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wendyj Occasional Visitor
Joined: Dec 04, 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Montpellier, France
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:56 pm Post subject: Off road Sat Nav / GPS? |
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Sorry I'm completely green to this.
I would love a Sat Nav for my car but also be able to use it for walks and bike rides as well (actually following a route as opposed to just knowing where I am / how far I've been.)
Does this exist? To make it doubly complicated, I'm in France and would need French maps on it...
Thank you in advance for any help. |
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robertn Frequent Visitor
Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 564
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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The requirements for in-car are quite different to walking, hence any solution is a compromise.
The most common solution would be a PDA, running somthing like memorymap for walking/biking, and Tomtom, destinator or similar for in car. The major comprimise here is you need a university degree to use PDA's, they have poor battery life and are not robust.
A high end Garmin handheld will do street maping (CSx60), but has a small screen and no voice guidence.
That alternate, and current recommended solution, is one device for the car and one for outdoors, each designed specifically for the task.
You have not indicated a budget - this will largely determine you final solution. |
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wendyj Occasional Visitor
Joined: Dec 04, 2007 Posts: 2 Location: Montpellier, France
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robertn Frequent Visitor
Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 564
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:16 am Post subject: |
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It looks quite good. It appears the detailed maps will need to be purchased - check out the cost and avalibility before committing to one. I would see if you can make your own maps, incase the detail is not avalible where you are going. The IP rating is only IP4x, so it's OK in the rain but don't drop it in river, or leave it wet for days on end, probably more than good enough if you are careful or a fair weather only person.
For my outdoor use I would not buy it; when the batteries go flat you cannot put another set in. If you are comfortable with a nominal 8 hours, go for it. My experiance is when you need these devices the most, is when things have turned to custard and the planned 6 hour trip has turned into 8-10 hours..... Oh dear...., lucky I always have the good old paper and compass. I mostly leave my GPS device turned off unless I want to look at it, and I always have spare battries, so the 8 hours would be enough most of the time. |
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philpugh Lifetime Member
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with what robertn has already said. Go for a competent in-car solution and a simple hand-held GPS for cycling/walking and use this with good paper maps. PDAs are really a pain - especially on a bike - they are fragile and battery hogs - you can fix both problems but they then become a bit large and user unfriendly. You may find you can buy both for the cost of a single solution that almost does what you want. Of course - if your bike rides are on roads then an in-car PND may suffice for the bike. _________________ Phil |
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Captain_Eric Occasional Visitor
Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 51
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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Being a convergence advocate, I will weigh in too.
I use a AT&T Tilt (HTC Kaiser, HTC TyTn II) loaded with TomTom Navigator 6, a suite of VidaOne "training" products, and Microsoft Live Search Maps.
For your specific use, Microsoft Live Search Maps set on Satellite view might work (I use it hiking all the time; incredible resolution).
The device costs less than $300 (plus a contract), TomTom Navigator 6 is about $125, Microsoft Live is free, Vida One totals maybe $60, including a bundle of MySportTraining for Windows Mobile, VidaOne GPS for Pocket PC, and VidaOne Diet & Fitness for PC.
With the VidaOne products you can view your uploaded routes on Google Maps and another site which also acts as a place to record your hikes and bikes as well as to share routes with others. It also tells you how many calories you burned! (and lots of other training/health stuff too, if you wish).
Together this device and software gets everything done for me. |
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alix776 Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: 03/05/2003 14:45:49 Posts: 3999 Location: leyland lancs ENGLAND
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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to be honest the htc artimis with a battery pack like the U2O external battery will provide the device with enohg for atleast 10 + hours usage on with both in onroad and offroad gps usage combine this with an otter box and mount or an aquapac as its cheeper is an other choice _________________ currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl |
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philpugh Lifetime Member
Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 2003 Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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alix776 wrote: | to be honest the htc artimis with a battery pack like the U2O external battery will provide the device with enohg for atleast 10 + hours usage on with both in onroad and offroad gps usage combine this with an otter box and mount or an aquapac as its cheeper is an other choice |
Agreed - I have a portapac for my AXIM but the main problem is that it is then a bit bulkier and they are still next to useless for planning on when out on a walk. You can't see enough map to make practical course alteration decisions. _________________ Phil |
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Megasonic Occasional Visitor
Joined: Dec 12, 2007 Posts: 1 Location: China
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:14 am Post subject: |
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robertn wrote: | It looks quite good. It appears the detailed maps will need to be purchased - check out the cost and avalibility before committing to one. I would see if you can make your own maps, incase the detail is not avalible where you are going. The IP rating is only IP4x, so it's OK in the rain but don't drop it in river, or leave it wet for days on end, probably more than good enough if you are careful or a fair weather only person.
For my outdoor use I would not buy it; when the batteries go flat you cannot put another set in. If you are comfortable with a nominal 8 hours, go for it. My experiance is when you need these devices the most, is when things have turned to custard and the planned 6 hour trip has turned into 8-10 hours..... Oh dear...., lucky I always have the good old paper and compass. I mostly leave my GPS device turned off unless I want to look at it, and I always have spare battries, so the 8 hours would be enough most of the time. |
very good answer,detailed. _________________ Commercial Signature Removed by Admin |
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