Looking for a GPS

If you have a phone you can tether to, I'd recommend an Android tablet.
I haven't used a GPS (either standalone or an app) that's better than Google Maps.
The only downside is that you require an internet connection.

Live traffic and live rerouting alone is worth the little bit of data it consumes.

Get one of those cheap lumia 620s and load up the Nokia maps. Also doubles as a music player/back up phone.

Alternatively you could tether a tablet to your smartphone and use Google maps.

Get an Android phone and install 'Here' GPS software for free. It works offline so you don't need an internet connection.

mystery wrote: ↑Get an Android phone and install 'Here' GPS software for free. It works offline so you don't need an internet connection.

I still can't figure out why that doesn't work for tablets....

death_hawk wrote: ↑I still can't figure out why that doesn't work for tablets....

What? I use it on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 just fine.

Years ago, I bought a garmin nuvi 260 for the car. Thinking it would work while walking in the streets, it did not. It cannot hold power unless plugged into a power source.
While travelling on foot or by car, I use Sygic maps on my phone Galaxy S3 and small tablet, Tab 3.0. Works very well.

BobSagget wrote: ↑What? I use it on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 just fine.

Oh weird. I can't get it working on any of my Nexus tablets (7, 7v2, 9)

I use tomtom on galaxy core and s3 both

Very good experience. .. blue tooth directions and always updated maps. $30 year.

A dedicated GPS is best for driving, but a phone app like Nokia Here is ok. There are several problems with using your phone though: you need a proper mount to keep it visible in your line of sight, and you need external power because keeping the screen on constantly drains the phone battery fast. The maps will take up a lot of your phone memory. I prefer to use my TomTom GPS if I have it with me in the car because it's better suited to the task. Garmin is also good, but having compared Garmin and TomTom side by side on an extended trip, I slightly prefer the TomTom.

You definitely don't want something that depends on an internet connection unless you enjoy paying a lot for mobile data. Nokia Here can be set to operate reliably offline. The TomTom Go app for Android can also be set to operate offline, but it occasionally sneaks in big bursts of data use when you start it up or change routes. Google Maps can download selected map segments for offline navigation, but it can't calculate a route without an internet connection.

Thank you everyone for their suggestions! If you have more, keep them coming!

I've never heard of 'HERE' so I guess i'll try it out for now but seems like there's no turn-by-turn navigation unless you have data/internet connection (I have minimal data so I prefer to reduce my data usage). I don't want to be constantly looking on my phone looking for scrolling the map while cops are looking through door windows trying to catch ppl on their phones.

How does tablet and garmin/tomtom compare/different?

JamesA1 wrote: ↑you need a proper mount to keep it visible in your line of sight

Outside of initial routing I rarely need to look at my screen.

you need external power because keeping the screen on constantly drains the phone battery fast.

While it's nice to have external power, it's not mandatory. I GPS everywhere and I still have decent battery life left.
Besides... who doesn't have a car charger in their cars nowadays?

The maps will take up a lot of your phone memory.

Google Maps takes up squat (relatively speaking).
Offline maps do take up some space though.

You definitely don't want something that depends on an internet connection unless you enjoy paying a lot for mobile data.

Unless you're on a terrible phone plan, I disagree. I use maybe 100MB/month on Google Maps and it's WELL worth it.

death_hawk wrote: ↑Unless you're on a terrible phone plan, I disagree. I use maybe 100MB/month on Google Maps and it's WELL worth it.

I think Google Maps uses about 5MB of data per hour of driving, so it depends on how much navigation you use. When on vacation I usually burn a lot more data, around 25MB+ per day on navigation, only because everywhere I go I have Google Maps running.

In my experience using Google maps, I have never being led to a wrong location, and the rerouting aroudlbd detours etc is super accurate.

Our standalone GPS on the other hand tends to route us to weird alternate routes and even suggested wrong routes.

6o4_dc wrote: ↑Thank you everyone for their suggestions! If you have more, keep them coming!

I've never heard of 'HERE' so I guess i'll try it out for now but seems like there's no turn-by-turn navigation unless you have data/internet connection (I have minimal data so I prefer to reduce my data usage). I don't want to be constantly looking on my phone looking for scrolling the map while cops are looking through door windows trying to catch ppl on their phones.

How does tablet and garmin/tomtom compare/different?

'Here' has turn by turn navigation in off-line mode. It just doesn't speak street names. For that and a better graphical experience, try Sygic, which is free for 7 days and then you pay for premium features.

mystery wrote: ↑'Here' has turn by turn navigation in off-line mode. It just doesn't speak street names. For that and a better graphical experience, try Sygic, which is free for 7 days and then you pay for premium features.

Yes, it does speak street names. If you are not hearing street names it's because of the voice navigation you've chosen. If you set it to use a robotic voice (instead of spoken) it will give you turn-by-turn navigation with street names in offline mode.

We don't use a mount. We just turn the volume up on the phone so it's loud enough to hear the voice navigation system. Start the route and then put the phone down.

BobSagget wrote: ↑Yes, it does speak street names. If you are not hearing street names it's because of the voice navigation you've chosen. If you set it to use a robotic voice (instead of spoken) it will give you turn-by-turn navigation with street names in offline mode.

We don't use a mount. We just turn the volume up on the phone so it's loud enough to hear the voice navigation system. Start the route and then put the phone down.

Would you please walk through step by step how to get the street names spoken?

I have gone into Settings, Voice Options, and chosen English (UK) Female.

Is there a specific voice or voices to choose?

Thanks!

l69norm wrote: ↑I've been burned a couple of times with Google maps. For example, a Costco store in Utica NY (never existed), an address in Oakville at Dundas/Neyagawa shows as being Dundas/ Trafalgar. To Google's favour, a reported a map error gets fixed within a couple of days

I've had a few issues with Google Maps but I've had FAR more issues with other navigation products.
For me, accuracy with Google maps is far higher.

coolspot wrote: ↑I think Google Maps uses about 5MB of data per hour of driving, so it depends on how much navigation you use. When on vacation I usually burn a lot more data, around 25MB+ per day on navigation, only because everywhere I go I have Google Maps running.

I haven't clocked it lately but last I looked over a month I used about 100MB. That varies from a quick trip to the store (yes I GPS that) to a full days driving because for some reason it's a good idea for me to go to Vancouver and Langley.
I'll check it again next time I'm near my tablet. Things certainly could have changed since now there's more traffic and live rerouting.

mystery wrote: ↑Would you please walk through step by step how to get the street names spoken?

I have gone into Settings, Voice Options, and chosen English (UK) Female.

Is there a specific voice or voices to choose?

Thanks!

Hmm, you might be right that it doesn't announce street names. That seems to be unique to HERE for Android.

I mainly use HERE on my Lumia phone(windows) and it definitely announces the street. You just go into the voice options and it shows you like "English (UK) - Announce street names".

In the android version I seem to only seem English US/UK and hi fi version.

I wonder why they didn't include it for Android?