S7 GPS is very good!

[[email protected]]

I'll chime in and agree that once you get past the manufacturer's engineering staff it is difficult to get reliable information from any person in sales/marketing/tech support regardless of vendor or salesperson. The GPS works great without a data plan. You will only need a data plan to support software that accesses overlay maps, driving directions, etc. over the Internet.

 

[vferrari]

I'm actually really surprised that a tech support person at Huawei was trying to sell you a data plan. Huawei would have no vested interest whatsoever in doing so. This just doesn't add up. Whatever...

Sent from my Ideos S7

 

[Music]

What he said was more of urging me to go buy a data plan. "You really need a data plan to get any location information, or to use the S7 as a GPS or navigation device. Don't you want to to go buy one?"

 

[vferrari]

OK that makes more sense, I guess. Couldn't understand why Huawei which is not affiliated with any specific carrier would be trying to SELL (your original words) a data plan over a tech support line. Big difference between trying SELL a data plan and urging that one go somewhere and sign up for one (that's why I initially thought you were talking to a Best Buy rep - because thats exactly what they would try to do - provided you got one who was savvy enough to actually know that the S7 had a sim slot and phone features - lol). Thanks for the clarification and confirmation that Huawei hadn't lost their minds.

 

[Music]

No problem, but since you mention Best Buy, I still wonder (a little) why all three salespeople immediately grabbed the $500 Galaxy Tab (not the Ipad!) when I mentioned Android tablets. I was expecting them to ask me what I was thinking of spending or what I was thinking of using one for. It reminds me of how the 1980s used car salespeople used to push the cars.

OTOH, when I hand my S7 to somebody, the first thing out of their mouth is, "Is this the Ipad?" aaaarrrrggggggg Ipad is a 4-letter word....

 

[vferrari]

No problem, but since you mention Best Buy, I still wonder (a little) why all three salespeople immediately grabbed the $500 Galaxy Tab (not the Ipad!) when I mentioned Android tablets...

Why would they show you an IPAD when you expressly showed interest in an ANDROID tablet - they were just trying to be accommodating - lol

P.S. Apologize for the blatant thread hijacking AND Best Buy bashing (well not so much for the latter...)

 

[Music]

Like I mentioned, people think "Ipad" when you show them a tab, or mention tablet PCs. I suppose my car, being painted red, is a Ferrari? hehe

 

[mr2u]

Just to add some more clarity and confirmation, I just drove 1450km using my S7 (no sim) as a GPS and it worked perfect, in fact I have a $1200 company supplied GPS that tried to send me swimming at one point and missed a few turns as well as other miss info. Glad I had my S7 with copilot on it.

 

[Entropy]

Receiving GPS signal does not require a data plan. Depending on the mapping software you may or may not. So if you go with Google, Bing etc. you need a data plan, if you go with Coplilot, ndrive etc. you do not need a data plan.

Lock times and accuracy of Qualcomm GPSOne suffer severely without data access (although wi-fi will suffice for initial lock and ephemeride preload). GPSOne with SUPL and ephemeride preloads gets beaten fairly well by modern chipsets (SiRF III, MTKv2, even STMicro Cartesio) but is at least acceptable, GPSOne without SUPL/ephemeride preloads gets smoked by even my old Garmin eMap.

OP's Garmin must be from the stone age. My S7, even with data access (working SUPL) is handily beaten in sensitivity and lock times by:
My MTKv2 datalogger puck (iBlue 747A+)
My SiRF Atlas based 5" GPS (random DealExtreme "pirate special")
Even my Garmin Oregon, with a STM Cartesio chipset, which is probably the worst of the modern chipsets. Even SiRF III beats the Cartesio, and the SiRF III is 4-5 years old at this point.

 

[ndavis2]

I rob, this is exactly what I want to do, use an Android table on my boat. Did you load Navionics Hotmaps or another product? How were the graphics, in sunlight?

Thx Harris

 

[yzambrano]

The gps from a cool star up tooks at least one minute to get the location (im at Lima, Peru). For tracking is ok, im using gps essential, free software from market.
I have problems with the compass, someone know if the s7 slim has the magnetic sensor or not. Thks

Enviado desde mi IDEOS S7 Slim usando Android Tablet Forum

 

[[email protected]]

NDavis, sorry for the slow response, I haven't been monitoring this thread. I bought Navionics. It has worked very well for my basic needs - chartplotting and course tracking. Very difficult to see in bright sunlight, but I have a bimini top so shade is available. My touch-screen is acting up right now, but hopefully I will have that resolved soon.

Rob