GPS Phone what the best?

[+RikBoland]

I have been playing this game for some time and I LOOOOOVE IT, that is when my phone works.

 

I am on a contract with Orange in the UK and use Android solely. So should I get a better phone and which one (what has the best gps) or do I splash out and buy a dedicated GPS machine (I not really want to do this as I like to cashe at random times and upgraded my phone package to use this facility.

 

Please help, suggest or just ridicule my stupidness!

[Andronicus]

I have been playing this game for some time and I LOOOOOVE IT, that is when my phone works.

 

I am on a contract with Orange in the UK and use Android solely. So should I get a better phone and which one (what has the best gps) or do I splash out and buy a dedicated GPS machine (I not really want to do this as I like to cashe at random times and upgraded my phone package to use this facility.

 

Please help, suggest or just ridicule my stupidness!

Some of the Android phones have great GPSrs in them. Others, not so much. The other option is to buy a bluetooth GPSr. They are cheep and very good.

[+G Family]

Which Droid phones work good? I'm due for an upgrade and dont know if I should Iphone or Droid it either??? Att is my carrier if that helps. PlEaSe HeLp!

[+G Family]

Also how much internet time does the phone use when using the GPS? Do I need a huge data package?

[+Spraginator]

Which Droid phones work good? I'm due for an upgrade and dont know if I should Iphone or Droid it either??? Att is my carrier if that helps. PlEaSe HeLp!

 

There are no "Droids" on ATT. "Droid" is a line of phones sold by Verizon, manufactured by many different companies that run the Android operating system.

 

There are many phones running Android sold on AT&T. The Atrix 4G has been extremely popular. Also the Samsung Infuse and the HTC Inspire look nice. I have an Atrix and love it. It's easy to mod and does everything I need. That being said, it does have a locked bootloader I would definitely recommend one of those three though. If you go with anything older, you are going to be oudated way before your next upgrade.

[+Spraginator]

Also how much internet time does the phone use when using the GPS? Do I need a huge data package?

 

The GPS itself will not use any data at all. The data is the cache data, maps, etc that needs to load to your phone. It will probably be a wait and see thing for you. Maybe start with 2GB, if you go over, they charge you $10 a month for each GB over. The next up is 4GB for $15 more. So you're really not rewarded much for going with the 4GB plan from the get go, it only saves you $5 a month. The 4GB plan does give you tethering capabiliies, but those are not difficult to add by rooting your phone and putting Google's default tethering app on (which comes standard with Android, but ATT and Motorola have conspired against you and removed it to make you think it doesn't exist), So there is no reason to get the 4GB plan for tethering alone. If you can get grandfathered in with an unlimited plan, that is definitely the best option ($30 for all the data you want)

[+G Family]

Thank You for all your help!

[+G Family]

Now im looking at Inspire or the Atrix.

[+Spraginator]

Now im looking at Inspire or the Atrix.

 

Both are great phones! When picking, it really comes down to, do you want HTC Sense, or Motoblur? They are the skins that the manufacturers put on top of Android. You can read up on pros and cons of both of them at many places online.

[GOF and Bacall]

Now im looking at Inspire or the Atrix.

 

The wife just got the Inspire. So far it is a good phone but we haven't had it for long enough to make a full report. Price was right. Free with two year contract.

Edited July 19, 2011 by GOF and Bacall

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I have the AT&T Android Motorola Atrix 4G. Used it to find a few dozen caches. Used it to cache my way from Alabama to Canada, down to GW9 in Pa. and back home.

 

Eats the battery in 2 hours or so if running the GPS and a geocaching app, or street maps.

Groundspeak android app often won't connect when I need it to.

Needs a high-speed connection to fully function.

Feels very fragile, even in a good case I worry about the screen.

The Mini-USB cable connection feels fragile, like it will fail pretty quickly since I frequently connect and disconnect a power cable in the car or at home.

 

So,

It's a great phone for light urban geocaching.

 

However...

For my main caching device I have a Garmin GPSMap 62s on order.

Edited July 19, 2011 by TheAlabamaRambler

[GOF and Bacall]

I have the AT&T Android Motorola Atrix 4G. Used it to find a few dozen caches. Used it to cache my way from Alabama to Canada, down to GW9 in Pa. and back home.

 

Eats batteries.

Groundspeak android app often won't connect when I need it to.

Needs a high-speed connection to fully function.

 

So,

It's a great phone for light urban geocaching.

 

However...

For my main caching device I have a Garmin GPSMap 62s on order.

 

Yeah. That is pretty much my experience with the Iphone 4.

[AZcachemeister]

My 'MyTouch 4G' works rather well.

Considering the speed with which new hardware is being developed, anything I could post here would be obsolete by the time I hit 'Add Reply'.

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS and Technology forum.

[Andronicus]

What I would love is a review site that reviews smart phones bassed on their GPS including consideration for the special needs of geocachers. GPS used for dirving has much different needs than geocaching. So far I have found that a lot of phone's GPSr will lock up when motion is stopped or slow. this is done to save batteries. This would be good for the average user, but for geocaching it is extreamly annoying. And if the user does not understand this, cache placement can result in very poor coordinates.

 

Anyway, anyone know of such a review site?

[+michaelnel]

For my main caching device I have a Garmin GPSMap 62s on order.

 

Out of the 16 GPSRs I have owned going way back, the 62S is my favorite. Good choice!

[+Spraginator]

For my main caching device I have a Garmin GPSMap 62s on order.

 

Out of the 16 GPSRs I have owned going way back, the 62S is my favorite. Good choice!

 

Any phone or non-GPS dedicated unit is really only useful for light urban caching. I agree with the 62s! Best GPS I have owned! (60CSx, Oregon 550t, 62s)

[Andronicus]

For my main caching device I have a Garmin GPSMap 62s on order.

 

Out of the 16 GPSRs I have owned going way back, the 62S is my favorite. Good choice!

 

Any phone or non-GPS dedicated unit is really only useful for light urban caching. I agree with the 62s! Best GPS I have owned! (60CSx, Oregon 550t, 62s)

Or so you say... (inside joke at work, that is how you win an argument that you don't have facts to back up).

 

Anyway, I have to dissagree. With proper care, a smart phone works great as a backcountry GPSr. Check out the link in my signature for more info on that. I have used my HTC Touch Vogue for all sorts of backcountry hiking and scrambling. It has worked great. Even to the point where my companions put their handhelds away, and differed to my phone. There are things you can do to protect the phone (because it is not built rugged), and the usfullness you get from all the available apps far surpasses a fixed firmware on a handheld GPSr.

[+EdrickV]

FYI, there are GPS programs out there that do not require a data connection. (Though they usually have optional features that use data.) And I believe there is even an Android app that does GPS Averaging. (Was a lot harder for me to find a Windows Mobile 6 program that can do that.)