The Toshiba e800 as a GPS Moving Map

There are many PocketPCs on the market, and there need to be because there are many niches to fill. One niche of particular interest to me is GPS navigation, and that’s why I chose the Toshiba e800 to replace my HP iPaq 3870.

Last update: Tuesday 4th May, 2004

Any of the PocketPCs on the market can run pretty much any PocketPC software. The differentiator comes down to hardware. What I look for in a PocketPC as a GPS navigation unit is:

Compact Flash storage. Preferably SD, too, but CF cards offer the best $/Mb value.
Large screen, readable in sunlight.
Bluetooth connectivity, for those Bluetooth GPSRs (note to North American readers; Bluetooth is an option outside North America!)
A serial port, for those serial GPSRs!
External (car charger) power.
External speaker socket.

The Toshiba has all of the above built-in. In addition, it has a unique (at the time of writing) ability to run a screen resolution of 480x640, or VGA, as opposed to the 240x320 QGVA (quarter VGA) mode that is the PocketPC standard. That’s the primary reason why I bought one. The e800 also has a four-inch (630mm) screen, whereas most other units have 3.5 or 3.8 inch screens. Not a big difference, but every little helps.

This review isn’t going to focus on the e800’s ability as a PDA – see the References section below for those reviews. This is about GPS navigation and the e800, specifically OziexplorerCE.

The VGA Mode

The QVGA shots have been reduced by 50%, the VGA screenshots by 25%. To see what they're like in real life, click on any image for a full-size view and resize them to a 6.2cm or 4-inch diagonal rectangle. Even then it won't be as good as for real!

Out of the box, the e800 defaults to QVGA, and the VGA mode can only be entered after a soft reset. Even worse, the mode only allows operation of four rather limited applications, so it’s not quite a useless gimmick, but close.

But the hacking community has solved the problem. MyVGA is a freeware fix to the problem that allows full and unfettered use of the e800 in VGA mode. Any program can be run. Not all programs support VGA mode, but enough do to make it worthwhile. Programs don’t need to be especially written for VGA mode, although it helps. If they are correctly written they will automatically use the additional space.

There’s a problem with VGA mode though. There’s a dead zone by the Start Menu, which renders the Start Menu inoperable. But again, there’s a hack for that called Deadix. With MyVGA and Deadfix you’ve really got a VGA PocketPC. Without them, I doubt Toshiba would be selling as many e800s as they are.

So how did Oziexplorer work in VGA?

OziCE and the Mosasic Raster250k map, 240x320 (QVGA) mode, at 100% zoom.
OziCE and the Mosasic Raster250k map, 480x640 (VGA) mode, again at 100% zoom. The bottom right corner is in the same location as the QVGA image to the left. This demonstrates how much extra information is displayed. Four times as much! But the icons are a quarter of the size.

OziCE and the Mosasic Raster250k map, 320x240 (landscape QVGA) mode, at 100% zoom.
OziCE and the Mosasic Raster250k map, 640x480 (landscape VGA) mode, again at 100% zoom.

OziCE and the Mosasic Raster250k map, 480x640 VGA mode, at 100% zoom showing the Map View, Speed and Navigation Displays, and a GOTO.
As above, showing all the toolbars.
The Namesearch dialogue box.
Screen control.
Increased menu font size, thanks to MyVGA.

Simply, it works! Scrolling and zooming works just as it does on QVGA. All the functions appear to be, well, functional.

The e800 is simply an excellent PDA for a moving-map. The screen would be better than average at 240x320, with its bright light and slightly greater area. But with VGA resolution the clarity moves into a new dimension. The image to the left shows the e800 with an iPaq 3870, both running OziexplorerCE. Both units are at maximum brightness, and both have screen protectors.

Adding the Speed and Navigation toolbars to OziCE doesn't significantly impact on screenspace, and the extra clarity from the resolution is well worth having. The e800 is also more than speedy enough to move the graphics around smoothly.

I did say it wasn’t perfect, and of course there have to be a few niggles. Although MyVGA allows you to change the font, of the menu bar, the toolbar icons and waypoint list text don’t change size. So they are tiny. Too tiny, in my view (joke). Usuable, but I have good eyesight and I wouldn’t want to do too much work with it. The definition and clarity is first-rate, it’s just the size. However, in both VGA modes the touch-screen works fine. Which is a huge relief. I'd turn the Main toolbar off (PocketPC Auto Hide Menu) and use the menus instead. Of course, all the frequently used functions are available via the touchscreen anyway.

Although the amount of data that can be displayed on the screen is tempting, I will run the e800 in QVGA mode unless it’s running OziCE, or for something like displaying pictures. It is irritating to have to do a soft reset to switch modes, but then again, every PocketPC needs pretty regular soft-resetting so it’s probably not such a bad idea.

External VGA

Not only can the e800 switch its screen to VGA, it can also drive an external monitor too, by means of the optional Presentation Pack (about AU$99), and the bundled IA Screen Mirror software from IA Style.

To set it up:

Place the e800 into the Presentation Pack, connect to the external monitor.
Run IA Screen Mirror, the click OK to send the program to the background.
Run Oziexplorer, use as usual on the PDA except that now output goes to both the PDA and the external screen.

So how effective is it?

