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Posts: 1,950 | Thanked: 1,174 times | Joined on Jan 2008 @ Seattle, USA
#14
Originally Posted by fattomm View Post
There are good GPS units with bluetooth connectivity available on e-bay. Get last year's most-popular model, and you'll probably find it cheap, and working fine.

I've done comparisons with my Belkin F8T051 (bought used, on e-bay) which gets fast locks, and is incredibly accurate (even in Manhattan and Brooklyn - skyscrapers and ELs are just hell on GPS). My N810 has me wandering across streets, up through buildings, while the Belkin has me +/- a few yards. (I use Maemo Mapper and tracking to review).

If you're hiking, it mayn't make much of a difference, but operationally, a separate bluetooth based unit is much easier to deal with. I can put it in my pocket when getting out (of the house, car, subway) while I get M.M. started up - and typically I've got a lock by the time MM is up and going. When driving, it is nice to put the GPS up on the dash, while keeping my N810 in a more readable position.

Overall, I guess, given the weak "locking strength" of the Maemo, a separate BT attached GPS unit is a *lot* easier to deal with in general....

I should mention also: I use this GPS unit with a couple of different devices. I originally bought it to use with my Palm pilot (and Mapopolis), but it's come along with me to the N810. I actually have a dedicated GPS unit, but frankly have used it so rarely. The GPS unit seems to do only ... GPS things. By packing one more pack-of-gum sized item with my usual gadgetry, I get "free" GPS. I'd prefer to not have to go online for directions (with M.M.) - but that's the only drawback. For interactive mapping and such, MM is great - and is fine for not too complicated trips. I do miss the dynamic re-route capabilities of real GPS units - but I need that about ... twice a year?
Fattomm, thanks for the feedback on your GPS usage, but you've confused me. You say at one point that your N810 has you walking through buildings and getting a lock very slowly, and then you seem to be saying you use the Tablet for almost everything in lieu of your dedicated GPS unit.

Also, am I right in understanding that the "pack-of-gum sized item" is a bluetooth GPS that you use in conjunction with your N810 even though the N810 has built-in GPS?

If I put it all together, I get that you're saying the Tablets (with minor limitations) are great for GPS so long as they are used with a BT GPS unit that is better than that which is built into the N810? (That is, the inaccuracy and slowness is from the internal GPS on the N810; but those problems are remedied by use of an external GPS add-on, without use of a complete, independent GPS system?)
 

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