PaulSM

Originally Posted by jing0124

Has anyone tried new Seidio G4500 and G4850 ? G4500 is a new version of G2500, but I really like the ideal of G4850. It is an integrated GPS unit (like HP6515). It has SiRFIII GPS chip in it. That is a cool design. http://www.seidioonline.com/index.as...S&Category=751

Now you convince me not to mod the DM320, both serial port and audio amp. :)
I’ll get the G4500. It will save me a lot of work since it already has a serial port and may be a working audio amp? All I need to do is making a custom cable (very easy) for my Holux GPSlim236 to communicate with my X51v serially and charge the GPS at the same time. :approve:

nealh

Originally Posted by PaulSM

Now you convince me not to mod the DM320, both serial port and audio amp. :) I’ll get the G4500. It will save me a lot of work since it already has a serial port and may be a working audio amp? All I need to do is making a custom cable (very easy) for my Holux GPSlim236 to communicate with my X51v serially and charge the GPS at the same time. :approve:

very nice looking mount but I worry about Seidio Customer Support...

also anyone know if the mount with GPS SIRF III chipset is BT ?

JakeRich

99% sure that any mount with integrated GPS will be serial, not BT. No reason to add the hardweare for BT if you are going to connect to the serial port!

nealh

hmm..so does this mean it connects via the connector on the mount to the X50v..is that the seria lconnector??

lawman

Not sure if that's what you're asking, nealh.

But, I think the new Seidio mounts with integrated GPS is serial-based like what JakeRich mentioned. But the actual serial connection between the internal integrated GPS device to the PDA is integrated within the PDA mount's base. The part where you seat the PDA on.

I think I repeated what you said... :)

Just a guess.

nealh

Originally Posted by lawman

Not sure if that's what you're asking, nealh. But, I think the new Seidio mounts with integrated GPS is serial-based like what JakeRich mentioned. But the actual serial connection between the internal integrated GPS device to the PDA is integrated within the PDA mount's base. The part where you seat the PDA on. I think I repeated what you said... :) Just a guess.

Perfect answer to confusing question I asked..thanks...never really was sure what serial connection met and the fact it is in the connector on the mount is sweet....

wish I had a few extra $$$ may go that route for extra receiver

Just wish Seidio CS was better

JeffFlowerday

I have zero audio problems with my DM320, it works really well.

xdalaw

I have both the DM320 and the older style (CM720) for my X50v. I do think that the speaker sounds a little crisper on the old model. I also miss the extra USB jack, and the BT charge outlet. That being said, I think it looks much nicer and is a little less "disorganized" as it rests on my dashboard.

JakeRich

The audio on the 320 is sensitive to input volume and the amplitude of the sound from the application. It takes a bit of fiddling with it to get a good, loud, undistorted sound, but once you have it set, it's pretty good. If you have the volume on the Ax too low, or if the application volume levels are too low, you can get the dropouts. If you overdrive the input, it gets "muddy" sounding. Play with the settings a bit and the dropouts should go away.

LATEOTT

Hope I'm not going off-topic here, but I'm curious as to whether either or both the Seidio and Arkon mounts allow landscape orientation. It seems all the photos show the Axim mounted in a portrait orientation.

It seems it would be simple enough to swivel the suction mount in any orientation, but I wonder if the Axim would fall out if it were sideways, or if there would be some problem with routing wires/connections if the mount were sideways.

Do any of you use them in landscape?

If you use the vent clip, can you swivel to landscape?

I have an x50v and BT gps, and I generally use iGuidance in the car. I haven't decided whether I like the navigation functionality better in portrait or landscape mode, but my S2000 windshield is vertically challenged so vertical real estate is precious in the car, and therefore landscape mode "fits" better...

LATEOTT

Aha, to answer my own question I see in JakeRich's review of the Arkon mount HERE that it can swivel sideways into landscape mode. The wires look a bit out of control, but I suppose that could be managed a bit with some cleverly placed wire ties.

s4iscool

the new arkon can do landscape best because it has the arms to grip. My seidio did it as well, but i didnt feel as comfortable doing it.

JakeRich

Originally Posted by LATEOTT

Aha, to answer my own question I see in JakeRich's review of the Arkon mount HERE that it can swivel sideways into landscape mode. The wires look a bit out of control, but I suppose that could be managed a bit with some cleverly placed wire ties.

Most of them will do landscape. However, if you think about it, routing software makes better sense in portrait mode. You see more of the roads ahead of you, less of the meaningless roads beside you. Landscape matches what you see in built-in units, but I suspect that the car makers just do that to mimic computer screens. Logically, if you want the better solution for GPS, you'd go portrait.

LATEOTT

Originally Posted by JakeRich

Most of them will do landscape. However, if you think about it, routing software makes better sense in portrait mode. You see more of the roads ahead of you, less of the meaningless roads beside you. Landscape matches what you see in built-in units, but I suspect that the car makers just do that to mimic computer screens. Logically, if you want the better solution for GPS, you'd go portrait.

Yeah, I agree in principle that portrait may be better for forward-looking navigation (although there are some circumstances in which you know what's up ahead and you want to get a better idea what's approaching on the sides... or you may not use a heading autorotate feature).

However, for practical purposes landscape may work better in a car. Most surfaces are horizontal so landscape fit is better. In my specific case I have a steeply slanted windshield in one of my cars which decreases the vertical viewspace. To illustrate how extreme my case is, I cannot use the sunvisor in my car (Honda S2000) because it completely blocks my forward view! Placing an Axim in landscape mode (whether on the dash or replacing the sunvisor) blocks less visibility. I'm considering building a special mount for my PPC and radar detector to replace the visor simply because it is useless to me.

So I agree with you, but I just wanted to explain the practical considerations in my particular situation.

lawman

S2000 ... <sigh> ... with a car like that, I think if you trade it in, you can get a lower-end Acura with a built-in GPS nav system plus money back ... :)