phone with sat nav

vaio

it's upgrade time and i fancy a phone that does sat nav

Anyone got any hints or tips?

Little_John

The orange SPV m700 has gps built in, its a pda as well so it will be able to run tom tom or what ever gps program you decide on.

CHR15

orange spv phones are great too. the spv c500, c600, c550, m600. i have used the c600 for ages.

nickmack

vaio wrote:

it's upgrade time and i fancy a phone that does sat nav

Nokia N95, out this month on 02

vaio

thanks for the pointers, any actually got one who can comment on usage issues?

CHR15

I have used it TomTom 5 an Orange C500, TomTom 5.2 on an Orange C600 and now TomTom 6 Navigator on an Orange M600.

Apart from the better resolution between 5 and 5.2, they all seem the same to me (apart from the touch screen on the M600)

There can be some postcode issues (none of them seem to know many BS (Bristol) postcodes, I have tried dozens of postcode files too)

TomTom is well supported with the Speed Camera updates, they are available from loads of sources and simple to update (just drag and drop).

For me, the benefit of the phone method, is that I would never be tempted to leave it in the car like I would a dedicated SatNav unit.
I think if it were a dedicated unit I would throw it in the glove box, as it's my phone, I will always take it with me.

Obviously the GPS receiver stays in the car, in my Mondeo, it lives in the sunglasses holder by the rear view mirror, where it works great.
The small Ebay cheapo jobs are good for 24hrs on full charge (and most come with both Car and mains chargers anyway)

All my phones run Windows Mobile as an Operating System (the same as windows) so its a familiar feel and easy to use.

Nokia phones use a Symbian Software. I have never used them so I can't comment on the ease of use. Although a friend of mine gave up trying to get his working on a Nokia.

It is best to have the phone on charge when you are using it. Obviously the screen is always on full brightness (it never goes into power save for obvious reasons).
That and the fact that the speaker is on giving you instructions means the battery will (in my experience) last about 8-10 hours if you are using Satnav heavily (lots of instructions).

I wouldn't be without it now, and I would always use it on my phone so I am forced not to leave it in the car.

DavidHM

I have been using TomTom Mobile since v.4 when it first came out and am currently on v.5 on a Nokia 6630. Before I used it on an Orange SPV E500 and would say that v.4 ran better on that - but v.4 is old and v.5 does rather better. The actual interface for the sat nav is identical on Symbian and Windows.

You will need a good car fixing point for the phone and a dual in-car charger otherwise the battery life is very poor - I find it can be as little as three hours, which isn't great for a long return journey. The GPS signal is very good (my GPS receiver actually never comes out of my glovebox, even in use) and it is quite convenient.

The screen is quite small, not all cars have a convenient mounting point, and you end up remembering codes for how to do things on the numeric keypad of the phone - none of which really bothers me but a dedicated unit like a TomTom with a touch screen is better on those points - but that said, it sounds like an M600 or M700 would be too.

When the Nokia N95 comes out it should be something very special - but very expensive. However, with no need ever to leave any GPS unit in the car, just a cradle for the phone so you can see it, it should also be a very secure and convenient solution.