Sat Nav

[Guest stevieboy2k]

Hi

Im thinking of geting a blade but im just wondering can anyone comment on how good the sat nav is to use in a car? :mellow:

[Guest]

Hi

Im thinking of geting a blade but im just wondering can anyone comment on how good the sat nav is to use in a car? :mellow:

Hi,

I've been using my Blade as gps device in my car quite a few times now, and it always worked perfectly well...

Providing you have a data connection, the a-gps gets the satellites in a few secs (less that a minute), and afterwards never loses the signal.

Didn't try syncing in the middle of nowhere, though (where no data connection is available)...

I use google navigation as navigation tool, and it worked pretty well, although I suspect a "real" navigation tool would get better routes to destination.

Oh just in case: don't forget your car charger, as the screen being constantly on, it dramatically drains the battery...

[Guest Andyroid]

Works fine, the voice tho is bad and thats why I still use my TomTom, had the voice clarity/annoyance level been on a a par with TT I'd use it all the time.

All said and done it works great and its free, gets a sat lock fairly quick as stated and gets you to your destination.

[Guest Ron=)]

Works fine, the voice tho is bad and thats why I still use my TomTom, had the voice clarity/annoyance level been on a a par with TT I'd use it all the time.

All said and done it works great and its free, gets a sat lock fairly quick as stated and gets you to your destination.

The Voice does suck. But you can change it!

Download SVOX classic from the market..

Then download the Victoria voice. It's pretty damn good! Much better than my TomTom!

[Guest dibbles]

I use mobile maps with my blade and it works a treat. I much prefer the portrait orientation over the landscape view of my 4.3" dedicated sat nav as the view ahead is more important than the widescreen left and right view.

I got a windscreen mount and a car charger and everything is fine using LanceH's SS variation ROM.

[Guest stevieboy2k]

The only thing im concerned about is that im going to be unlocking the phone and using my companys O2 sim and as im not allowed any data on my sim will i still be able to use it as a sat nav

[Guest Andyroid]

The Voice does suck. But you can change it!

Download SVOX classic from the market..

Then download the Victoria voice. It's pretty damn good! Much better than my TomTom!

Never knew that Ron, thanks for the heads up, just downloaded the svox classic engine, had a listen to the Victoria demo when I was in, brill in comparisson to the default voice. Blades near flat, will set it up later when charged up.

http://svoxmobilevoices.wordpress.com/demos/

£1.81 per voice on the AndroidMarket BTW.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Andyroid

[Guest Andyroid]

The only thing im concerned about is that im going to be unlocking the phone and using my companys O2 sim and as im not allowed any data on my sim will i still be able to use it as a sat nav

Yes..

Also Blade Buddy will give you your unlock code.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Andyroid

[Guest hedgepigdaniel]

The only thing im concerned about is that im going to be unlocking the phone and using my companys O2 sim and as im not allowed any data on my sim will i still be able to use it as a sat nav

Not Google navigation, no - it needs data to work. you can buy 3rd party navigation apps that don't however

[Guest Andyroid]

I read it to be he's removing his own sim that has no data and unlocking to use the company sim which has data and the query being 'Will I still be able to use it as a sat nav with a)the Co sim b) and if unlocked.......that be the case its 'Yes' (Company permitted lol)

Just setup the svox as default TTS and installed Victoria, good to go, will test next out.

Edited April 27, 2011 by Andyroid

[Guest Lister Of Smeg]

Hi Guys,

Yes, I have tested GPS/SatNav on the Blade with both GoogleMaps/Navigation... and using a real SatNav (CoPilot) in this case...

GoogleMaps/Navigation, needs data plan (mobile phone signal) as the maps are not stored locally on the phone and requires data to pull the maps down. Strangely it doesnt seem to pull too much data, expecting it to be horrendous... works really well, I was amazed when I put it into Satalite view, and saw real photo navigation... :mellow: voice yeah is a little stern and robotic.... but as a SatNav it works really well....

CoPilot, also works really well.... and that does not require data plan, so can turn that off... using the built in GPS works really well....

So yeah the GPS navagation works really well on this device, the only downer is battery life.... :o But then that is Blade in general..........

Cheers, Lister

[Guest Phoenix Silver]

Hi Guys,

Yes, I have tested GPS/SatNav on the Blade with both GoogleMaps/Navigation... and using a real SatNav (CoPilot) in this case...

GoogleMaps/Navigation, needs data plan (mobile phone signal) as the maps are not stored locally on the phone and requires data to pull the maps down. Strangely it doesnt seem to pull too much data, expecting it to be horrendous... works really well, I was amazed when I put it into Satalite view, and saw real photo navigation... :o voice yeah is a little stern and robotic.... but as a SatNav it works really well....

CoPilot, also works really well.... and that does not require data plan, so can turn that off... using the built in GPS works really well....

So yeah the GPS navagation works really well on this device, the only downer is battery life.... :D But then that is Blade in general..........

