GPS Navigation System [merged threads]

[batang_raon14]

Sa Autoberfest ng tsikot, mayroong nag bebenta at demo ng GPS device. For 16.8K IMHO, it is too expensive. 2nd, wala pang GPS corrected map sila ng buong pilipinas. Paramg MM lang at major cities.

During the warrenty period of 1 years, you can get free map updates to be loaded to an SD card. After 1 year, may annual fee na.

I wonder how good are the nokia gps mobile phoes loaded with gps corrected philippine maps?

Will post my pics of how good my N82 is with regards to GPS in the Philippines loaded with the freewebmaps compatible map for Garmin devices and Garmin Mobile XT. Pwedeng-pwede, di ka maliligaw sa Metro except on some quirks with the one way streets on particular timeslots sa Makati and mga nawawalang roads sa mga non-Metro areas such as Pampanga and other provinces, pero considering that the map itself is free, what's there to complain?

Will post screenshots. Oks ang reception ng N82, better than N95 IMO.

[ghosthunter]

I wonder how good are the nokia gps mobile phoes loaded with gps corrected philippine maps?

Pretty good. I have the Nokia 6110 Navigator and I updated the NAVFONE software from the default demo to the retail version. Even with the demo version, it can get you from point A to point B with good accuracy. Downside with the demo is that it's not updated, with certain recent added roads missing.

With the updated software and map, NAVFONE has more detail including buildings in the actual display. (Older software/map didn't have this detail) I also checked the roads missing in the older map and they are now available along with traffic flow direction markers on the map displayed.

Getting a GPS signal/link takes a couple of minutes from the moment you turn on the GPS system if you haven't used it for a while. A few seconds to link if you have just recently used it. Navigation accuracy was fine until I entered Makati's central business area with all of the tall buildings. This interfered with the GPS somewhat but it re-links quickly enough but experience tells me its best to memorize the last few turns if your destination is within areas of tall buildings.

Philippine based maps for NAVFONE are limited to Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Davao, Boracay and a couple other places.

[StraightSix]

meledson, mura na nga presyo ngayon ng mga standalone units.

The first one I bought 4 years ago (a portable standalone) costed me $900 ... and that was the cheapest then. I couldn't afford the car's oem in-dash satnav.

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Oks ang reception ng N82, better than N95 IMO.

That's because the GPS chipset on the N95 sucks.

I wonder why Nokia keeps using the Texas Instruments series of chipsets - they must be getting it real cheap. For years, the de facto standard for GPS chipsets is the SiRF Star III.

The N95's fix takes more than 2 minutes in the clear and couldn't get a fix inside my house. That's worse than the older SiRF II chipset on my 4yr old standalone device. And unfortunately from what I've read, the newer TI chipsets on other Nokias are still not up to par with SiRF III.

The SiRF III's I have (an external Bluetooth, the other PDA-internal)regularly gets a cold start fix in 40 seconds ... plus it still works from inside the house.

Another BT-GPS I once had, with an MTK chipset, was even faster.

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A question to Philippine users: When navigating on a multi-lane road ... does it tell you to change lanes before turning to another road?

[meledson]

From your feed backs, it seems that it is not worth it to buy a GPS device. Just use the budget to buy a Nokia phone with GPS. Thanks.

OT. Ayala is an investor in SiRF. I was able to play around with a SiRF demo kit (conneted to a laptop) about 10 years ago in LTI.

[batang_raon14]

Garmin is generally good Sir meledson if you really want a standalone gps unit. Kasi nga may free compatible map siya for the entire country which can be found here:

http://www.freewebs.com/phroadguide/

Here's the screenshot btw from my N82 going to Angelo King International Center for a conference:









It can advise you to make a U-Turn and you can connect to Google for traffic updates or store locations or spots that are not pre-installed in the map. Data taken from Google are coordinates and Garmin will create the route for you on how to go there.

