Stand-alone GPS or smartphone?

[SteveWoz]

My wife and I just purchased our first Class A motorhome (2015 Holiday Rambler Vacationer) and we’re eager to hit the road. I’m wondering what opinions you more experienced drivers might have about GPS alternatives. Is a stand-alone unit a must-have or can we get by well enough with an iPhone plus apps?

[bpounds]

SteveWoz wrote:
...This was my first post to the forum and I'm amazed by the level of response.

Welcome!

SteveWoz wrote:
...By the way, I'm fairly tech savvy but I'm finding this platform to be fairly clunky.

Yes, it is very outdated software, but it is free, you can't even donate if you wanted to, so we get what we get.

SteveWoz wrote:
...Is there a way to respond to the individual replies in a given thread? I want to ask a few follow-up questions to specific posters. Thank you in advance.

Just click the quote button below the post to which you wish to follow-up. Which is what I've done to your question, and then I edited it a bit to clean it up and make it flow better. You can use private messages as was mentioned above, but frankly, asking your question in open forum means we can all share the answers. I avoid going to PM unless the info needs to be private, or is straying too far off topic, or maybe I just want a personal convo.

[mike_brez]

You can click on users name and select private message.

[SteveWoz]

I want to thank everyone who posted for taking the time to help answer my question. This was my first post to the forum and I'm amazed by the level of response.

By the way, I'm fairly tech savvy but I'm finding this platform to be fairly clunky. Is there a way to respond to the individual replies in a given thread? I want to ask a few follow-up questions to specific posters. Thank you in advance.

[Bumpyroad]

JaxDad wrote:

04fxsts wrote:
Something that is related to the I-pad it's self is even though I keep it plugged into a charging port if driving all day it uses more charge than it is getting. So by the end of the day it will be dead and needs to be shut off and recharged.

Jim.

A typical phone charger only has a 0.5 amp charger, you need a higher powered, minimum 1.0 amp charger for an iPad.

I thought mine were 2.1 amp, but haven't checked to be sure.
bumpy

[CincyGus]

Use the nav system in the truck and it's wonderfully large screen. Good maps, Good Zoom when turns are approaching and my favorite part, the display below my gauges gives me a meter that slowly shrinks as I get closer to the turn so I know exactly where the turn is which is really handy when your in a area with many streets close together.

To be fair, I do usually have google maps running on my phone also just for the real time traffic updates and suggested alternate routes if needed. Between the two, I feel nicely prepared and have never had an issue getting into a bad situation.

[JaxDad]

04fxsts wrote:
Something that is related to the I-pad it's self is even though I keep it plugged into a charging port if driving all day it uses more charge than it is getting. So by the end of the day it will be dead and needs to be shut off and recharged.

Jim.

A typical phone charger only has a 0.5 amp charger, you need a higher powered, minimum 1.0 amp charger for an iPad.

[ncrowley]

Most of the time, we use the RV Garmin - nice big viewable screen and works all the time without using data. However, sometimes we use the smart phone if the address is very new.

[valhalla360]

All the problems people brought up with phones are either outdated or easily solved.

Cell phone will always be up to date on the maps. Traffic conditions are usually better. Most common map apps now download the maps for your projected routes. You can save waypoints (even import them from other sources).

We have an old garmin but when it dies...it will not be replaced.

[edbehnke]

BOTH

[04fxsts]

Wife loves her phone and I hate it. Too small for me to see well so am now using an older I-pad with C0-Pilot and am very happy with it. I do have a couple things I don't like that much with this set up. Sometimes if I decide to take a road I am familiar with to miss traffic or a detour it doesn't like to reroute, keeps wanting you to go back to the original route. Sometimes when I am familiar with parts of the route it is hard to get it to take the routes I want. Get around this by splitting the trip into sections and that works fine.
Something that is related to the I-pad it's self is even though I keep it plugged into a charging port if driving all day it uses more charge than it is getting. So by the end of the day it will be dead and needs to be shut off and recharged. I know I could shut it down while on long stretches of open interstate but really prefer it left on. Having a MH once we decided to make a quick stop for the driver which happened to be me for a bathroom break. No problem, pull off on an exit ramp, stop on shoulder and then get right back on. This was one of those places there was no entrance back to the interstate and had to drive a ways to get back on. With the I-pad it will show what the exit and entrance ramps look like. Jim.

[pbeverly]

I always used Tom Tom standalones but when it died I decided to test some Cell Phone android apps. I tried google maps, Waze (owned by google) and Tom Tom android app. I chose Tom Tom apps. The full map is downloaded to the phone so losing cell phone signal is not a problem. My problem is Waze and G-Maps are fine for a pre-planned trip, but if you are on a whim and want to start something NOT planned and have no signal, you are out of luck, that is not a problem with the Tom Tom app as the map is on your phone. Tom Tom is not free, it is $23 a year and they update the maps 4x a year. Sometimes you get what you pay for which in this case $23 is a small price for a very dependable GPS. Also better than the $100s you spend on a stand alone. I have also like the maps on Tom Tom, so I also get what I am used to. Good lane guidance and map zooms in when upcoming turns coming giving you a good view of what you need to do.

[K3WE]

I love the real time traffic updates and routing, and ice that the maps are more up to date and a much more huge and searchable database on the phone.

Downside? A phone call can disrupt your map and directions at bad times.

[Bobbo]

I have both and use both. When traveling where I know I am going to need a GPS, I take my Garmin. If I am out and about and suddenly need one, I pull out my smartphone.

The standalone is my go to unit though.

[Shadow_Catcher]

The phone used data, the stand alone does not. The GPS works in place you do not have cell reception.

[pianotuna]

While it is true the cell phone gps is satellite based, and will work without a cell signal, mine will not create a new route without the phone connecting to a tower.

I wish that Microsoft Streets and Trips were still being kept up to date.

JaxDad wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
I prefer using a cell phone--but there are times when there is no cell signal--in mountains etc.

GPS uses a satellite signal, not a cell network signal.

I routinely use my smart phone GPS when I'm WELL out of cell service. As a pilot I'm often "out of service" at only a few thousand feet up.

You just have to have the map database on the phone itself instead of something that needs to fetch the maps as you move along.