Cheers, Lister

i use blade with copilot :mellow:

works very fine

i have bought a car charger because i use gps some times 4 hours /day

Download SVOX classic from the market..

Then download the Victoria voice. It's pretty damn good! Much better than my TomTom!

is this tip works with co pilot ?

[Guest Mushroom_Lord]

if you are connected to wifi and GPS when you input your desitination then it does save the route.

now turn off your wifi, you don't need any data connection.

then just leave GPS on and Google maps navigation works just fine.not sure if you switch maps during, though.

its worked for me before.

[Guest sambartle]

...

GoogleMaps/Navigation, needs data plan (mobile phone signal) as the maps are not stored locally on the phone and requires data to pull the maps down. Strangely it doesnt seem to pull too much data, expecting it to be horrendous...

...

It used to be worse and require always on data.. now it pulls a vectorised version of the route down.. so its smaller and doesnt need always on data during routing. (and it also means street names can be rotated), if you plot a route and dont vary from it too much it wont need data.. but start to stray and it will need a re-up in order to decide the correct route again.

You can see this in action by planning a route.. disconnecting data and then scrolling about.. you'll see it goes blurry a few tiles off the route.. and stops about 4 away.

[Guest veehexx]

i'm debating what todo with satnav..

google maps/navigation is comparatively poor vs the main satnav (paid) products. yes it'll get you from a>b, but thats about it.i find it not very intuitive at all, and today took 10mins to get it guiding me! tomtom/navigon would of been 30seconds.

i guess you cant complain as google maps/navigator is free. i'v come to the conclusion google should stay away from navigation.

also, their offline caching system seems flaky at best. on a positive note, i've done a 1h journey today (c. 45miles) around 5mb data usage.

if your relying on a product for regular navigation, go with a paid product. google products cant cut it by half imo.

problem is, i rarely use navigation but when i do, i expect to be able to rely on it, without fear of a cell tower having faulty data services or complete loss of signal. im planning a holiday in wales next year, i expect 40% of my driving through snowdonia and end destination to have no signal. i need a product that i can rely on.

i hope that didnt come off as a rant, i've tried to give google nav a fair trial on 2-3 occasions now, but it's something i dont think i will use.

also, to be fair, the biggest con for me is the reliance of online mapping. i want a fully offline version which google dont seem to be interested in supplying at all.

[Guest Ron=)]

Never knew that Ron, thanks for the heads up, just downloaded the svox classic engine, had a listen to the Victoria demo when I was in, brill in comparisson to the default voice. Blades near flat, will set it up later when charged up.

http://svoxmobilevoices.wordpress.com/demos/

£1.81 per voice on the AndroidMarket BTW.

Your very welcome! It's well worth the money IMO. The default Pico TTS is just plain bad. ^^

i'm debating what todo with satnav..

google maps/navigation is comparatively poor vs the main satnav (paid) products. yes it'll get you from a>b, but thats about it.i find it not very intuitive at all, and today took 10mins to get it guiding me! tomtom/navigon would of been 30seconds.

i guess you cant complain as google maps/navigator is free. i'v come to the conclusion google should stay away from navigation.

also, their offline caching system seems flaky at best. on a positive note, i've done a 1h journey today (c. 45miles) around 5mb data usage.

if your relying on a product for regular navigation, go with a paid product. google products cant cut it by half imo.

problem is, i rarely use navigation but when i do, i expect to be able to rely on it, without fear of a cell tower having faulty data services or complete loss of signal. im planning a holiday in wales next year, i expect 40% of my driving through snowdonia and end destination to have no signal. i need a product that i can rely on.

i hope that didnt come off as a rant, i've tried to give google nav a fair trial on 2-3 occasions now, but it's something i dont think i will use.

also, to be fair, the biggest con for me is the reliance of online mapping. i want a fully offline version which google dont seem to be interested in supplying at all.

I must disagree! Google maps with navigation works a treat. satellite imagery is unique to google navigation. Its brilliant being able to plan an advanced trip on google maps for the pc and already have it on your phone through "the cloud"!

GM also receives traffic information OTA perfectly well and does well to calculate the "fastest" route avoiding traffic!

The only real issue is the requirement of a data tariff.. buh heck.. android isn't half as fun if you were restricted to Wi-Fi and most modern contracts come with data anyway! The new vector maps = even less data used, too!

I can understand the peace of mind of having offline maps especially when your driving cross country! Hopefully google will implement a better caching system in the future!

[Guest frenchdroid]

If you want Google Maps + Navigation + use NO data, and if you can be arsed, search XDA + ownhere (the developer, who credits BrutMod (an earlier version of modded Gmaps 4.x) for his development of the mod) for a hacked version of Google Maps + Navigation that allows you to store your maps on your SD card. I gather the maps can be made with Mobile Atlas Creator (for one), at the level of detail you choose.

Edited April 27, 2011 by frenchdroid