Best Cellphone GPS Solution in SA?
For some reason I keep getting asked for my opinion on the best cellphone GPS system in South Africa. Now, apart from the fact that I tend to “specialise” 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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Sensible guidance. I am now searching for a new phone and for various reasons it will be on the level where GPS is listed near the bottom of the features list. I have never had either a PDA, smartphone, or dedicated GPS but your advice aligns with my general experience of electronic gadgets.
By looking coldly at the really necessary cell phone functions (and by visiting Vodaworld!) I was able to identify a handset which is R2600 cheaper than the one which the shop assistants initially told me was the cheapest solution. The saving is the price of a small GPS unit.
The cheaper cell phone unit also nominally has GPS but I now accept that any useful benefits from that feature would be a pure bonus.
The GPS from the expensive one would cost R1000 pa.
Hi,
I would like to reiterate by saying that Cellphone/GPS hybrids are actually useful. Secondly, the maps are not really an issue.
I use a Nokia E71 with built in GPS, it works beautifully for me wherever I have travelled (Middle East, South Africa, East Africa, USA, etc).
I installed Garmin Mobile XT, and can therefore load any Garmin maps on the Nokia E71, making your mention of updated maps on the cellphone irrelevant. It is also possible to install TomTom or other 3rd party software.
In summary therefore, in these days of convergence, It is absolutely pointless to carry a GPS unit, cellphone, PDA, MP3 player, digital camera, video camera, TV and laptop with you, when all these can be achieved by carrying one converged device.
There are cons of course, like scren size, etc but hey, the pros far outweigh the cons.
Hi Ernest
I would like to agree with you on the convergence aspect and if you could point me in the direction of a cellphone handset, that handles all the functions of all the devices that you listed equally well, I would probably rush out and buy it this afternoon
Unfortunately what we tend to find is that most cellphone handsets perform one or two tasks really well and, although they may have all the other features built-in, the rest of those features offer standard and often even sub-standard performance.
Of course, if the GPS is not something you would use on a regular basis then it’s not a problem. But when you’re a business rep who is on the road and using a GPS for most of the day, a dedicated touch-screen GPS unit would be a lot easier and better to use than fiddling around with your cellphone every 10 minutes or so.
The same applies to the outdoors type who requires their handheld GPS to be rugged and even waterproof for their weekend forays into the bush.
As a last point, the small screen size that you mentioned as a “con” is a big sticking point for a lot of folks.
I dont know what your experience is with cell phone GPS but I have a very good experience.
I dont know why I bought Garmin 205W a couple of days ago. I had to return it to Makro. Thanks they refunded me the whole money. The difference I experienced with Garmin and Nokia E71 is as follows:
- In Nokia the screen is small but it shows name of every street in the screen, whereas in Garmin it doesnot show the name of some of the streets in the screen.
- Very inaccurate map specially for Eastern Cape province. E71 has better maps and shows accurate maps even on gravel.
- Garmin doesnot show when the freeways seperately, whereas E71 does show when and where is freeways.
- Voice guaidance is much more convenient in Noakia to follow than in Garmin.
So you can deicide which one is better.