Gear

Oh , and the touch sreen worked better after i applied one of those ZAGG screen protectors.

in fact i now have one on all my kit with screens  

Happy Dave wrote (see)

I highly recommend an iPhone, from three angles.

First of all, they're cracking multi-function bits of electronica - mine has effectively replaced my music player, stills camera, video camera and simple GPS (phone signal required so it's not a full replacement for GPS).  The touch screen is unsurpassed in my experience and the massive range of apps means you can find something to do nearly anything, from organising kit lists to ticking off Munros.

Second, they're pretty hardwearing.  I have had mine for nine months so far, jangling about in a pocket with keys, coins and assorted junk and aside from some very slight scuffing on the plastic back and one tiny scratch on the glass screen, it looks pretty much new.  I should really get around to getting a case for it.

Finally, there's a pricewar going on at the moment as the iPhone is now available from O2, Orange and Vodafone.  You can easily get a 16Gb iPhone 3GS for free with a £30 a month contract.

Happy Dave wrote (see)

First of all, they're cracking multi-function bits of electronica - mine has effectively replaced my music player, stills camera, video camera and simple GPS (phone signal required so it's not a full replacement for GPS).

You can easily get a 16Gb iPhone 3GS for free with a £30 a month contract.

iphone?

Most folk know it's a great device but a CRAP phone.

I wouldn't recommend them.

Your best bet in terms of reliability and features is Nokia nowadays.

Other brands have arguably better features and even then to a higher spec but I see these phones all the time come in screwed up.

Sony's are heading that way in recent months too.

Whereas Nokia was on the slippery slope to death only a year ago, they've had a big and deserved resurgence in recent times.

And I'm not surprised. Great features, reliable operating system, it's a phone that actually works and the devices themselves are quite robust.

So, for outdoors stuff, IMO it's got to be a Nokia. Moreover, most mapping apps work from the off with Nokias Symbian OS.....sorted.

And has been noted...a GPS on the newer Nokia models does not require a mobile phone signal.

".... most mapping apps work from the off with Nokias Symbian OS.....sorted."

Surely not? At least not the mobile versions of PC mapping packages. I know there's good stuff like Viewranger for Nokias, but will the mobile versions of any of Quo, Anquet, Memorymap, Tracklogs etc. work on a Nokia yet? I understood they were all compatible with the Windows mobile o/s, not Symbian?

On the subject of mobile phones.  can anyone tell me what the @ (with+) icon means.

cant find it listed anywhere in the, what does that icon mean section .

see pic ,top of screen. cant  miss it ?

yep checked an read and deleted.  still there

UPDATE. no i missed one (email)  opened, read ,  and icon gone. thank you

terrybnd wrote (see)

iphone?

Most folk know it's a great device but a CRAP phone.

I wouldn't recommend them.

Your best bet in terms of reliability and features is Nokia nowadays.

Other brands have arguably better features and even then to a higher spec but I see these phones all the time come in screwed up.

Sony's are heading that way in recent months too.

Whereas Nokia was on the slippery slope to death only a year ago, they've had a big and deserved resurgence in recent times.

And I'm not surprised. Great features, reliable operating system, it's a phone that actually works and the devices themselves are quite robust.

So, for outdoors stuff, IMO it's got to be a Nokia. Moreover, most mapping apps work from the off with Nokias Symbian OS.....sorted.

And has been noted...a GPS on the newer Nokia models does not require a mobile phone signal.

Most people know its a crap phone? hows that? I've had a 1st gen iphone, and now a 3rd and there is nothing wrong with the phone side of things. a phone is a phone is a phone.

I was always under the impression that with Apple the 3rd release finally irons out the problems with 1st and 2nd releases.

A bit like like Microshite. Never  use a MS OS until Service Pack 1 has been released!

Anyway, you can't argue with a Apple 'believer'. It's a religion for them.

twiglegs - thanks for the help. I'd been to both of the web pages you linked to, the second one about 10 times, but somehow I'd never got as far as downloading the Map Loader. Don't know how I didn't do that - must have gotten very cross-eyed.

Have now downloaded the Map Loader to the boss's laptop but must await her return from work to fiddle further and try to load the maps. It's staggering how much you have to download - 30GB-ish for the Map Loader, 30GB-ish for the .NET framework it needed and haven't even started on the maps themselves.

Re cases for phones, Decathlon do some great ones, dirt cheap.  One specifically for a phone, with a neck cord, the other just a sort of small document case but works fine. £4.99 and £4.50 I think. 

Re i-Phones - how long does the battery last when using GPS???  And then what?  I have 3 spares for my 5800, which would last for many days of full use.  And you can get them for a few peanuts.

Have been using the buddy tracker thing on my VR recently - flippin' brilliant!  Anyone else use this?  For those who don't know, it enables you to see where another VR user is, if they allow it, and you have mobile phone signal (which is good on the 5800 anyway).  Great if you have several groups out etc - and you can race them back to the pub!

I am just about to purchase one of these. Apparently very good and will recharge my 5800 3+ times.I get 7hrs of continuous running of the gps whilst following a route and recording the track i take,the powermonkey should give me 2+ days of gps use in our long summer days.

David.

Fergie,

I have one - really good and versatile, but you won't get three charges out of it - the capacity is 2200mAh and the phone battery is 1320 mAh.  I find it especially useful if there are several of you wanting to use the fag lighter socket while on a trip. 

On that note, does anyone know where one can buy an adapter to charge more than one gadget off a fag lighter?

Thanks - suspected someone like that might.  Will take a look.

R