Smartphone GPS VS. Actual GPS

[etotan]

Hi I'm new here. I'm planninng to buy a samsung Omina pro phone so that I can use it as a GPS as well. I want to know if theres and advantage and disadvantage on using a smartphone as navigator compared to the actual navigator like NUVI. Or is it better to buy a NUVI? The cost for garmin XT is $99.00 its a little expensive. Baka sayang lang pera ko pag pangit performance sa smartphone.

[hbt]

Hi I'm new here. I'm planninng to buy a samsung Omina pro phone so that I can use it as a GPS as well. I want to know if theres and advantage and disadvantage on using a smartphone as navigator compared to the actual navigator like NUVI. Or is it better to buy a NUVI? The cost for garmin XT is $99.00 its a little expensive. Baka sayang lang pera ko pag pangit performance sa smartphone.

i'd go for nuvi. nothing beats a dedicated GPSr

nuvi 205w cost about $90 in the states and it comes with free leather case and screen protector

smartphone sometimes hangs if somebody calls while navigating. and also smartphone battery drain easily while navigating

theres a topic about these thing here somewhere, maybe you could look it up

good day and God Bless

[doki]

i agree with kuya hbt. response of nuvi is much faster than my omnia. example is my nuvi indicates that i am on top of a river while my omnia is indicating that i am approaching the river.
also you cannot record 1-sec track with omnia gm xt while my nuvi 255w can record 1-sec track.
although omnia has also its advantages. you can view poi's while navigating using omnia gmxt, on the other hand i can't view poi's on my nuvi while navigating (although i've read from posts that asian made nuvi's show's poi's while navigating). another advantage of omnia gmxt is its graphic display (very clear and nice to look at, but smaller screen compared to nuvi).
so if you are more for performance and accuracy, get a nuvi. but if you are more interested in the graphics, color, etc, then use gmxt for omnia.

[Roadguide2000]

Hi I'm new here. I'm planninng to buy a samsung Omina pro phone so that I can use it as a GPS as well. I want to know if theres and advantage and disadvantage on using a smartphone as navigator compared to the actual navigator like NUVI. Or is it better to buy a NUVI? The cost for garmin XT is $99.00 its a little expensive. Baka sayang lang pera ko pag pangit performance sa smartphone.

Hitting two birds in one stone is seldom true.

It depends on the level of tracking you intend to do. If it's for mapping it's better to have a standalone GPS which has a complete functionality. If you will use it only once in a while to find where you are, a smart phone with built in GPS is enough.

You must choose which bird you want to shoot and let the other one fly.

[B2Bomber]

Hi I'm new here. I'm planninng to buy a samsung Omina pro phone so that I can use it as a GPS as well. I want to know if theres and advantage and disadvantage on using a smartphone as navigator compared to the actual navigator like NUVI. Or is it better to buy a NUVI? The cost for garmin XT is $99.00 its a little expensive. Baka sayang lang pera ko pag pangit performance sa smartphone.

as mentioned previously by others - ask yourself what you intend to do? and since they've already ellaborated on that one, let me just add the following.

Smartphone with Built-in GPS:
Advantage:
-less gadget to lug around
-could actually end up cheaper (will only become more expensive if you opt for the highest end gpsr unit and the highest end phone)
Disadvantage:
-once your battery runs flat - you've got "two" devices that are out already.
-accuracy can be iffy
-next time you change you intend to change your phone, you either try to move your card to your newer GPS phone (if you still want the same setup) else you lose your GPS gadget as well... worst part is if you lose your phone.

dedicated GPSr:
Advantage:
-better accuracy
-purpose-built
-you don't need to lose your GPS navigation capability once you feel like changing to the latest phone

Disadvantage:
-one more gadget to lug around

To help you better, add this to your "what's my purpose" question.

Are you buying a new phone because you need a new phone? or are you buying a new phone because you want to use GPS and are just justifying your GPS-related purchase by getting a phone-based GPSr?

If you're concerned with budget or are allowing yourself to only get 1 gadget on your next purchase, stick to your old phone if it's still ok, and get a GPSr (if you only truly need it as you think) else buy the gadget first that you'll need the most. The save up for the less necessary gadget. I believe you can still contribute to the community even with a GPSr for the time being anyway.

.02

[jetro]

like what the others said. for heavy usage or for when you 'need to totally rely on a gps to get to a place' nothing beats a dedicated gps.

but it is also good to have both:
- dedicated gps stays in the car (in the compartment of course, don't display it) so whenever you need to go somewhere its there at your service.
- a mobile gps installed in your mobile phone. for those times when you need a gps out of the blue, you always have your mobile phone with you right?

it makes sense to me that way, and that is my current setup.

[oj88]

I have both, but my phone isn't as reliable running GMXT compared to the Nuvi.

[dang1]

Google Maps, which I use all the time, shows traffic info and is pretty fast on my Omnia i910, but no turn-by-turn. Waze has traffic info and turn-by-turn, but runs slower than Google Maps. I also use Bing Maps sometimes. For commuting, I have to have traffic info but I don't need turn-by-turn- but then again, I never got the hang of turn-by-turn. When I know I'll be out of cell coverage, that's when I bring my Vista HC with me.

[LR-7]

Hi I'm new here. I'm planninng to buy a samsung Omina pro phone so that I can use it as a GPS as well. I want to know if theres and advantage and disadvantage on using a smartphone as navigator compared to the actual navigator like NUVI. Or is it better to buy a NUVI? The cost for garmin XT is $99.00 its a little expensive. Baka sayang lang pera ko pag pangit performance sa smartphone.

I use both the Nuvi and an Omnia II running Garmin Mobile XT. But I seem to rely mostly on my Omnia as I always have it with me. Other perks I enjoy is the ability to run other GPS applications like Navicomputer which gives you a very nice compass and the ability to download offline maps which Google maps can't offer. You can also do GPS tags on pictures you have taken and post it and instantly friends can see where and when the pictures were taken.

It is always best to test or play with the device. If you have a friend who owns either of the two play around with it to get a feel for what suits your needs.