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Old 06-28-05, 06:44 AM   #2 (permalink)
Drifter
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Hi.

I would agree that most nav systems will offer you what you want, it is just a case of how to use them correctly.

I use an Axim X50v with a Leadtek 9537 bluetooth GPs receiver and have just updated to TomTom 5. all is working well.

To answer your questions.

1) Although you might get a GPS signal through your heated windscreen, I would put money on it being a weak signal that you will loose frequently. Renault cars are very bad for this as they have a heat reflecting coating on the windscreen. I know I have one.

HOWEVER, you do not have to place the receiver behind the windscreen, I find mine works well in the middle of the car, and even better if I place it behind the rear windscreen or by a side window. With BT, you can place the receiver ANYWHERE in the car and get a good signal to the PDA.

2) This needs a bit of lateral thinking as most Nav systems are designed to calculate how far you have to go, not how far or how long you have travelled. I am not aware of this option on any Nav system.

HOWEVER, lateral thinking. To find out how far you have travelled, you stop and ask the NAV system to take you home ( in TomTom this address can be programmed in). The system will then calculate how far you would have to travel to return home = how far you have run. BUT be careful, most systems will look for the shortest or fastest. TomTom 5 does however allow you to select "walking" routes, the only problem is that you cannot change the speed settings in TomTom 5 ( in v 3 you can, but you cannot select walking). To make the system more accurate, if you have taken a different route to the shortest, TomTom 5 allows you to select multiple destinations in a trip, so you can tune your route. PLUS, you can ask it to DEMO the route first, so that you do a dry run ( excuse the pun) before you set off and check the distance and route.

Bottom line, all Nav systems, PDA's and BT receivers have pro's and con''s and what one person finds good, another finds bad. Manufacturers sites will always be positive, whilst most forums have a negative tendancy ( human trait, people moan more than they praise and also turn to forums for help or to explain.

As a person who has used TomTom since version 1 on a 133MHz PDA and now running V5 on an axim x50v ( plus 5 more setups within our sales staff) . I recommend TomTom.
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