GPS receiver cards

Some GPS receivers take the form of a card that you can plug into a PDA expansion slot. The two types of GPS receiver cards are

• Memory cards: Most PDAs have a memory card slot that supports a Compact Flash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD) type of memory card. Both of these card formats also support hardware devices that can be embedded into the card: in this case, a GPS receiver. (PDAs without internal memory card slots might have optional expansion packs that plug into the PDA and provide a memory card slot.)
• PC Cards: A PC Card (also called a PCMCIA card) is a hardware expansion card designed for laptops. PC Card devices include hard drives, modems, and GPS receivers. These receiver cards are mostly used with laptops, but some PDAs support expansion packs for using PC Card devices. Using a GPS receiver card with your PDA means that you don’t need to worry about an external GPS receiver or cables. You just plug the card into a slot, and the GPS receiver starts accessing satellite data.

However, note these drawbacks:

• Slot competition: CF and SD memory cards that function as GPS receivers take up the expansion slot that’s used for additional PDA memory.
• Battery hogs: GPS receiver cards quickly run down your PDA’s battery if you’re not connected to an external power source.

Some of the main GPS receiver card manufacturers (and their Web sites) are

• Deluo: www.deluo.com
• Fortuna: www.fortuna.com.tw
• Haicom: www.haicom.com.tw
• Holux: www.holux.com
• Pharos: www.pharos.com