Android smartphone advice please.

[george formby]

I'm writing my Christmas wish list to post to Santa c/o North Pole & in second place (after new rubber) is an Android smart phone. One of the main reasons I'm interested is to use the phone as a Sat nav & GPS. Anybody using google maps as a sat nav app? If so what do you think of it? Also is their a dedicated app for GPS plotting, I'm thinkin of my fishing spots here...

[White trash]

I've jused google maps in a sat nav app and although probably not quite as instant as a dedicated GPS, it more than got us where we were going, first try with no mistakes.

[george formby]

I've jused google maps in a sat nav app and although probably not quite as instant as a dedicated GPS, it more than got us where we were going, first try with no mistakes.

Does the app work on the mobile network or from installed maps & satellites? Just thinkin it could be expensive riding to Wellington from here & paying Vodafraud.

[White trash]

Does the app work on the mobile network or from installed maps & satellites? Just thinkin it could be expensive riding to Wellington from here & paying Vodafraud.

Fuck knows, wasn't my phone but it was a pre-paid one which regularly has zero credit. We went from Papakura all the way for a big long tikki tour over the North Shore and it never stopped working.

[Gremlin]

Depends. For it not to use carrier data, the phone must have built in GPS...

[Brian d marge]

Ive just replaced my Iphone with the HTC Desire HD , the street view and google maps are awesome

You can download maps and destinations onto the phone so no lag , and one feature I like is the train time , you can search between 2 places and sy when is the next train due and it will tell u the station and train time and cost

Battery life is VERY limited if used for web surfing and downloading , but on standby and emails is about 2 days

Stephen

[george formby]

Ive just replaced my Iphone with the HTC Desire HD , the street view and google maps are awesome

You can download maps and destinations onto the phone so no lag , and one feature I like is the train time , you can search between 2 places and sy when is the next train due and it will tell u the station and train time and cost

Battery life is VERY limited if used for web surfing and downloading , but on standby and emails is about 2 days

Stephen

Using google maps to direct you to a destination, is it on the network or GPS? I'm guessing they must be GPS otherwise it would be very limited due to coverage & changing networks.

Cheers all for the replies.

[jim.cox]

Does the app work on the mobile network or from installed maps & satellites? Just thinkin it could be expensive riding to Wellington from here & paying Vodafraud.

Dont know about Android - but the iPhone system uses the cellphone towers first - and goes to gps if they are not available.

[John_H]

I'm writing my Christmas wish list to post to Santa c/o North Pole & in second place (after new rubber) is an Android smart phone. One of the main reasons I'm interested is to use the phone as a Sat nav & GPS. Anybody using google maps as a sat nav app? If so what do you think of it? Also is their a dedicated app for GPS plotting, I'm thinkin of my fishing spots here...

I have one and it works well as a navigation system and I'm pretty sure there are apps for gps plotting. It is worth noting that using it as a sat nav sucks though your data plan, so I just keep using my tomtom for that purpose.

[SPman]

We've got HTC Desires - built in GPS.
I like the feature where you can take a photo and the GPS will give you the coordinates - very handy sometimes......

[Damantis]

I've had my Vodafone 845 for a few weeks now and I'm still getting used to it. The Google maps app is pretty good and doesn't chew up much data. Pretty sure it uses sattelites as well as cell towers to pinpoint location. Need to activate the GPS function manually before opening the application or it wont give a specific location ( more just the suburb without the GPS activated. )

The operating system is efficient but lacks tutorials to make the most of it. Am still stumbling around how to use this phone well. The online PDF manual on the Vodafone website isn't the greatest either. Can share photos but for some reason, not videos to facebook, although can send videos via email then upload vids from my laptop later. Standby time is pretty good, but mucking around with it, using the camera, surfing, streaming etc can chew through the battery in a couple of hours. Maybe the pricier handsets are a bit more user friendly but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon.

[Brian d marge]

We've got HTC Desires - built in GPS.
I like the feature where you can take a photo and the GPS will give you the coordinates - very handy sometimes......

not likely , I was filming the girlfriend , now the wife knows

Joking aside , are the desires as snappy as the Hd with the 1 gig processor ?

Stephen

wife wants one

[5t3a1F]

have nokia (symbian) with built in GPS. downloaded and installed maps from the net so doesn't cost a dime to use.

bloody brilliant.

[george formby]

have nokia (symbian) with built in GPS. downloaded and installed maps from the net so doesn't cost a dime to use.

bloody brilliant.

Thats what I'm looking for, now i need to look up the best GPS phones. Hold on santa, it's comin.

[marty]

tomtom geepeeesses are for sale for as low as $149 at the moment - why would you use a phone? the phone menu is clunky and if using data, can get expensive fast.