Cell Phones With True GPS

My LG9900 ENV had Navigator on it from cell towers which leaves you without a signal in some areas.

BlackBerry Curve 8330

Apple iPhone 3G

HTC 6800

Samsung Instinct (iPhone knockoff).

I forgot to take myNvi this week on a trip and had to upload telnav onmy blackberry. While it works and gives traffic it is far froma Garmin Nuvi.

don't go cheap and try to use a cell phone or pda. not worth the hassle

A single device "jack of all trades" is a master of none. The Garmin application on a BB Curve is better than nothing.

My application for this is to have a backup communication/navigation device on my ATV. Yesterday, for example, my wife, youngest son, and I went out ATVing on some very rural trails. Since we both have Nextels and are sometimes out of iDEN network coverage, we want a cell phone for wireless 911 in case of an emergency. I gather that CDMA (Verizon and others) may be better than GSM (AT&T and others) for that purpose. I thought that a used phone that also had GPS might be just the thing for this application, but I do not want a phone that relies on cell towers (A-GPS). I already have a Garmin StreetPilot 2730 that isn't the handiest thing for using on the GPS due to its size and power requirement. Now maybe a Garmin Nuvi 500 will be the way to go eventually because it sounds like it should be fairly weather resistant. I would like to get a list of phones with GPS that would work even without a phone subscription, but maybe none of them will allow the GPS to work without a plan.

I don't think that having true GPS on a cell phone is going to help you in the case of an emergency in an area where you don't get cell phone service. The GPS positioning might work, but it won't extend your phone coverage.

Plus if it depends upon the network data for the maps (eg Blackberry maps or Google maps) then if you aren't getting service, the map won't update. And you will not be able to get the GPS to work without a phone plan including a data plan.

I would look at the nuvi 500 or the Zumo series for the GPS part of your situation. And if 911 is a issue for you, then either a satellite phone (extreme solution) might be an option. Or a personal locator beacon might be what you want.

Thank you for that reply. I assumed that the maps were contained inside the phone, like a stand alone GPS, but now knowing that the maps are not contained in them that makes sense. I think I will re-focus on having them separate then. Do you know if the Garmin Nuvifone will also operate that same way or will it be a handheld GPS with a cell phone?

The typical cell phone doesn't have enough memory to store the maps on the device. Consider the fact the that City Navigator North America maps are around 900MB. The BlackBerry Curve 8330, for example, has 96MB total which includes the space for the OS.

The Garmin nuviphone, it appears, will have the maps preloaded the same as the regular nuvis. However, this won't solve your cell phone coverage issue.

I have a Blackberry Curve 8300 not the 8330. A lot of the ability to get the advertised GPS feature depends on your phone service provider. On the Blackberry forums, where I went to ask why my phone would not show some of the stuff touted to work on it, including GPS, I learned that a lot of owners were, in effect, "scammed" into believing the hype of the phone companies until AFTER they'd signed the longterm contracts.

So I would not expect to get a good GPSr out of a cellular phone. I saw the writing on the wall with all the promises broken to countless individuals, and realized it was a losing battle. That's when I broke down and bought my Nuvi 880. I'm not a bit sorry I did either.

It takes a long time to refresh maps in the iphone.
I would not rely on it as "The" gps device.

Yup, same here from Sprint. the best part is that it's unlocked. Phones running windows mobile that can run on Garmin xt can be decent as well.

If I wanted to explore the possibility of getting one of these phones, what would the model be, and maybe the service provider? Can you give me a link to begin the search? You think they do a decent job of receiving as a GPSr?

I'd like to learn more about this. Although I've stopped believing in the ONE MACHINE DO IT ALL concept.