Folks, I need some advice. My standalone GPS, a Magellan Triton 400 has seemingly died and before I spend a few hundred bucks for a new unit I'm wondering if I could just rely on my Droid X with a Topo map app such as Locus or Backcounty Navigator.

Questions to me are:

Ruggedness
Battery Life
Screen Size
Ability to pre-load maps
Reception

I'm not usually a fan of multi-function devices but since I can also use the Droid for phone calls, messaging, first aid apps, etc. it might be a viable option.

What do you think?

Are you using the GPS for hiking? For driving navigation, I'd prefer a dedicated device. Navigating by phone works generally, but (1) it can be awkward to operate since the phone isn't designed for that; and (2) the reception may not be as good or as accurate as a dedicated GPS.

Like you, I also worry about putting all my eggs in one basket. If your cell phone fails or run out of juice, you may not know where you are, and you cannot call for help.

Da Bing

The last stand alone GPS unit I purchased cost me around $15. It has a very sensitive SiRF III GPS receiver and a very long battery life.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Navicore-Three-Bluetooth-Including-Charger/dp/B004ZDOR9S

It can be used with a huge array of electronic display/map systems that have a Bluetooth connection. It works with a ruggedised cellular phone (which also has a GPS built into the handset as well so has some redundancy)

Current Cellular handsets have a much higher screen resolution for displaying electronic maps but are not very rugged when compared to standalone GPS electronic mapping display systems of a similar handset size.

I still use a paper map and a compass though as the GPS signal isn't always guaranteed to be available and electronics can fail and batteries die.

A stand alone GPS is useful though if you don't want your handset manufacturer, service provider, government google authorities not knowing where you are.

Andy, I would go with a stand alone GPS. I have a original droid with copilot on it as to store the maps locally on the phone if you lose your signal. No signal/no maps unless you use additional software on the phone. That being said, a standalone rugged GPS will last you a long time, if you have to cross a river or fall off a boat and are swimming, they are waterproof and durable against dropping them but the beauty of them is they store electronic maps of the entire world and they use common batteries and can be ran 100% off of a solar cell.

I can't run my Droid off a cell 100%, the minute I pull my battery out of the phone and boot up, the software of the phone will not allow me to run the phone with no batteries in the unit, my GPS will. Essentially as long as you have a sun you have navigation and if we ever lose all the satellites for the GPS, you still have very good quality maps on you of the entire world.

With the GPS map data base alone, if you are traveling, flying, sailing, or what have you, you are carrying maps on you at all times, not to say I don't carry a compass and paper maps as backup.

The Delorme InReach is due to be released in one month. That device might be a game changer for you. It will work with an Android phone and preliminary reports say that Android users will have access to all Delorme maps.

I love my android phone and have dozens of great GPS driven apps on it to navigate in the town and off the grid. I'm carrying it with me in the field all the time in the quite rugged OtterBox Defender case, as well as several means of charging its battery... However, it's only a backup. The battery life, antenna sensitivity, and overall reliability are not that good to promote it to a primary navigation unit. So, I'd always recommend to go for a dedicated unit. For example Delorme have quite attractive offers for bundles of their PN series units with their excellent PC mapping software. Garmin offers nice handhelds combined with the FRS/GMRS radio...

Guys,

Thanks for the feedback. I use a GPS device mostly for day walks in relatively non-backcountry areas of the mid-Atlantic region. On most trips walking a couple of miles in any direction and I'm crossing a well-traveled road. So the GPS is to keep me from walking in circles or losing track of where I parked the car. I do use paper maps and a compass as well but am still learning that skill.

I have a separate GPS for the car.

I can protect the phone pretty well from the elements and I carry a battery-powered recharging unit (plus I can put the phone in the 'airplane' mode which keeps it from draining the battery looking for a phone signal).

Buying a standalone GPS with a 4" screen is pretty darned expensive. The bigger screen of the Droid X is a help to these old eyes.

