What's a good Satnav?

bails87

Yeehaa, with Nokia you download entire countries/continents at a time, so saying 'but you might go out of the area you've got the maps for' is worrying about a very unlikely eventuality, plus you can do that with a proper GPS anyway, don;'t you have to buy individual tiles, sometimes just the same size as an OS, or a single national park, for example. Seems like it would be much easier to go outside that area than to change you plans and end up in Asia when your original plan was to ride in the Peak District.

That:

I get full signal atop snowdon. without any signal at all, I have a gps device at least as competent and feature rich as a gps device.

makes perfect sense, he just didn't capitalise the W after the full stop. If you're going to (deliberately?) ignore punctuation to try to make someone else look bad then...well, it's just a bit silly really

Briggo, yes, you can plot a route, but if the OP is in Townsington and wants to go to Trumpington-on-Minge he can't just put a start point and a destination and get a route plotted for him, not off road anyway.

Anonymous

bails87 wrote:

If you're going to (deliberately?) ignore punctuation to try to make someone else look bad then...well, it's just a bit silly really

No, I misread it. There's a reason why punctuation is important, it's to make things easier, or more obvious to read. In this case, that issue was highlighted.

I still disagree with you on almost all counts, but I see you've drunk the smartphone coolaid, so there's really no point carrying this on, is there?

bluechair84

I kind of think so - care to list the reasons why a GPS is better than a smartphone so we can dispell them one at a time?

For a GPS device:
1) accuracy - yes slower on a phone, but not prohibitive
2) battery - yes less on a phone, but I can get a 5 hour hike easy out of a full charge
3) map coverage - equal case for both sides - you have to download maps what ever your device, you just make sure you download the right maps.
4) more rugged - not if you own a defy, or buy a case for the phone

For a smartphone:
1) met office over the web
2) pre-plotted routes over the web
3) geotagging
4) device to device location, so you can see where someone else is on the trail
5) I can locate the nearest maccyDs
6) not all GPS devices use highly detailed OS maps, the correct app will.
7) cheaper than a GPS
8) lighter than carrying a phone and a GPS
\\ some of the above need signal, in which case it is no worse than a GPS, and many ranges have 3G signal anyway\\

As for the lack of a capital - I responded on my phone so... there's a limitation for you

Briggo

I'm a mug for having both? Oh dear, I'm distraught. You're just jealous tbh

At the end of the day, I know why I use my 800 instead of my smartphone. It's far better suited and far better equipped for the job I want it to do.

If my smartphone would have done the job I would have used that but it wont for various reasons.

Anonymous

bluechair84 wrote:

7) cheaper than a GPS

Really? When you factor in the initial cost, and contract of a decent phone?

bluechair84 wrote:

\\ some of the above need signal, in which case it is no worse than a GPS, and many ranges have 3G signal anyway\\

I guess your definition of "outdoors" must be very different to mine. Any place I go where I think a GPS of any kind would be useful, has little or no phone signal coverage, and certainly no 3G.

pots74

anto164 wrote:

Sorry, you want a 3d sat nav for a mountain bike that's cheap?

Best get making one then!

For a good performing bike sat nav, get a garmin 800. Not cheap, then again, no non-motoring sat nav is going to be cheap.

Totally agree with you! If you want one that's realiable money talks. The garmin dakota 20 is superb though@ £200 or the 10 for just over £100, that's without the maps though.

Good luck!

Slow Loris

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bluechair84 wrote:

7) cheaper than a GPS

Really? When you factor in the initial cost, and contract of a decent phone?

bluechair84 wrote:

\\ some of the above need signal, in which case it is no worse than a GPS, and many ranges have 3G signal anyway\\

I guess your definition of "outdoors" must be very different to mine. Any place I go where I think a GPS of any kind would be useful, has little or no phone signal coverage, and certainly no 3G.

Cheaper if like 99% of people you already own one. 3G not required at all, just a GPS signal. Stop replying with the same already defeated arguments!

Anonymous

I'm not. I've put across points as to why they are less useful - which you are all ignoring!

Slow Loris

yeehaamcgee wrote:

I'm not. I've put across points as to why they are less useful - which you are all ignoring!

They haven't been ignored, they've been covered several times.

A GPS is a small computer containing software and a GPS receiver. Nothing more. A smartphone is that too, and more - basically whatever you want it to do it'll do. It just takes a bit of trial and error to find an application that does exactly what you want. With Garmin, you're stuck with their software and all its limitations.

Oruxmaps for example can use ANY map or map image. Calibrate it by telling the app the coordinates of the 4 corners and away you go. Or just use one of the 20 or so built in map providers and it'll work online or off. Ordnance Survey included.

So if you want a Garmin and have a decent smartphone, download Oruxmaps but be sure to only use 5% of the functionality or you may get confused!

Anonymous

A purpose made GPS device is specifically designed to be an outdoor GPS unit. It will be ruggedised, it will have maps on-board in one way or another, it will be waterproof, it will have great battery life, it will be optimised for use as a GPS, not just in terms of layout, but in terms of electronics and antennae.
A Smartphone is none of those things.

A Smartphone can check my emails, and can take photos and videos too. That does not make it the "best" device for any of those things either.
Hell, they're not even really the "best" phones.

lesz42

i agree with yeehaamcgee :!:

lesz42

i use a Holux GPSort 245, good battery life ( 20 hours plus), just a tracker really


my smartphone, has gps, and a decent app, but batt life is not great, less then 6 hours,

fine for llandegla and short routes, any thing random and long.....

nila

For android phones with the whole silly battery issue....

ebay and £15 will buy you a desktop charger and two spare batteries that are tiny.
Go for your die with the two batteries in your pack, replace battery if it dies.

Easy!