Yes, that is one of the factors for where this thread originated, talking with various folks in a different thread about the best value Garmin on the market.
I have never been keen on multi-tools, whether it be that it gets lost, or broken or simply that they tend to do all jobs but none of them particularly well.
But, when it comes to electronics then other facets appear; in this case, Android seems to be a really well regarded "multi-tool" (i.e. loads of apps) operating system. Time will tell.
Even though the OP doesn't like Garmin (I think primarily for its' software, but he can speak more on that) he still carries quite a few tools in his bag - (see earlier posts for his) = smartphone, laptop and, yes, a Garmin!

But, one gets the sense that smartphones are in their infancy for developments regarding navigation apps/software, and who knows where they are going in this regard.

Hardware ruggedness; Yep, needs more development, but I would think that will happen - it did for standard mobile phones with rugged models aimed at farmers (at least one of the vids in an earlier link here is from Farmers Weekly, or some similarly titled source), builders, climbers etc etc.
For the farming video, they drive a tractor and a 4x4 over the various phones on test with no significant distress to the phones.

There are smartphones that don't make calls??

ps Don't have a smartphone, nor a Garmin, but I do have a Tom Tom (but no one talks about them!!)

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Dave

Spent the weekend in Tokyo ,,
All of above performed well.

Hi,

Tom Tom is out of discusion because there are hardly any good and free maps available for real travel in third world countrys and also the company is selling there cusomers to the police:

TomTom: Navi-Daten der Kunden an Polizei verkauft - News - CHIP Online

Im shure everyone who allready did a real offroad trip knows that Smartphones will not stand the hard vibrations and the dust but my old Garmin Nüvi 250 for US$50 surwifed Africa and Southamerica...

Greetings, Tobi

Tobi,
I haven't gone to Google translate so I will take your word about the information in your link.
Can we be sure that Garmin are not doing the same?
After all, they are tracking their customers which, in itself, is a good argument to revert to old fashioned paper map and compass!

Yes about the availability of maps for them; I have just been reading a GPS thread in the 4x4 section where it is stated that Tom Tom has poor map coverage outside of Europe (which I take to include North America in the context of the theme of that post).

ps, Here's that 4x4 thread
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...inefield-57224

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Dave

Garmin don't track their users, in the same way that Apple don't track you - despite the fact that a file containing your location data is bounced around servers but is not stored - it's used for figuring out which data to send you on devices that display traffic alerts etc....

For dumb terminal devices nothing is sent back... more importantly when you turn these services on you're warned your location data is sent to Garmin.

My 660 doesn't send anything back to the server, ever, because when I was first asked I said no. That also means I don't get any traffic alerts, software update alerts, or any other nonsense from them.

However, your phone carrier is storing your location data and there's nothing you can do to stop them doing so. They store it for three years and it can be called upon by the police to prove your location in court. So when using an Android or other smart phone that is in any way connected to a mobile network.... you're being tracked, like it or not - another reason why I prefer a dumb GPS to a smart Phone.

m

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Just keep your nose clean Matt. Or just report your phone stolen when you get picked up.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Is water proofing,,,
Sam Sung is already using waterproofing with HzO WaterBlock Technology | Electronic Devices Waterproof System
for Galaxy S2 ,,
They are in talk to enhance the coverage, not just for phones but also for tabs ,, notes,, as I am told from Sam Sung guys. Expect an announcement soon.

So we sort out the water issue.
Impact issue,,
Software we all know already , APPs are free and superior to Garmin.

Water proof phones already in the channel Fujitsu
Fujitsu ARROWS ES IS12F waterproof phone | Ubergizmo

I'm a great believer in Android, so would love to believe they could be competitive, but I don't believe they can, yet. Aside from all the other factors listed above there's also the screen issue. I use my Galaxy S and when the sun is out it's impossible to read, which makes it useless. Compound that with having to take your gloves off to work it and there's two more issues to surmount.


BTW, daughter?

