(Possibly) dumb GPS questions...

[steve_h]

I apologise in advance if this is deemed "answered" - I've read but remain a little uncertain about finer details...

I am in the market for my first smart-phone... which I intend to use primarily to read email and access the web (over Wi-Fi and on a cellular network); secondarily as an emergency modem for my laptop (if I find myself cut-off from the net) - and finally, though least importantly, for pedestrian navigation.

I've been considering the Atermis, but without 3G I doubt that would meet all my communications needs. The Trinity looked absolutely perfect - except that it lacked GPS... and now I find it kind-of has that feature. I wouldn't mind waiting for a couple of months to get a legitimate upgrade ROM - and I'd even willingly pay a modest sum for that... Reliability is one of my key concerns. I'd consider hacking it if there were to be absolutely no alternative - but I can be patient for a month or two... if I know it will become available.

So, my questions are:

* Will I be in the same boat with respect to GPS no-matter which Trinity I buy? I.e. Are all Trinity devices identical from a hardware perspective, or are there minor revisions which might prove relevant?

* Would it be most prudent to hold-off buying a Trinity until an official GPS enabled ROM has been released?

I don't want to be forced to choose between 3G and GPS - both are key features I want... (though I expect to require the use of GPS less frequently.)

Is now a good time to buy a Trinity, or... a good time to wait?

[hanmin]

Depends on your preference and your GPS usage frequency, that you may consider getting yourself a GPS 'mouse' that is less than the size of a deck of playing cards, which you can happily dump that in your car/pocket in cases you need to use a GPS.

[anonimo]

Is now a good time to buy a Trinity, or... a good time to wait?

Write to HTC and explain that you will buy a Trinity only if they commit to releasing the ROM update within a certain timeframe. Let's see what they reply. If GPS is really important for you I wouldn't buy before they take the commitment.
Buying something that you already know you have to tamper with to make it work the way you like is buying without warranty because you will void it on day one!

[steve_h]

Depends on your preference and your GPS usage frequency

Absolutely... I doubt I'd use the GPS functionality very frequently - but, I also doubt that I'd be able to anticipate when I would need it. For this reason I'm definitely in favour of having it built-in to the device... any other way and Murphy's-law would dictate that I didn't have the GPS receiver on me when I need it. Hence it would be as useless to me as a standalone sat-nav unit that is always in a different city when I'm lost.

Write to HTC and explain that you will buy a Trinity only if they commit to releasing the ROM update within a certain timeframe. Let's see what they reply. If GPS is really important for you I wouldn't buy before they take the commitment.

That's not a bad idea - though I doubt that one customer's threat would make all that much of a difference... I suspect that they'd like me to buy the Atermis now and upgrade by buying a Mk.2 Trinity in a few months - to maximise their bottom line. I think that they know that the Trinity is a compelling option without GPS - and that they probably know that there isn't much competition in their market space for a 3G+802.11 Phone/PDA.

Buying something that you already know you have to tamper with to make it work the way you like is buying without warranty because you will void it on day one!

This is very significant... It doesn't absolutely rule the device out - but, for comparison purposes, I assume that being forced to invalidate the warranty is roughly equivalent to doubling or trebling the price... and, with a device which isn't cheap in the first place, this is causing me to justify delaying my purchase. I would buy a Trinity now if I was sure that in, say, 3 to 6 months I could software upgrade it to "do" GPS... as I have an immediate use for the device's 3G/802.11 capabilities... All I want to do is avoid having to spend another £400 if, in a few months, when I will want/need GPS, if I wreck the device by messing-up an illegal ROM-flash.