Advent GPS 400 and ActiveSyncThis is a follow up to my review of the Advent GPS 400 Personal Navigation Assistant.
When you get the device they provide a CD containing a copy of ActiveSync (v3.7.1). This is a Microsoft program that is designed to handle the communication between PDA devices and a PC for things like the synchronisation of address books and the like. Most of that is irrelevant to the GPS though, as it is running Windows CE under the covers, it could probably be made to act like a proper PDA if you loaded the right software. As it is, you can probably ignore most of the features of ActiveSync but it is still worth installing. When you first connect the device it asks you for a name for it and then asks what you want to synchronise. You may as well untick all the boxes as none of them are relevant. When the main ActiveSync screen starts up, select Tools -> Backup/Restore and set it to (incremental) backup each time it connects. While you are at it, you could do a backup now, it will take a few minutes. Subsequently it will back up each time you connect the device but that only takes a few seconds as the only things that have changed will be small files like your favourites.
Pray that you never have to Hard Reset the device using the concealed on/off button underneath. If you do then ActiveSync will think that it is a different device and go through the install process again. It will NOT let you chose the same name.
As I mentioned to Dean in a comment to the original posting, if you want to copy new maps onto the device you need to open it as a plain storage device. You can do this from My Computer or you can use the Explore button in Active Sync. In here you will find the memory card as “Storage Card”. Just use Windows drag and drop to copy the new maps onto the device … and wait, as it takes a very long time. It is best to do it from the computer hard drive rather than direct from the CD. Then to activate the new map use the big Map button on the front screen (I am embarrassed by the length of time it took to discover this). It will then shut down the navigation and the next time you start it will be on the new map. Note: the device is not capable of navigating across the map boundaries e.g. from England through to France.
While we are in Explore mode on ActiveSync, it is worth noting that the files that are changed when you store new favourites etc are in the \My Flash Disk\mnav_ucf\ folder. If you want to take a safety copy then copy them by hand into a location on your PC (usual drag and drop or select, copy and paste). Although we have set the machine to automatically backup in the section above and there is a restore command I have no confidence in it and the backup file is in some obscure internal format so that selective restores are not possible. I would rather be safe.
If you want to use the Sync Files feature of ActiveSync then, as far as I can tell, it only synchronises the \My Documents folder on the device with a matching folder in My Documents\DeviceName on your PC and even then I couldn’t get it to work properly—the Sync seemed to work but when you plugged the device in again it deleted them from the PC. If anyone does get this to work then please let me know. Similarly the device has a MP3 Player mode, when I selected Add Song it couldn’t find any—perhaps they have to be in a particular location, it couldn’t find ones that I know were there on a card from another PDA.
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I was about to buy one of these untill I read this blog. The mere mention of MEDION was enough to send shivers down my spine. I once bought a Medion PDA/Satnav – It was useless and indeed dangerous. Halfords (the retailer) told me that Medion would not allow Halfords to give a refund for complaints about faulty and “not suitable for the porpose for which it was sold” software. THis is aganst the law in the UK, however Medion being German, don’t seem to concern themselves with British law. Medion would not take my phone calls unless it was on thier premium rate number and from my own phone. Medion would not take my call from the Halfords store. Fortunatley the Medion unit seemed to develop a hardware fault the very next day! Halford then, very reluctantly, did give me a refund. My advice – Avoid anything that is Medion or a clone of Medion. The product is inferior and the back-up is none existant.
That sounds like Halfords spinning you a line as it is the retailer that is responsible for the sale-of-goods-act responsibilities. I would agree that the after-sales support is thin but it is a national-rate number not a premium number for help (they don’t know anything about it though). I can’t see how it could be dangerous – it is the user’s responsibility to sucure it adequately and not to use it (press buttons) whilst driving. Whether it is good value is a matter of opinion – you pays your money … It is (or was) cheaper than anything comparable on the market and does its job quite well, you just have to live with the oddities and lack of documentation – that is what these blog postings are about, making up for the lack of information.
Hello there !
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I would like to tell you about my experiences using the Advent GPS summer 2006 ; We drove from Konsberg ,Norway to Stavanger Norway…then took the ferry to NewCastle England ,then drove to Porthsmouth ,England. Then Ferry To Caen ,France. Then driving Dunkirk – through Nederlands ,Germany and Denmark …Hirtshals …ferry to Norway.
My experience’s is all Positive !!! I like the little unit. It did its job perfectly weel ,even in english roundabouts.
Before leaving home I invested in a 1Gb SD ram ,so I got all maps except Germany into one chip. Advice ; Buy 2 Gb …the price for that is okay now.Then all the maps can reside on one chip.
