HP IPAQ 212

[bgreeni Member Find all posts View Profile Close bgreeni]

After a lot of consideration I have today ordered a new HP IPAQ 212 as a replacement for my trusty HP 4700.

I thought long about buying a double DIN unit and fitting but eventually decided that the 212 would better suit my needs. I alredy own a bluetooth GPS and various memory cards and a cradle all of which are reusable. The ability to take the 212 out of the car and use in my boat or when away from the vehicle, together with the known quantity of a brand such as HP and the fact that the cost was similar finally decided it. I can continue to sync contacts and calendar and all the other things I use a PDA for, as well as conect to internet via WIFI.

The downside is the smaller screen and the need for cables to conect to power, but I have lived with this for years. If the 212 gives the service the 4700 gave I will be well pleased.

[Russ WA Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Russ WA]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

Hey bgreeni,

When you get it can you post up a picture of it running a map as I would be interested it how big it looks .Probably the same as a standard GPS?

I like the Idea of using it as not only a GPS but it has other uses.
How long does the batteries last for if you unplug it ?

Cheers Russ

[bgreeni Member Find all posts View Profile Close bgreeni]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

Attached is a photo running OziCE



Beside the Ipaq is my bluetooth GPS. The Ipaq is powered of one outlet using a USB converter plug and a USB - mini USB cable. THe GPS gets it power via its own cable to the other cig lighter outlet.

I tried the Ipaq battery life and it ran for 5.5 hours running OziCE attached to the GPS via bluetooth. I left the screen on full brightness for the test.

Obviously longer running time would be obtained by turning down the brightness or only turning on the screen light when required. Hot swapping batteries would also be possible if longer was required.

The GPS will give about 10 hours on a full charge.

I have played around with the unit and am very happy. I can even map files on my network via wifi. (Both blue tooth and WIFI are available) That means I can use the media player on the Ipaq to play music via wifi all around the house, or hook it up to the player in the lounge and play music from my Computer up stairs.

I syncronise it with both my work and home computers and so have my calender, contacts etc on all 3 in sync.

I have 2 x 8 GB cards in the Ipaq, one an SD and the other a CF, so have heaps of memory. My camera also takes SD cards so I can preview my photos on the Ipaq screen when on the road. It is possible to have 2 X 32 GB cards giving total of 64 GB memory but I cannot see ever needing that much.

[LiveFreeAndRoam Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LiveFreeAndRoam]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

That's a great setup bgreeni. I also like to have these devices that can be used in such a versatile fashion.

It is possible to have 2 X 32 GB cards giving total of 64 GB memory but I cannot see ever needing that much.

The same was once said for 20MB hard-drives .

Cheers,
LFaR.

[marshallarts Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshallarts]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

Interesting thread. I also looked into the double-din all-in-one units, but quailed at the expense. I already had an iPaq 212, so invested in OziExplorer and the 2010 edition of Hema Maps. It all works beautifully. I don't like having lots of bits and pieces and cables all over the place up front, so I fixed my bluetooth GPS to the RH rear window (with velcro) just above the 12v outlet, so it can be plugged in there to be recharged. It claims to run for up to 15 hours on a charge. I think I have the same cradle as shown in the pics above, but we fix it to the centre console lower down on the passenger side - gets a bit less sun on the screen down there. The iPaq can be plugged into one of the 12v outlets in the front for charging, and it can also plug into the AUX music input for playing music. There is no problem having it play music and navigate at the same time. I have a 16GB CF card for music and a 16GB SD card for maps in the iPaq - no shortage of memory. And I've ordered a high-capacity battery for it which has about 65% more milli-amp-hours than the standard one (3650 vs 2200).

And as an aside, I tried one of the Haicom CF-card GPS receivers (HI-305N) in an attempt to reduce the number of things that require charging (it gets its power from the PDA). But it didn't work nearly as well as the no-name bluetooth GPS - I think the driver software is buggy, as it made the PDA unstable and kept causing Ozi to crash. Also, the HI-305N has an SD slot in it so that theoretically you still have 2 card slots available - but I could never get the PDA to see the slot. And finally, I could never get the HI-305N to work at all on my laptop, using a CF card adapter in the PCMCIA slot. So it was a bit of a dead loss - as soon as I went back to the separate bluetooth receiver, all the problems went away. I wouldn't recommend it for an iPaq 212 but if anyone would like the HI-305N to try in some other setup with a CF slot, PM me and you can have it for very little.

[bgreeni Member Find all posts View Profile Close bgreeni]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

I have just installed "Techrific Way" software (its based on Igo8) on my 212. Runs no problems, so now I have 2 options, Techrific way for around town and OziE for bush trips.

Not sure about the routes Techrific Way selects - seems to come up with some funny ones and not what I would choose, but would ultimatly get me there. Locks onto the bluetooth GPS very quickly. My only problem is I would like to run both at once and in theory the External GPS software on the 212 should allow this. OziCE conects to the virtual port OK but not the new software. It only wants to use the actual port. Maybe need to play a little more.

[marshallarts Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshallarts]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

I think you might find that only one device can connect to another bluetooth device at a time. I've tried to get both my Nokia 5800 phone and my iPaq212 to talk to the bluetooth GPS at the same time, but they won't - the first one to connect prevents the next one that tries. Not sure if that is a characteristic of bluetooth, or there is some way around it. But I'm not too bothered - the Nokia can just use its own GPS receiver in "assisted" mode as long as it has mobile coverage, and it works fine around town. And the Nokia Maps software and maps are free - can't be bad (even if it selects some strange routes too). But I'll look up Techrific as well - thanks for the heads-up.

[marshallarts Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close marshallarts]

Re: HP IPAQ 212

On our most recent trip (to SA to have a look at Lake Eyre) my wife discovered that the iPaq had cut-down versions of the Microsoft Office core applications (I could have told her if she'd asked ), so she was able to knock up a speadsheet to track our mileages and fuel costs down to the nth degree - happy camper! It's definitely a very versatile little device.