mikepikefl

I received an email today from Ted at Garmin anouncing the new release!

The release notes look very promising! I am WAY too excited.

Also important to note it looks like there are different releases for the different PDA AND GPS units. Something about firmware.

__________________
PalmIII -> PalmV -> Sprint Treo650 -> Treo755P -> Pre

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway."

--Andrew Tanenbaum

ChasT

I've just upgraded from a 650 to a 680.

I'm still using the original GPS-10 Deluxe software.

My problem, the sound is very crackly, to the extend to can not understand what is being said.

I've not got any other sound problems on the new 680, and I've tried both the USA and English voice files.

Anyone else had this problem?

I'd like to try and sort it before I try the above new version

__________________
Thought of the day :
No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway

mikepikefl

According to the change history, the new version fixes sound problems (or tries to).

I'm not sure what the GPS 10 deluxe version is though. I use "Mobile XT" that came with my Mobile 10 package, the GPS 10x device.

Guess it's something like the GPS 10 version of the Mobile 10 packaging?

__________________
PalmIII -> PalmV -> Sprint Treo650 -> Treo755P -> Pre

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway."

--Andrew Tanenbaum

bobodobo

I've installed and checked out the new release a little on my 650 with the GPS 10 (not 10x). This release does seem to have fixed the most significant problems with Mobile XT for Palm, namely

• Stability - so far I haven't gotten XT to crash even when PocketTunes is running in the background.
• Voice guidance - the lady doesn't stutter any more as she gives you directions
• Tracks - are finally implemented
• Speed - map drawing is now much faster than it was with Que, at least for some situations like changing scales (but creating routes seems to be slower than with Que.)
• Address book integration - seems to work better now, XT isn't as fussy about having address entries formatted "just so" in order to recognize and map it.
• Installation - is a tiny bit easier since Que is automatically deleted if you are installing XT as an upgrade to Que.

Of course, XT is still a memory hog, requiring about 4 MB beyond what Que did. I'm left with only 5 or 6 MB free RAM on my 650, but still this version of XT doesn't seem to crash like earlier versions did.

Garmin's site says that bluetooth connectivity is improved, but I didn't notice any problem with it using previous versions of XT nor do I with the latest version.

The other weaknesses of Mobile XT that are well documented in this thread are still there, for example the small map display area, somewhat clumsy navigation compared to Que, etc. And I sure wish I could get traffic support on the maps without having to upgrade to the Navigator NT maps from the non-NT version I have.

So far I'd say that this version of Mobile XT is a keeper, whereas previous versions were not, particularly because of the stability problem.

mikepikefl

I noticed this problem when the GPS and Treo would lose connectivity during navigation. Suddenly it would say "GPS is OFF" and then renegotiate, re-aquire satellites, and then wig out because I was further along in the route, and recalculate.

I'm leaving for a decent trip later this morning, so I'm going to try and give it a work out. :-)

__________________
PalmIII -> PalmV -> Sprint Treo650 -> Treo755P -> Pre

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway."

--Andrew Tanenbaum

ChasT

When I try to download the above the named file is : GarminMobileXTforPalmOSwithGPS10_40040p.exe

So is this actually the new version, but with the 4.00.40p old name ?

Edit: To answer my own question, yes the above file is actually 4.00.50p

__________________
Thought of the day :
No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway

ChasT

OK, I've now installed this new beta.
I installed over my old GPS10 Que set up and it removed it OK.

Firstly, make sure you turn off any locking apps you have when you do the install, as it will need to reset you palm a few times, and if you Palm locks it can interrupt the updating.

I had TealLock set to lock on reset, and then redirect to Initiate on unlock, this caused problems, until I turned it all off.

I had to "update" my old GPS10 receiver. This took 2 attempts, see above, and took about 1/2 hour to do correctly, but it worked.

It seems to be working now. No resets yet !!!!!

It does take a LOT of DBCache. My 680 was running at about 17.5MB free originally, now it's running at 12.5MB. This would make it difficult on a 650

The drawing and dragging of the map is nice and snappy.

I've not tried it out on the road yet, but so far this seems like a winner.

