New Birthday goodies - iPhone GPS related

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Andrew16v

Guest
So, my wife hooked it up! The best shock & water resistant case on the market, and an awesome handlebar mount. I can't wait to test it out! I'll absolutely get on here and let you know how I make out with it! Not only am I going to be using it for my Trailguru App, but also for the Geocaching App. For those of you that don't know what geocaching is, I suggest you check it out! It is highly addicive and goes hand and hand with MTB addiction!

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Trailguru

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Geocaching - the accuracy on the nav screen goes down to 56ft one you start moving, I was sitting on my butt at the computer.

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:D
 

743power

Shop: Bicycle Pro
Shop Keep
thats pretty friggin sweet, but id be too worried about breaking it.

yea, it seems a bit worrisome at first, but its cheaper than a garmin 605 or 705 and about the same price as the 305. Granted, the garmins were designed for this kind of abuse, but I have found the iphone to be quite robust. I'm always paranoid for all my friends with them.
 

brybry57

Member
Great Idea, but you better ride smoother than I do with all that money sitting up there, I suggest mounting on the stem it "sheilds" stuff from impact, thats where most choose to mount the garmins.
Apple rules
 

brybry57

Member
Garmin 305's are 199 free shipping off of ebay refurbished !!!! thats where I got mine with heartrate and cadence but only one mount
 

syadasti

Wet Rag
yea, it seems a bit worrisome at first, but its cheaper than a garmin 605 or 705 and about the same price as the 305. Granted, the garmins were designed for this kind of abuse, but I have found the iphone to be quite robust. I'm always paranoid for all my friends with them.

Unless you have insurance it will cost a lot more if you break it and then you have to take in account the hassle and extra expense of the insurance and shorter battery life to use it for its main purpose, a multimedia phone. The $199/299 pricing is with a sizable subsidy for a new contract or eligible upgrade.

Also stand alone GPS have far better hardware that work better in heavily forested areas - most have SiRFstarIII chipset. A-GPS chipsets on cellphones aren't nearly as good.
 
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Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
they have an app for that.



cool idea, id be afraid of losing it in a water crossing though :p
 
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Andrew16v

Guest
Yeah, they're certianly not cheap. But that mount I got is pretty sturdy and clamps the phone in mechanicaly. The case is a thick plastic inner shell, then it has a thick silicone jacket that wrapps around the whole thing. I have an invisiShield protector on the screen and the case also has an integrated screen protector. I'm not saying it's bullet proof but it's pretty damn protected. The whole case doubles the thickness, and isn't very pocket friendly but its only for when I'm on my bike. If I do flip the bike, it won't be very protected on the handlebars like that. I was thinking about mounting it on my top tube, but the mount won't fit the dia. of the tube, or the stem for that matter. I plan on doing alittle modding to the mounting point, but last night I just wanted to get on there.

As for the accuracy, I'm not guiding missile's. Some of the caches I've found, I've actually been within 3 ft of, that's accurate enough for me. :)
 

jontotman

New Member
That iphone case and mount are so cool! I myself is addicted to my Iphone and trailguru but I think I will just keep my Iphone in my pocket when I ride my bike for now, I'm a little worried that I might break it or loose it. For those who have Iphone I highly recommend the trailguru apps I used it everytime I ride my mountain bike.
Here the sample that I did last Tuesday in Ringwood.
http://www.trailguru.com/wiki/index.php/Track:4EEU?units=imperial
 

syadasti

Wet Rag
As for the accuracy, I'm not guiding missile's. Some of the caches I've found, I've actually been within 3 ft of, that's accurate enough for me. :)

Its not just accuracy, its picking up the signal better in terrain like deep valleys and heavy forest cover. Plus non-swappable/user replaceable battery means you can't use it to do everything if you are heavy user away from a charger (you know like in remote places you'd really need a GPS).
 
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Andrew16v

Guest
Its not just accuracy, its picking up the signal better in terrain like deep valleys and heavy forest cover. Plus non-swappable/user replaceable battery means you can't use it to do everything if you are heavy user away from a charger.

I'm not trying to get into a pissing match here, true my battery isn't replaceable. I can get 4-5 hours of run time and even longer if I turn off the 3g. I'm not riding any marathons so that works for me.

And as far as I can read here and here. . sounds like my BCM4750 (-162 dBm) chipset is more sensitive than your SiRFstarIII (-159dbm)
;)
:hmmm:
 

syadasti

Wet Rag
And as far as I can read here and here. . sounds like my BCM4750 (-162 dBm) chipset is more sensitive than your SiRFstarIII (-159dbm)
;)
:hmmm:

That was a rumor, its false. The 3G uses a PMB 2525 Hammerhead II:

http://www.intomobile.com/2008/07/14/apple-iphone-3g-tear-down-details-chipset-components.html

And in the real world Garmin (and other standalone units) perform better in poor signal areas like the indoors/valley/heavy cover because they have a larger better antenna (GPS performance was biased over smallest possible footprint. The 3G has a lot more to package in a small space - a jack of all trades is a master of none) and there are several versions of the SiRFstarIII which vary in paper specs.
 
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Andrew16v

Guest
Well played, my friend, well played! :wedgie::rofl:

Oh well, I know exactly where you're coming from, in the end it works for me so . . . Amazing how defensive us iphone owners are huh!
 

syadasti

Wet Rag
Well played, my friend, well played! :wedgie::rofl:

Oh well, I know exactly where you're coming from, in the end it works for me so . . . Amazing how defensive us iphone owners are huh!

Its a great jack of all trades but its still a jack of all trades. If its just casual usage, non-dedicated devices work well.

Personally, I only own an aftermarket automotive GPS. I haven't even had a bike computer in at least 10 years. The trail systems are too small in NJ to get really lost and I'm just out there to have fun. I've given up caring how far or fast I've gone.
 
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Andrew16v

Guest
Its a great jack of all trades but its still a jack of all trades. If its just casual usage, non-dedicated devices work well.

Personally, I only own an aftermarket automotive GPS. I haven't even had a bike computer in at least 10 years. The trail systems are too small in NJ to get really lost and I'm just out there to have fun. I've given up caring how far or fast I've gone.

Still seems like a pretty decent chip tho according to the specs. To tell you the truth, I don't know how much I'm gonna track my ride. The novelty will probably run off in about a month going by my proven attention span. But I well deff be using it for geocaching. I have 19 finds so far and I'm totally hooked. Thanks for the enlightenment!

I would like an iPhone but without the $100 a month contract please.
Ebay and jailbreak it, run t-mobile.
 

syadasti

Wet Rag
I would like an iPhone but without the $100 a month contract please.

Not quite but close. Here is the original iphone costs. The new one cost $10/month more for mandatory data plan and does not include any prepaid TXT anymore you must buy a TXT plan for $5-20/month or pay $.20/txt

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So its easily over $1000/year now. Expect the 3G bill to work out to around $90ish a month minimum with taxes.

I pay $45/month with taxes and that includes unlimited email on a free BB Pearl (phone sized rather than PDA sized) w/wifi and UMA. If I made a ton of calls I could add on unlimited UMA calling which works anywhere in the world with WiFi for $10 extra.
 
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gtluke

The Moped
that's insane, if i ever see an iphone person bitching about money or the "economy" i'm going to punch them in the face.
you can almost lease a hyundai for that.
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
you can't say that your pearl is better... the iphone users pay that $50 premium for the programs, the apps, music stuff, the games, the browsing, bigger screen, etc etc...

Don't matter andrew. Your money, do what you want. Enjoy life. I know I don't got one so enjoy your new toy. :D
 
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