Phone mount versus full time GPS

Couple of things Marty, my phone has a couple of options on accuracy. I use the highest accuracy option that takes Satulight data and mobile phone tower data and combines it. Its a proper GPS. The downside is you need a late model waterproof phone that idealy has the dual charging points on the back that does contactless charging and a way to use speakers or earbuds that do sound deadening and transmit the voice commands. I was seconds away from going Tomtom 550 espeacly with the Strathfield Car Radio discounts they were doing, appox $500 way better than the grand they were at a few years back and then I hear the Tomtom doest have a 3.5mm earphone jack. Apparenty to get the sound you need helmet speakers and maybe an Intercom. No ear plugs was a deal braker for me.
 
martymoose said:
Think I'm going TomTom 550 rider, but any opinions?  Phone only works as a gps when you have signal.  Not much signal outside sydney
Click to expand...
I guess you mean mobile data signal? You can preload maps onto a phone though so need for a permanent data signal.
For me, the software itself is very important (though I don't know what's best for me at the mo). I guess with a phone you've got multiple software options but that's not true of a dedicated Tom Tom.

What's the situation with waterproof phones these days? Can they only be charged wirelessly? Any drawbacks?

The big pain with a non-waterproof phone is having to put it in the enclosure and lose a bit of screen clarity/brightness.

I prefer mobiles on the smaller side too and that can make them a bit hard to read/use. Wow - just looking at waterproof tablets, they don't come cheap do they.

It's funny how for some people the ear phone but is so critical. I don't listen to anything on the bike and I probably never will. I actually find it much better to have a good look at "what's next" on the sat nav. It stops me being so much of a robot. Interestingly in the car, because I have to look so far from the road to see the nav and because it's not the best interface I do sometimes have the voice directions on.

Now a feature I'd really like, which may exist, is decent voice recognition. So you can say things like "this road's closed - re-route?" or "take me a faster route" etc 
 
You need to hear the alert tone to be aware of the speed cameras, its easy to miss a turn without voice prompts unless you're constantly staring at the screen.You might as well have a paper map on your tank bag without the sound going.BTW that's in a solid city environment,on country roads with plenty of time between changes of direct yep you could go with no sound.I love my moulded ear buds with wired-in sound, reduces wind noise and music on long boring freeways plus the GPS stuff. I have the Tomtom App on my non-waterproof phone, I have tried the tankbag top and the zip lock bag in the rain, the slightest few drops shut my phone off and the covers get it too hot and it does the same.From what I hear the less cable attachments the better on late model waterproof phones. I just wish the Tomtom 550 had ear plug connection.
 
I use my phone. No problem, no sound, don't need it.

My wife has reverted to a Garmin after having tried a Tom tom.
We both found the routes proposed by the Tom tom uninteresting.

Paul
 
I have a 550 - you have the use an app in your phone or a computer to put in the routes - but the connection to the phone gives live updates on the traffics and recently took me through London when the M 25 was closed  - I miss sorting out the itinerary with a map and the satnav at breakfast building up a route using waypoints - you can still do it but they have made it more difficult but then I am
A system dummy !
 
TomTom burnt themselves into my black book when I tried to install the latest update to my car GPS bizzo. Half way through the new download it said it was full and could go no further, and it had first deleted the previous working version and there was nothing I could do to get it back, pack of assholes imho. I posted about here on the forum. Most people use mobile phone these days, and you can get intercom with speakers that relay voice commands if you want. Otherwise I would get Garmin.
 
I use my phone, waterproof samsung, and co pilot software...dont use sound. Generally works well, but power hungry so you need to be charging it on the go. I dont use it that often..did today on a 200 mile ride in fact, and find one forgets the knack...but the graphics are good, adding waypoints  easy enough. Google maps finds specifics like pubs etc better though.
 
