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Can anyone compare the two? My HD2 had a pretty good GPS lock and the accuracy of positioning couldn't be grumbled at. I hear that the 3GS isn't so good in this department?
No, the iPhone 3GS is very bad in that department. It's not very accurate and it can take minutes to get the fix, compared to about 5-10 seconds it usually takes with the HD2.
That's why TomTom sells its car kit for the iPhone with an additional GPS receiver. With that car kit, it's about as good as the HD2
sunking101 said:
Can anyone compare the two? My HD2 had a pretty good GPS lock and the accuracy of positioning couldn't be grumbled at. I hear that the 3GS isn't so good in this department?
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Click to collapse
why asking about iphone forget about it it is not iphone forum
At my home, GPS puts me about 20miles from where I actually am, signal strength is bad in my area but HD2 has had the highest signal strength from all the phones I've used.
It's decent when I'm in town, has a circle and is about 500m off, circle is 2km big. Nireland ain't worth crying about so I'm not complaining.
MrMagicMushroom said:
At my home, GPS puts me about 20miles from where I actually am, signal strength is bad in my area but HD2 has had the highest signal strength from all the phones I've used.
It's decent when I'm in town, has a circle and is about 500m off, circle is 2km big. Nireland ain't worth crying about so I'm not complaining.
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Are you sure you're talking about GPS and not cell tower triangulation only?
I think you have not turned on GPS
sunking101 said:
Can anyone compare the two? My HD2 had a pretty good GPS lock and the accuracy of positioning couldn't be grumbled at. I hear that the 3GS isn't so good in this department?
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Click to collapse
I had both (3GS) at the same time and compared them on several occasions. The longest trip I took was approx. 200 miles - I did not have them both turned on all the way (neither of the batteries would allow that), but had them turned on at the same time for part of the trip. The iPhone was running Navigon and the HD2 was running TomTom. They aquired the satelittes equally fast, but the iPhone seems better when on the move - the HD2 lost track of the satelites on several occasions and was a bit slower/a little behind the iPhone when displaying turns etc.
I did on a stock HD2 with the first ROM edition approx. 1 1/2 months ago - I no longer have my iPhone, so I havent compared with the newest ROM version.
Best regards,
Jacob
freyberry said:
Are you sure you're talking about GPS and not cell tower triangulation only?
I think you have not turned on GPS
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I just tried it there, used Quick GPS but it only downloads good satellite information, fiddled around with Google maps and hit the GPS button, I remember doing that before and it loaded for awhile. I left it longer and it got me a position which is on the spot, but it's still loading?
Silly me!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...372,0.018947&z=16&iwloc=00048f225d8da9a32da25
on a very very clear day with the Vibrant in my cycling jersey pocket on my back.
supl.google.com
sky hook on
MS Based
a few blips but its fairly close. but should be better. It's not unusable like some say.
It is unusable for some people, you happened to be able to use skyhook. If you were in the middle of nowhere that wouldnt help you.
Yea I used it also and it seems to be a bit off on the track
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Never been unusable for me either. Actually fairly accurate ill have to do a my tracks later....
Lol you guys sound like some of the customers I deal with everyday. These are consumer grade devices. If you want something accurate go buy a Trimble GPS device and spend the thousands of dollars it takes to acquire one. I think even with the hiccups, your tracks are pretty decent. This is a cellphone, not a true GPS device.
BTW I work for Garmin so with my background of GPS and how it works this is probably why the inaccuracies in your track do not bother me. One thing you have to understand there are so many factors that can play into why you might of had these spikes....Heavy tree coverage, cloud over cast, power lines, tall buildings etc...Signal multi-path can also play into these types of spikes. Not bashing, but I think it does a pretty good job for what it is.
Steeltippin said:
Lol you guys sound like some of the customers I deal with everyday. These are consumer grade devices. If you want something accurate go buy a Trimble GPS device and spend the thousands of dollars it takes to acquire one. I think even with the hiccups, your tracks are pretty decent. This is a cellphone, not a true GPS device.
BTW I work for Garmin so with my background of GPS and how it works this is probably why the inaccuracies in your track do not bother me. One thing you have to understand there are so many factors that can play into why you might of had these spikes....Heavy tree coverage, cloud over cast, power lines, tall buildings etc...Signal multi-path can also play into these types of spikes. Not bashing, but I think it does a pretty good job for what it is.
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Um I am sorry I disagree with you, with my first smart phone, the G1 took seconds to lock on to 4+ birds ... and my vibrant .. see's 10 and locks on to 1 .. and its not even the one with the strongest signal ... then there is an issue. I think that is what people are complaining about.
