Consider a Motorola Defy, while not perfect and there are better phones it does have one feature which no other smartphones offers, that is IP67 certification which means its dust proof and capable of withing standing immersion down to 1m. So if it gets splashed, dunked or dropped into a ice slurry it should continue working fine. Much better for the marine environment imo.
Another good App to get for GPS is Viewranger, but I agree Navionics is better for on the water.
 Gareth27934 wrote:I wonder if the defy floats? If not then it won't be at 1m for long. Anybody got one and want to weigh it and measure it's volume? |
Locally sourced Defy only work on the Telecom network, but Parallel imported ones work on Vodafone or 2 Degrees but not Telecom.
Never really thought about using a normal smartphone with a waterproof case.... but I guess it would allow them to be used more safely. Something like this looks ideal and would allow the use of phones which are better then the Defy.
http://www.paddlerzone.co.nz/products/accessories/bags/aquapac_mini_phone_waterproof_bag
| Gareth27934 wrote: I wonder if the defy floats? If not then it won't be at 1m for long. Anybody got one and want to weigh it and measure it's volume? |
Nah, they seem to sink. So still no good if dropped over the side.
| letsgetem wrote: I wonder - with GPS on a phone - I presume it can tell you the gps co-ordinates where you are. How would you get from there to another spot? (for which you have gps co-ordinates). Related to this - I know that, on a gps chartplotter, you can follow the line on the chart to the new location. but on a tiny phone screen, I cant imagine being able to follow a line on a chart. An alternative, would be to have a compass built in to the gps unit, so it could display the direction to the new spot. Gps handheld units sometimes have a compass - the latest models, more expensive ones. The most expensive, have a 3-axis compass, that shows direction even when tilted off horizontal (pretty much normal in a boat). Using this, you follow the direction indicated by a com[pass arrow, to the new location. |
Smartphones are basically miniature computers, so they should be able to support any software feature which dedicated GPS can... I actually suspect they would offer more features because anyone can write applications for them. The main difference would be the smaller screen on the smartphones, although the screens are larger then on many handheld GPS devices and people manage to navigate with them.
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