Dedicated GPS or Mobile Phone GPS?

2Tired4

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Do you prefer carrying dedicated GPS device or do you prefer to carry your cell phone that has this function? Please, go into details on this.
 

Bella Rae

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I am not very knowlegeable on this, but I prefer my dedicated GPS. Every time I tried to use my phone for a GPS, I had all kinds of problems. It also drained my phone battery quickly.
 

oldsarge

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I too prefer a dedicated GPS system. A dedicated GPS will have tons of features and abilities for mapping, storing and saving way-points, project way-points, plot routes and a variety of other things. It's water proof and most of them float. I want my phone separate from the GPS so I can keep it packed away and stored until I need it. I don't want the risk of dropping it in water and loosing my communications and navigation.

I have friends who geocache with their phones and don't seem to have to much of an issue. On occasion they will be "ify" on accuracy, slow to acquire and maintain signal. The biggest complaint I heard was battery life.


Don't forget...have a map & compass too, GPS can fail.
 

briansnat

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Dedicated GPS hands down. The GPS is built to handle the rigors of outdoors use. The phone isn't.

Not to mention that the phone batteries die pretty quickly when using the GPS. Then you're stuck out there with no GPS and no phone.

Even if the dedicated GPS's batteries die you can just pop in a fresh set.
 

ejdixon

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I am not very knowlegeable on this, but I prefer my dedicated GPS. Every time I tried to use my phone for a GPS, I had all kinds of problems. It also drained my phone battery quickly.

Same here, especially when it's really difficult to get a signal to begin with.
 

Bojib

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Another vote for dedicated GPS.

The phone is nice for finding the car again in a large parking lot, or geocaching around some urban areas. Once I leave the pavement, I prefer the ruggedness of an actual GPS unit, for reasons mentioned above.
 

Johnny

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No phone can beat the dedicated GPS thingy when it comes to remembering routes, geo-caching and other specially dedicated features. I vote for a hard core GPS device.
 

IndianaHiker

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Dedicated battery life, and durability of the phone is always an issue if out for longer than a day hike. However that being said never go without map and compass and know how to use them.
 

pastywhite

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There are some amazing GPS apps for smartphones these days with features, in many cases, better than dedicated GPS. However, due to battery and signal issues the dedicated GPS units are probably a better choice.
 

Theosus

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Another vote for separate gps. Better battery life, usually better response, your phone can be a backup, and gps units are usually semi-storm proof. A lot of them are more rugged, too. If you stumble and drop your gps onto rocks, or even into a stream (done that) it may survive (mine did). Try that with your droid or iPhone, and the trip just got really expensive. You can find older or used gps units cheaper than new ones if you don't need the latest bells and whistles, some around $50....
 

oldsarge

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Garmin eTrex series can be picked up pretty cheap and they work great for a small limited function GPS. There' several models of eTrex to chose from and the price will go up depending on the functions.
 

Barney

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Garmin eTrex series can be picked up pretty cheap and they work great for a small limited function GPS. There' several models of eTrex to chose from and the price will go up depending on the functions.
eTrex 30 has a lot of functions, as I see, and I can't imagine needing anything more. Although the price is somewhere around $250 to $300, which isn't that cheap.
 

oldsarge

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eTrex 30 has a lot of functions, as I see, and I can't imagine needing anything more. Although the price is somewhere around $250 to $300, which isn't that cheap.
I should have been more specific, I was referring to the older models of the eTrex GPS. An eTrex Lengend H can be picked up for under $100. I know the new ones are more. Geocaching.com has a forum where you came find GPS units for sale. In the Chicago area there is a group called GONIL (geocachers of northeastern Illinois) they have a site online and they too have GPS units for sale quite often. A few years back I picked up a unused eTrex Legend H for $30.
 

state_camper

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Do you prefer carrying dedicated GPS device or do you prefer to carry your cell phone that has this function? Please, go into details on this.
We prefer the dedicated, stand-alone GPS. It's quicker and it has a longer battery life than the cell phone, which we try to reserve for emergency use only.
 

Theosus

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For short distances or day hikes the mobile phone can be interesting. iPhone has an app called motion x GPS. It will send your gps coordinates to facebook, twitter, or an email address at predetermined intervals. Of course, you better be lugging a battery pack, because the iphone gps will kill a battery. of course, you could do the same thing switching the phone on and manually texting your coordinates every hour.
 

oldsarge

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For short distances or day hikes the mobile phone can be interesting. iPhone has an app called motion x GPS. It will send your gps coordinates to facebook, twitter, or an email address at predetermined intervals. Of course, you better be lugging a battery pack, because the iphone gps will kill a battery. of course, you could do the same thing switching the phone on and manually texting your coordinates every hour.
If you're looking to tract your movement, I'd go with the DeLorme PN60 with SPOT capabilities. Or if you just want to keep track of where you've been you can down load the GPS tracks into a mapping program or Google Earth.
 

Theosus

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If you're looking to tract your movement, I'd go with the DeLorme PN60 with SPOT capabilities. Or if you just want to keep track of where you've been you can down load the GPS tracks into a mapping program or Google Earth.
I like the idea of being able to tell others where I am. The pn60 plus spot sounds good but expensive. I'd rather stick with my cheap gps and maybe an inreach.
 

DMan

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While we are on the road we use a dedicated GPS. It's easier to set it to tell us rather than trying to see a tiny phone screen. But I love the GPS feature on my Smart Phone when I'm at home figuring out how to find a certain place in the city, or walking around.
 

Cappy

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Another point to consider is phones work off of cell sites and are often out of range when camping. I am never with out compass and paper maps, But a good GPS is great to have and my constant companion. A map and compas will get ya outa the woods back to the old logging trail ya parked ya jeep on, but they wont tell ya if the jeep is over the hill to the left or the one to the right. Without a gps to tell ya ya parked 1/4 mile to the left you will always with out fail walk a mile to the right before ya figure it out and backtrack.
 
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