YakkoWarner
Jedi Warrior
Offline
I like browsing and planning with large paper maps, but when I am on the road (or on the water) I love having a GPS that tells me where I am on that map. I don't have the ability to use Google maps because that requires a device with constant data connectivity, so I use the OpenStreetMaps Navigator on my Android device (its a phone but technically not a phone because it has no SIM card or cell service). I also have a small Garmin but its much more difficult to update the maps on it - the Android device I can just take into any bar or coffee shop that has WiFi and hit UPDATE MAPS. For the Garmin I have to get a laptop computer, plus the Garmin, plus whatever version of the software might or might not work on the laptop, plus whatever driver might or might not work - haul it all to somewhere with WiFi and hope it works. The Garmin when updated is better however. It can track position even on a plane, something the cheap phone cannot.
I don't often use the turn-by-turn directions, usually just being able to see the map and where I am on it is enough information to get where I want to be. Google maps is by far the most informative (one of my friends had it on his phone while visiting a city neither of us were familiar with, and it even was able to give us accurate and reliable public transit info for taking the bus or train) but the downside is it is completely dependant on the internet - get somewhere where the internet isn't and you're on your own. My cheap phone with offline maps could tell me exactly which oil rig I was passing by in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico 300 miles from the nearest WiFi hotspot.
I don't often use the turn-by-turn directions, usually just being able to see the map and where I am on it is enough information to get where I want to be. Google maps is by far the most informative (one of my friends had it on his phone while visiting a city neither of us were familiar with, and it even was able to give us accurate and reliable public transit info for taking the bus or train) but the downside is it is completely dependant on the internet - get somewhere where the internet isn't and you're on your own. My cheap phone with offline maps could tell me exactly which oil rig I was passing by in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico 300 miles from the nearest WiFi hotspot.