Computer/Sat Nav (1 Viewer)

jennymaywright

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We're very new to all this gagetry and, not wanting to carry too much Stuff, have been wondering if there is such a thing as a small computer/notebook thingy that could double up as a sat nav. We intend touring on the continent as well as the UK and Ireland. Does anyone have any ideas?

Jenny
 

hilldweller

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We're very new to all this gagetry and, not wanting to carry too much Stuff, have been wondering if there is such a thing as a small computer/notebook thingy that could double up as a sat nav. We intend touring on the continent as well as the UK and Ireland. Does anyone have any ideas?

Jenny

HTC phone plus Copilot Live works for me.

Autoroute on a laptop does the job but a bit big.
 

johng

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hi Jenny others will know much more, but yes is the answer

my GPS device is bluetoothed to a PDA.. this is between a mobile phone and a small notebook in terms of size, screen size etc...

sure a slightly bigger gadget would run tom tom or similar.. ie a notebook ..
John

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jennymaywright

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hi Jenny others will know much more, but yes is the answer

my GPS device is bluetoothed to a PDA.. this is between a mobile phone and a small notebook in terms of size, screen size etc...

sure a slightly bigger gadget would run tom tom or similar.. ie a notebook ..
John


Hi John, Thanks for that. Sorry to be dim, but what is a PDA? Jenny
 

Landy lover

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The best place for a satnav is on the dashboard in front of the driver so he can see as well as hear the instructions - the problem with a laptop or notebook is there is no safe place on a dash board as really it does need to be mounted firmly for safety. Many sat navs have other capabilites from reversing camera monitor - hands free telephone system as well as DBTV radio Mp3 player etc etc. the more you pay the more features.
You may want to think laterally rather than what can you put a sat nav system on to to what sat nav system can do your other functions as well :thumb:
 
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jennymaywright

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The best place for a satnav is on the dashboard in front of the driver so he can see as well as hear the instructions - the problem with a laptop or notebook is there is no safe place on a dash board as really it does need to be mounted firmly for safety. Many sat navs have other capabilites from reversing camera monitor - hands free telephone system as well as DBTV radio Mp3 player etc etc. the more you pay the more features.
You may want to think laterally rather than what can you put a sat nav system on to to what sat nav system can do your other functions as well :thumb:


Many thanks for your reply. We were hoping to combine the ability to use the net, email home and sat nav all on one piece of equipment. Does anyone know if there is a piece of kit that can do that?

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American Dream

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Many thanks for your reply. We were hoping to combine the ability to use the net, email home and sat nav all on one piece of equipment. Does anyone know if there is a piece of kit that can do that?

Don't the latest breed of iphones etc do just that or are you after something more laptop size?

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LesAshmore

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Yes the latest iphone does everything you need, BUT it will mean purchasing the apps (applications) to do it, There is Tom Tom software for it at about £75 (I think) this does exactly the same as a Tom Tom Sat nav, The iphone has Internet access and does download emails when set up as standard.

The New Iphone has software virtually for everything, It can even direct you to where you parked your car (With App) in a foreign city.

:thumb:
 
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jennymaywright

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Yes the latest iphone does everything you need, BUT it will mean purchasing the apps (applications) to do it, There is Tom Tom software for it at about £75 (I think) this does exactly the same as a Tom Tom Sat nav, The iphone has Internet access and does download emails when set up as standard.

The New Iphone has software virtually for everything, It can even direct you to where you parked your car (With App) in a foreign city.

:thumb:


Thanks everyone for your help. Need to look into iPhones I guess. Hope there are some with largish and readable screens!

Jenny

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LesAshmore

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Thanks everyone for your help. Need to look into iPhones I guess. Hope there are some with largish and readable screens!

Jenny

Hi Jenny, With the Iphone you can increase the size of most screens just by placing 2 fingers on the screen in the centre and opening your fingers outward, this then "Zooms in"
:Smile:
 

hilldweller

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Thanks everyone for your help. Need to look into iPhones I guess. Hope there are some with largish and readable screens!
Jenny

You are on a loser. You requirements are at odds with screen size.

Emails - small. ( Provided idiots don't sent you pictures ).
GPS navigation - small.
Internet - BIG.

Browsing the internet on a 3.5" phone screen is OK in an emergency but soon leads to throwing the phone into the nearest lake.
 

