May 2008
Garmin®
Mobile XT;
Using Smartphones for GPS Navigation On-the-fly
I would not go anywhere without my cell phone and now I'm never without GPS navigation. If you are looking for another GPS, consider Garmin Mobile XT running on your Windows Mobile or Symbian phone. You get all the features of a dash-top device, without having to carry anything more than your phone. Plus wireless access gives you traffic, weather and more information while you're on the go. It will even tell you where your friends are and enable you to share your location with them as well. Although there are some drawbacks with using a smartphone to navigate, having it handy can get you out of a jam.
PROs
Free* dynamic content top the list of great features included with Garmin Mobile XT. Free traffic and weather is useful, but the fuel price finder and hotels.com discount locator pays for the software in just a few trips! It's all part of what's called Garmin Online. These free services use you phone's data connection to provide this up-to-date information. I tested to see if the fuel price finder was up-to-date, and indeed it was. While driving the interstate I could see the price per gallon listed for gas stations at the next exit, AND I could see that prices a stations a few miles away were significantly less. I calculated that with these high gas prices, saving even 10% per gallon would easily pay for Garmin Mobil XT in a few months.
Garmin Mobile XT includes advanced navigation features not found on many dash-top devices, most notably, tracks. Garmin Mobile XT can record a track, like a bread crumb trail, so you can see where you've been later. Tracks are useful for retracing your steps or even figuring business mileage! Another advanced feature is the auto-sorting of multiple route destinations. Garmin Mobile XT will compute the most efficient route to take when you have several places to go. How can a pizza delivery guy do without it?
Garmin Mobile XT works when your phone doesn't. Garmin Mobile XT does not require cell phone coverage to work. That means you can still determine your location outside of cell range. Try it geocaching!
In addition to detailed street maps (coverage depends of version purchased), a basic world map is included that shows large bodies of water, political boundaries, and major highways. So you can use Garmin Mobile XT when you are, say, on a Caribbean cruise and you have no need for a car navigation unit, but you'd still like to see where you are at relative to the named islands.
As a GPS data provider, I really appreciate Garmin Mobile's support of
Custom POIs and GPs eXchange files. Did you know that you
can download these files wirelessly from
http://www.travelbygps.com/wireless/search.php
* Garmin provides the data free, but your cell phone service provider may charge you for wireless data transfers.
CONs
Most of the hassles of using Garmin Mobile XT had more to do with my phone's hardware, rather than with Garmin Mobile XT software. The smartphone I use is my trusty HP iPAQ hw6945 running Windows Mobile. I love my smartphone, but I must admit that it even it 2x2" screen is small for displaying maps, and it is difficult to see in daylight. Thank goodness that while navigating a route, Garmin Mobil XT provides turn-by-turn voice prompts.
Another drawback of using my cell phone's built-in GPS is power consumption. The GPS in my iPAQ really drains the batteries. I can only navigate for an hour or two before the batteries get too low to make a phone call. I recommend you use external power whenever possible. And while running on external power remember to disable power saving features of your smartphone. If your phone goes into standby, you will lose the connection to your GPS receiver.
The Windows Mobile operating system did lock up a few times while trying to navigate and use other applications at the same time. Be sure to exit all other applications running in the background that you are not using.
If you encounter significant positional error and your phone is like mine, don't blame Garmin without first checking to see if your "Quick GPS Connection" has been updated recently. Quick GPS Connection is found in Windows Mobile's Settings menu, under the Connections tab.
Garmin Mobile XT is not text-to-speech software and does not speak street names.
Conclusion
If you are considering buying another GPS and you already have a smartphone, I recommend buying Garmin Mobile XT navigation software. I would not use buy it for use as my primary car navigation unit, but having Garmin Mobile XT on trips when all I have is my cell phone has paid for itself.
