Best to get a cell phone with GPS rather than standalone unit?

I'm wanting a small GPP for hiking and bicycle touring
use.

At first I was going to get an eTrex model.

After some thought I'm wondering if Id be better served
by just getting a new GPS enabled cell phone?

I'm thinking a GPS enabled cell phone would be handier
in that I could also look up maps on Google and get
specific info not available on a stand alone GPS.

Example......I'm on a bike tour in an unfamiliar place
and I'm looking for a bicycle shop or restaurant. With
the cell phone I could access Google and tell it what
my GPS co-ordinate are and let it fid that info.
Correct/

Advce?

wrote in :

I'm wanting a small GPP for hiking and bicycle touring
use.

At first I was going to get an eTrex model.

After some thought I'm wondering if Id be better served
by just getting a new GPS enabled cell phone?


Most GPS enabled cell phones are only designed for on-road use. If you
want it for hiking, you may find the GPS features wanting.

If cost is not the issue, you might want to look at a Windows Mobile
Pocket PC Phone with a Bluetooth GPS receiver. There are a number of GPS
programs available for the Pocket PC - both for offroad and for roads.
Plus, the built-in Internet Explorer makes it easy for the searches that
you want to make.

Another advantage of the two-device solution is that you can place the
GPS receiver in an area where it can get good reception (I place mine in
the seat bag above all the other stuff) while the phone can be in a
pocket where it's handy.

If you elect to go with this option, check to make sure that the mobile
carrier you elect to use has not disabled the ability to use the
Bluetooth feature for other than just a wireless headset. (Verizon is the
worst when it comes to removing features from their phones.)

In short, this can be done, but it does require a bit of research.

Cheers,
David

Solvang Cyclist wrote:
wrote in :

I'm wanting a small GPP for hiking and bicycle touring
use.

At first I was going to get an eTrex model.

After some thought I'm wondering if Id be better served
by just getting a new GPS enabled cell phone?


Most GPS enabled cell phones are only designed for on-road use. If you
want it for hiking, you may find the GPS features wanting.

If cost is not the issue, you might want to look at a Windows Mobile
Pocket PC Phone with a Bluetooth GPS receiver. There are a number of GPS
programs available for the Pocket PC - both for offroad and for roads.
Plus, the built-in Internet Explorer makes it easy for the searches that
you want to make.

Another advantage of the two-device solution is that you can place the
GPS receiver in an area where it can get good reception (I place mine in
the seat bag above all the other stuff) while the phone can be in a
pocket where it's handy.

If you elect to go with this option, check to make sure that the mobile
carrier you elect to use has not disabled the ability to use the
Bluetooth feature for other than just a wireless headset. (Verizon is the
worst when it comes to removing features from their phones.)

In short, this can be done, but it does require a bit of research.

Cheers,
David

Usually with a converged device running WM5 or the older WM2003se will
allow you to use the nmea output in any program you wish to install.
You then have the choice of Tom Tom, garmin or others software.
You have been getting some confusing and basically wrong information so
far. Do your research and you should be fine.
Find out about compatibility with the software you want to use. You do
need software and Navman or whatever may or may not be suited to you.
Pocket Pc's aren't that rugged or reliable, be ready for that. They
chew batteries at an alarming rate, for some you can get extended or
carry a spare batteries, some you can't. Bluetooth also uses extra
power so allow for that if you go for the external GPS.
A GPS phone has a GPS chipset, which one? If it isn't the newest or
most sensitive you may be ridiculed by your peers.

Sounds like I hate the whole idea of a PDA for a GPS. NOPE!

If you need to get to the corner store (oops make that the mall) and
back in a highly populated and industrialized country get a Garmin/
Magellan/ Tom-Tom it'll do all you need it to. If you want to travel
the most unbeaten tracks or in the remotest or unvisited areas the big
names will leave you high and dry for mapping software. I visit areas
where in the last 60 years other governments paid the locals per head
(as in a basket full) for Japanese soldiers they dispensed of. Paid to
be head hunters, who says you can't make money in the traditional
way. I know men that can remember it happening when they were boys. How
about trekking through the jungle and dialing up 131166 for a Pizza,
nope nearest delivery location is 1000+ km.
I use a hx4700 in a Otter case with a water resistant GPS 10 from
Garmin. Extended battery and a pack of AA's to recharge it. Ozi
explorer and a scanner for the old military maps and some new surveyed
ones for the towns. The military marine charts are still fairly
accurate. It doesn't have a phone but there is no use for a phone in
95% of the country. No cell phone internet anywhere. Wireless in a
couple of areas at Moresby.
If I head south to the big smoke I can use anything from streets and
trips to Destinator.
Try the online map displays so you know what you are getting so there
are excuses afterward. BTW within Ozi explorer trails and waypoints can
be made into files and used directly with google earth. Great for that
Mon morning e-mail teaser.

