Cheap android smartphone as a dedicated GPS for the bike.

I have always used my Galaxy S as a GPS (my tracks, endomondo ect…) and have been looking at the Garmin edge range but do not have Garmin edge money. There was a thread on here last night about GPS and someone mentioned the pulse mini. Does anyone else use the pulse mini or a small android smart phone as a dedicated GPS.?
It seems a no brainer really, they can be picked up for peanuts and will function perfectly as a GPS, they can be hacked and are multifunctional. The only downside would be attaching the thing to the bike but I am sure a case and a couple of cable ties will overcome this.

Battery life? You can get 12 hours+ out of a Satmap, 3-4 from a phone.

morgan computers have an android unit on cheap.

http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/12755/Acer-Liquid-Mini-Android-2-2-Touch-Screen-Smart-Phone-Unlocked-Sim-Free/

cant vouch for it so do research access to android market etc.

surely you can get an android on payg for <than 90 quid?

do you use the GPS to navigate?

I only use my phone to record the route. Never felt the need to have a GPS to know where I’m going.

My phone lives in the camelbak no probs with signal.

Mr Agreeable – Member
Battery life? You can get 12 hours+ out of a Satmap, 3-4 from a phone.

I reckon my desire S would do at least 6 hours with GPS on – more if I switched off mobile signal and wifi…

From a quick google the pulse mini is about £65. Add in a mount and waterproofing and I reckon you’ll be adding at least £20, probably more. For not a lot more than that you could get a second hand Garmin Edge 605 which is waterproof, has mapping (free version available which IME is as good as OS) and works very well as a GPS which is fundamentally what you want. My Desire S works amazingly well considering it’s a phone but it’s definitely not as reliable or consistent as my Garmin.

From a quick google the pulse mini is about £65

£40 new is the cheapest I found this morning.

I thought about it. Thought about battery life, mounting, capacitive screen not behaving with rain drops, etc.

Then I bought a Garmin.

I could be interested since my mobile is old…but the pulse mini is discontinued from what I can see?

I’ve used my galaxy s for this in a waterproof touchscreen case I got free from MBUK. Works well, but having the screen on constantly for nav (oruxmaps with OS mapping) absolutely kills the battery.

.but the pulse mini is discontinued from what I can see

Seems that way but XDA have some support for it.

I reckon my desire S would do at least 6 hours with GPS on – more if I switched off mobile signal and wifi…

But would you be able to refrain from checking STW? 😉

Another option would be a second hand pocket PC (iPaq or similar) running Memory Map, with a separate GPS receiver and a high capacity battery. Should be doable for about £100 if you already have the software, but quite a fiddly, fragile and inelegant solution.

I use an old Nokia 5800 running Viewranger in a waterproof phone bag (from Decathlon)which is then velcroed to the stem. Looks a bit crap but it works fine. The best things about the 5800 are the battery life (8+ hours with viewranger and GPS) ,the resitive screen (so I can use gloves and operate it whilst it’s inside the waterproof bag) and they are dirt cheap off ebay.