India phone data connections and preloaded maps
 

Ok, I know I shouldnt be in here because Ive got three wheels instead of 2..... but...

I wass hoping for a little guideance please.

Im travelling from Kochin in India upto Sikkim on the northern border with Bhutan in a TukTuk...!

Im hoping to use my unlocked iPhone a local data enabled SIM card for emails and blogging as we go. But with the limitations of not having reliable data connection I am thinking of buying a second hand GPS enabled Nokia phone, such as the N95, with the India maps pre installed.

So my questions are:

1. Is the N95 the way to go or are there better options ofr navigation and basic text based emails
2. What is the best PAYG Indian SIM card deal which includes data roaming throughout India
3. Can you reccomend a good qulaity flexible solar roof panel which prefferably has a USB outlet.

Many thanks in advance

Andy

We've been using the Idea Net Setter for the last 4 months. It's 600Rs a month totally unlimited use/bandwidth. In the really busy/highly populated areas it's not really fast enough to upload images to our web site(having said that, here in Delhi it pretty fast) but other than that it's been good. In our experience and listening to others you may have a problem after you have been connected for 3/4 weeks as this is how long it takes for the paper trail to be completed, then your connection will be cut as the retailer didn't complete the paperwork correctly. We went to the Idea offices in the town where we were, explained the problem, she check our account and none if the required fields were filled in correctly! This happens with a brands, it seems the resellers assume you're going to have left the town/city by the time the problem occurs so they don't give a dam but if you go to the offices or at least the manufactures store you should be OK.
HTH
Pete