Brad
6° 43.5816' S 146° 59.3097' E

Solvang Cyclist wrote:

If cost is not the issue, you might want to look at a Windows Mobile
Pocket PC Phone with a Bluetooth GPS receiver. There are a number of GPS
programs available for the Pocket PC - both for offroad and for roads.
Plus, the built-in Internet Explorer makes it easy for the searches that
you want to make.

Good idea

I hadn't thought abt "separating" the actual GPS
receiver form the display device/phone

The cell phone GPS is not a true GPS and may use up air time. It only
gathers information related to where the Cell towers are in relation to your
phone loc. A true GPS is more reliable reading satellite sigs. If you loose
cell reception it won't do any good. The Magellan Sportrak runs 6-8 hours on
rechargable bats. The ASUS MyPal Pocket pc runs 4 hours, the bluetooth GPS
receiver about 6hrs. I carry both on tour. The ASUS clears up any questions
the Sportrak may pose, and provides skype.com, and all the other stuff . I
think the ASUS has the longest battery life for PDA's. Of coarse a ten watt
solar cell on the bike could solve these problems.
Dave
http://www.noweldrecumbent.com

wrote in message
...
Solvang Cyclist wrote:

If cost is not the issue, you might want to look at a Windows Mobile
Pocket PC Phone with a Bluetooth GPS receiver. There are a number of GPS
programs available for the Pocket PC - both for offroad and for roads.
Plus, the built-in Internet Explorer makes it easy for the searches that
you want to make.

Good idea

I hadn't thought abt "separating" the actual GPS
receiver form the display device/phone

"
wrote:

The cell phone GPS is not a true GPS and may use up air time. It only
gathers information related to where the Cell towers are in relation to your
phone loc. A true GPS is more reliable reading satellite sigs. If you loose
cell reception it won't do any good.

Ok but why cant they build GPS cell phones that have
the best of both worlds?

Put a sirf chip in it for sat reception....and use the
tower aces for Net when available?

"
wrote:

. The ASUS MyPal Pocket pc runs 4 hours, the bluetooth GPS
receiver about 6hrs. I carry both on tour.

So you carry a Pocket PC and separate GPS receiver?

And that combo woks well on bike tours?

" wrote in
:

The cell phone GPS is not a true GPS and may use up air time. It only
gathers information related to where the Cell towers are in relation
to your phone loc. A true GPS is more reliable reading satellite sigs.
If you loose cell reception it won't do any good.

You are not technically correct: Phones that claim to use GPS do use the
satellites and not simple cell tower triangulation.

However, the issue you bring up about losing cellular reception is valid
for phones with GPS since, while the location is established by
satellite, the map data is typically transmitted via the phone's data
connection. So without a cell signal, you might not be able to see more
than the lat-long position.

For GPS phones based on Windows Mobile there will always be a memory card
where a GPS application and map data can be stored, so no cellular
connection would be required.

Cheers,
David

wrote in :

Ok but why cant they build GPS cell phones that have
the best of both worlds?

Put a sirf chip in it for sat reception....and use the
tower aces for Net when available?


They can, and they do.

If the phone claims to provide GPS, then it doesn't use the cell towers for
positioning but should be a true GPS device. However, as I noted in my last
post here, the device might still use the phone to download the map images.

Cheers,
David

wrote in news
"
wrote:

. The ASUS MyPal Pocket pc runs 4 hours, the bluetooth GPS
receiver about 6hrs. I carry both on tour.

So you carry a Pocket PC and separate GPS receiver?

And that combo woks well on bike tours?

I carry both. I have a Socket Bluetooth GPS that has rubber "seals" and I
haven't had any problems with it in my jersey pocket. I generally keep
the Pocket PC in my seat bag. Most of the time, I don't bother with these
two on a ride. A few times I recorded the complete route on a ride, but
more often, if I take them at all, it's only to find out where I am and
what's nearby. In that case, I only need to turn them on when I'm stopped
somewhere.

Cheers,
David