New interface to learn, so I have downloaded the handbook from the Mobile10XT webpage.

Looking good.
Charles.

ps This solved my sound/voice problem

__________________
Thought of the day :
No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway

NJ Dog Doc

Figures. LAST WEEK I finally gave up and bought Tom Tom after waiting for months for this. Now that I bought it, Garmin got their act together! I'm ticked off!

Such is life in the tech world...

NJ Dog Doc

[quote=bobodobo;1225458]
[*]Tracks - are finally implemented


Bobodobo-

Can you describe this tracks feature for me?

jonathanuy

Driving around the neighborhood today, the new software with the 10x seems much improved. More details to follow...

bobodobo

[quote=NJ Dog Doc;1225653]It's like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs. Most GPS devices have it. When you enable this feature ("Track on") then XT will save your location every xxx seconds and create a database that you can view later and display on the map. Great when you're out there finding buried treature or spying on your Significant Other.

NJ Dog Doc

[quote=bobodobo;1225803]Don't need to spy on my spouse- I trust her!

However, this would be very cool. I'm a cyclist. Throwing this in my pocket, and then being able to look at the route later would be great. Does it include speed and altitude information, or just position?

Tom Tom does not have this feature, which was one reason I had wanted Garmin. However I'm looking at the Wintec WBT-201, which is a bluetooth receiver that does hardware data logging of position, including speed and altitude. $74.99 on Semson's. It comes with software which interfaces with Google Earth on your PC. I just haven't figured out if it will work with Palm OS and Tom Tom.

ChasT

The Garmin POILoader has just been updated to work with the Mobile XT software.

http://www.garmin.com/support/downlo...ls.jsp?id=1673

I've not managed to import any POI yet into my Palm, so id anyone get it to work please let us know how to do it

__________________
Thought of the day :
No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway

mikepikefl

My test this weekend went well! MUCH BETTER!

When Mobile XT launches, it detects if there is not enough DB Cache and instead of crashing, it pops up an error and closes. I tried using MemInfo to flush the cache but that didn't work. So far only a soft reset works (same result but at least I know the cause of the reset and get some warning!).

I only had two crashes- both dealing with the phone app.

1) I was navigating, got a phone call. While on the call with my non-BT headset, I tried going back into Mobile XT so I could navigate that important upcoming turn and talk at the same time- boom. Reset. Eh, oh well.

2) I was done navigating, shut down Mobile XT and was switching BACK to the phone. Reset.

Other than that it worked great! One time I went back to the Palm Launcher to change something real quick, and she kept giving me vocal directions in the background!

I did remove one of my variables however- in the past, there have been issues when navigating and the screen shuts off. I got a wired car kit and installed "OnTreoOn" so it didn't sleep at all while navigating. I'll test those issues this week.

__________________
PalmIII -> PalmV -> Sprint Treo650 -> Treo755P -> Pre

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway."

--Andrew Tanenbaum

bTaryag

I've read many reports that it is unstable.

Do you ever get resets? How often?

ChasT

Have you tried Reset Doctor, (or Preference Doctor), from Hobbyist Software.

I find if I'm low on DbCache it will do a flush during loading, plus flush if needed as you swap between screens.

Mobile XT does release DBCache when you exit, if you flush it, unlike the older Que app which kept hold of the DBCache, even after a soft reset.

__________________
Thought of the day :
No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway

NJ Dog Doc

I've had Tom Tom for 2 weeks and have used it extensively. No resets at all so far.

bTaryag

I've tried Reset Doctor, and also use Off Flush. Even with 11 mb free, Mobile XT still tells me I don't have enough db cache free.

I think it may need a large contiguous chunk, and I only have a chunk of 2.7. Which program would allow me to get a larger contiguous free chunk?

ChasT

How about trying to run it from a warm reset?

At a Warm reset nothing is loaded into DBCache, so you should have the maximum chuck size.

If this works you could then play with UnCache to do a selective startup when you want Satnav. Not ideal, but if it works.....

__________________
Thought of the day :
No sense being pessimistic, it probably wouldn't work anyway

bTaryag

Using UnCache lets is work!