RE: GPS, Data Plan, & Costs

[whoster69]

I'm getting ready to buy an HTC X7501. I have a couple of questions regarding GPS. Once I buy a full GPS program like TomTom for instance, is there any cost involved in using the GPS on my X7501? For instance, does it make use of a data plan or do you need some other service to download maps?

The reason I ask is because I'm considering skipping the data plan since 90% of the time I'm in a WiFi area...

Thanks.

[boinger66]

no software is all u need ...

unless u want traffic updates
if not than the software is fine

[whoster69]

no software is all u need ...

unless u want traffic updates
if not than the software is fine

So are traffic updates a part of your wireless data service then?

Thanks for the reply!

[Confucious]

So are traffic updates a part of your wireless data service then?

Thanks for the reply!

Yes, GPS isn't but traffic comes over GPRS (or Edge/3G/HSDPA) which is .

[whoster69]

Yes, GPS isn't but traffic comes over GPRS (or Edge/3G/HSDPA) which is .

Good to know. Now I'll have to decide if I want it for the data plan. Any guess on how many MB it takes up? My guess would be that it would take up enough to make me want to go with an unlimited plan if I used it much...

Thanks again for the help.

[Calavaro]

The QuickGPS downloads are done over any available internet connection.
It could be GPRS, 3G or WiFi.

So, no, you do not need a data plan.

[boinger66]

traffic updates for a month if you use it ONLY for that shouldnt be more than a 100MB

[mikealder]

I find the average downloads when using traffic are 100K per hour, this is using a 15 min update interval. (This is based over a few months where I took notes of the daily downloads)
This means that 10 hours driving equates to 1MB, no more than 30MB per month - Mike

[Confucious]

I have an unlimited data plan - the Athena cries out for one. You say you are within WiFi range most of the time , I have never used WiFi on my Athena, when I did on my Universal it drained the battery so much I gave up.

Here in the UK 3G coverage is great and HSDPA coverage is pretty good so I have connection wherever I go for less than £10/month. It does depend on cost/coverage but I'd recommend 3G/HSDPA over WiFi hen you just don't need to worry about it :)

[whoster69]

I have an unlimited data plan - the Athena cries out for one. You say you are within WiFi range most of the time , I have never used WiFi on my Athena, when I did on my Universal it drained the battery so much I gave up.

Here in the UK 3G coverage is great and HSDPA coverage is pretty good so I have connection wherever I go for less than £10/month. It does depend on cost/coverage but I'd recommend 3G/HSDPA over WiFi hen you just don't need to worry about it :)

Sadly here where I live in California, we really only have one company with the coverage, AT&T. Their data plan is about $50 per month for unlimited, which is a lot. Since I can get WiFi at home and work for free, I will probably go with that and skip any data plan.

Thanks to all who replied. That gives me a much better idea of what to expect.