Cheapest GPS navigation

[Guest LarsDK]

Hi everybody,

Hope you all have had a merry christmas, I did, among other things I got a gift certificat for a GPS-unit of my choice, preferably one of the cheaper models. I dont care about the looks of it, as long as it works.

Which one will you recommend for my Qtek 8310?

Which programs is there that covers europe, or just scandinavia for starters?

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi LarsDK the cheapest SmartPHone Sat Nav system around is Mapopolis, its not as polished as TomTom but the maps are much better and the 2006 maps are due very soon.

Here are a few other thoughts on Mapopolis.

Hope this helps.

[Guest Looby]

I'll second Drstrangetrick. Update.. have Mapopolis on my i-mate SP5, installed Safety camera alerts, using Crystals UK female voice. Purchased Western European Maps. Works brilliantly. Thoroughly recommended. Happy bunny. ;)

[Guest andreuroig]

I thought Mapopolis wouldn't work on WM5 devices. I guess I was wrong.

[Guest LarsDK]

Great I will have a look at that right away! Thanks guys...

I have also been looking for the GPS recievers, there are some called Xaiox out at a very low price, anyone know anything abouot them? Any experiences?

I have also read some positive feedback on the Holux GR236 which is available for around £80 in the UK webshops. There is also another model from Holux called GR230 which is a lot cheaper and therefore off course preferred.. ;)

Edited December 29, 2005 by LarsDK

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi all.

Mapopolis works on WM5 with exception to the contact routing due to the changes to the structure of the address book in WM5 but that is being worked on as we speak. Apart from that everything else works even the QVGA resolution.

The GR236 is quite a good GPS, but Mapopolis will work with just about anything. If you want to keep it cheap then checkout this thread. I have done a few of these for some of my Friends and colleagues and for £49 its a fantastic unit.

[Guest LarsDK]

I have found the GR230 in a danish store at around £60 so at the moment I think this is the best option at the moment, does anyone know if it is possible to do cheaper outside of Denmark?

[Guest 1T-M0nk3y]

Two/three questions, I've never used GPS before and am only considering it:

Can you use a USB GPR receiver with a WM5 Smartphone? (i-Mate SP5m) & if so, can you (with an adapter) charge the phone whilst it's connected. :??:

Can you connect a BT GPS unit and a BT Headset simultaneously :??:

Many thanks ;)

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi 1T-M0nk3y

Can you use a USB GPR receiver with a WM5 Smartphone?

No you cannot connect a USB or Serial GPS to the SP5m, the only option is BlueTooth. Units like the one I have pointed out includes a car charger (usually around £15-£20 extra) and it can be charged and used at the same time.

Can you connect a BT GPS unit and a BT Headset simultaneously

Yes you can use both together at the same time, Mapopolis or TomTom etc all 'minimise' and mute when the call comes in. Either during the call or when the call has finished press the back key and there you go.

Hope this helps.

[Guest LarsDK]

Hmm I have been looking at Mapopolis and it looks like the solution, for Denmark is pretty expensive.

Denmark is divided into 16 counties, the largest one is 100 km in diameter, mostly farms, and most of them is no larger than 40-60 km and one even just Copenhagen, if I need to purchase all of Denmark the price would end up being 19x16= $304, that is not cheap!

With the entire map for all of Europe I get all of Europe for $124 a year but I dont need all that, isnt there a way to get all of Denmark at a lower price than $304 with Mapopolis?

Edited December 30, 2005 by LarsDK

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Hi again LarsDK, no you cannot buy individual countries separately ;)

I felt the same way when I first purchased my map pack. I live in the UK and did not want to have to pay for the rest of Europe but a few months later we had a cheap cancellation holiday at Euro-Disney Paris which we had to drive to, I have family who live in Italy and one of my friends has moved to Spain and invited us over next year.

So I now have complete UK, France, Italy and Spain all for no additional cost when originally I only wanted UK and since then I have used them a few times and believe me when you are lost in a foreign country $124 is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

If I had gone for something like TomTom you only get one country and for something like Euro-Disney I would have had to pay out another £80 and all I needed was the Paris map (£7 if I buy separately from Mapopolis) now if I where to add up the cost of all the other countries for TomTom it would have been cheaper to get taxi's

Take it from me I never anticipated needing anything else other than UK but you never know what's around the corner.

[Guest Looby]

I would like to add the other advantage of Mapopolis is that you only have to download the counties you need not the whole Country saving space on your memory card ;)

[Guest andreuroig]

can you add POI as easily as in Tomtom? Are they in OV2 format or CSV?

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

can you add POI as easily as in Tomtom?

Quite easily really, check out my article on this page of the main Mapopolis thread.

Mapopolis has its own MLP format but you download the free encoder and you can then convert GPX files (these are universal POI files) to MLP and there are numerous OV2 to GPX converters around (see my guide for links)

The PocketGPSWorld safety camera database comes with a MLP file ready to be used with Mapopolis.

If you have any questions regarding converting TomTom files then let me know.

[Guest andreuroig]

Thanks. I'll check it out!

[Guest mcwarre]

The PocketGPSWorld safety camera database comes with a MLP file ready to be used with Mapopolis.

True, but as and from Feb they are charging £2/download (or £20 for the year)

[Guest Looby]

Still cheaper than £60 and 3 points on your licence... ;)

[Guest LarsDK]

Hi again,

Now I have ordered the Holux GR236. I have done a lot of reading and I was not ready to get a reciever that I couldnt be sure of in an urban enviroment, so at £60 at Clove I ordered it, so now I am just waiting for it to arrive.... :-)

Then I will be able to test mapopolis for real... I am really looking forward to it..

[Guest Looby]

I don't think you will be disappointed ;)

[Guest Dr_StrangeTrick]

Keep us posted LarsDK ;)

[Guest mcwarre]

Still cheaper than £60 and 3 points on your licence... ;)

Not as cheap as sticking to the speed limit :D :D

[Guest LarsDK]

I will keep you posted.. I just hope it lives up to all the positive words the reviews has given it.

[Guest Looby]

Not as cheap as sticking to the speed limit  ;)  :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or cycling :D

[Guest mcwarre]

I have 'broken', allegedly, a 30mph speed limit on my bike (also a 40mph (downhill wiht the wind behind me))

;)

[Guest adamw]

Hi LarsDK the cheapest SmartPHone Sat Nav system around is Mapopolis, its not as polished as TomTom but the maps are much better and the 2006 maps are due very soon.

Here are a few other thoughts on Mapopolis.

Hope this helps.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Dr_StrangeTrick

I'm getting my bluetooth GPS receiver for my C600 soon and thinking that Mapopolis is the way to go! I've got a couple of questions though:

1. When it says $124 for a year for western europe, presumably that means you can download every single map of every country in europe from their website in the year and keep and use them forever? Or do they 'expire' in a years time?

2. Can you download all maps of the UK counties to your phone if you were going to do a tour type holiday? I've got a 1Gb card, so would that be enough?

Thanks a lot and cheers for recommending mapopolis. I'm going to download the trial when I get my BT GPS!

Cheers