smart phones and gps

Airfan

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Hi all. I''ve just bought a r1150rt and am currently in France ..this has got me thinking about sat navs....with the roll out of both tom tom and garmin based apps is it even worth buying a dedicated sat Nav any more?. There appear to be good quality waterproof cases available for phones, and with a Bluetooth helmet, you'd have a higher spec sat nav at probably less cost than a decent dedicated unit.

Rob
 
I use co pilot on my android phone.
Good points: No data charge and can get a route from google maps converted easily.
Works most of the time
Android means free

BAD
need to take gloves off to work phone
it crashes on average once a journey - means stopping, taking glove off etc..
multifunctional device so not as good as it could be!
not waterproof
doesnt work with gloves
must be powered by usb and a lead each time..no hardwiring a connector
 
I bought Garmin UK & Irl mapping for my iphone for £38.

It also installed automatically on my ipad. :clap

While in France last year - I discovered that it has full mapping for the whole of Europe ! :clap

Not bad for £38 :thumb

Al
 
adventuredon said:
I use co pilot on my android phone.
Good points: No data charge and can get a route from google maps converted easily.
Works most of the time
Android means free

BAD
need to take gloves off to work phone
it crashes on average once a journey - means stopping, taking glove off etc..
multifunctional device so not as good as it could be!
not waterproof
doesnt work with gloves
must be powered by usb and a lead each time..no hardwiring a connector
Click to expand...

Oooo How do you get routes off Google Maps on to it.

I use co-Pilot UK Live. Yes it does hang now and then. I think it could be a memory problem. If you wait a couple of minutes it usually bursts back in to life.
 
I have an old Nokia N95.
Cost me zilch with a contract a few (6) years ago.
Works brilliant.
All the TomTom worlds maps are free to download from internet, onto the phones memory card.
I have used it in USA, Europe, Scandinavia for examples.
 
i have a tomtom for the bike and as a back up i have tomtom on my phone and ipad.
i use the ipad to routeplan with the tomtom its superb. :cool:
 
All maps are free on the co pilot too and they fit bigger devices. I plan my routes on my Tablet, then bluetooth the file to my galaxy min, save it in the right folder and then open it and ride. Works well. I can also plan all routes without need for GPS or WiFi connection. I also back it up to co pilot cloud service so when I need to i can restore all favourites/routes/settings etc easily. So truly a good app and even has the tt equivalent software for putting on a desktop pc. However, using the phone, the app hangs now and again, keeps saying "no GPX fix" and then stops the map redrawing, or just closes. It drains power so badly too. The phone needs w proofing too.
Getting Google maps / routes to work is easy. Save the google map route (KML) hyperlink then follow this explanation. http://forum.copilotlive.com/copilotlive/topics/import_routes_made_in_google_maps
 
I thought CoPilot was now subscription based. In other words you have to pay every year to keep using it?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Phone as a GPS

I've just started using a Motorola Atrix, with CoPilot. Fitted to the bike with RAM finger mount. As the bike is a 1200GSA the screen provides a good level of weather protection and I've added a home made rain/sun shield for good measure. Display is easy to read even in bright sunlight and CoPilot mapping is good. Might not be as good as a Zumo but for approx £50 ( european maps and mount) I've got up to date mapping and traffic alerts.

Routes can be planned using Mapsource or Basecamp then converted for use with CoPilot, so easy to share with others using Garmin SatNavs.

Only downside so far is not being t able to customise the screen as I've been able to do on my old Garmin 2610, but I can live with that.

When my phone contract is up I'll probably go for a Sony Xperia Z which is waterproof, which takes away any 'rain' issues.
 
Motorola Defy (not the mini version) is waterproof and can be found on eBay for as little as £60. 32Gb memory card another £10. Mounting cradle £5 from Amazon. Bodge a fix to the bike. I already had a RAM ball and arm. Google for instructions on jailbreaking/rooting the phone. Then google for free android sat-nav apps. I use Co-Pilot with full Europe mapping stored on the phone. Fill the rest of the memory card with free games and/or music. Works great. Waterproof GPS with full European maps for less than £100!
 
I sometimes need to use Google Navigation on my phone, which works well most of the time. However, unlike a dedicated unit, it needs a data connection to work, not just a GPS fix - unless you download the map area you need beforehand.

Because of that, I downloaded an app called "Navfree" before I went to Canada last year which doesn't need the data connection - chosen because it was free and didn't have too many negative votes. Works OK but a bit clunky..
 
OpenStreetMaps based Pocket Earth app works on both Android and iOS and is free. Gives routing for cars/bikes/foot (but no audio instructions yet). Pre pre-download your routes and maps from their server by 3G or when you have wifi. Routes can be amended rather like rubber banding in Mapsource

I use it on an iPod Touch and apart from the reflection from the screen/Biologic case it works very well
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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