That is an interesting graphic. I watched it for several minutes and saw a 12/6 maximum/minimum number of sats visible from the point on the globe. My N78-3 frequently would show results for five. I don't know if it was not seeing the other(s) or if the display part of the program was limited to five.

@j.s - thanks for the clarification re: atomic clocks and timing; i should have just read wikipedia before posting.

re: nokia being 'lazy' with software... gpsjinni gets a lock in sensible time without data but "Ovi Maps" can't. you can switch to ovi maps when you get a lock on gpsjinni and it works. this must be a software issue?

my N95 didnt have A-GPS and could get a GPS lock without data. this hardware and design predated the N900 by 2 years. means/proves nothing in particular for the N900 but worth mentioning?

How long is a piece of string? FWIW you can download all the available Ovi Maps for offline use onto an 8GB card (uses about 7GB of space).

Actually you can, sort of, and it is exactly what modern-day dedicated GPS units attempt to do. Using their internal clock, the last received almanac and ephemeris data and operating under the assumption that they are still near the position the unit was last used (which, for most practical everyday purposes, usually holds true), they extrapolate which satellites are/should be visible to speed up the Time To First Fix considerably. These mechanisms, known under a variety of trade names, are common in today's dedicated consumer GPS equipment -- hence creating the illusion for the masses that GPS is a turnkey system, when essentially it is far from it.

Personally, I think it should be possible to implement this "offline AGPS" behaviour on the N900 easily enough, improving the general perception of its GPS hardware quality (which indeed is quite good). Anybody know if there is any documentation available on how to feed the AGPS-data to the GPS receiver?

Regards,
Chris.

have you tried your n95 again since the n900?i keep mine in the car as a backup satnav incase i need to save charge in my n900, the sat lock is achingly slow now, especially in town centres near high buildings, and even with the sim removed and offline profile selected it will still nag for an internet connection every 2 minutes.

So not content with releasing half-finished products Nokia also builds in obsolesence to degrade their devices over time?

You can get a lock with agps inside a building where GPS satellites are not visible. It will be far from perfect, but you can at least get aproximate location.