Hi there,

Not been on this forum for sometime now, but wonder if anybody could help me with this one.
I would like a new gps unit. My old Etrex Summit is getting a bit dated now, and I would like to have 'proper' OS mapping on it.
Stumbled across Viewranger. £150 for the full UK at 1:50 seems good value to me. But I need a phone to run it on. Happy to buy a new phone too, my current one is years old !
So anyone using this Viewranger and can you recommend a phone or give me any pointers ?
Hope to use it for mtb and road biking and general 'outdoorsy' type stuff.
Thanks

I've been playing with the demo version on my nokia 5800. Works well on the big screen.

I run it on a N95, it is great on that. I imagine on a 5800 it is probably even better.

The N95 is sort of a bit resilient, but if it really is wet, you need it inside some kind of waterproof cover. I would avoid the N96, they are not as good at not breaking as the N95 was.

The other alternative is to run it on some old phone that you can pick up cheap, using an external bluetooth GPS. Something like a Nokia 6630 or similar, cost you £30 for the phone and another £20-£30 for the GPS (the fancy modern phones with built in GPS will either be £200 – £300 on pay as you go, or you'll need a £30 a month contract).

Joe

That's the other thing I was considering….. what would be best for me…touch screen or buttons ?
Touch screen is bigger, but would I wreck it ?!

I don't mind buying a new phone (or getting a new contract) as the old one really needs replacing. Battery is shot, it's falling apart, etc.
A second hand phone is a nice idea for a cheap gps though.

Thanks

I've been using it on a Nokia E71 for a few months and like the program a lot. The E71 is perhaps a bit on the small side screen wise, but it's fine for my purposes. Some of the bigger screened would be even better. Weatherproofness and difficulty in mounting to a bike are youre main concerns. I generally keep it in a ziplock back in a pocket and only get it out when needed – not quite so handy as having it mounted on your stem.

I picked up a free N85 on a 12 month contract for £15 month on Orange & the built in GPS is good – very fast to auto locate.
A friend has got the touch screen version & although it has a bigger screen, he hates the touch screen part – no good for even average sized fingers.

I will be selling my HTC HD phone soon which has Memory Map and TomTom 7 installed. Please PM me if it's of any interest.

I use it with the N96 all the time, it works well for me.

n95 is probably a better phone though…