Is there a PDA with GPS and WiFi built in?
Anyone know if such a thing exists?
Not that I know of. But the Garmin iQue has built-in GPS, and I think you can put a WiFi card in it.
Not that I know of. The Garmin iQue does GPS but has no wireless networking capabilities. The higher end of the Palm line have both BT and WiFi but no internal GPS.
Your closest all-in-one bet, oddly enough, is a slightly obscure (but current) handheld game system: The Tiger Telematics Gizmondo. Among other things, it features both Bluetooth, GPRS (for SMS and MMS messaging) and GPS. No WiFi though.
I don’t know of any all-in-one solutions, but you can get a Pocket PC with built-in WiFi and a CF slot, and there are a few CF-based GPS cards.
My Palm Treo 650 phone can have TomTom GPS navigation package added for $99. It has both a driving and walking mode, and is a huge hit with users. I haven’t gotten around to buying it yet because money’s tight, but it’s on my list.
Or conversely, you can buy a unit that has bluetooth support, and use a bluetooth GPS receiver. Many of the GPS sites reccomend this route anyway, because it lets you choose/upgrade your receiver and mapping software independent of the unit, and use the receiver with your laptop as well as your handheld, or with multiple handhelds. It also allows you to stick the bluetooth receiver a few feet away from the PC or handheld in a spot which gets better reception. The current crop of bluetooth receivers are pretty small, and have pretty good battery life. CF based receivers can be used also, as mentioned, but will add extra drain to your PDA battery, and make it bulky.
That’s a good point, but I believe it fails to be mobile at that point since the external GPS units aren’t battery powered. Am I right about that?
No. Bluetooth receivers intended for use with PDAs are battery powered. Though they do become another thing whose batteries have to be recharged. Here’s a bunch of them from one vendor:
http://www.semsons.com/bluetgpsrec.html
And a comparison table in a buyer’s guid which lists battery life:
Great! Thanks for those links yabob
I will second the recommendation for a separate Bluetooth reciever. Much more convenient and you save your SD/CF slot for a memory card.
When in doubt, hit up ASUS. They are less well known but always pushing out bleeding edge technologies that are really good.
I suggest the ASUS A636, which has GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, SD, 416Mhz CPU, yada yada. It rocks =)
I found it here for equiv 350 US. That’s a steal…
Wow that looks perfect! So you have it and would give it an alterego seal of approval?
I’ve considered buying this myself, lacking only the funds. Don’t forget to stick Webster’s Unabridged on it =)
I use a Bluetooth GPS receiver with my Tungsten E2 (and Bluetooth to connect to the network, but that’s not Wifi – try the TX if you need it). It works pretty well, except my mapping software is crap and I need to upgrade to Tom Tom.
Bought it from the above mentioned Semsons, who seem like a reputable outfit.
$99? Really? Where? I’ve only seen it for $200+.