I've been using an el cheapo chinese (oh dear, there's that again...) GPS for a couple of years.  It is neatly hard-wired into the RGS with a permanent bracket.  It has proved itself reliable, shock- and waterproof and costs less than 1/3 of a comparable Garmin or TomTom (guessing they're manufactured in China as well  :D).  Software is by iGo, which I find is quite accurate, stable and quick.  Free online updates available, haven't felt the need for any yet.  Next on the shopping list is a bluetooth compatible helmet so I can do away with the seperate reciever i currently require, so much more comfortable than a cable connection.  I'm dependant on audio output, as ideally, I'd need a 20" screen to recognize anything because of my far-sightedness!

piet
 
Funnily enough I've just made a couple of Tom Tom rain covers (no idea which model) for my neighbour, one for his BMW and one for his mates Yamaha.

So I made one for a Laverda obviously...
 

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I have a Garmin, with speakers and a microphone in my helmet, Garmin and iPhone are connected via Bluetooth to a Senna2. I can take and make calls from my helmet, listen to the Garmin girl telling me where to go. Listen to the bings and bongs of the Garmin if I go too fast, speed limit changes coming up and fixed speed cameras.

I did listen to music via my phone once, but found it annoying..... then again, maybe I shouldn?t have chosen The Best of Nana Mascurri.
 
You can use a phone with downloaded Google maps as someone said above. The GPS signal doesn?t need data. I use that on an old android phone. I have an old android you can have if you want.
 
Stopped using the bitch I mean garmin and went back to the old map method.
Less stressful and doesn't take you pass every fucking big macs or some other site sponsored.
Just my hard lesson's learned opinion
 
Vince said:
...and then I hear the Tomtom doest have a 3.5mm earphone jack. Apparenty to get the sound you need helmet speakers and maybe an Intercom. No ear plugs was a deal braker for me.
Click to expand...

you could use Bluetooth earplugs, no Problem (except that your helmet might cause pressure to them, which will make your ears hurt eventually.

I used an old TomTom Rider II for years with a bluetooth helmet intercom system. No issue whatsoever. Worked very well and I rarely had to look at the device. The only issues it caused was when I planed a trip via Tyre (third party software, working with TomTom Home), sometimes the marks on the route that defined the trip were some meters away from where I passed them  which caused TomTom to ask me to return to the point... Maybe (speaking positively...), this is a sign of how accurate the GPS system works...  :D

I don't know of any issue outside of towns, GPS is a satelite signal - except if you have an older phone that needs internet-connection to connect to the route (or if you use "Maps" from Apple or Google to navigate, which needs an online connection), there is no issue outside town I could imagine that would stop a phone navigation system with downloaded maps to work. It is more likely to lose the GPS signal IN town than outside of town...
 
Some phone issues I have had include the phone turning off after a few hours, that can be for no apparent reason, its overheated when in the tankbag top in hot weather, or from light sprinkling rain as its not waterproof or the battery going flat even when being constantly charged, that tends to overheat it as well. Its bloody frustrating when this happens at critical times. I had some luck when we were heading to the ferry on the tassie trip when the phone saved me missing the boat. And a few days later in Tassie it failed when looking for the accomatation in Hobarts CBD in the rain. I would love a 100% reliable solution but I am still looking
 
I nearly had heaps of accidents juggling street directories on my lap.Rob you would flat out ammased at how Sydney has changed just in the last 2 years. Billions spent on new expressways and tunnels, I get lost so easy and I have lived here all my life. You might remember where Fasiers the Ducati place is, for 15 years you would come off Concord Rd and swing past the bike shop and onto the M4 expressway, one day that stopped with 6 cops writing tickets for those that did just that. Its part of the new access all of a sudden to the Five Dock bypass.There is talk of a Spit Bridge bypass tunnel from there to Cammeray and the Harbour crossings coming out near my place and I bet the way things are it will appear pretty soon. And that's a tiny bit of whats being built, 30 years of nothing and suddenly heaps all over the city
 
There are a lot of sandstone blocks appearing in Callan Park as borders to the grassy areas, presumably to prevent vehicular access in this modern world where cars are sometimes used as weapons. I assume that this new supply is coming from all of the tunnels being dug in Sydney. Some of the underground interchanges being built fill me with dread.

I always used a map in the top of a tankbag for navigation, but learned that it was a bad idea to check it while on the move. Nearly ended up in Growee Gulph once!

Cheers,

bazzee
 
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