I agree .. if the true purpose of getting something is for GPS alone, then a Garmin etc .. is great.
aohmer said:
Um I am sorry I disagree with you, with my first smart phone, the G1 took seconds to lock on to 4+ birds ... and my vibrant .. see's 10 and locks on to 1 .. and its not even the one with the strongest signal ... then there is an issue. I think that is what people are complaining about.
I agree .. if the true purpose of getting something is for GPS alone, then a Garmin etc .. is great.
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The G1 had almost the same exact problem with the GPS when it was first released in October of 08. In the beginning of December, it was updated OTA and it was fixed completely. The update for the Vibrant is coming this month, have faith.
scooterman said:
supl.google.com
sky hook on
MS Based
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Click to collapse
Skyhook is not GPS. Period.
scooterman said:
a few blips but its fairly close. ...ore it a 7/10, usable, but far from the best.
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The release notes for the new Obsidian 2.2 ROM from TW says the GPS is "very accurate". I'm assuming it's got the real 2.2 drivers and SW.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of the JI6 and 2.2 GPS accuracy.
I've definitely had issues with significant inaccuracy using the Vibrant GPS for driving. It's usually fine, but sometimes it goes into rapid recalculations due to miscalculating my location on nearby streets. It's can be quite annoying if you're depending on it. I've used several standalone GPS units over the years and haven't seen this behavior before. In some ways the Vibrant GPS is better than my current standalone unit, but this inconsistent accuracy is a significant flaw.
I'm hoping 2.2 will include some improvements.
samnada said:
The release notes for the new Obsidian 2.2 ROM from TW says the GPS is "very accurate". I'm assuming it's got the real 2.2 drivers and SW.
It would be interesting to see a comparison of the JI6 and 2.2 GPS accuracy.
I've definitely had issues with significant inaccuracy using the Vibrant GPS for driving. It's usually fine, but sometimes it goes into rapid recalculations due to miscalculating my location on nearby streets. It's can be quite annoying if you're depending on it. I've used several standalone GPS units over the years and haven't seen this behavior before. In some ways the Vibrant GPS is better than my current standalone unit, but this inconsistent accuracy is a significant flaw.
I'm hoping 2.2 will include some improvements.
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Click to collapse
Although GPS test reports an accuracy of 6-10 yards roughly, once I start Maps, the accuracy varies on a much wider range. Driving in big city is not much fun when you could be anywhere within a 200 yard range.
I just got the JI6 update and the GPS is definitely much better. However, I was wondering how it matches up to the GPS on other smartphones.
Does anyone have a Nexus One or another android phone to compare it to? Could you please post some results. Only post results from the official OTA JI6 update.
I just got my OTA update this morning.
I am comparing my Vibrant with my BF's Nexus One (running Froyo 2.21) using GPS test.
The result:
Nexus views fewer satellites and locks them much faster than my vibrant on the other hand Vibrant views more satellites locks them a bit slower (Nexus : in view : 8 in use 8 instantly, VIbrant in view : 13 in use 7)
Nexus has better accuracy 9.9 feet VS. 22ish feet on vibrant.
I definitely like the gps on my vibrant much better after the OTA.
I am curious about the GPS performance test among other samsung galaxy s brethren (Captivate, Epic 4G, and Fascinate)
yea my nexus had much better GPS
and got instant lock when any app required gps location
but vibrant works perfectly fine just takes little longer
Just tested against N1 in a real life situation using C:Geo on both phones and the N1 had me rock solid on a Geocache and the Vibrant had me 15 feet off of it plus after trying to get my bearings it decided to start wondering off and I ended up in another county in 3 minutes. The N1 GPS just works and work rock solid, the Vibrants GPS is obviously not a hardware issue but a software issue. The reason I say that is because when I got the Vibrant Geocaching was a no go at all, wouldn't even lock onto enough sat's to be useful. Now at least it has me within 15 feet of my caches.
So all in all it has improved, but it is still not as good as my old N1.
Gps on the vibrant sucks. I honestly believe it's a hardware issue. JI6 update addressed a stupid software issue that prevented the gps to lock onto satellites probably due to wrong time information, but even after that, performance is really lacking.
I have a nexus one, and it gets a fix in less than 5 seconds with an accuracy of 2 m (6 feet). Once it gets a fix, it doesn't wander all over the map. It stays put.
The vabrant ( before and after JI6) doesn't get an accuracy better than 6 meters (20 ft). That's not to bad, but in google maps, it starts jumping all over the map until it settles -usually- at the farthest place from the actual location.
After JI6, the gps locks very quickly, definitely an improvement, but it it's more important the accuracy than the TTF.
In google navigation, when you stop at a red light, the inaccuracies og the gps and its constant jumping from place to place, triggers re-route after re-route. This is uncomfortable and dangerous when you are driving in an unfamiliar area.
