Navigation Help Please

[holmes]

I would like to use my Moto Droid as a replacement to my TomTom GPS in my car.

I ordered the Seidio Car Mount Dock the other day & will install it when it comes in.

I have only briefly looked at the navigation part of the Google Maps App that we all have, but it didnt seem to be that user friendly. It wouldnt even navigate me to my house only a few miles away. It kept asking me..."did you mean....this or that" for the ending point. I just typed in my street address as anyone would in a GPS.

Hopefully im missing something.

Is anyone using this as their default car GPS?

Is there other Navigation Apps that are available &/ or perform better?

Does it work differently when it is in the cradle/ mount?

I HAVE removed the "Car Home" app that came stock on the phone.

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated... Thanks

 

[BuckeyeHD]

I would like to use my Moto Droid as a replacement to my TomTom GPS in my car.

I ordered the Seidio Car Mount Dock the other day & will install it when it comes in.

I have only briefly looked at the navigation part of the Google Maps App that we all have, but it didnt seem to be that user friendly. It wouldnt even navigate me to my house only a few miles away. It kept asking me..."did you mean....this or that" for the ending point. I just typed in my street address as anyone would in a GPS.

Hopefully im missing something.

Is anyone using this as their default car GPS?

Is there other Navigation Apps that are available &/ or perform better?

Does it work differently when it is in the cradle/ mount?

I HAVE removed the "Car Home" app that came stock on the phone.

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated... Thanks

First, I would put the car/home app back, it makes it so much easier to use the unit when vehicle mounted. If it is asking you alternates then either you did not type in your address as listed in Google Maps, or it is ambiguous. It should behave just as it does on your PC with regard to your address.

 

[Technoman]

I would like to use my Moto Droid as a replacement to my TomTom GPS in my car.

I ordered the Seidio Car Mount Dock the other day & will install it when it comes in.

I have only briefly looked at the navigation part of the Google Maps App that we all have, but it didnt seem to be that user friendly. It wouldnt even navigate me to my house only a few miles away. It kept asking me..."did you mean....this or that" for the ending point. I just typed in my street address as anyone would in a GPS.

Hopefully im missing something.

Is anyone using this as their default car GPS?

Is there other Navigation Apps that are available &/ or perform better?

Does it work differently when it is in the cradle/ mount?

I HAVE removed the "Car Home" app that came stock on the phone.

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated... Thanks

First, I would put the car/home app back, it makes it so much easier to use the unit when vehicle mounted. If it is asking you alternates then either you did not type in your address as listed in Google Maps, or it is ambiguous. It should behave just as it does on your PC with regard to your address.

Besides that, why wouldn't you just use the VOICE command function? It is pretty darn accurate. I love the Navigation of this phone. It is very accurate in my experience. Make sure that you have GPS enabled so that it is using the GPS satellite versus the AGPS (cell towers).

 

[th9203]

Don't give your Garmin away yet

I have used the Droid and it's navigation in Los Angeles and surrounding area, Fairfield County, Connecticut, along the DelMarVa penninsula and a number of points in between.

The Android Navigation application is NOT ready for prime time. :icon_evil: Yes, I know, use GPS (always) as opposed to cell tower locations. I can give examples of bad directions. The easiest to reproduce is from the Embassy Suites South in El Segundo to the Budget Car Rental near LAX. It knows where the hotel is and it knows where the rental agency is but when it maps from the hotel to Budget it takes you to the Sheaton Hotel on the wrong street two or three blocks away driving right past Budget. This is just one example of many. Given that, it does know highway routes to most places that I have been to if you discount the "business route" detours that it seems to want to take along DelMarVa.

Other than that it is a great phone/PDA/hand held computer. :icon_ banana:

 

[takeshi]

Is anyone using this as their default car GPS?

Yup. No problems so far.

Is there other Navigation Apps that are available &/ or perform better?

There are definitely other nav apps. CoPilot is the only one I can think of off the top of my head but you'd need to buy it.

Does it work differently when it is in the cradle/ mount?

Well, you're not in the car home if it's not in a car mount but that's about it.

First, I would put the car/home app back, it makes it so much easier to use the unit when vehicle mounted. If it is asking you alternates then either you did not type in your address as listed in Google Maps, or it is ambiguous. It should behave just as it does on your PC with regard to your address.

Besides that, why wouldn't you just use the VOICE command function? It is pretty darn accurate. I love the Navigation of this phone. It is very accurate in my experience. Make sure that you have GPS enabled so that it is using the GPS satellite versus the AGPS (cell towers).