Dont bother to use active sync . Its just trouble and unneccessary if you have Windows XP on your PC. Buy a Card-reader for that Ram-chip (SD-ram,was it?) and use it instead.
Then your card pops up as a drive in XP.
– Take the old card with all files and copy to some folder in your PC .
– Put in your new 2Gb card in the card reader.
– Copy all files from the folder to your new chip.
– Copy all the rest of your map files from your Advent CD to the card.
Move the card over to your Advent. No problem.
Have fun!
Hi kwik,
thanks for the comment. I quite agree, an SD card reader/writer for the PC would be a lot better. Just I haven’t got around to buying one yet! Hope you enjoyed your mega-tour.
I have been pursuing Medion over desktop PC since purchase in July. Never has functioned correctly, currently with Medion (since 29th September) for second time. Inconsistent progress reports from call centre staff and impossible to speak to anybody other than call centre staff. I would warn everybody to steer clear of Medion.
Only help I can offer is alternative (cheaper) phone number for call centre :- 01793715698.
i like advent gps400 but i need entire europe map that will work!i’ll get a 2 gb card but i dont know what maps should i download and from what site
Hi,
there are two problems with what you want. Firstly there is no “entire europe map.” It comes in separate country parts. You can load them all onto one SD card but you can’t navigate from one country to another, you have to take it to the border then switch to the next map and continue from there. Secondly, there is no place to download the maps from except at very high cost (I think about 50 UKP per country). You should have them on a DVD which came with the kit. Otherwise I would suggest looking on eBay, I have seen them come up for sale on there.
Hi, just wondering does anyone know where map updates for the Advent 400 can be found?
Had very few problems with mine, apart from when I was going over the Dartford crossing.
When I was almost midway across it kept telling me to turn right, which would have been fun from that height.
Hi Bryan, there are no updates for the map, and as time goes on, it looks like there never will be. However, as you say, it is a good little unit so it is rather a shame. If you consider the map as a piece of software of comparable size then there are remarkably few glitches – my favourite is on the A30 near Exeter where it takes you off the dual carriageway up to the roundabout and straight back on the other side.
Hi,
Has anyone successfully restored a Medion PDA/Satnav using MS ActiveSync? I made a complete (not incremental) backup and it doesn’t restore my Favourites. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi All, if there are no map updates, does that mean the units being sold today have the same maps mine has? Its pretty old and quite alot has changed in Dublin since i got it, and even when new the roads were around a year out of date! Having said that… its worth a hundred times what i paid for it. A great buy
Hi Sean, I am not aware that any are still for sale. For a while they were available at stupidly low prices but they sold out very quickly.
Can anyone supply details of a web site from where you can download the european maps
Thanks
No, it doesn’t exist (unless they have appeared on the warez scene). What came with the device is what you are stuck with as it doesn’t look like there will be any updates. The other alternative is to load different software which does have updated maps.
i have never found a web site for update for the advent gps 400, i to was told that thier was a web site, in my opinion there is none. so when i go and buy another gps i will insist they show me a web site in the shop before i part with any money, thats my advice to anyone wishing to purchase one.
Good point John, though there was a website when I first bought mine though it was hard to find – you had to realise that the device was made by Medion. It was never any use though, as there haven’t been any updates. All you could get was the originals. I think some people managed to get accessories such as bike mounts but nothing more.
l’articolo in questione è sotto categoria.voi tutti avete detto quello che ce da dire,e cmq ormai cè lò e lo sfrutto.anzi lo sfruttavo.finche non mi è caduta la scheda della mappa dentro la fessura dello sbrina vetro del pulman che guido.ho smontato un casino di roba per recuperarla senza esito non la trovo piu,ho cercato di acquistarla sapete una cosa? costa meno un tom tom con mappa nazionale che la sola mappa.non vi sembra vergognoso.
ragà s qualcuno mi volesse inviarmela vi sarò grato.io certo non l’acquisto,un’altra volta ci guardo meglio prima.non è che mi serva molto,ma ogni tanto singeramente mi ha fatto comodo.
se qualcuno me la fa avere la mia mail è [email address removed]
ciao a tutti è felice anno.
How can I download map for France from the CD that came with the system? Am on Windows 7 and it wont open the map file!
Hi Adrian, You need to get the map file off the CD and onto the SD card in the device. You can do it by connecting the device directly to the PC but it is very slow that way. It is quicker if you use an SD card reader/writer and copy the file directly. You may need to remove a previous map to make space or use a new card. If you use a new one remember to copy the other files from the old card onto it (except the maps) as you will need those to boot the device. You can’t read the maps on the PC – they don’t work in any available software.
Problem is I cant get the map file off the CD at all!