BlueFrenzy

Hey guys

I'm not as brave as RX8XTC who installed an OEM Nav into his non Nav 8.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...86&page=1&pp=15

An extra $3000 for Nav wasn't worth it to me when I bought the 8 but thought that it would be a nice gadget to have. So after looking around for aftermarket units, I decided on the Palm Zire72 with GPS navigation. I figured I needed a new PDA anyways (I had the 1st Palm pilot that looked like a brick), so why not! Oh oh ... the Zire 72 also has got cool features like MP3 playback (I still love my iPod), built in 1MegaPixel camera/video camera.

Anyways, the TomTom Navigation program works nicely and the GPS is fairly accurate. I think that it's idea of "meters" is slightly less than mine. For example I would be 100-125m away from the next turn and it would say "turn right in 200m", even though my actual position is right on. Oh well. It calculates alternate routes very quickly in case you don't like their directions. It's also got a cool 3D map mode which I like better than the 2D mode. Since I'm from the video game generation, the 3D mode feels completely natural.

I didn't want to put the GPS reciever on the dash so I found a new use for my ashtray (I don't smoke but who would smoke in their 8?). I usually get full reception even when the reciever is in the ashtray! It's also got a lovely Brit girl's voice guiding me.

So here are some pics. Oh and it doesn't obstruct view at all! It's almost as if it were built in. It just appears that way from the angle I took the pic.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

looks pretty good, is the gps unit connected to the pda via RF?

and how much map can you hold in the pda's memory?

and finally, how much did this whole set cost ya?

BlueFrenzy

Thanks! The GPS reciever is hooked up to the PDA via Bluetooth. The connection is very good ... I had my brother walk about 15-20 meters away with the reciever before the connection start to fade.

In terms of the maps, I only put in the Alberta, BC, Sask, NWT and Yukon maps and that took up about 20 megabytes. Unless I'm doing a cross country trek or visiting another city, I don't think I would need to put on the entire North America. The PDA comes with ~60MB internal memory and a 64Meg SD card but I was thinking of upgrading to a larger one (512MB) so I can store MP3s on it.

The whole set I got for $600 Cdn (a bit pricy but I wrote it off as a business expense ... heh heh). I think I saw it for 400-500USD on websites like Amazon.

In case you guys are wondering, the other unit I was considering was the Garmin ique. About the same price but I felt the PDA portion of it was not as great as the Zire.

Audioslave8

Looks good, nice clean install

mikeyylikeyy

hey does it seriously work well? because i'm thinkin of throwin out the 220 or so because i already have a zire 72. i figured that in my mazda3 (sorry i'm surfin your threads, but i thought mazda family we all zoom-zoom) the OEM nav wasn't really worth the cash.

Outlaws eXtreme

Or you can just get the original TomTom Go for about 500+ US $. It's a bit more comprehensive for a GPS, but you lose the function of the PDA.

DaGnome

I've never heard of a bluetooth GPS that connects to a Palm before..Intersting..

I've got a new Tungsten T5, and wonder if I could do something similar...

I'm curious however if Tom-Tom is the only Bluetooth receiver, or if it's simply the best? I guess it's time to research..

Also I can't seem to find any information on Tom-Tom's site as to who supplies the maps exactly (Navteq or some other company) , nor do I see information as to when it was last updated (lots of new roads in my town) or what upgrades are for new maps etc...

Either way, 300 or so is what they are charging for the receiver which looks pretty damn cheap for a gps.. gotta look into this one.

BlueFrenzy

Hey DaGnome, funny you mention the tungsten T3 but it's actually the other PDA that the GPS unti is built for. It even came with a wacky T3 connector. I know that you got a T5 but I've read on the PDA forums of guys getting their T5's working. It's just a matter of getting the BT connection going, right? I always thought that there were other BT recievers. Oh well, I love the Zire so that's why I went with it.

With regards to who supplies the maps, it says on the CDs "Tele Atlas North America" and "DMTI Navigation". From the looks of it, Tom Tom subcontracts these people for the info or something. As to how recent the maps are, I think they are a little under a year old (Spring 2004). There were new communities in my map that I didn't know existed until I mapquested it. So fairly recent! As to the updates of the map. Not sure how often they do them.

Mikey .. i've been playing with this Nav for the last few days (even better excuse to zoom around) and it works VERY nicely. The speedometer difference is only about 2km/h and I attribute that to my snow tires. It's sense of direction is great and recalculates routes for you very nicely. Did I mention the SEXY Brit girl's voice. Hmm ... wish there was a French one. yea boy!

mikeyylikeyy

thanks bluefrenzy,

i'll probably order that sometime soon... maybe even today. thanks for the follow up and have fun with that nav.

Rotary Rasp

iTrader: (2)

Can it hook into the stereo and talk to you?

BlueFrenzy

Ha ha ... I wish it could that way I can give the RX8 a hot sexy Brit voice. Nah, the Zire's got a built in speaker that's loud enough to hear over music (Volume at 11).

ltrx8

have silver 8 with zire 72 in same position.. great minds think alike.. when i saw pic thought someone posted a pic of mine,, Looks good.. I have it wired to digital fm transmitter with 4 presets depending on where i am ie..Calgary ,Medicine Hat ,Lethbridge or Edmonton.Also have 512 meg with approx 120-130 songs @128 kps..Sounds great!!! When U get sick of songs just hotsync updated songs and u r laughing...Trying to mount flip up lcd in glove box