Cell Phone With Gps Built In?

[+ddersch]

Looking for opinions on what the best cell phones are with built in GPS. We are signing up for a new Cingular plan and are considering a new phone with the GPS built right in. Anyone have good or bad experience with these types of phones/GPS.

[+drag-racer]

This Trimble/Nextel unit is the only that I have seen that is actually a GPSr..... http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/

 

Maybe there are others but I don't know of any.

 

A lot of them have are gps enabled, but only for 911 emergency location.

[+Olar]

Actually, if what I have read in the recent past is correct, all cellphones manufactured now have a GPS chip installed. This is in anticipation of society allowing individual's location to be monitored by some sort of 3rd party service. Obviously the big question is if this goes against all our privacy rights.

 

Olar

[+Genoist]

The GPS chip in all phones sold after January of this year is for e911 service. When you call 911 on a GPS enabled phone, your location is sent to the operator, so they know where you are, and where to send help if necessary. By default your location is sent only when you make a 911 call, not constantly broadcast.

[superstition]

Nextel is the only US wireless carrier that has cell phones capable of GPS navigation inside or ouside of the network when paired with the Trimble Outdoors service. These phones are equivalent to a GPSr, and because you have built in wireless you can fly your cache coordinates to the phone over the air. It's very convenient. The Nextel i710, i730, i733, i736, i830, or i860 phones with the Trimble Outdoors service are GPSr capable. When you sign up for the Trimble Outdoors service through Nextel, you get a copy of the Trimble Adventure Planner for free. This software allows you to plan your caching using national topo maps, street maps, and aerial photos. It can import a .loc or .gpx file that you have downloaded from geocaching.com, and then you can send the cache points and color maps with the cache locations marked to your phone.

[rescue557]

The GPS chip in all phones sold after January of this year is for e911 service. When you call 911 on a GPS enabled phone, your location is sent to the operator, so they know where you are, and where to send help if necessary. By default your location is sent only when you make a 911 call, not constantly broadcast.

I have mine set to constantly broadcast just in case. I figure I've got nothing to hide, and if I were to get injured and couldn't call for help, at least I'd have the cell phone broadcasting my location.

 

Unfortunately cell phone companies didn't set up the phone to display the GPS data to the user. Of course not...! This might actually be a USEFUL feature!

[+The SuzyQs]

My wife has the NEXTEL Motorola i710 which has GPS built in and is actually quite accurate. Not as good as the stand alone GPS, but accurate enough if you get lost. about a 75 foot EPE is the best we have seen.