GPS Navigating the Philippines

[ucbearcat]

hi long time no post....first things first....carlo/korbs/ace/sarge baka naman pwede nang may separate category ang GPS.....i was doing a search in this forum and a lot of helpful tips are available naman kaya lang nakakalat sa iba ibang sub forums...


anyhow lots of apps on the secene now that more units are coming up with built in receivers (and powerful ones at that too)...ASus/Eten/HP/O2/HTC's all have lineups which include GPS models...

Been browsing PDA Essentials and GPS Navigation so medyo mahirap paghiwalayin talaga.

Had the opportunity to real world test 2 apps in my "quest" for a truly fully functional GPS calibrated Philippine Map.

MAPKING
When it comes to City driving (essentially Metro Manila) of course nothing beats the King (MapKing v2007)....so that's a closed deal already .

GARMIN (MAPSOURCE-Philippine Map)
For my out of town trips i still rely on my trusty (and old) standalone Garmin etrek Vista with installed Philippine map from Mapsource Worldmap CD....unfortunately the level of detail outside metro manila gives only major hi-ways.....the good news is that each and every town you pass by is on it and theyre fairly accurate....the bad news is that its been awhile since it was updated. and there are no minor road details even for major cities like Cebu/Davao/etc.

Garmin Que with GPS Roadguide Philippine Map v.3.01.

-for some reason can't make it run in my unit...hope somebody can review this.


For the new kids on the block..I came across
Google Navigator and Vito Smart Navigator.

GOOGLE NAVIGATOR-

Pros--google earth (literally) on your pocket pc...very intricate detail...allows you to connect to a network and then save a map...you can SMS your location also (tho ASus has a built in app for that)

Cons--allows you to connect to a network and save a map...i tried this while navigating around Manila using Smart's 10peso/30min connection...at first you get that "cool wow factor" because of the satellite images....then when the Phone Network connection hiccups---the program does also til you re-establish your network connection....in my book di pwede yan for real time navigation ---i also tried saving a map to the PPC ....unfortunately street levels require a detail as what you'd expect from google earth....zooming in or out requires that you establish another network connection to "update"....

essentially magastos...plus the app costs $59 ....but if you just gotta wow the passengers...ok sya.....one other thing the philippines unlike major cities in the US is still not street level calibrated for the images you see....planning a route in the phil. will not give you street names unlike the turn based directions you get sa US.

VITO SMART NAVIGATOR-

bottomline i bought this for $7 ...its very much workable...
PROS -- there are lots of maps available on the Vito website@ $4/map...
The map contains the whole philippines..major airports/roads are on it...in my opinion it is very much similar to the Mapsource World Map i use on my standalone Garmin.

you can save tracks/waypoints/ upload your tracks to google earth+ it has a separate view wherein you can see various gauges like speedometers compass etc...

CONS--again the detail level leaves something to be desired....pero at least pwede nang mag manila-baguio na lahat ng towns na madadaanan mo you can simulate at home before you actually carry out the trip.

More reviews as i use them...i hope they can find a way to fully "digitize/GPS calibrate" Manila or major roads outside MM because Google Navigator has potential....til then if you know of an app other than the above mentioned--just share and add it to this thread.

[korben]

have you tried Russa?
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[ucbearcat]

heard abo0ut russa before...went to their site...clicking on the philippines yields "no map found"...do you have one? have you tried this one too? kumusta?

[korben]

i have a 8MB map. Sabi almost all mojor roads ng Pinas. Haven't tried pa sa Bicol, Tuguegarao, Cebu, Bacolod, Surigao, Davao or Cotabato.

Quite updated pam with landmarks of most buildings dito sa NCR.

one caveat: no point 1 to point 2 navigation like Mapking. Pero Mapking gives crazy navigations from point 1 to pont 2 anyway.

BTW, nde din xa 3D, 2D overhead lang.
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[Drekz]

@ucbearcat

try reading this link:
http://www.pinoywindowsmobile.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1745&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=gps&start=15

if you have problem pa din, maybe we can have an EB for GPS enthusiats and share notes probably or the fastest is a Yahoo Messenger conference for GPS. set a date & time na lang

my sched didn't coincide with the past 2 Photography EB, i would love to join them pa naman sana and perhaps i could asked for 30 minutes to 1 hour so i could share my little knowledge with GPS. although somewhat related, on your photo you can actually imprint the GPS coordinates where the actual pictures was taken. gps coordinates will incorporate on the EXIF data of the pictures.
http://www.grazer.de/

isang tingin mo lang sa photo andun na lahat ng data kailangan mo, time, date & exact place where the picture was taken, parang photo diary na talaga.

oo nga pala, thers a new PPC software that can read also garmin gps maps, try the PocketMV or Pocket Map Viewer:
http://pocketmv.homeip.net/

relative to your eTrex Vista, you can actually use the maps at Philippine Map v.3.01 to your Vista. infact mine is eTrex Legend lang pero napasok ko yung map. you can use the Garmin Mapsource to transfer the map to your Vista or you can use SENDMAP which is a shareware, paki google search na lang

cheers mga pare't mare have a nice weekend!

[ucbearcat]

Drekz...

thanks..good suggestion on the mapsource 3.01 map ill try it..have an old grayscale Vista which i got in 2003 pa...can't make it run on battery as i crashed while using it on a bike long time ago and nasira yung terminal when it popped open...ngayon nasa car na lang via a cig lighter adaptor...OK pa rin.



Carlo....

pics and GPS data will be a staple in the future as i predict they will be standard fare for upcoming devices...tamang tama...it might be a good suggestion to have a Photo EB + GPS EB...

am sure marami ring GPS and photo enthusiasts at PWM...so how bout that separate Forum header just for GPS?

im also interested sa photo lects ni carlo unfortunately on both dates i was not available (have a 4 month old s5is with a few add on lenses)..hope i can learn more if there's a part 4 to that series of EB

Korbs....

mahal pala Russa pero knowing you .....maabilidad bwahahaha....PMPM na lang

[korben]

[schemer]

remember carmina
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[Knightro]

Hi, I just bought Samsung i780 to replace my lost Flame. I'm now enjoying the use of Mapking but find it good for MM only. I'm residing at Malolos and map of mapking is not that complete. I tried Garmin and thru reading on this helpful forum I found Luzon map for Garmin. But still the map only indicates major roads. Is there a program with a complete map for Philippines? Thanks to all.

[rem]

knight bro,
where did you buy your mapking? isn't the screen of the i780 a bit too crowded for the software?
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[tjgato]

any news on the GPS EB
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tjgato:->

[rem]

hey if it's a GPS Eb then i suggest we make it like a geocache event where one is given only the coordinates and participants will have to look for that place using his gps receiver. it's like treasure hunting

btw, if you need waypoints and trackpoints of philippines, please do check www.waypoints.ph
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[RobertWalls]

Not sure if this is out of topic.

Anyway, are there 3rd party maps of the Philippines (at least Luzon) which are compatible with MapKing?

Thanks.

[ucbearcat]

[ucbearcat]