I'll take a look at the Delorme product but then I'm still relying on the phone, right?

To be truthful I've not had luck at picking the market winners for GPS devices (ever heard of AVmap, Dash, or Navigon?) and it seems Garmin is using it's market share to keep prices high.

While philosphically I'd rather have a really good standalone GPS, I may stick with Droid, pre-load the maps I'll need, take the backup charger, the Maxpedition holster, the armored case and waterproof bag and hope for the best.

Still...

Well after speaking to Magellan tech support my Triton has been declared permanently dead. They offered me a discount on a new unit as they don't repair out of warranty units. I can get either an Explorist 610 for $270 or a Explorist 510 for $209.

I had been thinking about a new version of the e-Trex 20 for about $190.

For $80 more the 610 has a bigger screen, touch screen menus, a camera, voice recorder, 500MB on board storage (micro SD, as well) and a full set of US 24K topo maps.

Dang it, again I'm tempted to go away from the obvious market leader and buy something that has all the features I wanted but isn't a Garmin.

Suggestions?

IMO, the SiRFstarIII on Explorist is kind of dated chipset already. Isn't it? 20 satellites only. While modern chipsets may support up to 66...

I have a Triton... Any idea what killed yours, Andy?

My android phone (Droid 1) seems to be as accurate as my stand alone GPS (Garmin eTrex legend HCx), its not as sensitive though, dark clouds, trees, buildings will block the signal. It will take longer to get a fix sometimes a few minutes if a cloudy day and can't get a fix at all inside my office building where my Garmin gets a fix in a few seconds and can even get a fix inside buildings.
The Garmin has better battery life, a pair of AA eneloops or lithium can run 18-20 hours where the android phone can maybe run 12 if you don't do too much else but use the GPS.
The phones display is bigger and nicer but is a backlit like a laptop so it washes out in bright sun where the Garmin is a reflective display like a watch so the brighter the sunlight the easier it is to read.

Unless you can plug it in all the time I'd lean toward a real GPS, today's smartphone generally have horrible battery life with their huge colorful displays.

I haven't explored all the uses of GPS, but understand that they're great. I'm more of a purist who's on a tight budget, so I tend to lean towards less technology. I'd prefer to go with map and compass, and get a phone.

Not a clue. I hadn't used it for a long time and am thinking a lower ppower state might have introduced some hiccups. Interestingly tech support was real interested in knowing if I had been upgrading the firmware or uploading maps (I hadn't) which makes me lean toawrds a software rather than hardware problem.

They offered me 40% of MSRP for either of 2 new units since they don't fix out of warranty products. Still mulling that over.

That's a good thought. My usage is mostly for day hikes and I do have backup battery and a solar charger so not normally a big concern. Plus I can turn off the phone features and still have GPS functionality.

But you're right, on a multi-day trip I would want a standalone with replaceable batteries.

This topic is interesting in that the answer is not black & white. There are times when a GPS app in a cell phone will be more than adequate, downtown making decisions on where to have dinner before the movie -- critical issues like that.

For anything backwoods or survival oriented, a stand-alone unit (with or without maps for those who carry paper topo maps) or with full mapping capability for those who don't, is the way to go. My primary is a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx, with both street and topo maps loaded. If it's a planned outting, I'll also have paper maps for the area.

I'm biased though, a Garmin Nuvi on my dashboard, a 60CSx with my gear in the truck and a Geko 301 in my EDC backpack as back-up. But I like knowing where I am and a cell-phone GPS is not for serious navigation.

YMMV

And of course you need sun. My thought was that if I were to get lost for some reason it would more likely be on a cloudy/rainy day rather than a nice sunny day figuring that a unexpected storm would probably a factor in getting lost which seems to be common.
Basically my thought was standalone GPS with replaceable batteries and spare batteries. A whole pack of AA's, rechargeable or not, still costs less than one spare lithium ion or battery pack for a phone or a solar panel and doesn't require sun or loose capacity over time.