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You can't control the galaxy with your gloves? I tried and worked ok with some pressure.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

[QUOTE=take your gloves off to work it and there's two more issues to surmount.


BTW, daughter?[/QUOTE]

Screen;
Alex ,, Galaxy screen ,, I can touch and use ,, over the RAM plastic cover ,, also the waterproof bag I am using ,, just make the display "bright"
S3 coming out with flexible screen ,, probably waterproof too!
Stop arguing for the sake of arguing !

Daughter;
Yes,, guy was a flaming closet gay ,, but he had three god daughters , very exotic looking,, three nieces ,,, very Aussie beautiful,, also called daughters ,,, a step son. A bit of predator as well.. used to pinch boys. Still I respected him ,, had great sense of humour , tight with his money.

I am not going to divulge which daughter / niece ,, that I dated ,, to respect the past.

I used to hover in the days, when there were only 5 - 6 whites around X-Mas time ,, one crazy Asian , would come end of December and leave in April,, moi ,, cast of 60 villagers ,, some 70 fishermen from outlying villages. Whole beach to our selves. My ritual was to wake up ,, go to the beach ,, lay in the sand naked ,, then take a swim to wash ,,, a sweet boy with a great smile would bring my tea in a tall glass. Then off to the village chief,,,Chandra's hut for lunch,,dinner time to time at his house.

I used to rescue beautiful German girls from axxhxxx French boy friends,, who abused them,, then I would end up with the girls,, ,, took care of the suicide of the local innkeeper ,, hanging by the electric wire on a palm tree ,, wife continued to serve toast and eggs,, while her husband swung ,, sea and the wave in the back ground.

Sunset was a religious ceremony above the temple mound ,,
One day at dusk ,, my tea boy that always smiled,, dipped his fishing line at the waters edge by the temple ,, I was the only one watching ,, he then all of a sudden was pulled into the water ,, his head kept bobbing and disappearing over the horizon ,, I ran to the end of the beach ,, screaming ,, hollering ,, some 280 meters ,, fish men were putting the boats away ,, then there they were ,, some 20 men ,, in two boats ,, rowing out to the sea ,, silently. The sea lost it's warmth and golden hue ,, was turning steel grey. I stood on the beach with half dozen fishermen's wives and children.

When they came back, in the moon light,, boy's hand was cut into the bones ,,they don't use poles. He kept smiling. The fish was 1.20 meters long ,, 80 CM high ,, looked like a Rugby ball ,, with fat thick lips and small fins,, 30 CM thick ,,

I picked up the boy,, shoulder high ,, gave him kisses and hugs,, gave him 20 dollars for the fish,, barn fire was built over palm tree leaves ,, rice was cooked,, we fed some 50 people that night ,, every one in the village and several Europeans ,, No Yanks ventured out that far then ,,

Then there is the story about the night time monkey rescue, with Chandra ,, operations I used to do on kids with horrible infections on their limbs,, feet ,, and hand ,, Australian volunteer girls ,, flashing their eyes ,, one used to come every weekend from Colombo, to spend weekend at my hut ,, Canadian ambassador's daughter ,, I had known many daughters in my youth ,, now that I have a daughter,, I think twice ,, thrice,,

Walking into a temple ceremony at 3AM ,, in Kandy ,, couldn't sleep ,, heard faint drum beats far away,, bampa ra bamapa bam bam pa ,, bampara bampa bam bam pa ,, it was coming from the other side of the lake,,,listened to it for another thirty minutes ,, thinking it would end ,, didn't ,, walked towards the sound of the drums,,dark night ,, moon was trying ,, long and wide lake,, heard water monsters burping ,, at the water's edge ,, hoping the drums would not stop...then on the right,, on the hill ,,dark ,, immense,, big ,, black stone temple ,,, no one around ,, drum beat getting louder and louder ,, and at the top ,, you enter a gate with huge elephant tusk crossing above your head ,,then down the long steps into a long torch lit chamber ,, rows of effeminate boys ,, in bizzare make up and costume ,, dancing ,, non stop..bangles every where ,, eyes rolling up and down,, worshippers ,,hundreds of them sitting leaning against the long wall. I,,,stoned out of my mind ,, sat and watched ,, thinking of LSD I took long ago in Manzanillo, Mexico,, when the sun came up,,we all went and washed our feet together,,out side ,, a long wash basin ,, then rice and curry was served. Boys looked like girls coming out the disco after it closed. I went back to my hotel exhausted. No water monsters on the way.

