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Using Droid Incredible as GPS

H

hyperbuzzin

Lurker
So, I was curious how the Inc would work as a GPS. The screen seems to heat up a good bit while surfing the web for even 10 -15 minutes, and the LED starts flashing.
Would this cause issues while using the GPS or would it be better to have the screen off and only turn it on occasionally while driving?
 
The screen starts heating up? How hot are we talking here? It should not be heating up to the degree that its that noticeable and definately not uncomfortable to the touch.
 
hyperbuzzin said:
So, I was curious how the Inc would work as a GPS. The screen seems to heat up a good bit while surfing the web for even 10 -15 minutes, and the LED starts flashing.
Would this cause issues while using the GPS or would it be better to have the screen off and only turn it on occasionally while driving?
Click to expand...

Do you mean that the phone heats up?

I think that using it as GPS uses a lot of power. You really need to have it plugged in to the car so that you will still have battery when you arrive at your destination. And I have noticed that the phone get warm, even very warm in the summer so that I would periodically hold it in front of the AC vents to cool it down.
 
Using GPS on any Android device will cause the device to heat up. My Droid does this.

hyperbuzzin said:
Would this cause issues while using the GPS or would it be better to have the screen off and only turn it on occasionally while driving?
Click to expand...
Define "better" (always do do when you use the word). It's much more hassle and a bit more dangerous to be fiddling with your device unnecessarily while driving.
 
Agree with the others that the hot screen doesn't sound good.

Using phone as GPS is great, so long as you a) have car charger (it drains battery like mad) and b) have 3G reception where you're at (although caching with latest google maps may make this less important). I've also used the GPS for short walks in the city, but wouldn't trust the battery for longer hikes or camping trips. It would be cool if they made a bicycle mount with a built in charger that uses the energy of your pedaling to charge the phone/GPS...but haven't seen one yet.
 
It sounds like your phone may have a hardware issue causing it to overheat too easily.

The only time I've had mine go into overheat mode was last summer when I was running 2.1 w/ the stock kernel, had it plugged into the charger, in a windshield mounted car dock, and it was around 100 degrees outside. After about 30 min of using it, the LED started blinking and it said the battery was was 121'F and it quit charging. I swapped the dock for one that mounts closer to my console, and I've also installed newer ROMs and Kernels that have reduced the amount of bloatware constantly running, and I haven't encountered any problems with it overheating since.

Also, when that happened, the back of the case around the battery felt warm, but the screen did not, which also makes me think there's an issue with that particular phone.
 
It doesn't get hot enough that it's uncomfortable to touch. Enough for the LED to start flashing. This was while surfing Youtube. Haven't seen how it acts running the GPS. I guess it could be the phone in general more than the screen specificly. And I was planning on using the power cord while using it as a GPS.
Maybe I'll try on my way home from work and see how it goes.

Thanks all
 
Are you using satellite imagery?

GPS alone does not use a lot of power on the phone. I often leave my phone in my pocket with My Tracks running (with airplane mode), and I only use about 3% battery/hour only using GPS.

Downloading data eats up the battery a lot, and also uses more power than receiving GPS data. So, if you're using the satellite maps, you're going to be constantly downloading data.

Using the vector maps will greatly reduce this, since now that the maps are cached when you start navigation, and are much smaller than they used to be, you really never have to download anything while navigating, unless you get extremely off route.
 
GPS uses a good amount of power. Downloading the data for the maps etc, adds even more power draw, more electricity flowing through the circuits creates heat.

I've never got any overheating warnings, but running it hot (like any electronics) will contribute to one day something breaking. If you keep everything within specs and tolerances this shouldn't happen before its time for a new phone, if it does, warranty or insurance, thats what its for.
 
bubbers44 said:
GPS works in airplane mode? I thought GPS use was not allowed by passengers in flight.
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It's not against the FAA (or FCC for that matter) policy. While it's always up to the pilot's discretion, most airlines allow them. They don't transmit anything.

And really airplane mode just means turn off cell radio.
 
hyperbuzzin said:
So, I was curious how the Inc would work as a GPS. The screen seems to heat up a good bit while surfing the web for even 10 -15 minutes, and the LED starts flashing.
Would this cause issues while using the GPS or would it be better to have the screen off and only turn it on occasionally while driving?
Click to expand...

I cannot speak to the rest, but as to the purely GPS part of your post, I can tell you that I travel for work quite a bit and I used to bring my Tom Tom to use in the rental cars and now exclusively use the Incredible GPS.

IMO it works great!
 
I have used my droid as a GPS during 4 hour trip. It did get warm, not just the screen, it was mostly felt on the back. but it worked great. I have a Yukon Denali with a built in GPS and I like the droid better.
 
I have completed two trips since owning the incredible, California to Illinios and California to Seattle. Both trips were done with the incredible as my navigation device. No problems! I kept the phone plugged in the whole time and it gets warm but other than that no issues. I do wish the navigation had more features regarding mileages to different points during the trip etc.. but it is a phone so I am very pleased.
 
humboldtsgt said:
I have completed two trips since owning the incredible, California to Illinios and California to Seattle. Both trips were done with the incredible as my navigation device. No problems! I kept the phone plugged in the whole time and it gets warm but other than that no issues. I do wish the navigation had more features regarding mileages to different points during the trip etc.. but it is a phone so I am very pleased.
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And it's free so we really cannot complain about free :D
 
I've used mine as a GPS a few times and yes it does get hot enough to start my LED flashing a warning. If I know it's going to be a long time until my next turn I usually turn the screen off which seems to help a lot.
 
ram69 said:
what kind of cases are those of you useing that keep overheating your phones?
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Ah, overheating. I think the plastic/silicone soft case I have is a culprit. GPS would work for a while and then go off and continually try to restart. Had to pull battery and restart. Do people have any problems when not using a case.
 
Works beautifully as a GPS. I use it daily. With Google Maps 5 (especially), those standalone GPS units are now obsolete.

I've never had an overheating problem and I live in a hot climate. This thread is the first I've ever heard of that happening.
 
When I'm using the gps for navigation I just leave the screen off. It reads the next street name to you even exit numbers, and gives you the perfect amount of warning to start your next turn so I've found there is no need for the moving map. Even though it is cool to look at.
 
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