First time using a GPS

[UmroAyyar]

$0 it has nothing to do with the cell company. 

Hmmm, maybe it's just your phone.  Garmin says they can download GPS maps onto my Pearl 8100 but I still have to have Rogers make it work.
I know that there are two kinds of Nokia N95 smart phones.  One is like a self contain GPS as in the ones you buy for your car.  It works all by itself using the satelites, but the other need a cell company to make it work.  The stand alone one is almost a thousand bucks, while the others are in the $400.00 range.

I use the N95-3 with a memory slot available and use Garmin Mobile XT on it. Your Blackberry Pearl 8100 doesn't have a built in GPS. You'll have to use a setup like Wing.

N95 has 4 different generations in the market right now. There are two North American market versions.
N95-3 (slot for micrSD card, I use 8gb) and N95-4 (built in 8GB memory). I bought it from Tigerdirect for about $500 and nothing is locked on it. You can use TomTom Navigator or Garmin Mobile XT software on it, the built in GPS works perfectly. No subscription charges since its not using Cellular phone companies' services.

Nokia has its own maps on it, but you need continous data connection to use its navigation. Google Maps works on a Blackberry's internal GPS too, but no routing or voice prompts.

I prefer not to look at the maps on the screen while driving, rather hear and make up my mind whether I want to use that road.

[loser40]

Hi...

21Rouge -

I'm not sure of the cost of buying TomTom Navigator in Canada, but in the UK it cost me £29.95 ($60 CAN). from their online website for the entire maps of Western Europe !

For that cost I got the TomTom program and 1 year of free updates.

I can buy the Canadian map for £19.95 ($40 CAN).

My HTC Kaiser has great graphics and audible instructions when I use the TomTom.

BTW - Here in Europe TomTom is considered to be THE best sat-nav system you can buy.

Using the TomTom on my mobile does incur a cost on my Vodafone £25 ($50 CAN) tariff but it's incredibly low... it works out at 1 pence (2 cents) an HOUR for the data transfer.  I only have to pay this cost when I am actually using the TomTom Navigator software via the GPS network.

If your HTC has a loud speaker you will also get to hear the audio sat-nav directions.

I don't know if your mobile does or does not have built in GPS... but I strongly advise that you check out the excellent website http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php - this site is dedicated to everything HTC, and the forums contain all the info you'll need to know regarding TomTom use.

If you do need to get a GPS unit, if I were you, Id explore getting a conventional plug-in GPS unit rather than the BlueTooth version - apparently the performance is much better.

HTH,

M.

[21Rouge]

I am currently trying out two dedicated GPS units:

• Magellan 4250 (big screen, text to speech, blue tooth) (on sale at Costco for $249)
• TomTom XL 330S ($299 at Future Shop)

[sandie]

I too am directionaly handicapped! lol  The Garmin Nuvi 250 is amazing.   We use it all the time, the only negative is that it doesn't have new subdivisions.  One positive is that if you miss a turn it will recalculate and retrieve a new route.  Recently when returning from the U.S.A, we discovered that the QEW Toronto all lanes were closed-- it was able to tell us this info.

Hope this helps your family make the right decision.

[tpl]

I too am directionaly handicapped! lol  The Garmin Nuvi 250 is amazing.   We use it all the time, the only negative is that it doesn't have new subdivisions.  One positive is that if you miss a turn it will recalculate and retrieve a new route.  Recently when returning from the U.S.A, we discovered that the QEW Toronto all lanes were closed-- it was able to tell us this info.

Hope this helps your family make the right decision.

How did a passive device manage to discover that the QEW was closed?   Does yours have a traffic receiver?

[airbalancer]

I too am directionaly handicapped! lol  The Garmin Nuvi 250 is amazing.   We use it all the time, the only negative is that it doesn't have new subdivisions.  One positive is that if you miss a turn it will recalculate and retrieve a new route.  Recently when returning from the U.S.A, we discovered that the QEW Toronto all lanes were closed-- it was able to tell us this info.

Hope this helps your family make the right decision.

You can get an upgrade for the maps on their website, cost $69