For some reason I keep getting asked for my opinion on the best cellphone GPS system in South Africa. Well here it is…
Now, apart from the fact that I specialise mainly in handheld/mobile (stand alone) GPS systems in general and Garmin GPS systems in particular, the cellphone handset market is an absolute nightmare to try and keep abreast of. What with continual industry changes and all the new handsets that appear on the market on an almost daily basis, I really pity those that actually have to try and keep up. So I hope you will all understand if I simply refer you instead, to your local cellphone dealer with your cellphone/GPS related queries.
I can however, say that depending on your application and what you are looking for in a GPS navigation system, a “built-in” GPS solution on your cellphone/PDA is very rarely the best solution. What I mean by this is: Always remember that when you purchase a cellphone or a PDA with a built-in GPS, it is exactly that… a cellphone or PDA first and foremost and the GPS functionality of the device is a secondary function that will never be quite as good as having a dedicated GPS unit. Think of it as an afterthought (or as one of those “value added extras” if you will – which, by the way, never actually seem to add as much value as you thought they would).
You will probably also find that your GPS related queries will produce many a blank face, shrugged shoulders or, even worse, incorrect information from your local cellphone dealer. This should raise big red flags and tell you something about how they view the importance of this particular feature of their phones. Or, even if they rave about the GPS capabilities of the phone but can’t tell you exactly (in layman’s terms) how the GPS works and give you a detailed description of how accurate and comprehensive the maps are – then Buyer Beware!
If you are buying the phone for the phone’s sake anyway, and are happy just having the GPS functionality as a “value added extra”, then there are a few things to be aware of – Be very careful of what maps are included in your bundle. Just like the various GPS brands, each cellphone brand will have their own maps (possibly not of SA though – remember that these are European and US companies that we are dealing with and they sometimes see SA as too small a market to spend lots of money producing decent maps for us) and, you cannot swap and mix maps between brands as they all use proprietary data formats.
Also check to see what the availability of updates to those maps is like. How often do they come out and how much do you have to pay. Most important however (if they in fact do have SA maps) would be the coverage and accuracy of those maps.
Also do your homework on both your cellphone handset’s ability to run the GPS function without affecting your phone capabilities as well as your network providers’ ability to provide certain features that may be advertised with the GPS. A quick search for “N95” on the HelloPeter.com website for example will give you a good idea of the hassles that many South African users are having with the latest, greatest “must have” Nokia N95. I have personally heard from quite a few people experiencing problems with this handset. In saying that however, again remember that each person has different needs and what works for one person, may not work for another.
So in conclusion, if you are looking for a decent GPS system, I would always advise purchasing a dedicated unit for the purpose. If you simply want a “toy” GPS built in to your phone – do your homework on the phone handset first (and preferably with a cellphone expert, not a GPS expert).
I would really be interested in your point of view on this so please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
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