BACKGROUND
Another Standalone/portable GPS receiver that I was experimenting with quite some time ago but an interesting tablet as it turned out. I never used it "every day" as the purpose of obtaining this unit was to check out it's GPS satellite capabilities and all the other "accessories" were not of interest to me.
The basic operating system used is Windows CE 6.0
On the GPS - Navigation side of things, I liked the nice clear satellite acquisition screen and the ability to enter Longitude/Latitude co-ordinates.
The current map worked on my tests in Australia, New Zealand and USA but there are likely to be more countries ... I did try accessing map information for Asian or Middle East countries but the current map does not cover those geographical areas.
The device references map updates via a website naviextras.com but I have not taken a look at that website as actually using this device wasn't of interest to me.
The GPS receiver is working great, at turn on it very quickly finds just a couple of satellites and then over the next couple of minutes, lots more GPS satellites are found which means the location accuracy improves greatly. Additional screens give more detailed information about the satellites accessed.
The "extra's" are many and some are just a little bizzare! The normal music player, video or still photo viewer, calculator etc then there is the e-book reader, an FM radio (which I couldn't get to work!), and weird things such as conversions of clothing sizes across the world (!), another app allowed me to enter the country of interest and it shows the country code (for telephone calls) the emergency number, driving alcohol limits, road speed limits etc
I didn't spend a lot of time playing around with these accessories, it was the GPS signal capture capabilites that interested me most of all.
I did also notice that I could "drop" into the Win operating system CE 6.0, which does have Internet Explorer installed but I didn't try to establish external access to the internet. A pop up keyboard also comes up on screen, so with some more playing around it looks to be possible to bypass the installed software and add some of your own, subject to the hardware limitations.
After having my "play around" with this equipment, it was put back in the box and forgotten about until today! It needs to leave home as it's purpose for me is complete - I am hoping someone else may find this device interesting enough to "play around" with.
GPS NAVIGATION TABLET (Plus More ...)
Model: unknown, this looks to be OEM hardware and as such, is unbranded
CPU: MediaTek MT3351C (at turn on, the splash screen shows MEDIA TEK)
The GPS navigation software is from iGo Primo
The current map should be upgradeable but I haven't tried this
I do not know who wrote the software for all the other accessories, and there are a lot of them!
Side access on the tablet for:
Headphones
Micro SD card slot (currently empty - apparently capable of up to 4Gb according to the label on the rear of the device)
AV in (Yes, Input not Output)
USB port
On the rear is a small hole for "hard resetting" the device
Suction cup style holder with bracket to suit this tablet is supplied
In-car power plug with lead is supplied
Power plug pack with a detactable lead is supplied ... this same detactable lead, which plugs into the USB port, can be used for data access to~from the device via a PC.
User manual is supplied but this is just a little confusing ... the manual refers to Television station reception but I couldn't find any reference to this function on the screen and also Bluetooth connectivity, same thing. Perhaps the manual is "general" and covers a number of different models.
There are also a couple of small holes (one with a cover) which the manual does not talk about and their function is not indicated on the casing, perhaps one is for an antenna so that the FM Radio works! I wasn't prepared to mess around with the device to find out.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
Clean
NO significant screen damage (no cracks!) **
** Because this is a touch screen (usually operated with a stylus), there are some MINOR marks on the front of the screen.
NO damage to the mounting bracket mount or the silicon suction cap
TESTING:
It has been around 6 years since I originally obtained this device and ever since that time, it has been sitting in the "storeroom" after I had finished with it many moons ago ...
Today I charged up the battery (using the plug pack) and had a quick look at the navigation and various other pieces of software on the device, just to make sure all appeared to be working as it should. While testing, the battery seemed to be holding up fine.
Of course, if someone was actually going to use this to navigate around the country then it may be a good idea to update the map software.
My real aim in offering this device is more targeted at the experimenter, those who just like to see what makes this tablet "tick" and the capabilities built into it.
Now that I have revisited this GPS Navigation tablet, taken some pictures and made some quick tests, it has now been repacked back into the original box, placed in a dark corner and it now awaits someone else to play around with it.
