Can The GPS Work Out of 3g/2G range?

[NewMacGirl]

The great thing about GPS is that you can see where you are anywhere on earth. Like in the middle of the Simpson Dessert or whatever. I remember getting lost in the English Lake District-it was cloudy, we were up a mountain, getting dark and had lost our track. We found our way down eventually but GPS would have been a god send.

The trouble is in these remote unpopulated places your'e unlikely to get any G let alone 3G coverage and there won't be a starbucks for a wifi hotspot so will the GPS still work?

I would think you would need to get Google Maps somehow and if you haven't got any mobile coverage how can they get onto your phone??

Will using the GPS with google maps say for a three hour drive cost an absolute fortune as your'e constantly downloading data?

This is where a dedicated maps and all GPS App would come in with its own map database or could google maps be used without mobile coverage-can they be preloaded maybe?.

 

[rayward]

The GPS will work but, unless you've got a data connection, you won't get a map. Geotagging etc. will still work, though.

I would imagine that using GPS and a 3G connection while driving across country will murder the battery...unless you have a cigarette lighter charger. Trying to do this on a 2G connection would be impossible because the map hasn't got a chance of updating fast enough.

Yes, pre-loaded maps would be very useful. A couple of firms have said they're working on it. Buying the maps is pretty expensive, though. And GPS will still be hard on your battery even if your maps aren't being downloaded on the fly.