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kamrantaz

11-09-2003, 03:07 PM

hello, im after my 1st PDA and have fallen in love with the NX70 but would like to add GOS in the future and would like to know how well palms are supported? and by whom as it seems like a minefield and im completly lost.

Everyone is telling me to stay away from Palm OS for GPS but i really want to get an NX70 as it has everything i need bar GPS but has the CF slot i want.

Can anyone help because i really want to join the gang :D

Galindenba

11-09-2003, 05:47 PM

I just heard about this
http://www.devbuzz.com/mp/1389.asp

It plugs into the bottom of the NX70V.
I don't know if it's great, fair, or a piece of cr*p.
Good luck!!

galindenba

11-09-2003, 05:51 PM

On second thought.
Why not get an NX-80V. Sony makes a GPS unit for that one plus it has more on board memory, accepts 3rd party CF memory cards in the slot, better camera.
Just saw it for $469 at Circuit City

totisgr

11-10-2003, 12:35 PM

I have bought the GPS memory stick from sony, sometime last winter and i still haven't found the drivers to use it with my NX70 (english version) anyone knows what's happening? i tryed gps compass as advised by the diveloper but still no luck.:confused:

mr_gkyc

11-10-2003, 12:54 PM

Originally posted by kamrantaz
hello, im after my 1st PDA and have fallen in love with the NX70 but would like to add GOS in the future and would like to know how well palms are supported? and by whom as it seems like a minefield and im completly lost.

Everyone is telling me to stay away from Palm OS for GPS but i really want to get an NX70 as it has everything i need bar GPS but has the CF slot i want.

Can anyone help because i really want to join the gang :D

Your friends are correct to some degree because to-date, there is no support for any CF-based GPS for the PalmOS PDA. Partly this is because there's been so few PalmOS devices with a CF slot. The NX series is a rather odd-bird in this regard. Even more odd is that Sony chose not to support anything in that CF slot except for their WiFi card.

However, the NX series is an exceptional platform for GPS because of the large screen. And indeed, Mapopolis (www.mapopolis.com) is a really great app. I bought the non-GPS version of it on the strength of the review and love it.

The way to get a GPS on the NX series are summarized as follows.

1. You can get Sony's only car-cradle/GPS unit. It only supports the NX73,80 and TG50. From the reviews I've seen of it, the included software is pretty bad. See here for a review:

http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24582&highlight=car+cradle+review

2. You can get an external GPS unit that outputs NMEA and use a cable/adapter to connect it the NX. This works for all NX and I presume by extension, even the TG and UX. There are various vendor for this including:
http://www.thesupplynet.com/
http://pc-mobile.net/

(Note that I've never bought from either of them so don't take this as an endorsement of them.)

3. A variation of option 2 is to use BlueTooth instead of a cable. Assuming you're in North America, you're going to need Sony's BlueTooth MemoryStick since none of the North-American NX have BT built-in.

Finally, some practical advice from my 2 months of Mapopolis on my NX70:

1. Mapopolis' greatest flaw is its memory requirement. It's actually a PalmOS problem. Mapopolis requires any map that it is using to reside in memory. You can keep an archive of maps (say, all of North America) on a VFS-volume (a MemoryStick or a CF card) but when you use it, it must be copied from VFS to main memory. With the NX70's paltry 11Mb, it's hard to have more than one or two maps in memory at any time and still hold other app/data. You run across this situation when you navigate long-distance from one major centre to another major centre because you require the maps for the source and destination as well as maps for the connecting highways. Thankfully, this is not a frequent use-case.

2. If you're planning to use your NX/GPS combo in a car, you've got some unique useability problem. You're going to need a cradle/mount of some form but that is a relatively simple problem. More intractable is the lack of voice prompting. Because of Sony's proprietary API on the NX, Mapopolis can't provide voice prompting as you'd expect (and supported by Mapopolis on non-CLIE). I should mention that Sony's own car-cradle GPS does support voice prompting but see above.

That's the summary of my research into GPS on the NX.

George

hrethawulf

11-10-2003, 02:39 PM

The NX 70 works quite well with GPS receivers with serial connections. The battery life isn't so great though. To echo everone else here, the NX 70's CF slot does not at this time support GPS cards and I wouldn't count on it ever happening, although some very clever people are trying to get it to work (see the CF forum). The only Palm OS devices to support CF GPS cards are the Handera 330 and TRG Pro, both have been discontinued.

