I've never been a fan of owning a GSP since I have a smart phone. Heck, every smart phone has dozens of GPS to choose from. But what happens when your phone looses coverage?

I'm in Charlotte, NC and over the weekend, I rode to Winston Salem--a mere 1.5 hour ride each way. All on the highway, my Samsung G3 kept loosing coverage. Earlier today, I had absolutely no bars on my cell phone and couldn't access my data plan.

I called Sprint and was told that a few of the cell towers were down in North Carolina and is being worked on.

Later this month, I'm supposed to ride to my cousins house in St. Louis. After this weekend, I'm worried and wondering if I should bother using my cell phone or just bite the bullet and get a stand alone GPS.

GPS on a phone is great, until you loose coverage.

 

LMFAO... YOU have some options, including; Get a Road Tech Zumo, open a map/atlas or CALL YOUR MOMMY (I forgot, YOU can't, no cell coverage)...

YOUR excuse$/rationalization$ continue to be laughable... Save your pennies for the real deal (and save your kryingame for Mommy)...

 

I wouldn't go with a Zumo just because they are too damn expensive. I'd buy a good quality gps and a RAM Mount to go with it. Zumo is made for motorcycles but they charge an arm and a leg for them.

Also, if you are using Google Maps on your phone, you can download an area to your sd card and it won't matter if you lose your data service, the map will be accessed from your sd card instead. You can't download huge areas at once but you can download several small areas. If you are planning any good road trips this is definitely NOT the way to go. You're better off with an actual gps.

 

My phone has a gps unit in it once you start a trip the gps keeps track of your position

 

OK the first reply was mean and unnecessary but the second was right on the money. Download areas that are going to be scarce on towers during rest breaks. Google is truly your friend.

 

Always...always carry maps with you. AT&T, the nation's largest wireless carrier, is not. Here in Louisiana, we run out of coverage frequently. KSRoadKing is right, downloading to your SD is also a viable option.

 

My zumo has never lost signal, and I have been in some pretty remote areas.

 

I still use paper maps and make my custom routes with a pencil there free .

I guess I am CHEAP ! eeerrr I Mean Thrifty !

I think I will try GPS as soon as I can get a free one.

 

Just find I-64 and go west.

Carl

 

At some point I take a look at a map to have a decent understanding of the general route. After that , we just ride and what happens, happens...we may turn around before we reach the original destination. We may get there and just keep going. We may end up somewhere else entirely...I like to leave the electronic leashes behind and just get on the road, see where we get to, experience what happens, as long as everybody goes home.

Be well, be safe...