[X4U] Handheld GPS threads - request for summary [OT]

[Simon Forster]

On 19 Jul 2006, at 06:42, David Ledger wrote:

> I too have been looking for a PDA based GPS. Garmin are one of the  
> best established GPS manufacturers and their ...3600 Palm based  
> unit is very nice. BUT (from various GPS fora).

This morning I purchased Navig8 for my Sony-Ericsson P900. I've  
played with the software on my phone and, as a complete GPS neophyte,  
was impressed with its general functionality. For GBP 99.00 (or less)  
you get a bluetooth GPS receiver and 3 months subscription. Navig8  
passes a lot of heavy lifting to remote servers so you need a GPRS  
internet connection and, ultimately, to pay Navig8's annual tithe of  
GBP 69.99 - but from what I can gather, all GPS services have an  
annual subscription element if you want up-to-date maps.

Downside: extra data costs on mobile bill. The maps etc are well  
compressed but even so, with my extensive testing last night and  
repeated loading of maps covering a significant portion of the UK, I  
managed to run up a mobile bill of GBP 4.28. (Not a lot or way too  
much depending on your POV). I can imagine heavy users could run up  
reasonable mobile data bills. (But if you're a heavy user, maybe you  
should be looking at a dedicated GPS unit?)

Upside: I've got access to maps for all of Europe. If only I'd had  
this a couple of weeks ago when we were in Greece - no more reliance  
on the significant other's map reading abilities!

As someone who struggles to justify a GPS service, the relatively low  
entry costs for this service (assuming you've already got the phone!)  
are hard to beat.

Simon Forster
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