I recommend getting a hand held GPS reciever that has a serial port, like the Garmin eTrex family. This gives you the best battery life and the lowest cost. And the next handheld you buy is not determined by your GPS. The trade off is that you have fewer options for supplying auxilary power to your Clie.

kamrantaz

03-08-2004, 06:01 PM

I bought myself an NX60, not bad for 90 quid. Price was an issue for me thats why I was after an NX70 not 73. I have mapopolis now, and have tested it out, its great but i wish ver 1.3 is improved quickly and optimised becasue i want 3D :)

Unreguser

03-08-2004, 10:50 PM

Currently I'm using Radio Shack Digitraveler connecting to my Clie Nx 70V using the serial cable from PC-mobile. It is a great combination while using Mapopolis navigator. It has voice prompt for turning direction too but the voice quality is not great. You have to pipe it thru FM transmitter to your car stereo to understand the direction. Other than that it serves my purpose for daily GPS use and the cost is very cheap. The hardware costed me under sixty us dollars.

Unregistered

03-11-2004, 10:27 AM

Originally posted by Unreguser
Currently I'm using Radio Shack Digitraveler connecting to my Clie Nx 70V using the serial cable from PC-mobile. It is a great combination while using Mapopolis navigator. It has voice prompt for turning direction too but the voice quality is not great. You have to pipe it thru FM transmitter to your car stereo to understand the direction. Other than that it serves my purpose for daily GPS use and the cost is very cheap. The hardware costed me under sixty us dollars.
I tried the Mapopolis on my NX80 but get no voice prompts. I have tried the "full", "minimal" voice prompt settings. Tried Mapopolis navigator 1.22 as well as the latest beta.
Could you tell me how you got the voice prompts to work.

Unreguser

03-11-2004, 11:25 AM

Did you install the file Mapopolis Words( file size 389K)in the main RAM and using the Navigator Map? It works everytime. If still not working then try to re-install again. I'm using the version 1.22 and using either NC or ND maps. Hope this helps.

Unregistered

03-12-2004, 09:50 AM

Originally posted by Unreguser
Did you install the file Mapopolis Words( file size 389K)in the main RAM and using the Navigator Map? It works everytime. If still not working then try to re-install again. I'm using the version 1.22 and using either NC or ND maps. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your response.
I used hotsync to sync the Navigator 1.22 and the MapopolisWords together on my NX80 (I have reinstalled them a few times).
Does not give any errors when Mapopolis comes up. But no voice.
All the other voice apps on my clie are OK.
Do you think it is some incompatibility with my hardware or should I consider a hard reset.

spidey

03-12-2004, 04:27 PM

CF GPS is working somewhat:
http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30612

Unreguser

03-12-2004, 08:49 PM

You said:Thanks for your response.
I used hotsync to sync the Navigator 1.22 and the MapopolisWords together on my NX80 (I have reinstalled them a few times).
Does not give any errors when Mapopolis comes up. But no voice.
All the other voice apps on my clie are OK.
Do you think it is some incompatibility with my hardware or should I consider a hard reset.

Have you checked you settings inside Mapopolis and chose no voice prompts.? There are 3 different settings which are no voice prompts,minimal voice prompts and full voice prompts options.

Unregistered

03-12-2004, 09:22 PM

however, what is the point? mapopolis voice on clies is basically garbled. can't wait until they fix it though...it has to do with the api's

cbxpilot

03-17-2004, 12:33 AM

I went the Mapopolis route as well. I have the holux GPS mouse and two cables (I leave one in each vehicle) I traveled from California to Michigan, then to North Dakota and back home to California. With the cable plugged in My NX70 was always fully charged and I was able to recover from two missed road signs on the trip. I was able to "double back" within 1 mile of my mistake each time. I loaded the Major Roads maps for each state in RAM and loaded county maps on my 128 memory stick. I moved files each night of the trip knowing which states I would travel in the next day. I left my 512CF for music and games. I also carried an Archos Jukebox and transferred digital photos and music files the whole trip. I spent a month traveling around and was very glad I had my GPS antenna with me, especially at 2:00 am when the kids were cranky and I was able to drive right to the front door of a Residence INN because I had it along. My wife used to call me a "gadget geek". After our trip she understands. Gas stops in downtown "seedy" areas were no problem because I knew where I was going and didn't need to ask for help. I found Mapopolis to filled my needs quite well and their customer service is top notch, I received the wrong cable 3 days before my trip.... I called and told them my problem and they FedEx'd the correct cable in time for me to take it on the trip (no charge).

FWIW

seraphim_9:11

03-17-2004, 06:42 AM