+1 -- Car Home and Voice Search are what I mostly use. You can certainly open up Google Maps and get it to navigate but you're making it harder than it needs to be IMO.

 

[LassieGal]

So far I like "Car Home." It's sure better than the awful Magellan GPS unit my husband had. It would tell us that roads that have been there for 20 years didn't exist, take us down dirt roads, etc. I've used Car Home to find a library, a place where we were playing trivia, and had no trouble--got me right there. Plus, once, on the way home from my mother-in-law's, I used the "traffic" layer, which showed us a traffic slowdown was coming at a certain point...and it was completely correct. Could it be it is less accurate in areas where there are fewer repeaters?

 

[Slider46]

I do use the Car Home for navigation and I have to say, it's pretty good. The voice search is very accurate unless there's a lot of background noise. Should be relatively easy to use:

1) Search using voice: "Directions to <Address>, <City>, <State>, <Zip Code>
2) Google Maps lists choices based on known addresses - if you spoke clearly the first choice should be exactly what you searched for
3) Select an address - now google shows you the step-by-step directions in a list format.
4) Choose navigate if you want to start the navigation.

Navigation will continue to run even if you want to make a call.

Two things to note - 1) Navigation drains battery a lot - have a car charger (obviously). 2) Navigation will generate a lot of heat so think about how warm your phone is getting. If it's in the sun or in a heavy case it could overheat rather easily. My temps hovered around 45-48c (113-118f) while in navigation (in the sun) with the shell on. (I used temp monitor)

I have noticed that the maps aren't as up-to-date or accurate as i'd like. A few addresses were off by a couple blocks but the system will get you pretty darn close. Traffic layer seems decent - its hard for a device to keep up with real-time traffic but this does a decent job.

 

[ronhawker]

GPS Navigation Using the Droid

I am using the Droid as a GPS navigator around Arizona and it has been very accurate and easy to use. I am mostly using it on a motorcycle. It works the same in the car. I have been using a Garmin Steetpilot GPS for years and it works better in some instances and has of course more up to date maps.

The 2d map view is ok but you can drive off the map as the map does not move with you except in navigation mode. Mostly useful for map views related to current non-moving maps.The new bicycle path addon is nice.

In the navigation mode is works just like most current GPS units. It moves with you and tracks with a 3d view

that is very easy to see and use. It is missing some of the options that dedicated GPS units have like speed figures like current, average etc. It is a new product and I expect those to come at some point.

I am most impressed by the rerouting which takes place automatically. If you take a wrong turn it will sense it and direct you back to the route OR pick up and route you a different way that takes in your current location. I tried to get it lost by taking wrong turns and it tried to get me back on the original route several times with u-turns but eventually rerouted from my current position. It also will offer and reroute mode as well when off the route.

You also have the option to view the suggested route on the map before you go to see what it came up with. What is currently missing in this is what Garmin has to adjust the route by click and drag. Again I expect they will add this down the line.

One draw back for bikes is the touch screen is not too glove friendly like the TomTom or Zumo. But I am willing

to put up with that for hundreds of dollars difference in the Droid and all the other things the Droid DOES. It's

not weather proof of course but I ziplock bag will solve most of that issue.

By-the-way, the navigation mode does not interfere with the music player. I can listen to the music while in navigation mode and take phone calls or dial out. Excellent! I have the Droid Bluetooth connected to a Chatterbox XBi bluetooth stero sound and intercom helmet system and it works really well. Same as my Blackberry curve did before the Droid.

I purchased the Verizon car mount kit that also comes with a snap on case. This is the deluxe version of their windshield mount with the case. I mounted the car mount on the tank in front of my tank bag similar to where I had the Garmin mounted.It is secured my the tank bag straps that go around the steering head. It puts the Droid up where it appears just below the speedomter in my field of vision. It is powered by a car charger that plugs into a Powerlet wire set that is installed in my tank and connected to the battery through a fused connector.

The hard shell case included in the deluxe kit is very well made. It has a removable mount piece that goes on the rear case. I found the best option is to only put the rear case on when using it on the mount. Otherwise I take that off so that it fits in my holster case on my belt.

It did find an interesting problem with using the car charger. It is polarity sensitive. If you reverse the positive and negative leads on the battery link it will kill the car charger. What it kills is the 2A/250V fuse in the charger. The fuse is sodered into the circuit in the charger but is easily replaced. The Verizon charger comes apart easily so you can fix it.