[General Accessories] Inspector Gadget:
allanmb

I'm new to this too, so I researched the subject as well as I could and this is what I've found since I unwrapped my 'surprise' (!) GPS package at Christmas...

First of all, the package itself. I (sorry, Santa) went for a PDAMods bundle (sixth one down on http://www.pdamods.com/products.asp?cat=104) of Rikaline X7 Bluetooth GPS, TomTom 3 and the Silver Shield powered mount with built-in speaker. Let's look at these one at a time.

Rikaline X7 I was attracted to this model by its replaceable battery, long battery life and no on/off switch. I upgraded my O2 XdaII to the 1.72 ROM from the O2 website before trying to bond it (so cannot comment on different brands or earlier ROMs), but when I did so it bonded immediately. You simply hold a button down for 5 seconds + to activate Bluetooth discoverable mode, pair with the XdaII in the normal manner and that's it. I also use a Jabra BT250 headset in the car, and have tested it with an incoming call whilst in TomTom nav mode - whilst admittedly I don't yet know whether the voice prompts still work during a call (because I was on a straight when the call came in), all that was necessary after hanging up was to close the phone app and there was the map again, bang on as usual. Accuracy is - well, phenomenal, I would guess within 5 metres most of the time, and I see little or no lag, except (slightly) on the heading in turns at junctions. All that is necessary to activate the Rikaline is to start TomTom on the XdaII; likewise, it reverts to 'sleep' mode when you exit TomTom at the end of the journey. There is really no need to turn off Bluetooth on the XdaII, so no chance of you missing calls on your headset because you forgot to turn it back on later.

TomTom 3 My software is v.3.03. I have downloaded the upgrade to v 3.07 to my home PC, but I have not yet installed it on the XdaII because I haven't yet encountered any problems - call it 'on-condition maintenance', or 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. There are some new roads in my area that are not shown, and some of the TomTom-provided POIs are slightly misplaced - although if you were really in the middle of nowhere and looking to fill up a petrol can I can't see you going too far wrong! Personally I find the 3D map presentation very useful - tried the 2D version today and didn't find it anywhere near as intuitive.

Silver Shield Mount The XdaII really needs to be powered whilst you nav. Obviously, the Rikaline looks after itself (I'm already convinced that only on really long runs or stints away from home would the in-car charging lead need to be taken along), but you'll flatten the battery on the XdaII much earlier then your GPS dies if you set it to keep the screen backlight on all the time on the internal battery. The Silver Shield mount also includes a built-in speaker, but as you will know from your searches on these fora the XdaII can only pump out phone audio through the bottom connector - so this enhanced audio facility requires a silly little coiled lead to be connected from the XdaII's headphone socket (bottom right) to the appropriate socket on the mount (top left). I have found that the right-angled jack plug on the provided lead prevents a snug fit on the mount and can cause an intermittent connection which can lose you your backlighting/charging at critical moments. For the mean time, I have stopped using the external speaker, and have found the volume on the XdaII speaker to be adequate for speeds up to 60mph; I will be trying motorway speeds tomorrow on a long run (Oxford - Kent). I think that the problem might well be solved anyway by shaving the offending corner off the moulded jack plug.

All in all, I'm very impressed and enjoying using my new system. I recommend it.

Cheers

Gadget :roll: