Re: CF GPS for a Toshiba E800 - anybody got one working?

From: Robbie (robbiex_at_bellsouth.net)
Date: 01/21/05 

Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:10:59 -0500

Peter wrote:
> Robbie <robbiex@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>
>>Garmin's iQue 1620 compact flash GPS and their software works fine on
>>the Tosbiba e800. The only catch is that the 1620 software unfortunately
>>lacks some of the important features of the Palm based iQue 3200/3600
>>and the Windows Mobile 2003 based M5. I do not recommend the 1620
>>because, at least with my units, the receiver sensitivity is no where
>>near as good as that of the 3200 and there is no provision for an
>>external antenna.
>>Another alternative is to use a CF or SD Bluetooth card (only use
>>version 2) in the e800 and any of the GPS programs that are compatible
>>with Windows Mobile 2003 and a Bluetooth connected GPS.
>
>
> This is what I've been doing but bluetooth connections to a GPS aren't
> reliable. If one powers down the PDA and powers it back again, the
> application (which was placed into standby) always fails to re-open
> the GPS comms. A soft reset is usually needed. That's why I am going
> the CF GPS route.
>
> I have used a Mitac 168 (a fantastic little cheap PDA with built-in
> GPS, with 5hr battery life and costing a fraction of the E800) and on
> that everything "just works". I don't know how the GPS is interfaced;
> it appears as a virtual com port but somehow they handle the standby
> issue properly.
>
>
>>This applies to
>>the new Garmin GPS 10 Bluetooth GPS receiver and its associated PDA
>>software. Note again, that this version of Que software doesn't have the
>>same capability as that of the M5.
>>Toshiba has apparently stopped producing PDAs or has at least stopped
>>distributing them in the USA. It is unfortunate because the e800 is a
>>nice PDA and it is very helpful to have a 4" size and relatively high
>>resolution LCD display for GPS applications. I think that it was a bad
>>blunder for Garmin not to have used this newer type of PDA LCD display
>>for the M5.
>
>
> Yes, Tosh aren't putting a lot of work into this market now. They have
> just released (here, UK) the E830 which combines the bluetooth and
> wifi into one unit - very nice as few if any CF wifi cards work in the
> E800, except no doubt Toshiba's own one which is unobtainable :)
>
> HP have just killed off Toshiba's 640x480 market with their 47xx
> range. Even though I think HP is a really cr*p company on all fronts
> today (low quality, terrible customer service staffed with complete
> morons, poor updates, etc) they are still better than Toshiba and most
> other people.
>
> I have decided to set up my E800 as purely a "hiking GPS" type unit,
> running Memory Map and the 1:25k terrain maps. OziExplorer doesn't
> work on it reliably (in any res), TomTom doesn't either (unless
> 320x240), bluetooth works on a good day, occassionally everything
> works fantastically but then stops. But for a single application, plus
> perhaps running Media Player 9 into a headset :) it is just fine. Even
> installing wm2003 *SE* made no difference although it looks prettier.
>
>
> Peter.
> --
> Return address is invalid to help stop junk mail.
> E-mail replies to peter1234@peter2000XY.co.uk but remove the X and the Y.
> Please do NOT copy usenet posts to email - it is NOT necessary.
Hi Peter,

I have had the same experience with Bluetooth on both the e800 and
multiple PCs. The software, and perhaps also the hardware, are extremely
unreliable. Even the vendors warn about the possible need for frequent
resets of the Bluetooth devices and the PDAs. WiFi does, however, work
properly on the e800. As an interesting aside, I believe that Toshiba
marketed the e800 in Europe with integral Bluetooth and in the US with
integral WiFi. We tried a version one Bluetooth card and found it to be
unusable. Version 2 is better, but is still unreliable.

Robbie

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