Comments on: GPS Receivers Coming for m500 and V Series

Be Honest:

1. This module will probably come out in the U.S. , and we all know it.
2. In case you didn't read the specs on the company's maps, they're 3 to 4 MB, meaning you can keep them in the ROM, and transfer them back to a stick when done.
3. Sony's not stupid, and everyone knows it. If they don't provide quality sw, no one will buy the add-ons.
4. I would love to see the "specs" you have on battery consumption Sony's GPS add-on. I have a hard time believing they won't provide more than the battery eating bricks that were announced above.

For the 50x, they have the entire US on SD card (well, 48 states at least, but I don't plan on driving to Alaska). This lets you get point to point driving directions from New York to California, and leave your PC at home.

The two choices are really geared for different styles, the Sony GPS is way off the top of COOL meter, but works best for the ocassional short-range use.

The GPS sled for the Palm does not force you to neuter your handheld by eliminating your card and storage, and would be better suited for the road warrior, heavy user, or vacation traveler.

Definition of Memory Stick Expansion Module
In addition that the Memory Stick expansion module has to have the shape and terminal same as Memory Stick, the expansion module is defined as following:
1. The devices that have the function other than that of Memory Stick.
2. The devices that have more than one function other than that of Memory Stick.

so in the otherwords, MS modules should have "some" builtin memory.

I swear, you Sony users seem to have nothing to do but bash everyone else...

I remember once upon a time my palmpilot pro only have 1MB of Ram, and I can't really fill up all the space. Now nearly everyone has 8-16MB on their handheld, hmm ........ and you can't spare 3-4 MB for map ??

"Nothing Sony has said/done convinces me that there's a standard way and sofware driver to create and support a MemoryStick serial I/O type device. The driver for the GPS is likely proprietary and it'll be a long time before you see other map software supporting it."

goto www.memorystick.org for more MS I/O information (do some research b4 typing next time, don't want everyone to be as misinformed as you are)
btw: I've never heard of proprietary software, nearly all software/drivers are proprietary, except open-source software.

"50 minutes with the T series and 75 minutes with the N series. "

yes that's the battery life of MS GPS, but it draws power from the device.

I can't spare 25-50% of my memory for maps? What a dumb question. That's exactly the kind of thing expansion memory is supposed to be for. Mapopolis, maps on an SD card, and a serial GPS device. It is silly to connect a GPS to a high speed expansion port.

> goto www.memorystick.org for more MS I/O information
> (do some research b4 typing next time, don't want
> everyone to be as misinformed as you are)
> btw: I've never heard of proprietary software, nearly
> all software/drivers are proprietary, except
> open-source software.

Do you actually read the things on these sites, or just see the word "serial" and accuse people of being misinformed? Although Sony certainly has added a lot of info to their site in the last month, the only discussion of "serial" I see there has to do with the hardware serial interface of the MemoryStick to the device. Maybe it is in their password protected info for licensees, but I am certainly not that interested. I am talking about a serial device that works with Palm's standard serial API. If the device can't behave like a standard Palm serial API GPS device, then Sony has a proprietary driver for it, period.

> "50 minutes with the T series and 75 minutes with the > N series. "
> yes that's the battery life of MS GPS, but it draws
> power from the device.

Duh, that's what I said, "The announced Sony GPS drains the Sony's battery rather quickly." In comparison, there is minimal added drain on the Palm device.

I am sorry, but I don't quite get what you are saying, when did people start to separate memory between, this memory is used for Pictures, this memory is for preference files, this memory is for applications ?? All I know is expansion memory is mostly used for backup purpose. and interneal memory are supposed to be used for applications, frequently used documents stuff like that.

"Maybe it is in their password protected info for licensees, but I am certainly not that interested. I am talking about a serial device that works with Palm's standard serial API. If the device can't behave like a standard Palm serial API GPS device, then Sony has a proprietary driver for it"

LOL, it's not like you can use the Memory stick on any Palm INC device anyways, so what's your problem, But the thing is, panasoncis do have adapter MS modules for SD Card -> MS adapter, so I guess my answer would be, I don't care, COZ I know that when I get a clie, I'll be able to use all the SD device for Palm.

btw: I sometimes read those sites, but not daily. So if you don't read it, maybe you should just sit aside and shutup b4 reading it. it won't take an idiot to realize that MS modules are not serial device. So are SD Cards serial device ?? and is palm making proprietary software ??

"Duh, that's what I said, "The announced Sony GPS drains the Sony's battery rather quickly." In comparison, there is minimal added drain on the Palm device."

Well considering I don't need to make a Clie device more bulky in order to use that MS modules for 50 mins to 1 hr 15 mins, I'd consider MS modules more successful than the serial GPS Device palm uses. and what ?? after adding all that battery pack for that GPS thingy u can only use it for 2 hours ?? that's just ridiculous ...

www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2572

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