Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - GPS receiver for IPAQ

I'm going on a solo trip to Italy this fall and I'm considering using GPS as a backup. I'm very tech savvy but have not done GPS before. I'm thinking of getting only a receiver as I don't need gps most of the time, and the cost seems lower as well. I'm wondering if any of you have found a bluetooth receiver compatible with a WM2003SE iPAQ (mine is a hx2750). Thanks!

Have you looked at the CF GPS cards?

any will work. i used to have a dell axim x51v w/ a bluetooth receiver. the brand escapes me at the moment but it had a sirfstar 3 chipset. that thing was really fast. it would triangulate your location within 10 seconds. on a cold start, maybe 45 seconds. i was using telenav software and it was pretty decent, too.

since you're concerned about cost, i'd actually recommend that you get a stand alone unit like a garmin. the reason being that you need to consider the cost of the software for your pocketPC as well. in my experience, stand alone units just do it more reliably w/ a better user interface and with a much more detailed point of interest database. using you're pocketPC is a bit less reliable, will have a clumsier interface and will lack some of the POIs that come w/ most updated GPS units.

another option may be to purchase a slightly used unit when you get to italy. i'm sure there's an equivalent to craigslist or something like that. good luck.

I used to run Teletype software and bluetooth gps on my ipaq. It was my first GPS and I used it in my car and on my bike. Battery life was a big concern for me so I only turned it on to get my bearings. It worked okay, but as I'm sure you experienced, programs running in Windows Mobile don't always run reliably. My other concern was the elements, and I ended up purchasing an Otterbox pda case to withstand any elements. It's a tough, well-made case but it made the pda large and clunky.

I recently purchased an eTrex.
Has anyone tried a smartphone with gps and google maps in foreign countries?