Which GPS should I buy ?

A GPS device, unless it is a tracking device, which reports its location to a base station, as in fleet tracking, emergency beacons, and so on, does not give out or transmit your position anyway. It works it out from signals received and tells you.

Of course, unless you are unconscious, you could pass that on --- assuming that you are in range of a cell, and have a signal.

A GPS device does not turn a phone into something that tells people any more about where you are than any other phone.

for those who've got an iphone (3G or 3GS) ..
install xGPS from cydia.. its free and works with google maps so already most major cities in India have excellent maps
you can even download maps to your iphone beforehand if u'll be out of network coverage..

it has turn-by-turn directions and text to speech too
http://xgps.xwaves.net/index.php/Main_Page

I understand (well, not really understand, but I've heard) that there are applications that share your position (as determined by your phone either by GPS or cell signals) with your friends, or even make it public on the net.

Making one's life public on the net is something that doesn't appeal to me.







<-- Damn. I realised that last thing a bit late

Well there are some applications like that but they require your explicit consent first for logging your GPS data..

there are instances of apps which "phone home" to transmit gps logs but thats very rare and you can always turn off the gps too

Some how a late reply but I hope it's ok.

If 1 is travelling in India then MMI or Sat Guide are useful softwares. They now even have more developed graphical maps.

Till now I use to run GPS softwares on my Windows mobile which has inbuilt Sirf GPS chip. So I dont need internet connectivity to locate me unlike in Apple iPhone. :-)

Mio GPS handheld is quit useful. If 1 alters it, then it's possible to use it like a windows pc.

How strong is the GPS chip in blackberry's ? Any exp ppl ? Can i use the Blackberry to point my location instead of taking GARMIN products on trek to the Himalayas?

Check this new phone from Videocon V6200 ? Would it be a good buy seeing the features. Interested only in the GPS / Altitude / Barometer & Thermometer

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/mobiking...th-review.html

Hi,

Having moved from places to places, I used to be very fascinated by the GPS technology.

Initially I used AGPS for Nokia phones and although it served my purpose, I gradually felt that they are not that accurate.
The other problem that really irritated me was no voice navigation as I used to travel on long bike tours and every time I needed directions I would have to navigate my pocket first.

Thats when MapMyIndia came as an ultimate solution.
There is no doubt that MapMyIndia has the best maps available for India as of now.
Moreover, a dedicated navigation device with a much better screen size than a phone was quite up to what I was looking for.

But, before I went to MapMyIndia, I decided to check more available options. Thats' when I checked e-bay.
There were a load of chinese devices available with even better console and multimedia features than what MapMyIndia has to offer and of course at a damn cheap price.

Just to compare the same, the lowest model available in MapMyIndia for a 3.5" screen costs around 8K.
Whereas, the model that I got on Ebay India back last November has a 7" screen (chinese make) which does come with a warranty for about the same price. I saw some with High Definition screens as well.
(Even the best device that MMI has to offer doesn't come with a 7" screen or High Definition.)

The only concern I had that time was if it had good maps. I decided to call the vendor and he assured me that MapMyIndia maps are fully compatible with the device I chose as it was on WinCE OS.
I copied the maps from a friends GPS device, and "WOAALA" it works like fab.

The only thing that I didn't like was that it took around 8-9 days to get the device shipped. The build quality was probably the same as MapMyIndia (everyone gets it from China )

Also, back then the SiRF Atlas 4 chipset was the best GPS chipset in the market. Just after a few weeks I checked and there are SiRF Atlas 5 devices available with the same vendor.
I wish I had waited a little.

I feel MapMyIndia is a little overpriced, maybe because they don't have good competition yet. For a much lesser price, I got what I wanted.
Hope this helps..

GeeksInfo. how is that GPS device working out. I am thinking about getting one from mapmyindia. I saw that they also offer to allow you to download the maps to a smartphone although I don't think you can download them to a BB which is what I have. I saw the ones on ebay india, was thinking about getting one.

Robert

MayMyindia is a GPS amazing device , it covers maximum details, beter than nokia maps. It also has a voice direction facility.

MapMyIndia is expensive. What you get for that is coverage of many places that are just blank on other digital maps.

Their maps are available for purchase separately for use with compatible PNSs and mobile phones.

HOw much did u pay for it, can you mail me the link for the same at rohan.iiitc at gmail dot com

I checked online and they have about 6-8 different models, they have a 5 inch touchscreen that goes for roughly 20k but they also have 3.5 inch touchscreens that go for 10-12k, slightly expensive yes, but they seem to be the most reliable. I looked at ebay india and the ones there were only slightly cheaper.

I did see that they had the software for a smartphone, I use a BB though and don't think it works on BB. Don't know that I want to shell out another 20-30k for another smartphone just for map my india software and I am not sure how well the gps locator works on those as well. I will think about the 10-12k one, I should be getting a car in the 7-10 days.

Hi, everybody, although i do not use gps i have enjoyed the above discussion.One thing i would remind fellow trekkers about is the strong possibility of problems with security services if you are found anywhere near the border with China.Last year a tourist had his I phone taken away and him along with it and he was only at Dodital!!! Many of us trek much nearer to the border than that, Badrinath, Kedanath and Gaumuk tapovan area to name a few.I should imagine being found with a gps device near a border could result in very serious penalties, the reason why there are no good maps of the Himalaya region to this day is because the Indian government will not allow it.Though in this age of sattelite technology im sure the Chinese have really great maps of the Himalaya !!Mmm perhaps i should e mail a request for one to my local friendly Chinese embassy before my next trek and ask them for one.!!

A GPS navigator requires a GPS reciever, maps and associated software (and ofcourse, power supply). Please correct me if I am wrong, but I dont think even the latest smartphones have GPS recievers, instead, they rely on cellphone towers to locate you in a "cell" on the network provider's grid (eg Verizon in USA; Vodafone in Europe; Airtel, IDEA, BSNL etc in India). A true GPS navigator will rely on satelite signals. So even if a cellular tower shuts down (no electricity / generator out of fuel / general failure / govt imposes a security blanket coz a Delhi politico is in town...), the old GPS navigator will still work, but even the latest smartphone with GPS will not work

We have already established that road maps are available for major Indian cities, and no such luxury for trek maps in the Himalayas or other trekking places ~ thanxx to Indian govt's security reasons, good or bad, but ours not to question why.

We have been using GPS navigators for driving, and are absolutely sold on the Garmin Nuvi devices. They can do light duty during trekking as well. Magellan and TomTom are the other manufacturers, and any car GPS you have will do for car navigation in India. You just have to buy and load those maps.

For those who want a personal GPS dedicated to hiking etc, a car GPS navigation device is not the answer. For this, the device should have an external antena, expandable memory, barometer, altimeter, be waterproof, a decent battery life etc... a tracklog function records the path travelled, so you can retrace your steps... a two way radio is a good addition to this package. The Garmin RINO is one suggestion for such requirements.