The phone is great, but could have been better had some minimal QA been done.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
reddragon72 said:
Just tested against N1 in a real life situation using C:Geo on both phones and the N1 had me rock solid on a Geocache and the Vibrant had me 15 feet off of it plus after trying to get my bearings it decided to start wondering off and I ended up in another county in 3 minutes. The N1 GPS just works and work rock solid, the Vibrants GPS is obviously not a hardware issue but a software issue. The reason I say that is because when I got the Vibrant Geocaching was a no go at all, wouldn't even lock onto enough sat's to be useful. Now at least it has me within 15 feet of my caches.
So all in all it has improved, but it is still not as good as my old N1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This saddens me. I used to be able to cache almost exclusively off of my G1, unless under heavy cover.
studing
After manually flashing the updated (the OTA bricked my phone), I tested the GPS on its own, as well as side by side with my wife's G2. While JI6 allows the Vibrant to get a satellite lock in seconds, the accuracy of the GPS is virtually nonexistent, with the location bouncing all over the place. Forget about stopping at a red light - the cursor will start jumping around, sometimes placing me 2-3 blocks away from my actual location. While driving on a local highway (with a clear view of the sky), the GPS would frequently lose signal, although it would lock on again in a few seconds. Although the Vibrant can now get a satellite lock, the accuracy has not been fixed. The G2 does not suffer from these issues, reporting accuracy of 4-6 feet and getting a much quicker satellite lock than the Vibrant.
I am starting to think it is definitely a hardware issue. With GPS test I am getting locks on 9 of 10 or 10 of 12 satellites, but the bar is not very high for the signal on any satellite. Driving down the road it losses signal randomly. My G1 and HD2 had much better GPS performance.
I guess I will live with this until it is time to get another upgrade phone for the cheap price. Maybe the new Mytouch when it comes out. I have extra lines on my account just so I can get early upgrades. An extra line using the same minutes is $5 a month. It is worth it to me to keep getting new phones and selling the other phone on ebay.
Just did a side by side test with my Vibrant running Bionix 1.7 with the JI6 modem.bin vs. my wife’s brand new G2. My Vibrant instantly saw 13 satellites and took around 10 seconds to lock 11 of those 13. Initially it showed 90 ft. accuracy and after around 20-30 seconds it was bouncing between 18-25 ft. on accuracy. On my wife’s G2 as soon as I opened up GPS Test it saw 11 satellites and locked all 11. It initially showed 20 ft. on accuracy and then after 2-3 seconds it showed 12 ft. on accuracy. I watched it for about 2-3 minutes and it didn't really move as far as how many satellites it had locked or its accuracy.
Gps will never be as good as other phones lets face it, but it does the job, it haven't failed me yet since ji2 and up..... Not perfect but usable... I'd rather have a not so great gps that still works vs a n1s multi touch bug that don't get real mt......
Take the good with the bad
I just flashed the ji6 and although the GPS is improved it is far from being fixed. With my Nexus One and G2 I get a fix within 5 seconds and usually locks on all birds. With the Vibrant it takes much longer and the best it can do is 5 out of 12 birds. This GPS is a real shame as it takes a marvelous phone and makes it less than stellar IMO. I would love to use the Vibrant as my Main Phone but with the GPS still not quite right it is not happening as I use GPS everyday throughout the day/.
For those that have gotten the update, what are your GPS settings now? Is it a different server?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Agreed with most comments already posted. The update helped to lock faster, but accuracy really sucks. Google navigation only works about 70% of the time. I find my location drifting to side streets quite often which keeps triggering re-routes all the time. I lose lock randomly (although it does regain lock fairly quickly).
Overall, compared to all other android smart phones I've used, the accuracy/reliability of gps is horrible.
I've also lost all hope in a software fix. With all the press it got and the two plus months to release a fix with marginal improvement...means one of two things.
1-samsung software engineers suck or
2-its a hardware issue and they've done the best they can with software to optimize the broken hardware.
Although both may be true to some degree ... I think we are dealing with case #2...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Roomates Nexus one sees 7 satellites, 10 seconds lock.
My vibrant JI6 sees 9 satellites, 4.5 minute lock
GPS is no worse than the other phones I currently have access to.
Google Maps doesn't jump around like Google Navigation. Google needs to implement smoothing software into their navigation program. Copliot works great with JI6 and Google Navigation gets Parkinson's disease at stop lights. Like I said, same place and Google Maps shows me as stationary while Google Navigation is all over the place
heygrl said:
GPS is no worse than the other phones I currently have access to.
