Galaxy S wifi 5.0 GPS?

[Dewed]

Does the GPS work very well on the 5.0 without wifi or internet connection? I realize it probably needs preloaded maps. But I just wondered well it works.

Thanks

[Dewed]

:::tap::: :::tap:::

Is this thing on

[iJimaniac]

I would like to know offline gps functionality as well.
Gps would be a big reason for me to buy this.
Not sure if I would buy this if I couldn't use gps in car/bike/hiking.
Are there any apps you can get with downloadable maps for areas?
Please reply to the original poster!!

[BMNB1tch]

It does work as long as the maps are pre-cached. The GPS takes a while to get accurate though, why dont you try for yourself?

[Dewed]

Originally Posted by BMNB1tch

It does work as long as the maps are pre-cached. The GPS takes a while to get accurate though, why dont you try for yourself?

Cause I don't have one yet lol

[iJimaniac]

how much memory does it take to cache something the size of Arizona? I gues I could cache the united states on a designated sd card?

[Dewed]

The ones I've seen are like 1.3 GB for the whole US. CoPilot is one. Sygic is another. Last I knew ... CoPilot let you download individual states. That may have changed though.

[Joe_Linux]

I tried Sygic yesterday, but quickly lost interest in it. It runs the battery down quickly even though the unit is plugged in, and it doesn't say street names, just "turn right or left in 200 yards." Sometimes it tells you to turn right into non existent roads. Also I was out by DIA east of Denver, and it seemed to run out of map so to speak. It lost its way at 120th and Sable. It is in no way equal to the Magellan that I already have in the car.

[Dewed]

Thanks Joe ... I didn't know if Sygic was any good or not. Maybe I won't mess with it then.

[Joe_Linux]

If you have nothing, it's alright, but it doesn't compare to a dedicated GPS unit.

[iJimaniac]

the CoPilot looks interesting, but does anybody know if I would need a internet connection to plan routs and find P.O.I.s?

[simplyletgo]

I've been using my Galaxy S Wifi for GPS navigation for about the last 3 weeks, with both Google Navigation and Osmand. I've been trying to avoid paying for a offline GPS navigation apps like CoPilot.

So far, this is what I've found:

Google Navigation
Allows you to cache a route while you're on wifi, then follow that route when you go offline. It caches enough of the surrounding area so you can get pretty far 'off track' and it will still be able to give you directions. As far as I can tell, right now, there is no way to download full maps for google navigation.
One annoying thing I've found with google navigation is that once you start navigating, it won't let you start other apps (AFAIK). For instance, if you start navigating, then want to start listening to music, it won't let you start the built-in music player. Also, if you're using this method, you have to keep in mind that you need to have cached the route beforehand - so changing your destination mid-route is a no-go.

Osmand
Is open source, and you can download as many maps as you'd like, and use them offline. Osmand has a pretty nice/intuitive interface, but there are a few flaws:
1. The voice guidance package I download seems totally f@#*ed up for me. The voice comes out garbled and incoherent.
2. The maps available for New York are not great.
When you're entering the address to navigate to, it doesn't seem to be able to handle street numbers (AFAIK). Instead, you have to navigate to an intersection. Even then, I've run into instances where it won't recognize an intersection that I KNOW exists. HOWEVER, in situations where it doesn't recognize the intersection you can still navigate to the street (it will just navigate you to whatever point on the street if feels like). This has worked for me for ALMOST all addresses. However, there was one street that was just missing from the map.
3. POI seem to have poor support. I'm not complaining, I understand its open-source, community driven, blah blah blah... but if you get hungry during your trip, don't count on Osmand to get you to a fast food joint.

Both these navigation methods seem to have flaws, but at this point, I've been relatively satisfied with using a combination of these two methods to help get me from point a to point b.

[simplyletgo]

Originally Posted by iJimaniac

how much memory does it take to cache something the size of Arizona? I gues I could cache the united states on a designated sd card?

It will, of course, vary depending upon what map software you're using, but for Osmand, downloading maps/addresses/POI for arizona is ~45MB. New York was ~75MB, and there was a map package labeled 'us-northeast' I downloaded that was ~263MB

Originally Posted by iJimaniac

the CoPilot looks interesting, but does anybody know if I would need a internet connection to plan routs and find P.O.I.s?

It almost positive it lets you do the routing offline - however, I'm not sure about the POI's. It would certainly seem to make sense that they'd let you download POI info if they're letting you download all the maps. Routing algorithms can operate offline for both Osmand and Google navigation , so I'd assume its the same for CoPilot.

[simplyletgo]

Originally Posted by Joe_Linux

I tried Sygic yesterday, but quickly lost interest in it. It runs the battery down quickly even though the unit is plugged in...

For Osmand and Google Nav it also wears the battery down quickly - however, I'm pretty sure this is largely due to the fact that these apps KEEP THE SCREEN ON THE WHOLE TIME. I remedy this by returning to the home screen on long stretches, so that it will turn the screen off, then turn it back on when I'm close to needing direction again.