How I met Sting at the Galle Hotel ,,, the Victorian collumns ,, boys in long white aprons ,, Casablanca ceiling fans ,, one of the best wine collection ,, good quartet of base chello .. violin ,, guitar and piano. Followed up with Sting in Y2K,, X-Mas at the Rio de Janeiro ,, same hotel on the beach,, right next room.. we both had family then.

Other time,, a couple ,, English ,, looked hungry,, on honeymoon. So I fed them at the Galle Hotel ,, lanai .. ordered wine and had several bottles,, I was lonely too ,,They were grateful and their money was running low,,, tells me to call them, when I am in London,,he turns out to be an owner of a famous club in Chelsea ,, when I went to London next Spring ,, they threw me a party ,,Chelsea insiders,, introduced me to Zxxxxxx ,, an Ethiopian fashion model, with face on the Italian Vogue ,,, I was in love with her for two years.

Ferry from Jaffena to Tamilnadu, India ,,, two Italian heroine addicts on the way to Goa ,, I with them ,, almost got me killed. Another time.

Unawatuna now,, from late 80s,,they raped it with third rate hotels ,, then Tsunami hit ,,
Sinhalese are very greedy people hiding behind the facade of religious - intellectual blah blah ,, while treating Tamils like dogs ,,

No, I can't control the Galaxy with gloves on, I don't see how you'd be able to as it's got a capacitive screen, not unless you've got really, really thin gloves. I have a hard enough time getting it to work through the thin layer of plastic on its waterproof case.

And brightness is at its highest, but the reflections off the waterproof case's screen make the image underneath nigh on invisible. I know not a problem with the phone itself but if the method of attachment is unreliable the phone is useless.

Incidentally, I also had a warning that the battery was over-heating whilst charging in the case, it paused charging while it cooled, but the warning pop-up kept popping up, obscuring the sat-nav display.

So no, I don't think they're perfect, yet. But they're not bad if you accept the shortcomings and spend time, and money getting past them.

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You are right ,, hard to do with gloves ,, but so is Garmin.
Power heating ,, hmm ,, never happened to me,, on both S1 and S2 ,,
Looking at the screen ,, until water proof ones come out , we have to use the protective case ,, vision always blurry.
Imagine a Gopro Android.
Soon Alex ,,

Good news for Europe is that the EU has ruled on roaming charges - they have done enough to make the mobile phone companies unhappy, so watch out for other charges to make up the difference!

EU agrees mobile roaming price cuts - FT.com

Here's the idea, in case the link doesn't work:-

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. EU agrees mobile roaming price cuts - FT.com

(Oh well, seemed like a good idea, but they don't like C&P).

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Dave

Nope, sorry, not true. The Garmin 660 has a dedicated non-capacitive screen - this means it can be used with gloves - even dirty great bit Hein Gerike rain gloves.... like mine. Or a stylus, or your sun glass, or... well anything works really.



In fact, the 660 'knows' when it's on the motorcycle mount and automatically changes the menu to use large glove friendly buttons so you don't have to take your gloves off to change settings or put a new address in...



Oh yes... it also allows you to customise the menu with the buttons you use most - nice big quarter screen buttons - so you can do things like quickly view the compass and what-not.

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Well Matt,, one for the Garmin 660 ,,
I've tried Galaxy with thick leather gloves ,, won't work.
Only the 660 model? My Garmin 755T also will not work with thick gloves.
But again, is it a such a big deal to take one's gloves off to enter a data?