*StraightSix

Hmm, not really sure if this is what you meant by "When navigating on a multi-lane road ... does it tell you to change lanes before turning to another road?", but for example, if I'm on Osmena Highway heading South to let's say, Filinvest, the program would tell me to keep left around 500 meters away from the Buendia flyover and once on the flyover will then tell me to keep right. This will lead me to the Skyway ramp without having to line-up with the cars heading to Makati or Roxas Blvd.

BTW: Going over the speed limit is the effect of having the rim change on my car way over the 3% allowable. My driver thinks he's just going 100 though. You can consider it as a plus though that it's able to accurately detect your speed. And yup, I wasn't driving while taking screenshots on the phone, I had a driver with me.

Another plus by the way is when sunset comes, it shifts to night mode to reduce glare. And enough plus I suppose as I seem to sound like advertising Garmin already. lol

[StraightSix]

*batang_raon14 - Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to know. I do have the freewebs map on my N95 and N70 ... but haven't the chance to use it yet.

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*meledson - ... or just get an external GPS receiver to work with your current phone if you don't want to shell out for a new GPS phone.

As long as it's using Windows Mobile or Symbian S60, you can get Garmin (the software) to run on it and use the same freewebs Philippine map.

[batang_raon14]

*batang_raon14 - Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to know. I do have the freewebs map on my N95 and N70 ... but haven't the chance to use it yet.

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*meledson - ... or just get an external GPS receiver to work with your current phone if you don't want to shell out for a new GPS phone.

As long as it's using Windows Mobile or Symbian S60, you can get Garmin (the software) to run on it and use the same freewebs Philippine map.

Glad to help. Try niyo Sir. Very convenient. Version 5 is better nga pala due to the Google integration. Yung earlier versions kasi wala pa.

And yup, I think kahit yung walang assisted GPS or GPS integrated sa phone pwede as long as Windows Mobile or Symbian as long as may integrated bluetooth ko so as to be able to interact with the external GPS receiver.

[StraightSix]

Glad to help. Try niyo Sir. Very convenient. Version 5 is better nga pala due to the Google integration. Yung earlier versions kasi wala pa.

And yup, I think kahit yung walang assisted GPS or GPS integrated sa phone pwede as long as Windows Mobile or Symbian as long as may integrated bluetooth ko so as to be able to interact with the external GPS receiver.

I have the Garmin City Navigator Europe NT map on the N95, tried it on the road several times ... I don't like it that much. For smaller screens, Tomtom looks a lot easier on the eyes for me, the display much better laid out. Route calculations also take a bit longer on Garmin Mobile XT. So the wife gets to keep the N95.

There's a gazillion amount of downloadable POI's for the UK for most navigation softwares, even my suking sari-sari store is on the POI list. I don't think I'm missing that much ... except for the TMC bit (Traffic Message Channel). So far TMC receivers are only available for standalone units. I'm still waiting for a phone/PDA-compatible TMC to come out. I'm not too keen on network-dependent services like Goggle on in-car navigation since my current phone contract charges too much for data.

The one I'm using on my XDA Orbit now is iGO v8. I like the way it can be customized - you can even make the screen look like Tomtom's. I also like its 3D rendition on the terrain and buildings ... though the PDA's insufficient memory prevents me from using the Text-To-Speech feature like spoken street names and spoken SMS messages received. Needless to say, I find it better than Garmin or Tomtom.

Next month I'll have the chance to try out another GPS hardware and software combo. My PDA's gonna be up for a free upgrade, and I'm looking to try out the Apple iPhone 3G, Nokia N96 and XDA Orbit 2 ... all available with unlimited data use.

[batang_raon14]

Nothing more to say for me aside from: :drool:

Pashare naman ng unlimitedness diyan Sir StraightSix. lol

[StraightSix]

Pasensya na, excited lang kasi.

I've been miserable with my current phone subscription. The phone's mainly for voice calls and I have to pay almost P200 per MB of data.