GPS

[Ped]

I'm using 'the poor man's GPS' for the third season now - the 
http://nav4all.com/ application for the cell phone combined with a 
bluetooth GPS receiver. The application is free at least until 2010 
(it's been extended a couple of times) so all it cost me was the price 
of the GPS receiver, about 100 USD. The application can run on almost 
any (newer) cell phone and can be downloaded and installed in a few 
minutes. Several languages and voices are available. It doesn't show 
moving maps like a real GPS but it is possible to verify the calculated 
route on a map. During navigation it shows unambiguous arrows and 
distances that clearly tell you what to expect and do next. It has a few 
features like showing the speed limit and advice if you are going too 
fast (on major roads) and you may also pick from a comprehensive list of 
POI's. I don't think it is possible (at least I haven't found out yet) 
to plan a specific route by inserting mandatory roads or points, but you 
may choose between the fastest, shortest, no motorways, bicycling, by 
foot or a couple of other options that I can't remember. Navigation is 
based on Navtec, so whatever Navtec knows, Nav4all also knows. It works 
so well that I have made a cell phone holder that can sit on the 
dashboard. It does obscure the RPM gauge partly, but I can live with 
that. The downside of it is that it requires network access in order to 
calculate and recalculate. When you plan a route from A to B it will 
access a server somewhere and download some data (a few kb's). If you 
then stick to the route no further data will be downloaded, not even if 
you cross borders or drive 1000 miles. But whenever you divert from the 
route it will access the server for new data and do a recalculation. If 
your network is good and your phone can switch between them as you 
travel, then no problem. But if your phone switches to a network without 
GPRS and it needs to recalculate, then you may suddenly find yourself 
with a non-functioning GPS. I tried this in England a couple of years 
ago - pretty annoying if you are in dense traffic and hardly know where 
you are. On the other hand I travelled through Germany, France, 
Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands last year without loosing 
network even once. It works so great that I am not tempted to spend the 
money on a real GPS. Both my wife and I enjoy letting it show us the 
shortest way to some place, and even though we think we know the 
shortest route it has often shown us roads we didn't even know existed. 
Right now I'm attending a course in Singapore, and last Saturday I 
rented a bicycle and went as far as I bothered and then hit the 'find 
the hotel' button, and voila! - shortest way home!

Ped
'96 "Black Stealth" GPZ
Denmark


marque at copper.net skrev:
> I’m running a Garmin Nuvi 200W. It’s the widescreen (4.3” I think) which I highly recommend. Only around $175 on Amazon.com. Slim enough to slide into a Tankbag’s map pouch or go with a RAM mount etc. It’s internal rechargeable battery is good for 3 – 4 hours. Easy to operate with gloves on. Water resistant enough to survive 450 miles of pissing rain or small enough to slide into a ziplock. I’ve got the coolest mounting system. I’m running a Bags–Connection Tankbag from Twisted Throttle with their “Bags-Connection GPS/PDA/RAM gadget holder bracket for Quick-Lock Tankbags”. See: 
>
> http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2626/480/
>
> It slips right into a holster on the front of the bag and places the GPS right in front of the Tankbag, not blocking the instruments. More importantly, close to my old eyes and easy to reach while in motion. All good.
> Mark R
>