i use a nokia 5800 xpressmusic, has a 16GB SD in it, and has maps from OVI. its pretty up to date and doesnt cost very much. works pretty good and havent really had any issues with it with exception to when i cant get phone coverage.
intrade,
Apr 16, 9:04pm
i got a nüvifone with garmin-gps no phoe coverage required its 2 in1 phone and gps. used the map from the free open gps project for map.
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 9:58pm
With the amount of roads in Auckland it is easy, being born in Auckland. Petrol is expensive I sure am not going to be driving around wasting fuel trying to use a map to work out where I am. Especially at night, when its hard to see street signs compared to the day, then having to stop every 5 sec have i missed the turn did I go to far.
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 10:01pm
Yup, look at android phones pap. They are not as expensive as iPhones and there is a lot more choice depending on your budget. Some of the budget android phones running 2.2 are actually dam fantastic, they all come with google maps which uses minimal data usage with the caching. And pretty much all android phones have a removeable memory so playing music is not an issue provided it has the 3.5mm aux out. Then its just a matter of dragging and dropping media onto the memory card.
Even the good old mini galaxy samsung 580 runs 2.2 and does a good job at gps so I'm told and they are 300 ish. Obviously not has good as an iPhone but the low priced phones the screen will not be as big as more expensive phone obviously.
jason18,
Apr 16, 10:02pm
I had the garmin asus for about 3 days loved it and upgraded it to 2.1 straight away. But it f'd out on me so swapped it for a galaxy S. It has gps with google maps and it works miont for me. Some people say the gps doesnt work properly but I havent had any issues
ct9a,
Apr 16, 10:06pm
i use mine reguarly,i dont know every road/street etc in hamilton or any where in auckland
also do alot of trail rides and finding roads way out in the sticks you need to know where your going
spacies_nz,
Apr 16, 10:18pm
Forget the cheap chinese androids and get a genuine phone. Even an old HTC Magic will be sweet. I use my phone as primary GPS running Google Navigation (free!) which is turn by turn voice guided. Its great. I am on prepay and it costs $10 a month for 100mb of data(you can get 500mb for $30). I consider my self a medium user and I very rarely use it all. I have an app on the main screen which tells me how many mb I have used per month so I guess that helps. On a Tuesday I do deliveries all day to help a mate. By 5pm the battery is running low so make sure you have a charger. Other than that, go for it!
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 10:20pm
It go for a more reputable brand personally, stick to the bigger brands. Has for battery life on smart phones that is easily fixed by a car charger, just plug it in if your not using it.
And a good choice on android pap, I agree totally, I use it myself and like it.
intrade,
Apr 16, 10:23pm
papariccardo i got this one http://www.cnet.com.au/garmin-asus-nuvifone-a50-339301384.htm did buy it to run it on telecons prepay but now found out it wont run on telecon despite being quad band. the older nuvifone is sold by telecon its why i figured the A50 should run on it also.
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 10:27pm
Yeah go android lots more choice, the user interface is very user friendly, good apps and its good it integrates with google. So you can edit your contacts on your gmail and they get sync'd to your phone automatically, even install apps remotly. No need to require a pc with itunes.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 10:33pm
Hi Pap's, Given the amount of detail you would need in your exmple of the kind of stuff you are doing I actually wonder whether you might be better with a high end dedicated GPS. Thats usually the opposite of what I recommend but the accuracy and easy of use while driving a big machine may make it worth looking at a better GPS and comparing it carefully to the phone.
With regard to phones, I am an iphone fan. Not because of the fashion side of things, I couldn't give a hoot about that. Its because apple really have it sussed with regard to how nice the touch screen is to use. and to me the interface on these things is everything.
Don't feel you have to spend a fortune though. I picked up a really top condition secondhand iphone for my folks a while back. It came with its original box and packaging even.
Also, with iphone you have the advantage of endless cheap accessories and cheap parts and "how to's" if anything breaks. Just have a look at www.dealextreme.com for the amount of applle accessories. You can't beat being able to buy a vehicle power adaptor for a few dollars etc.
They also have a great fully waterproof housing which I use on the boat with the navionics marine maps which is excellent for marking fishing spots and navigating at night.
