Comments on: Review: TeleNav AT&T Navigator VS. A Standalone GPS Device – My Vacation Experience

By: Poll: Do You Want a GPS App With On Device Maps? | BerryReview.com »

Poll: Do You Want a GPS App With On Device Maps? | BerryReview.com » — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:10:05 +0000

[...] has tons of free space on its MicroSD card just waiting for maps. It just blows my mind that my sub-$100 Mio c310x is a better GPS than my $400+ BlackBerry Bold. Both of them have similar components minus the touch screen with the Bold trumping with a faster [...]

By: david marcus

david marcus — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:47:46 +0000

I tried the ATT Navigator for the first time today on my BlackBerry Bold, and agree with every assessment made here. I will also add that when I couldn’t hear the voice giving directions over car noise, I connected my BlueTooth ear piece (JawBone) only to find that the navigator audio still came from the phone speaker.

But the biggest surprise was when I realized that you have to be very careful to make sure you completely exit the Navigator application when you’re not using it. If you don’t, the GPS receiver is left on and drains the battery in only a few hours.

I will not be continuing with ATT Navigator.

By: GK

GK — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:14:48 +0000

I would like to compare your experience to mine. I am on Verizon and use VZ Navigator, Verizon’s “house” GPS application which is similar (conceptually) to Telenav.

VZ Nav’s map’s are extremely acurate and it’s instructions for things like merging onto highways are frighteningly accurate. It’s GPS lock is a little slower than what you have described for Telenav but it is fairly tenacious. I have used it on the open road for long trips and in the dense environment of New York City (mid-town Manhatan, a really bad GPS environment).

It has so far provided really good service.

It does not have a POI feature but it will find movies and cultural events.

It is not as good as my business partner’s stand-alone GPS, but it gets me where I need to go. In several emergency situations it has proved invaluable.

I am bothered by the monthly service charge which is one reason I am considering a stand-alone unit. The other is the lack of waypoints. On the other hand, it does scan the address book on my Storm and only needs a few keystrokes to pull an address out and run it.

Overall assessment: Seems to be somewhat better than Telenav.

BTW: It is decidedly better than the Garmin phone GPS app.

By: oldgeek

oldgeek — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:41:30 +0000

I’ve been using at&t navigator for a while now and I’m a bit confused as to what exactly you were using. Yes, at&t Navigator is based on Telenav but it’s not exactly the same. The navigation interface is different between Telenav and at&t Navigator. When you lose “cell” coverage at&t Navigator goes to arrow only navigation, so while you do lose the maps you still have the directions and voice that keeps going. Also the annoyance you experienced with Telenav losing GPS signal and popping up a notification does not exist in the same way with at&t Navigator. On the other hand I rarely lose GPS signal but I have seen Telenav’s annoying popup which does not exist with at&t Navigator. Also, when at&t Navigator gets close to a turn it goes to 2D mode so you can actually see where your next turn is and then returns to 3D mode after you make the turn. At&t navigator is trying to make the software better by allowing you to push the letter “f” anywhere in the program to send at&t feedback, whether you experience a problem or have a suggestion to make it better. I agree it’s hard to hear your phone when there’s a little wind noise in the car so that’s why I push the $ button and it speaks through my bluetooth earpiece. While you had your share of problems I don’t believe it’s the norm.

By: chinh9000

chinh9000 — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:02:31 +0000

i use telenav on a daily basis, i work for att, and i think the program is great. hasnt let me down yet and been using it for over a year

att is now global

By: mettleh3d

mettleh3d — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:57:32 +0000

Great Review Ronen

I own a c310x too and although I haven’t really looked at other GPSes, I find the 310x to be frikkin fantastic. Biggest bonus I appreciated is that the map doesn’t load when scrolling and panning the map, it’s fluid and all encompassing. Minor victory but a huge gripe compared to “refreshing” maps images.

Cool.

Gmaps is cool for getting around, but I’ll still carry the 310x

By: wojtas

wojtas — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:43:54 +0000

Is this for USA only?

By: Brett

Brett — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:25:21 +0000

Fantastic review. Thanks.

One point I’d like to raise is that you suggest that AT&T allow for on-device maps. The map data for the US that is used by TomTom is just under 1GB. So, this data would have to be on an SD card. This would likely prevent you from using the SD card for other purposes, and require you to swap out SD cards.

Also, purchasing map data is typically around $100 from companies like TomTom, Garmin, etc. There is a ZERO percent chance I would ever consider spending $100 for map data on an SD card, AND spending $9.99/month for the service. So, AT&T would have to be willing to rent you the SC card containing map data as part of the $9.99/month price — something I doubt they would consider.

I use the TomTom ONE, which can currently be purchased for about $150. So, we’re talking about $50 more than the cost of the maps alone, or a mere 5 months’ worth of service from AT&T.

Considering the speed and ease of use of the TomTom, I’d rather have a separate device.