On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 17:28:50 +0200
"Oliver Eichler" <[email protected]> wrote:
> The Motorola Defy is told to be a nice device. However I doubt it's GPS
> receiver compares with a unit like the GPSMap62s. There is just a physical
> difference between a nice external quadhelix antenna compared to a patch
> antenna between a screen, a circuit board and a screen. Additional the
> battery time for a smartphone is poor compared to a dedicated outdoor GPS.
I own a Motorola Defy and a Garmin etrex H. So I think I am qualified
to talk about this.
Yes. The Gamin has a better antena and is more sensitive. But the
difference is surprisingly small. I'd say: In normal use you will not
see a real difference between the Garmin and the Defy. Even under bad
conditions like in a narrow valley under trees. Sometimes the Defy
looses its fix, sometimes the Garmin looses its fix. Also keep in mind
that you can connect a Bluetooth GPS "mouse" to the Defy.
An "external" quad helix antena is not necessarily better then e.g. an
internal patch antenna. Both antena types can have comparable gain and
characteristics. I found it to be more important to adjust the prefered
direction of the antena skywards. I.e. carry the etrex H with the
display towards the sky and don't cary it on your belt etc. Carry it
e.g. on the top of your backpack so that your body doesn't shadow the
sky.
The Garmins are more robust then the Defy. But the Defy is waterproof
too and smaler. I take it as an advantage that the battery of the Defy
is inherently rechargable. I'd need an extra charger and rechargable
batteries for the Garmins. But _good_ chargers and batteries are
expensive. I don't do long hiking trips. So recharging the Defy in the
evening is no problem.
The display of the Defy has 271 dpi. Thus it can display maps very
detailed and very crisp. Though, the transflective LCD of the Garmins
has its merits in direct, full sun light.
I found two good mapping apps for Android: Oruxmaps and Osmand. Both
can work with offline maps. Osmand has a really nice on the fly
renderer for OSM vector (offline) data. No raster map tile leaching!
You can import and export GPX data from Oruxmaps and Osmand to
Qlandkartegt or Viking at your choice.
In the end the Defy was cheaper then a Garmin Oregon yet more
versatile. So I went with the Defy. Also note that I explicitely wanted
a device that can easily work with OSM data as I am a OSM mapper. An
Android based device offers much more flexibility in this realm.
--
\end{Jochen}
\ref{http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/}
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Live Security Virtual Conference
Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and
threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions
will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware
threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/
_______________________________________________
Qlandkartegt-users mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/qlandkartegt-users
