not to buy a phone plan but to use them as little PC's
little computers to "DO" interesting things with.
you can get a pretty decent eink reader 6" for lower than $70 now. these screens are a bit too small for reading to me but yeah thats a use for them.
nerys71 said:
remember the point of these is not to buy a phone plan but to use them as little PC's
little computers to "DO" interesting things with.
you can get a pretty decent eink reader 6" for lower than $70 now. these screens are a bit too small for reading to me but yeah thats a use for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i got that. What i meant by "good plans" was "good deals", i should have been clearer.
I guess american craiglist is a lot more packed than the canadian one
(same with best buy for that matter)
Cheapest good one around here is 110$+taxes for a Lg Optimus One with a prepaid card.
I'll check again, but i doubt you can find something (not broken) for 50$ here in canada, unfortunately.
Oh, and i find it pleasing enough to read on a 3.5"-4" device, resizing is pretty easy and efficient.
Of course, i can't deny it is more pleasant on a bigger, dedicated ebook reader, but then again, what can these things do beyond reading ebooks?
maybe you should start shopping in the US hehe seriously hit ebay.
you can get votalities for $50 to $70 shipped (without the bt speaker of course
as for reading. I am a book whore. I have an issue with reading. I can never have enough.
I have 2 kindle DX's so if something happens to one I never have to be without my books. I am a voracious reader.
my eyes KILL me after even 2 hours of reading on an LCD screen not to speak of the battery consumption and weight (tablet computer)
I am even eyeballing that new COLOR E-Ink device ($500 !! ouch) so I can read my magazines without a backlight.
For me its no option got to have an ereader.
but some have no issues reading an LCD.
Here is a NIB ZTE Score for $55 SHIPPED
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Z...0990516405?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item3cc43f3cb5
and there are TONS of them $60 and under. $55 is lowest "buy it now" I could find with free shipping
For the Vitality (a better device in my opinion) just search ebay for samsung vitality and click " cell phones" on the left to get rid of all the accessories from the results
TONS of them for $60 to $70 buy it now free shipping.
fun around long enough you could snag one for $50. all perfectly good in fact brand new. most do not include the bt speaker but some as low as $85 include the speaker with free shipping (well worth it the speaker is flat out amazing)
nerys71 said:
maybe you should start shopping in the US hehe seriously hit ebay.
you can get votalities for $50 to $70 shipped (without the bt speaker of course
as for reading. I am a book whore. I have an issue with reading. I can never have enough.
I have 2 kindle DX's so if something happens to one I never have to be without my books. I am a voracious reader.
my eyes KILL me after even 2 hours of reading on an LCD screen not to speak of the battery consumption and weight (tablet computer)
I am even eyeballing that new COLOR E-Ink device ($500 !! ouch) so I can read my magazines without a backlight.
For me its no option got to have an ereader.
but some have no issues reading an LCD.
Here is a NIB ZTE Score for $55 SHIPPED
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Z...0990516405?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item3cc43f3cb5
and there are TONS of them $60 and under. $55 is lowest "buy it now" I could find with free shipping
For the Vitality (a better device in my opinion) just search ebay for samsung vitality and click " cell phones" on the left to get rid of all the accessories from the results
TONS of them for $60 to $70 buy it now free shipping.
fun around long enough you could snag one for $50. all perfectly good in fact brand new. most do not include the bt speaker but some as low as $85 include the speaker with free shipping (well worth it the speaker is flat out amazing)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That auction is for shipment in the us only, i had seen it
Anyway i get the point, thanks
As for reading ebooks on my phone, i must confess that while i do like reading, i'm not reading as much as you, so a 3.5" screen is enough for me.
Anyway, i'm off to the classifieds again to find some cheap android phone to have fun with!
If the phone has hdmi out you could hook it to a tv and use it with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse as a computer - some of these phones can even run ubuntu linux for a full pc experience
nice idea! none of the "cheap" ones have that function yet (hdmi) but you can get used droids sometimes under $100 if your vigilant that do.
Found some new software!!
Converter software. convert from any unit to any unit. they have some GREAT software available to do this !!
Talking Timer. I will absolutely get a use for this. I use talking timers when flying competition rocket gliders. we have to fly 15 minutes and land at zero so we use talking timers (radio shack) so we can sync our landing.
they are rather hard to find and now I can use my droid to do it. sweet!
Scientific Calculator. lots of neat apps for this!
come on I know you guys have to have some idea's !!
That's marginal, but as an avid boardgames/cardgames player, i personnaly also use it for dice and counter apps.
Oh, and the timer is useful for that purpose too.
It would make sense that they would update the faulty hardware when they found the problem. I'd still like a TP 201 but GPS is a necessity for aviation navigation. If the problem was fixed in later batches, I would buy one.
Well, if GPS is a necessity... don't go for the TP... it's a fantastic device, but not intended to be used as a GPS device... it's a design fault more than a hardware fault... perhaps if the TP Infinity has GPS it would be better...
prime will work fine for navigating now that asus is giving away free external gps dongles..read my gps dongle test thread for more details
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1602789
Is the dongle only for people who bought a TP before the GPS was removed from the specifications?
Would a person who bought a TP today get a dongle?
skypony said:
Is the dongle only for people who bought a TP before the GPS was removed from the specifications?