Not very. Output resolutions are 800x600 and 640x480, but switching between them doesn't make much difference. In either case it's best to select the "Stretch data to fit view" option, otherwise you're wasting a lot of space and really only duplicating the e800's screen, not enlarging it. But if you do that the e800 can't quite refresh the Lilliput quickly enough to be truly usuable. It does work slightly better, but not perfectly, with my 21" monitor, whereas my laptop has no problem at all driving the Lilliput or anything else. The e800 runs slower when hooked up to an external monitor. This is noticeable as an occasional, but slight delay in response to input.

If you switch the e800 itself into VGA mode you really do get a higher-resolution external output, but it's slightly slower again as the video card does a lot more work. I think the Presentation Pack is aptly named; it would work for presentations, but struggles with graphic-intensive applications like moving-maps. It does work with a moving-map, but it's a long way from ideal and I don't think it's worth it.

Video in either QVGA or VGA is smooth, no problem. Video in with external output in either mode is poor. The 800's display is very choppy, missing a lot of frames, and no video is shown on the external monitor.

In addition to the VGA output, the Presentation Pack also extends the USB port, turning it into a generic port as opposed to Toshiba's propietary version, and the external power socket is also extended. You can't get to the wireless networking switch, or the hard reset switch, but that's hardly a problem. The all-important soft reset switch is available as that's on the right hand side of the unit.

So far the best e800/IA Mirror/Presentation Pack configuration I've found is:

View Arrangement: 1 Row, 1 Column
Stretch data to fit view
Rotate Left (otherwise you're wasting a lot of screen space. This also means the Lilliput needs to be turned 90 degrees.
Refresh Rate of Custom Settings, 10 x 0.01 secs, High VGA Output Priority.
Output 640x480, Background Off.

although I've not fully tested it. There are no settings of note on the Lilliput screen itself to set.

Mounts

I've had a look at Arkon's generic PDA mount. This would be pretty much ideal for the base e800; it fits well, and the ports/reset switch are still accessible with the except of the Hold button. The mount would also take the e800 with the Presentation Pack, but would require some extra customisation for a truly secure fit.

RAM tell me that their generic mount also suits the e800, with the Presentation Pack. However, I found a no-name suction mount and used that. The e800 is fairly slab-slided which helps, although a little velcro wouldn't go amiss.

More details on the Installations page.

Voice Control and Speaker

The speaker is barely adequate. Don’t miss the second volume control in Advanced Sounds. Voice control works but is of no use with OziCE, it just allows you a set of predefined commands such as button emulation and so on. I don’t expect it to work in a noisy diesel 4WD.

The e800 as a PDA

As a PDA I like the e800, despite its size. The jog dial is useful, the screen is fantastic, the power button cannot easily be operated by accident and the unit is pretty robust and easy to use. It’s not the smallest or lightest on the market, but is still pocketable. The CPU is a lot more powerful than the 3870, but doesn’t seem much quicker. Pocket IE still has its inexplicable hesitations when switching AvantGo pages, and the PPC2003 operating system is only slightly more refined than its predecessor. The current generation of PPCs aren’t a quantum leap over their brethren of two years ago.

Photographs look a lot better in VGA than QVGA. It’s simply the resolution. The extra detail is quite noticeable. The same is true of video. The e800 has an ATI graphics chip with 2Mb of RAM, and that’s probably largely responsible for the high quality of the multimedia. It was able to smoothly run videos in VGA mode with no problem at all.

One point of note is the hopeless collapsible stylus which failed entirely on me after a week, and necessitated surgery with tweezers to extract the remains from within the e800. Not impressed.

Other VGA PocketPCs

None at present. But ASUS is known to be developing a device. As ever with technology, there is no good time to buy. Whatever you own will be superseded within months. There are software solutions for VGA resolution, but the clarity is very poor compared to the e800's hardware solution.

A Quickstart Guide for OziCE and the e800

e800 Setup

Install Undead.
Install MyVGA. Change the system fonts.
Install OziCE. For details, see the Oziexplorer website.

Oziexplorer CE Setup

What I changed for VGA operation. You'll have your own preferences, but these can be used as a base:

File, Config, General Settings: Added 75% zoom.
File, Config, Moving Map: Changed pointer to blue, Pointer Size 7, Solid Pointer.
File, Config, Track: Changed Track Width to 4
File, Config, Waypoints: Changed Symbol Size to 7, Font Size to 15.
File, Config, Route: Changed Symbol Size to 6, Font Size to 15, Line Width to 4.
Always have Speed and Navigation displays on. Hardly any screen space used.

Summary

If you use your PocketPC extensively as a GPS moving-map, then the e800 is definitely worth a look. I think it is the best PocketPC option on the market for GPS use; it’s got the card expansion, Bluetooth and the VGA options.
OziexplorerCE is probably best used without in VGA without the tiny Main toolbar, and with increased font size using MyVGA. The e800 can drive an external monitor as a moving-map, but not very quickly, and it does slow the unit down overall. The Presentation Pack is better suited to static images such as PowerPoint presenations and photographs, as its name suggests. Forget video.

References

Software

MyVGA freeware resolution switcher.
Deadfix removes the "dead spot" in VGA mode.
Resfix payware resolution switcher, less features than MyVGA.
OziexplorerCE moving-map software.

Discussion

Plenty around, this one seems to be pretty active:

Brighthand

e800 Reviews

This one from GPS Passion:

High Resolution GPS Navigation! with more screenshots.

These are not GPS-specific: