Using a cell phone GPS

[+Y2KOTA]

New guy to geocaching and GPS here. How well would a GPS embedded cell phone work out with Geocaching? Figure I could kill 2 birds with one stone. I saw on line GPS software for the phone. Any input would be helpful.

 

Phone I'm looking at is the......

Sprint Power VisionSM Phone M1 by Sanyo®.....

E911 Emergency Location Enabled

 

Features an embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) chip necessary for utilizing the E911 emergency location services, where available.

[+fratermus]

New guy to geocaching and GPS here. How well would a GPS embedded cell phone work out with Geocaching? Figure I could kill 2 birds with one stone. I saw on line GPS software for the phone. Any input would be helpful.

 

Some of the guys at work run sprint treos and carry their paperless cache info on them that way, but none of the caching crew around me uses phone gps. The guys jumped on the "Treo 650 for $50" deal sprint did a few months ago.

 

Anecdotally, though, the last two times I voted with my money I picked a seperate gps and smartphone.

[+egami]

New guy to geocaching and GPS here. How well would a GPS embedded cell phone work out with Geocaching? Figure I could kill 2 birds with one stone. I saw on line GPS software for the phone. Any input would be helpful.

 

Phone I'm looking at is the......

Sprint Power VisionSM Phone M1 by Sanyo®.....

E911 Emergency Location Enabled

 

Features an embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) chip necessary for utilizing the E911 emergency location services, where available.

 

It's important to note that phones that are GPS enabled do not necessarily mean you can use them to get GPS coordinates. Many phones have this feature, but it's strictly for E911 tracking and you can't utilize the feature for personal use.

[+yyzdnl]

A PDA/phone/GPS should work fine but I would think you would want a phone with a satilite based intergrated GPS. One example is the Mio A701.

 

Here is a review & discussion.

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=55087

 

I don't believe the cell tower based gps systems are as accurate as satilite based. Usually there is an expensive monthly charge from the cellular carrier, and they only work if you are in you home area no gps when roaming wich is probably when you would need it the most.

[+Dryphter]

Tre650 works great for paperless. I use Cache Log Book, and Plucker (Sunrise on PC along with GSAK). I get all the nice HTML info pages to help find the cache and CacheLog Book is a nice light weight program to record finds - oh its free too.

I also save geocaching.com with google maps as JPEG files to my Treo to give me street level maps to help figure out how to get close to the cache. Works great.

 

But I think a dedicated GPSr will be more accurate that an add-on to the Treo or even a built-in on a phone.

[+FamilyDNA]

Check out this thread for more on geocaching with a mobile phone.

[TeamCypherX]

I tried the paperless caching once with a PDA. I quickly learned that the poor thing wasn't as rugged as my 60CSx and didn't like swimming in the river with me when I fell off a log. The Garmin unit is a bit bigger but the thing will last through anything.

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

If you are thinking of those ads for Verizon where the phone gives you turn by turn directions, etc. it probably won't work well. They are designed for car navigation (or for walking on city streets) and are not made to navigate to an off-road waypoint, only to an address.

 

Also (again thinking of Verizon), I think they charge you like $10 or $15 per month to use it (in their case it's a service the cell phone connects to, not software like what you can put on the Treo PDA's). Within a year you'd be spending the money you could've to own a cheap GPS that would work just as well for the sport.

[MrThom]

According to PhoneScoop, the Sanyo M1 is a Type A GPS;

Quoting their information:

Most phones with "GPS" in fact use A-GPS technology. The "A" stands for assisted, and means that the phone relies on the network for help in determining location. Although the phone does receive GPS signals directly from the satellites, it can't determine actual location without help from the cell network."

So,if you plan to stay on the network that phone will do it. If not then, you will probably want something with a standalone GPS that supports LBS and log output such as in the new Sanyo SCP-7050. If you want all the other non-phone features like camera,video and music players then this is not the phone for you. PhoneScoop has a "phone finder" feature to help you find the phone and carrier that will suit your needs.

Once you find the phone then you will probably have to sign for something like Geocache Navigator from Trimble Outdoors. The Trimble site has info as to what phones and carriers will work with their software. Looking at the monthly service cost,plus airtime to download maps etc it appears to be more cost effective to just buy a standalone GPS unit. Since the phone will be in constant usage not in standby, another item to consider is how long the phone will work before the battery will have to be recharged.

Check out the link FamilyDNA has proovided.

Edited April 6, 2007 by MrThom

[+Y2KOTA]

Thanks for the info guys! Its been a help. Gave me some stuff to look into and think about my needs.

 

Thanks again.