Hi guys ye olde Nokia has finally carked it, and as much as I like retro (see my leather jacket advice thread) the trusty brick has to go. I prolly spend <$25 a month on prepaid so some sick huge plan isn't really for me. So should I buy a fone or are there decent plans out there suitable for me?

Altho the iphone looks OK, some of the charges relating to excess use of GPS etc would piss me off. I'm prepared to fork out $500-ish for a leet fone if I can't find a non-retarded plan. Oh, and I'm assuming 3G is the only way to go these days?

Altho the iphone looks OK, some of the charges relating to excess use of GPS etc would piss me off

Uh, GPS is free.

The only excess you could get charged for is Google Maps data usage.

As for plans, you might wanna have a look at whatever 'Cap' plans carriers are offering.

last edited by 3dee at 20:59:17 23/Aug/08

Altho the iphone looks OK, some of the charges relating to excess use of GPS etc would piss me off

Uh, GPS is free.

The only excess you could get charged for is Google Maps data usage.

I assume that's what he meant; getting a bunch of coordinates from the GPS chip is useless without the maps.

I am reaaaaaaally hoping the openstreetmap guys make an iPhone application

Google Maps doesn't actually use that much data anyway, assuming you've got a data pack. I nav'd for about 45 mins across brisbane and it used about 8-9mb when it was zoomed on about 200m².

I assume that's what he meant; getting a bunch of coordinates from the GPS chip is useless without the maps.

Not if you had real maps and new how to read them. However that probably wasn't his intentions.

Fortunately I've had a work phone for ~4 years now so dont have to worry about any of that. Unfortunately this means I wouldn't know what to suggest.

I'd just look at the total cost over 24 months..
at the moment you're $600, willing to spend $500, so $1100 over 24 months..

it sounds like this is your sort of phone... 24 month total cost = $720.


For example, I got an iphone recently - $1702 over 24 months. Previously my spending was $1200 over 24 months, so I was happy to "spend" $500 for an iphone. Although I've been going hard using the data, and have only used 22MB of the 1GB over two weeks... :S

And of course only compare on what you get, not the "value" - it's easy to do approx minutes you get per month - for example the one I mentioned above is 175 minutes (ignoring flagfall). see how much you use on your current prepaid and go for something close to it.

so happy with my 6110 navigator and its free gps/maps

the new Optus $119 unlimited plan looks dreamy.

Altho the iphone looks OK, some of the charges relating to excess use of GPS etc would piss me off

Uh, GPS is free.

The only excess you could get charged for is Google Maps data usage.

I assume that's what he meant; getting a bunch of coordinates from the GPS chip is useless without the maps.

I am reaaaaaaally hoping the openstreetmap guys make an iPhone application

The iPhone (and 6110 navigator, and n95 and and and) use A-GPS, which is network assisted GPS. Using triangulamation from the cell towers and the satellites they can get an initial fix faster, and even more accurate continued positions. edit: you can disbaled a-gps on 6110/n95 and i think iPhone...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-GPS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_devices_with_Assisted_GPS



last edited by Red at 14:25:15 25/Aug/08

It also has true GPS but uses A-GPS when it can for faster locking on to your location.

I can't see how anyone could exceed the monthly allowance by using Maps though as the data transferred is pretty tiny. The map tiles are also cached so you're not constantly downloading them every time you do the same trip. 5 weeks of solid usage when I'm out on the road (YouTube, browsing, Maps) and I've only done 80.4Mb.

Phones for around $500 .. wouldn't have a clue but try web sites like http://www.gsmarena.com and it can do comparisions for you.

A-GPS doesn't use data, it uses Cell Info, which isn't charged for.

A-GPS doesn't use data, it uses Cell Info, which isn't charged for.

And I quote, "Some A-GPS solutions require an active connection to a cell phone (or other data) network to function, in others it simply makes positioning faster and more accurate, but is not required."

Some A-GPS solutions require an active connection to a cell phone (or other data) network to function, in others it simply makes positioning faster and more accurate, but is not required.

So, that means that for some phones with A-GPS, it will not function without the "assisted" part... for others, it just makes the whole process quicker if you have a phone connection.

It doesn't use packet data to assist the GPS, it uses a triangulation of phone signal to figure out roughly where you are, it is then pinpointed with the GPS.

A-GPS DOESN'T USE PACKET DATA - OK?

Are you sure mongie? Red seems to think he knows what he is one about?

I'm not sure exactly what mongie is arguing, but using google maps on the iPhone DEFINITELY increases data usage...

A-GPS (the system where the GPS uses the phone signal to speed up locking) does not use data.

Thats what I'm arguing.

Google Maps, definately does use data.

Phew, glad you cleared that up.

if the gps program has the required map, it won't use data.

if it needs to grab the map, it will use data. /end

can someone please explain a-gps to me? tia (tyanks in advance)

it's a device used to navigate to ur mum's house.