Would a person who bought a TP today get a dongle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes..dependent on where you live though. most places can get them
I bought a Prime 1.5 weeks ago. After rooting and apply the aGPS fix, my GPS works great. I haven't waited longer than 10 seconds for a lock. Maybe they did improve it.....
I would not trust a non dedicated GPS system for aviation. That is just asking for trouble.
I have a later TFP (C1 series) and my GPS is functional but not great.
The Asus TFP aluminum case (product design - good for appearance and sturdiness) imepeeds GPS and Wi-Fi in some cases.
I ordered the GPS dongle and anticipate this will bring GPS reception up to the level of my smartphone.
jlabrat said:
I have a later TFP (C1 series) and my GPS is functional but not great.
The Asus TFP aluminum case (product design - good for appearance and sturdiness) imepeeds GPS and Wi-Fi in some cases.
I ordered the GPS dongle and anticipate this will bring GPS reception up to the level of my smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
recent testings, including mines and other members, show prime gps dongle performing better than smartphone gps
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Mr Zulu said:
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please post back after you receive the dongle and test it on your flights. i bet you will be surprised as to how well and accurate the dongle performs.
Mr Zulu said:
Pilot here. Bought my prime to be an EFB. All the pilots I personally know that use a tablet for an EFB are apple freaks so they were my only point of reference before buying. I was told not to expect a tablet GPS to be that useful in the confines of a small aluminum cockpit. The GPS antenna really needs to be up on the dash which obviously would make the tablet a bit useless. The suggestion was to use a bluetooth GPS and set it up on the dash if I wanted georeference on the charts. However, none of these pilots bothered with that. Of course it did occur to me that these pilots were full of **** and trying to justify why they bought the cheaper ipad without 3g (and no GPS either) but I was not expecting any tablet gps to be great in the cockpit so I wasn't making my purchase decision based on that.
I'm of the mindset of not bothering with it. I have three panel mounted GPS units in the airplane. I really don't need another. It's easy enough to just swipe chart to the right location when I need the chart and I don't need to actually look at a chart very often at that.
So, I was dissapointed when I saw the the GPS in the prime is a no-go, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. That said, I put in for that new dongle... it's free afterall, may as well give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the free GPS Extension Kit; this is what Asus calls in the packaging it does help the GPS. What the Kit does is it disables the built in GPS and uses the dongle GPS. Works good, I tested to see indoors. I have the C3OK serial TP and the GPS kind of works outside, but with the dongle, it finds your location within 30 seconds after the first time. I prefer not to have the dongle, but at least I can use it if I ever wanted to really use the GPS. I have my TP rooted, so I might try the GPS hack that has been really working. Here is a quick view of the dongle.
demandarin said:
please post back after you receive the dongle and test it on your flights. i bet you will be surprised as to how well and accurate the dongle performs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It came in today and while I haven't flight tested it yet I think I have to say color me not impressed.
When I first got the tablet with Honeycomb still on it, I could get and lock onto GPS with it sitting on my dining room table near a window with an accuracy of 90 something feet. Outside was a little better... maybe 40 feet or so but I have no doubt that if I was diving (or flying) that the lock would be lost but I never tested it.
When the tablet updated to ICS, I lost ALL GPS function. Never could see a satellite inside or outside even when left for hours under an open sky.
Well, with the dongle, my GPS now see satellites again... but not as good as I had with the native GPS and Honecome operating system. Sitting here on the same dinning room table near the same window, I mostly do not have lock. Occasionally it will grab a lock but the best I've seen is accruacy o 143'. The last lock I had was to 757'. Currently as I type, no lock. Outside after setting for a long time, I got a lock to 70 or so feet. As I walked around the yard, accuracy fluctuated between that 70' and 125' but was mostly between 90' and 125'.
I'll have a chance to test it in a small aluminum cockpit going 200mph tomorrow and see how it does... not expecting much.
---------- Post added at 03:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 AM ----------
Woops, sorry. Nevermind. It didn't occur to me that it might perform better after restarting the prime (since it's hardware and the software has been restarted several times since the last update).
In any case, it's actually impressive now. Inside it's a solid 40 or so on the accuracy. Outside walking around the back yard, it holds a solid 12' or so. Best I've seen.
I'm feeling better about it's chances tomorrow. We'll see.
Finally got a chance to post back here. It worked flawlessly in the airplane. 17' to 20' accuracy when the Prime was sitting on the seat next to me. Would go to less than 10' accuracy when I held the Prime in front of me where it would normally be when I'm working on it and that's going at about 200mph. Nice feature added to the charting software.
I still regard it as just a 'nice feature' though. It really is easy enough to just swipe the chart to your location without GPS. Most airplanes have GPS in the panel now (mine has three) so you already know your location and most GPS units built in the last 12 years or so contain most of the information you'd need on a typical flight in the database so we don't even have to look at these charts during the actual flight that often anymore... and some of the more recent ones have the charts actually loaded into them (mine does not and is what I use the Prime for). When we douse a chart in flight, it's not to see where we are (since we already know that), it's to look up some detailed information that's not in our GPS databases, or perhaps the most common reason... to look up the spelling of an assigned intersection (spellings are typically very odd) so that we can access that intersection in the panel GPS.
Now, there are SOME older planes where the owners may not of updated their panels to have a GPS in them. For those, I'd want to buy a tablet with a good working GPS. In that case, a GPS would be a HUGE benefit.