Thread: How does Tablet GPS compare to Dedicated GPS unit? Good for hiking? Roads?
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fattomm is offline fattomm
2009-01-13 , 05:51
Posts: 109 | Thanked: 37 times | Joined on Oct 2008 @ NYC, NY
#18
Originally Posted by GeraldKo View Post
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?)
Precisely your last paragraph :-). Sorry I rambled so much - but I think that stems from my two primary uses: (1) in-car use (both to plot a trip, but also as a dynamic map when I invariably get lost in Brooklyn) and (2) as a device to plot my urban hikes around Manhattan (where I live, and tend to not get lost).

The internal GPS is really insufficient, and can be quite inaccurate as it gains/loses satellites. I'll lose satellite lock for many blocks at a time.

I had a handheld GPS unit (some Garmin "trekker" type, which my wife has sold on e-bay), but found it too bulky to easily slip into my pocket or tote around as I hike the "city canyons".

I like the flexibility of a separate bluetooth GPS device - since I (like a previous poster) have used Palm+Mapopolis+Belkin and N810+MaemoMapper+Belkin combinations, depending on my needs.

I've stayed away from dedicated GPS units in my car, since that sort of thing incites break-ins in NYC, and windshields are expensive and a PITA to replace. Portability and "fit in my coat pocket" are strong requirements for me - the N810 and Belkin GPS units fit that nicely. My driving tends to be around the NYC area, so large map databases aren't really a requirement for me.
Last edited by fattomm; 2009-01-13 at 06:08.
 

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