LesAshmore

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You are on a loser. You requirements are at odds with screen size.

Emails - small. ( Provided idiots don't sent you pictures ).
GPS navigation - small.
Internet - BIG.

Browsing the internet on a 3.5" phone screen is OK in an emergency but soon leads to throwing the phone into the nearest lake.

Emails - Adequate you don't have to download the pictures
Gps Navigation, It does same as all others, You can attach better speakers and it talks you through, Screen size doesn't matter as the speech does it all and 3.5" is as big as some sat navs.
Internet - No idea what is meant by BIG, My opinion it is adequate for when you need anything.

BUT best advice is Go to a dealer and ASK do not be put off by other persons who either have or have not got the Iphone as what is good for one is not good for another and likewise Not good for one may be good for another.


BUT the BIG crunch is that you can connect your laptop to an Iphone and browse the internet and Download your pictures that are sent on your emails, and all that whilst using your Iphones free Data connection, Cost in UK = £0, Cost abroad = View your package.

PLUS MANY other benefits, Like safe storage on me.com of photos, Files, Documents etc etc etc.:thumb::thumb::thumb:::bigsmile:

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Munchie

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Emails - Adequate you don't have to download the pictures
Gps Navigation, It does same as all others, You can attach better speakers and it talks you through, Screen size doesn't matter as the speech does it all and 3.5" is as big as some sat navs.
Internet - No idea what is meant by BIG, My opinion it is adequate for when you need anything.

BUT best advice is Go to a dealer and ASK do not be put off by other persons who either have or have not got the Iphone as what is good for one is not good for another and likewise Not good for one may be good for another.


BUT the BIG crunch is that you can connect your laptop to an Iphone and browse the internet and Download your pictures that are sent on your emails, and all that whilst using your Iphones free Data connection, Cost in UK = £0, Cost abroad = View your package.

PLUS MANY other benefits, Like safe storage on me.com of photos, Files, Documents etc etc etc.:thumb::thumb::thumb:::bigsmile:

All this can also be done on other phones. I have a Nokia E71 on contract it is an HSDPA phone my contract is for 300 free minutes and 1gb internet the phone has all the functions of an I phone including GPS. I often use it as a modem on my lappie and the data usiage is taken from my 1gb allowance. Aside from this it is a superb phone. :thumb:
 

johnpengers

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Multimedia System.

We're very new to all this gagetry and, not wanting to carry too much Stuff, have been wondering if there is such a thing as a small computer/notebook thingy that could double up as a sat nav. We intend touring on the continent as well as the UK and Ireland. Does anyone have any ideas?

Jenny
Dear Jenny,We had a system fitted to our RV last year and consists of sat nav,dvd,mp3.bluetooth,cd and windows XP.You get a wireless keyboard with this all this and it is about 6 inches by 4 inches and sits in our dash board.the device is called Centrafuse,as you can imgine it was nt cheap but its a great piece of kit.We had it fitted as an extra when we bought our RV from Itchy Feet in Cornwall,The device is made in Chapel en le frith in Derbyshire by a small company.If you want to know more I will dig out the instruction pack.
Happy Travelling ! John Pengers.:Smile:
 
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Just turned our netbook (Dell inspiron 1010) into a full blown satnav. Downloaded trial version of Autoroute 2010 from Microsoft site (will buy when I can find someone stocking it) and bought a GlobalSat BU-353 USB GPS receiver. Very easy to set up and locks on the satelites no pronblem at at all. Will try it out in anger at the weekend but all in all looking good.:thumb:

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big map

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sat-nav+internet

With a 10"Notebook running xp and a copy of autoroute, you have an ideal multi use system, It makes a good large screen sat nav capable of being securely sited in most vans [should be excellent with autoroute 2010] and is very capable of Internet access.
All this for a reasonable price.
 

mulaz

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Autoroute 2010 now out

Autoroute 2010 is out now!!! one of the best sat nav programs to run on a laptop.
Just get a cheap bluetooth USB and a gps bluetooth receiver from ebay to make one of the best mapping progs around
:thumb:

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Also have a look at Logiciels de conversion GPS to convert POI from one format to another.

i have also download some exelent camping POI for europe from Camperplaatsen POI voor Tomtom, Garmin & Google Earth and converted them to axe. format to use in Autoroute

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wayfarer

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Hi, Jenny This is what you need. It will work with your laptop or notebook/webbook
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