GPS performances without data use?

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I'm researching to buy a smartphone and considering the investment involved I would rather make the right choice. With this in mind I do have a few questions for those who already have a unit in hand.

I'm curious as to the Rhodium's GPS performance when used without the AGPS fonction, or any similar mode requiring use of GPRS/EDGE/3G.

The reason is quite simple: my work takes me abroad very often and as you all know data roaming fees are insanely high. Therefore I would like to be able to use my future smartphone (possible the Rhodium) without incurring said fees.

I have no problem with downloading satellite information once in a while via wifi or active synch connection on the other hand.

So, what kind of performance does the Rhodium offer in my scenario? Would I be plagued with low accuracy and insanely high fix time like some of the other HTC models or can I expect usable performances?

Thx!

Pat

P.S. As a side question, how reliable is the "nodata.cab" file to kill gprs/edge/3G connection? Can I expect it to reliably completely disable my cellular data connection or does it "crap out" sometimes?

This will be my first winmo, so I don't have 1st hand experience with nodata--I have downloaded it preparation though, as I plan not to buy a data plan. However, screenshots of the TP2's setup screen seem to indicate you can shut off the data radio without it, so it might not even be necessary. Nodata works by editing the winmo registry entries, so if it works at all on a device, in theory, it should work consistently.

GPS over Wi-Fi only works perfectly.

Originally Posted by Pat007

I'm researching to buy a smartphone and considering the investment involved I would rather make the right choice. With this in mind I do have a few questions for those who already have a unit in hand.

I'm curious as to the Rhodium's GPS performance when used without the AGPS fonction, or any similar mode requiring use of GPRS/EDGE/3G.

The reason is quite simple: my work takes me abroad very often and as you all know data roaming fees are insanely high. Therefore I would like to be able to use my future smartphone (possible the Rhodium) without incurring said fees.

I have no problem with downloading satellite information once in a while via wifi or active synch connection on the other hand.

So, what kind of performance does the Rhodium offer in my scenario? Would I be plagued with low accuracy and insanely high fix time like some of the other HTC models or can I expect usable performances?

Thx!

Pat

P.S. As a side question, how reliable is the "nodata.cab" file to kill gprs/edge/3G connection? Can I expect it to reliably completely disable my cellular data connection or does it "crap out" sometimes?

The GPS receiver in the Rhodium is better than the Fuze and on par with the Pure (from my experience). A lot of the GPS performance will be affected by which radio is installed, but for the most part, almost any one of them will give reasonable GPS performance.

You will notice somewhat of a lag (depending upon your location and the strength of available satellites) to getting the 'first fix'/lock after a soft reset. The soft reset essentially wipes out the GPS receivers memory as which satellites are available and has to start from scratch, downloading the almanac from whatever satelites it can find. This can take up to 12 minutes, but most people are finding it takes a lot less time. For me, if I'm outside, it usually takes about 5 minutes or less for 'first fix'. After that, time to a fix is usually in a matter of seconds after turning on the GPS receiver.

Using the QuickGPS and other such tools, which download satellite data from various internet sites, can help somewhat, but I haven't found it making a huge amount of difference.

I have no idea what my esteemed colleague means by 'GPS over WiFi'.

I don't have data, so the first thing I do is go to:
start/settings/connections/connections/advanced/select networks and make sure that both tabs have "my work network" selected.

Either that, or call your provider and tell them.you would like to have data blocked on the phone line (if you're able). Both work.

With regard to the GPS, it's hit or miss at times. Sometimes it's up withing seconds, other times within 5-10 minutes (most likely after a reset).

Go with igo8...worth it.