Nokia 6760 Slide Phone + GPS

[Kiwi Cruiser]

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A necessary evil, a modern mobile phone can do all sorts of things undreamed a few short years ago! Remember the 1st Motorola "brick" phones? Recently, my lust for a new phone overcame budgetary sensibilities... I've long envied FL's Nokia E-series phone and Moto-Rex's i-Phone, both with the qwerty keyboard. I use a phone more for SMS messages than phone calls, and a decent keyboard and screen are priorities. Whilst browsing the phone stalls and checking to see if Nokia E-series prices had dropped enough to be a bargain, I spotted the Nokia 6760... Previously horrendously expensive, slide phones are cool coz the keys are big enough for a fat-fingered guy to use comfortably.

I'd also been interested in the N95 with GPS but under no circumstances am I ever going to pay more for a phone than I paid for my computer workstation!!!

So... here I am, leaning on the counter admiring the E63 and the E72 etc... and the 6760 catches my eye...


I point and ask "Tao rai, na kup?" The lovely stall keeper responds "Jet pan hok roi, na ka..." Damn - that's only 700 baht more than the E63... I look at it closely - damn, this little sucker has GPS as well

"Ok, kup" and out comes the wallet! An impending trip indicated the likelihood of GPS functionality being useful in the immediate future...



How it Works
The phone uses Nokia's mapping system, accessible at http://maps.ovi.com - Individual country maps can be downloaded into the phone (60mb for Thailand) and you can create "Routes" in maps.ovi.com and the Ovi Suite software supplied allows you to connect the phone and synchronise the Favourites (routes, places etc.) Establishing your current position is fast and accurate - the damn thing is remarkable in its ability to find a satellite, even indoors!

How WELL Does It Work
Personally, I like a hard copy map when on a trip because it allows you a far "bigger picture" than a 2.7 inch LCD on a GPS does... Considering alternate routes is easier with a big map... That said, there are times when you have only a vague idea of your precise location, and knowing there''s a need to turn off onto a short-cut etc, its nice to know how far away that is... Sometimes you get completely misplaced... and have no idea where you are at all.... let alone where the nearest village / gas station might be! That's where the GPS in the phone comes in VERY handy indeed!!!

Compared to a "real" single-purpose GPS, the 6760 is a poor substitute because;
- its limited in terms of data that can be loaded
- its not readily mountable to the handlebars
- it consumes a lot of power in GPS mode
- access to advanced "routing" services is not free - you get 10 days access when you buy the phone, but have to pay after that expires

Compared to an "ordinary" phone, the 6760 is bloody brilliant!!!

Price: 7,600 THB
Source: Phone shop, ground floor Big C, Chiang Rai. (widely available, price varies)

[sinclair1969]

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Thanks for this good cellphone review, it was helpful to me as I am in a similar situation, I have to select a new cellphone.

[backdoorphil]

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Ben,

I would be interested to know the results of testing the GPS somewhere you don't have cell phone signal.

A lot of these phones don't actually have a GPS, what they do is triangulate cell phone tower signals, to get their position. It would be interesting to see if it is actually a GPS.

I was told that's what the N95 does, but I have no personal experience with this.

[Kiwi Cruiser]

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Some research explains that is assisted GPS (A-GPS) - its got a GPS chipset, augmented by cellphone tower location data - see full explanation here;
http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/a-gps.html

[franks]

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I am thinking about getting a phone with location search and GPS functionality because I suppose such a phone is the ideal device for bike road trips. I take a phone with me anyway, so it would be a treat if cell phone and GPS are combinded. I am a fan of Nokia cell phones so the 6760 presented here is an option but I have also heard that the iPhone has some really good GPS apps. I will have to do some research to see what the market has to offer.

[jethro69]

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I'm using quite a lot the Nokia Maps, first on a N78, and now on a N97. But most trips I did in a 4WD. The last two days I used the N97 on my bike, not very professional. The phone in my jacket and the earphones in the helmet, so I could only listen to the directions.

On the high end smart phones Nokia (including N97) decided to give the navigation licenses for free, before I paid around 500THB for one month navigation, but pricing may have changed.

For the maps themselves, more often than not I ended somewhere in a dead end dirt road, where you could not even pass by feet. Another problem is that the GPS signal is not always very accurate, that means if you're driving on a main road and the GPS signal is let's say 50m beside, as soon you come across a small soi, it starts with wrong directions. At the end I got used to it.
Another issue is when planning a route, it's best to move you're road points far from any intersections, to give it some time to calculate the new route. Routes are only calculated from point to point.
Basically it is for free, as you'll use a phone anyhow, so I'll not complain to much, but for sure there are better solutions on the market. But it's a great help, to check for example google maps or the GT-rider map and compare then with the smartphone map to save the location.(Many locations are only in Thai script on OVI maps)

[daewoo]

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Ben,
A lot of these phones don't actually have a GPS, what they do is triangulate cell phone tower signals, to get their position. It would be interesting to see if it is actually a GPS.

Some research explains that is assisted GPS (A-GPS) - its got a GPS chipset, augmented by cellphone tower location data - see full explanation here;
http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/a-gps.html

A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B...

Lots of Nokia phones will let you load the maps, but you need an external GPS reciever to do anything with them...

Some Nokia phones have the GPS inbuilt, so you don't need an external GPS...

AGPS is like a 'quick start' where the phone works out your approximate location, by working out how much power it is recieving from the nearest 2 or 3 base stations... the phone downloads that information as a Data packet (and you pay for it) until you get enough satellite fixes for the GPS to take over... and if you have it turned on, it keeps downloading data whenever you loose GPS signal (bad weather, tall buildings, tunnels)... if you don't have a good data plan, turn AGPS off...

Cheers,
Daewoo

[jethro69]

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This might be interesting for GPS tracking, installed this today from OVI store. The trial version was not working, so I purchased the Pro 1.7 version for 215 THB (included tax) deducted from my prepaid card, so no credit card involved.
I'm quite satisfied with the result of my first test ride, taking the price in account (215), it might be that the 90 day trial is on your phone ??? .
As you see, I did not exactly know where to go

I did not check if it works for other phones than Nokia, the address is www.cealogs.co.uk

http://apps.cealogs.co.uk/viewer/etl...5fd5f9b644b0a/