My mobile phone contract expires end of June 2007.
Whenever this happens I go to my supplier and get an up-grade, the best I can find as long as it's free.
This time round I'm thinking of getting a Smart Phone and putting Sat Nav on it (I don't yet have Sat Nav in my car but would like it).
Does anyone have any positive or negative comments about Smart Phone Sat Nav?
Is it better to get separate Phone and Sat Nav?
I don't mind parting with a few quid on the up-grade if I really have to.
One apparent benefit of a combined Smart Phone Sat Nav is that you're always going to take it with you; so handy for finding your way round on foot. This also means you're less likely to have it stolen from your car.
On the other hand, it might make the Phone too complex and fiddly to be useful, maybe the software will crash or be too slow.
Any comments will be welcome and influence my decision.
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TomTom mobile is OK as a backup, but coming through a phone's tiny speaker, is no good when in a car with the radio on, tyre noise, blowers on etc...
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Sat Nav on a phone is Ok-ish, but its second best to a proper car system.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Sat Nav on a phone is Ok-ish but its second best to a proper car system.
Not my experience. My phone has a bigger screen than the TomTom One, four times the resolution (more detail), faster CPU for plotting routes, and I can get the satnav up quicker, because the phone OS is already running. It can also play MP3s (which I can route to my car stereo using headphone jack), and I can answer calls on it (hands-free) while it still does my satnav. And being in my car, deciding I'm going to go to a certain place, googling the post code, and then entering it into tomtom is handy.
The software is identical, except the phone software has no voice reading of street names, which is an option on the high-end tomtom standalone systems.
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I have an XDA Orbit that has a gps receiver built in, I find it very useful and equally as good as any dedicated unit. But then I also use it for push email and as a pocket PC so find the whole thing very good.
Each to their own though!!
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I just wrote a long reply to this, unfortunately lost it when I clicked post because it asked me to login.
Suffice to say, volume is fine, no different from a standalone device. You don't need GPS built into your phone. Any Windows Mobile device is fine, and then get a £30 GPS receiver with sirfstar iii chipset.
Good phones to look at:
HTC S730
Glofiish M700
Software not clunky, just as good as standalone satnav unit, because it runs on top of the phone's OS, but you might find running WIndows on a phone clunky in itself.
If you don't want Windows, symbian-based smartphones are ok, but my experience of two Nokia ones was that they were unstable. The Sony W950i would work with separate GPS unit, and is a lovely-looking phone, no idea how stable it is.
My solution is O2 XDA Exec + GPS receiver, hard-wired into car for power, and power outlet for GPS receiver, threaded behind dash to left a-pillar.
All ok, and nice to have internet access on phone to check addresses as well.
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