Hi, we are heading to Yellowstone and points east

Was planning on using my TomTom device, but then thought - why not use the iPhone (one less device!)

There are several apps - Google, Motion X, TomTom - so I thought I'd start a discussion on the topic.... What is your favorite and why?

Hi CCS,

When it comes to iPhone apps, I'm partial to a free app, Waze. It seems to have the bells and whistles of the paid apps and certainly you can't beat the price. I can only think of two shortcomings and I suspect one of them is something all GPS apps share.

1) The mapset relies on user-generated information so when you're in urban areas, I can't imagine TomTom, Garmin et al besting it in any meaningful way. However, last Fall I was in Cape Breton driving the Cabot Trail and was the first user to have driven that particular route. How well the users in the States have covered the highways and biways, I couldn't say but this is one aspect where TomTom or Garmin would possibly trump for now.

2) Battery life. It can drain a fully-charged iPhone to nothing in about 2 hours or so. So being able to have the unit drawing from vehicle power is a must. This is the aspect I suspect will affect every true GPS app as opposed to ones that use cell tower triangulation.

Another consideration that might weigh against an iPhone as navigator is data download and roaming costs. Personally, I'd say if you already have a GPS device and there's nothing wrong with it, why not use it?

Just my two bits

HTH
u

Utour, thanks for the response. I kinda want to eliminate the GPS on the basis that I already will have the iPod and iPhone and would just kinda like one less device to manage.

But just spit-ballin' here.....

Thanks

I hear you. I hope a few more posters chime in to give you a better cross-section of responses. You might even want to consider re-posting this in the lounge.

HTH
u

I use mapquest. It's free and it gives voice directions as well. Pretty easy to use, although I've never owned a GPS dedicated device, so I can't compare. But I'm pretty happy with it and don't plan on ever buying a GPS. Like you, I like having everything on one device. Oh, and my Iphone has unlimited data usage, so I don't have to worry about that.

We just use the maps function on the iphone and it has worked fine all over the US, including Hawaii.

If you travelling and are afraid to lose your phone, check out the app Where is my Droid, it has a GPS to help you track your phone in case you lose it or it is stolen.

Hi All, just to wrap this topic up - I just used Google Maps on my iPhone, and a big old-fashioned paper map. Google Maps is perfectly adequate; but its nice to have a real map too.

I just used the AAA USA Map; in hindsight, I wish I had brought one of those old-school Rand-McNally atlas books......

Thanks for all your help!

You'll need three compasses just inc case the other two don't work.

I haven't looked into this carefully for about 3 years, but my experience with different apps and brands was that that it may make a difference whether you're using it to navigate on major roads, or whether you're planning to use it for trail hikes and other off-road use. Some brands/apps may be significantly better than others for wilderness areas.