The iphone is just such a versatile machine its well worth considering getting one as its easy to get your moneys worth out of one.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 10:35pm
You don't have to use itunes with an iphone BTW.
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 10:39pm
If you want to put music on you do, unless you buy it and download it. But whats the point if you have mp3's already on the pc. Android you can do it via the phone or even via the web browser: https://market.android.com/ It then remotely installs it to your phone, android can also drag and drop as well the ability to use it as a memory key. wifi hotspots, usb modem in a instant goes on.
You do not need an expensive phone to get a good a gps, my phone is far from a been a high powered phone but does fine and is always accurate on gps.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 11:02pm
Incorrect, you can add music without itunes, in fact there are even multiple ways of doing it. Sure you can get a gps on a cheap phone, I never said you couldn't, but cheap phones can be ass to use by comparison. Also there are a number of other advantages to the iphone as pointed out. I would suggest you use both phones or at least know a little bit about the iphone before spouting untruths.
crzyhrse,
Apr 16, 11:04pm
I'm with you on that.
clark20,
Apr 16, 11:06pm
Have a look at yesterdays herald, there are Navmans under $100
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 11:08pm
Good point with the streetview etc. You are not going to be able to store your full collection on any decent affordable phone regardless of platform. With regard to uploading to the phone etc though there are plenty of alternative options. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-ways-to-sync-music-to-your-iphone-without-itunes/
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 11:10pm
Not quite as flash but dealextreme has charger/transmitters for about $13 for iphone. We have a few and they are great. Anyhow, I would suggest you have a play with an iphone before you buy anything else. I think you will quickly see why I prefer them.
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 11:14pm
Total rubbish I have used both phones hence I know what the difference is and the flaws of the iphone.Instead of posting generic statement be precise please, cheap phones are not. I guess you have only used an iPhone and you like it so everything else is crap to you. iPhones do not support drag and drop like android do so easily. iPhone you need to do it via the phone itself which is downloading the music and paying per song. (useless if you have songs on your pc you already have). Android you can just rock up to another pc, then drag and drop the mp3's into the phones memory card it will even play the playlists.
May I ask have used a high end android! I have used most iphones except for the first model.
franc123,
Apr 16, 11:17pm
Gotta laugh at these people that think GPS isn't useful, even in a relatively small country like NZ.Ever tried to find an address in a different city, or even in a rural area in the dark and rain with nobody to mapread for you!Or missed a turnoff somewhere and had to try to U turn in heavy traffic or take a large detour to get back where you were!Thought not.
johnf_456,
Apr 16, 11:18pm
+1!
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 11:28pm
Oh so now suddenly Iphones CAN load music without itunes! FYI, I build $100K+multi platform multi media systems, both as a job previously and now as a hobby. I know a little bit about the pros and cons of the different mobile os's. given they integrate/control my systems and all
Android etc is O.K I never said they were crap. All I am saying is there are a lot of advantages to an iphone that people don't realise if they don't use both. I would rather take an extra moment when loading music than having something that is comparatively fiddly to use every time I use it.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 16, 11:32pm
Pap's thinking about what you were saying before regarding the fm transmitters. Remember if you are going to use one of those you may as well just run a batch converter and make a more compressed copy of your music for use in the car. Reason being fm transmitters greatly reduce your quality anyway.
Anyhow, enough babble from me. I will leave you to it.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 17, 12:15am
I agree itunes is a real pig on the PC, for some reason I find it runs well on Mac's though. But either way I resent the restrictions even when it is running properly.
Funny thing is I am not really an apple kind of guy, but I do like their mobile devices.
I think you are taking a good view on things. You are quite right in that its a tradeoff against a little extra work on the song loading side vs the better touch screen and other advantages of the iphone.
Personally though, I would be weighing up whether you actually need all that sound quality on your portable device. Regardless of platform and depending on use I would be tempted to compress a copy down and have it all on my phone, but thats just me.
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 17, 12:19am
BTW, papariccardo do you have sky or mysky! With all that music you might find having something like a mythbox at home really useful. I am too poor to have a fancy pants system like I build for other people but find my humble mythbox an awsome alternative to mysky that also deals with my music and photos. One reliable, affordable and easy to use box to rule them all.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.