Recycling an Android Phone As a Handheld GPS?

imblum writes "So my dad's antique handheld GPS unit just went toes up and I was considering replacing it for him with an old Android Smartphone. All he really needs it for is hunting and camping (no navigation), so I don't want to pay for cell or data service. I found the program Mobile Atlas Creator to download map files onto the SD card, and an app called Maverick Lite to view them. Now all I need is to decide on an Android phone. I was considering a Samsung Behold II ($100-200 on Craigslist), but thought it would be nice to get some input from the Slashdot community. It seems like I can get a lot more functionality for the money out of an old Android than I could from a big name handheld GPS. Does this plan sound reasonable? Is there anything I'm overlooking?"

Comments

A real GPS is better suited for wilderness use

[arifyn]

A real outdoor GPS (not a car-nav unit) will have substantially better battery life and be reasonably waterproof and shockproof. It also probably won't be dependent on a touchscreen that is impossible to operate with gloves or as soon as your hands get wet/cold. It may have a screen that is actually readable outdoors. Many GPS units take standardized (AA) batteries so extended trips without recharging are relatively easy.

An android phone will have a bigger, more colorful screen and a more open/versatile OS, and it will undoubtedly be easier to load whatever maps you want on it, rather than vendor-approved, possibly expensive ones. Without some sort of additional protection, though, the device will break the first time it gets dropped on a rock or rained on. It'd be more suited to city and car navigation than camping and hunting.

old android phone is an oxymoron

[Khashishi]

Android is what, 22 months old?

Re:Battery life might be a concern.

[humblecoder]

As someone who owns an Android phone AND a dedicated GPS, perhaps I can inject something into this conversation:

Another consideration is how well it will hold up under the elements. Even the cheapest Garmin eTrex (which I own BTW) is pretty rugged. I wouldn't trust my Android smartphone out in the woods in the rain, mud, etc. Some other pluses of going the dedicated route:

- Battery life is better on the dedicated GPS, and when it does run down, it takes standard AA's.

- The dedicated GPS seems to have a better "time to first fix" than my Android phone, but that just might be because of the specific model. However, if your one purpose is to do GPS, it makes sense that you would do it better than a multipurpose device.

I do think it would be cool if there was a dedicated GPS that took pictures too. You could use the GPS to geotag the picture and have it as an icon for a waypoint to help remind you what that waypoint is.