Do you really need GPS in the car?

For about a year or two, car GPS systems have started to become available in the Philippines. There are at least 3 or 4 different companies offering portable GPS in the country and some car dealerships have also started bundling them with a new purchase of a motor vehicle.

Before the time when local maps were available to navigation systems, I used to rely on printed maps (I bought a whole book for Metro Manila at NBS or was it 7-11) and trace my route a day before I travel or head to my destination.

For longer trips, Google Maps was also a great help (much more with WikiMapia). There was a time I also used Ovi Maps on my Nokia E71 and it was pretty good. In several occasions, my iPad 3G was also was also a good tool for me to figure out what street I an driving on.

So far, the current line-up of GPS devices are pretty capable. They’re not that complete or very extensive but they’re able to do the job most of the time.

Anybody out there using a GPS in their car or have some other solutions (as a cheaper alternative) like Ovi Maps on their phone or iPad too?

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

35 Comments

Eason says:

14 years ago

Well they are useful to people that are not too much road oriented.

I may not have the luxury to have a GPS or it just seems that I feel I don’t need one.

I usually go with a companion when going to a place I don’t know. Most of the time I want to go to the place first by commuting then go the 2nd time using a car. So far my skills to navigate and preparedness by researching via google map helped me a lot before leaving for a trip.

So I guess having a GPS would be more useful, but I’m still confused, does using a GPS need internet or that is the AGPS?
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Calvin says:

14 years ago

nope. no need for internet on these GPS navigation system.

i use avt and it’s really helpful to navigate those small streets in makati. as long as malakas yung signal since pag maraming mataas na building malilito ka lang.

jun says:

14 years ago

for me it is very useful specially when I am not familiar with the place.. just curious with it and get the garmin with osm map loaded.. very useful the first time when i am in baguio :)
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Dan MD says:

14 years ago

This is where Nokia Symbian phones really shine with its Ovi maps pre-installed in my Nokia N8. I have used it countless times when driving and even guiding a cab driver (and to make sure) I’m not being cheated with the route.
Advantages of Ovi Maps:
1. Lifetime free turn-by-turn navigation (Google maps is yet to provide this feature)
2. Doesn’t need an online network connection to work (again, unlike Google maps)
3. Ability to plan route before travel
4. Maps marks important (Points of interest) POI’s during navigation mode w/c is really helpful if you’re locating the nearest hospital, gas station, car repair station, etc.

The latest version for Symbian 3 also supports multi-touch and compass mode.
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go15 says:

14 years ago

we have a garmin for a navigator. It is helpful especially when travelling to unknown or far places. When it is not on the garmin map, that’s the time I use google earth or wikimapia to look for the place’s coordinates and enter it in the navi.
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problematik says:

14 years ago

i have been using GPS with my driving for 3 weeks now. It seldom gives me wrong directions (i got lost twice), but it has been helpful on most occasions.

The map though, i believe, is not that updated cause when i tried driving along cavitex, the gps shows that i am driving though the water.. hahaha
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daniel says:

14 years ago

hahahha di pa siguro updated! kaka-open lng nung cavitex wahahah

jhoeforth says:

14 years ago

Having a GPS on your car is not a must but can be a life saver! On our way back from a trip in Bicol, we got caught up in a heavy traffic in Quezon because of the holiday rush. We bypassed the traffic by looking for alternate routes using iPad 3G on every town while avoiding the main road.
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Andre says:

14 years ago

Well there are many alternative devices to a incar GPS, but ofcourse the source of the data always matters. So if you have a Garmin, get the free Philippine Map based on OpenStreetMap
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Benchmark says:

14 years ago

Years ago, when I am in sales, we use to travel a lot. There is once, from Manila, we have to go to La Union to visit a company…days before the trip, I use WIKIMAPIA to trace our path, from start til the destination by following the whole stretch of the road…and since WIKIMAPIA has this tagging or pictures of some landmarks, I use to open it and remember the landmark it shows. And it was a total successful travel. :-)

All I need is wikimapia, plus my memory to visualize our travel. :D
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bryan says:

14 years ago

I think having a gps device is good to have, but if it were intergated with traffic update from the mmda, its a must have.
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Ben says:

14 years ago

For me, I use Garmin MobileXT for Symbian on my N82 phone. It’s a way better and accurate than Ovi Maps. I first used this when I travel from Manila to Surigao and back..
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