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| Thread ID: 128862 | 2013-01-20 03:25:00 | Phone Tablet GPS Useless Without Maps? | Winston001 (3612) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1323848 | 2013-01-20 03:25:00 | Having never used a GPS device I sort of assumed the map was downloaded with the satellite signal. Doh. So presumably a mobile phone or tablet without maps loaded cannot use its GPS? Or not without a 3G connection to a map website? My son's Sony Tablet S has GPS in it (to our surprise) but no 3G. Using wireless it finds our house no problem but once down the road...nothing. So...are there maps which can be downloaded for the GPS to use? What do people without 3G or a mobile data plan do? |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 1323849 | 2013-01-20 04:09:00 | Depending on the format required by your tablet, you may be able to download a free map from this site - nzopengps.org |
decibel (11645) | ||
| 1323850 | 2013-01-20 05:22:00 | You need to either use Google Maps Offline (not that great) or purchase a 3rd party maps app with offline maps for NZ built in. Check out play.google.com iwiY29tLmF0bG9naXMubnptYXBzIl0. |
Greven (91) | ||
| 1323851 | 2013-01-20 05:43:00 | I think Google Maps now caches your entire route if you set it while connected to wifi then keep the app open until you reach your destination. I tested Google Navigation on a short trip from Invercargill to Clyde at Christmas & it was giving me instructions even where I don't think there was any cellphone coverage. Manually marking maps for offline caching is a slow & tedious affair because you can only do 1 small area at a time. | Greven (91) | ||
| 1323852 | 2013-01-20 06:03:00 | I use my Nokia b/c the maps are downloaded fully and I can route with them ... ie, go to this place and it gives me voice guidance. But really in NZ the occasional 3G isn't expensive. I'll use 3G without hesitation, actually in the past year despite having a Nokia I have been using with 3G, it just works faster, better for grumpy passengers :D Offline is handy nevertheless. With bro's HTC Android. You can get free solutions which quality is dependent esp if you wanna go overseas, or purchase a offline map. Then it's mostly Google. You can use google and save a radius but you don't get guidance. You see yourself on the map and you can just make your own way there ... There won't even be a red line drawn up. IME, if you start at home with WIFI, then routing works, just don't turn off until you get to another WIFI area. Unless things have changed overtime these are IME. Which is why if I ever get a tablet I would get a 3G version. I heard that a few tablets can attach 3G USB sticks but not all ..... Another solution, if you have a cellphone with 3G, like an Android make it a WIFI hotspot, then you can use your tablet to connect to it ... ;) |
Nomad (952) | ||
| 1323853 | 2013-01-20 06:42:00 | Is NZ big enough to get lost in? The places I want to go visit are way off any cell coverage. Even moving to Christchurch none of us used a GPS to get around when we first came here | gary67 (56) | ||
| 1323854 | 2013-01-20 07:33:00 | I find that even if you download the "Offline" map, you don't get Navigation, unless your connected to a Network of some kind, pretty useless like in you situation, where you need a network, and can;t have 3g | SanChippy (16951) | ||
| 1323855 | 2013-01-20 08:18:00 | Is NZ big enough to get lost in? The places I want to go visit are way off any cell coverage. Even moving to Christchurch none of us used a GPS to get around when we first came here LOL a point very well made. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 1323856 | 2013-01-20 10:28:00 | When I was in china I didn't have 3G so I downloaded and offline cached the entire Beijing city map, pretty small actually, only 20mb and it included all the subway lines and stations. The actual mapping data is great but sadly google's maps app cant even search for street names off line or really do anything other than just look at the map like a good old paper one. The only real use for caching is perhaps if you pre searched a route or wanted to try save data, but like I said, the WHOLE Beijing map (covered some 80% of the province) was only 20mb so you wouldn't save much caching anyway :p My advice would be to either purchase a data package (quite useful for all sorts of things, esp once you start using other smartphone functions. I'd say a 50mb package is enough to suit you just for maps) or purchase a GPS app that Caches the maps offline. IMO the google navagation is "the best" esp since it's free. I'd personally prefer to buy data and use it that way but if that's not cost effective or what you want to do then a mapping app is perfectly fine. Just be aware the offline maps will need to be stored on the phone's memory which might be too small. You may need an external SD card. |
The Error Guy (14052) | ||
| 1323857 | 2013-01-20 22:38:00 | I downloaded a few free GPS apps trying to find one that works offline. MapQuest and Navfree seem to be the best two, Navfree downloads offline maps but seems to still need a data connection to search for an address and calculate a route which is a bit annoying. Haven't tried using it on an actual trip as yet. MapQuest is just an alternative to googles navigation but might be worth a look. In any case the default google navigotion app is pretty good and works for me most of the time. It is only a problem if you want to find a new route when out of coverage for 3G. I find the data usage to be very small for what I do (occasional road trips or finding someone's house) |
dugimodo (138) | ||
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