How well does the Advantage X7501 Navigate and Play Video

[datruth]

Looking to get this very soon depending on your responce!

Navigation
I have a ATT tilt with the Garmin XT Micro SD card installed. My issue is that many times while navigating the map does not draw fast enough and I have to slow down or wait for the tilt to catch up. This is kind of hard to explain in words but I'm driving and my icon goes off the map into grey emptiness. I've had the same issue with Telenav.

Question to you that own this unit and use it day in day out (or often) as your only GPS device. Does the 624 MHz CPU allow the GPS software to run smoother? Does it take a long time to search for POI or calculate you route? While demo-ing the Garmin Nuvi, cities and street names come up almost instantly after typing in just 2 or 3 letters. How does this compare to Telenav or Garmin XT on the Advantage.

Video
I encode my DVDs with windows media encoder and most of my movies come out to a bit rate of around 3500kbs and a resolution of 720 x 480. Will this .wmv play on a Advantage. If so will it only play off of the HD or can I play it off of a SDHC or external USB flash drive?

I want to use the X7501 as a GPS unit first, media player second and pda/phone last. What do you guys suggest?

[apd]

Looking to get this very soon depending on your responce!

Navigation
I have a ATT tilt with the Garmin XT Micro SD card installed. My issue is that many times while navigating the map does not draw fast enough and I have to slow down or wait for the tilt to catch up. This is kind of hard to explain in words but I'm driving and my icon goes off the map into grey emptiness. I've had the same issue with Telenav.

Question to you that own this unit and use it day in day out (or often) as your only GPS device. Does the 624 MHz CPU allow the GPS software to run smoother? Does it take a long time to search for POI or calculate you route? While demo-ing the Garmin Nuvi, cities and street names come up almost instantly after typing in just 2 or 3 letters. How does this compare to Telenav or Garmin XT on the Advantage.

Video
I encode my DVDs with windows media encoder and most of my movies come out to a bit rate of around 3500kbs and a resolution of 720 x 480. Will this .wmv play on a Advantage. If so will it only play off of the HD or can I play it off of a SDHC or external USB flash drive?

I want to use the X7501 as a GPS unit first, media player second and pda/phone last. What do you guys suggest?

Satnav. That depends on the software. Tomtom is reasonably quick. Igo is very fast.

Video. Can't help here (don't use it) but some people say that you can only get 30fps which is apparently not very good.

[eaglesteve]

Satnav. That depends on the software. Tomtom is reasonably quick. Igo is very fast.

Video. Can't help here (don't use it) but some people say that you can only get 30fps which is apparently not very good.

I use both IGO and tom tom. IGO is faster and better IMHO.

I get at least 50 fps. Video is very good for me.

[datruth]

I use both IGO and tom tom. IGO is faster and better IMHO.

I get at least 50 fps. Video is very good for me.

50 fps....do you get this speed playing video files comparable to bit rates of around 3500kbs and a resolution of 720 x 480? This is key for me seeing as I have over 700 movies encoded at this quality and do not want to re-encode in order to get them to play on the Advantage.

I have a Archos 404 and most of my files play fine on this unit. The size is very similar to the Advantage but the Archos is a dedicated player.

[techntrek]

When I tried Telenav, and Google maps, and I was outside of a 3G area, they would often act like your phone. Just not enough bandwidth to update the map. Since I am also often in dead zones I now stick with all-inclusive mapping software that doesnt rely on a cell connection. Currently using Delorme Street Atlas. Its voice directions arent acurate but the maps are, and I already had it for my Palm so I stick with it.

The gps receiver is touchy. 99 times out of 100 it wont lock on inside a building, where the sirfstar I have on my Palm locks on anywhere. The Athena's gps will generally hold the signal once its locked on. My guess is when they were getting all 4 antennas to play well the gps lost out.

Havent tried video yet.

[datruth]

When I tried Telenav, and Google maps, and I was outside of a 3G area, they would often act like your phone. Just not enough bandwidth to update the map. Since I am also often in dead zones I now stick with all-inclusive mapping software that doesnt rely on a cell connection. Currently using Delorme Street Atlas. Its voice directions arent acurate but the maps are, and I already had it for my Palm so I stick with it.

The gps receiver is touchy. 99 times out of 100 it wont lock on inside a building, where the sirfstar I have on my Palm locks on anywhere. The Athena's gps will generally hold the signal once its locked on. My guess is when they were getting all 4 antennas to play well the gps lost out.

Havent tried video yet.


Thanks for your input.

Are you familiar with the Garmin XT software. The program including maps run off of a Micro SD card or internal storage. I run into the problem of the map not keeping up with me often and believe it's cause is the 400mhz processor in the Tytn II. If I turn map detail all the way down navigating runs smooth but the map looks horrible. The Advantage processor is 650mhz do you think this will make a big difference during navigating?

[techntrek]

Ive never used the Garmin software, but Im sure the Athena would give you better performance, only because of all the reviews saying how much faster it is compared to 400 mhz machines.

[datruth]

Ive never used the Garmin software, but Im sure the Athena would give you better performance, only because of all the reviews saying how much faster it is compared to 400 mhz machines.
I got my Advantage yesterday and the Garmin XT software works great. I acutlly have more features in this software than the top of the line Garmin 760. The 650mhz made the differance. Video though still chugs along. I think it's the high bit rate. Video looks good and sound plays clear but they are not in sync and I loose alot of frames.