Google Maps doesn't jump around like Google Navigation. Google needs to implement smoothing software into their navigation program. Copliot works great with JI6 and Google Navigation gets Parkinson's disease at stop lights. Like I said, same place and Google Maps shows me as stationary while Google Navigation is all over the place
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Click to collapse
Agreed. With CoPilot it works perfect. I havnt noticed any jumping around at all. The only problem I have had with the GPS since JI6 is that it sometimes takes 3-5 minutes to get a lock on my location.
Try to delete your GPS Data and make sure it's all stock under lbstestmode. I get locks fairly quickly.
kgbkny said:
While JI6 allows the Vibrant to get a satellite lock in seconds, the accuracy of the GPS is virtually nonexistent, with the location bouncing all over the place. Forget about stopping at a red light - the cursor will start jumping around, sometimes placing me 2-3 blocks away from my actual location. While driving on a local highway (with a clear view of the sky), the GPS would frequently lose signal, although it would lock on again in a few seconds. Although the Vibrant can now get a satellite lock, the accuracy has not been fixed.
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Click to collapse
I got the identical behavior last night. Is the GPS that flawed that it thinks it's moving when it's not? If they could at least have the software not move the pointer when you're standing still that would likely make a huge difference. Instead it moves you onto another street and starts speaking out "corrections".
I have a non-rooted Vibrant. After the OTA J16 fix a couple of weeks ago, the GPS went from non-functional (hardly ever locked on any satellites, even after many minutes) to quite good (usually locks on 6-9 satellites within 10-30 seconds). The Google Navigation works well and stays on track 99% of the time. However, Google Earth seems a little wonky. It can locate me in my neighborhood and usually within my 1-acre yard, but, after I'm located, it can begin to wander around by 100-200 feet even when I'm standing still...not always, but sometimes. Am I expecting more than I should?
I know how to get into my GPS settings with the dialer. Is there any point in clearing the GPS data? I assumed that the J16 update would have reset this. I'm generally happy with the GPS function now, but wonder if there is anything more I should do now that it works pretty well.
Can we take another run at this?
Ok, I'm a little surprised that I didn't get even one response to this. Let me try a slightly different approach.
How good can the GPS in a smartphone be? Do any of you have any model of phone where the GPS is blazingly fast to lock, never gets lost or off track, and is always dead-on? Since the Vibrant is my first phone with GPS, the only thing I have to compare it to is my Garmin navigation unit, which is less-than-perfect.
So, can anyone give me a reality check or a realistic set of expectations? Thanks.
After the J16 update, my Vibe's GPS is a bit better than my G1's GPS. Both are lightyears ahead of my girlfriends TomTom.
after the update, my GPS still does not work. I think the GPS is just absolutely horrible and I really do hope they release a new software fix because the ji6 did nothing for me.
to compare, my g2 was able to find my location within 5 seconds. in terms of my location, it was pretty dead on within a few feet, and also accuarate in the direction I was facing.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
ZX3ZX4 said:
Ok, I'm a little surprised that I didn't get even one response to this. Let me try a slightly different approach.
How good can the GPS in a smartphone be? Do any of you have any model of phone where the GPS is blazingly fast to lock, never gets lost or off track, and is always dead-on? Since the Vibrant is my first phone with GPS, the only thing I have to compare it to is my Garmin navigation unit, which is less-than-perfect.
So, can anyone give me a reality check or a realistic set of expectations? Thanks.
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Click to collapse
All my Nokia phones had great GPS. Locks were pretty fast, but they were dead on and I don't remember ever losing the signal outside.
I haven't had to use the gps much since fixed, but it locks on in a reasonable amount of time now and within 20 feet usually. What I don't know yet is if it stays locked on while driving.
To be honest though, it's still much better than the magellan gps I bought last November. That thing wouldnt lock on unless I was out on the road. Not inside my house right up against a window, not under a carport. I'm satisfied for now as long as it stays locked when I use it for roadtrips.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
allthrottle said:
That thing wouldnt lock on unless I was out on the road. Not inside my house right up against a window, not under a carport. I'm satisfied for now as long as it stays locked when I use it for roadtrips.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
If that is what you looking at, I haven't seen one GPS unit in any store with an acquired signal.
GPS sucks on the Galaxy series. They apparently did not fix this on the new Nexus S, which is the same hardware just about.
Mine does not suck at all .
jje
mine works perfect !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What, there's a GPS on the Galaxy? You serious?
Seriously, have you tryed searching a little bit?
slackerlack said:
GPS sucks on the Galaxy series. They apparently did not fix this on the new Nexus S, which is the same hardware just about.
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Click to collapse
I find it quite "usable" these days, but I strongly agree it could be MUCH better. I get dropouts quite often when driving, and in comparison, my years-old Forerunner 305 seems to produce more consistent tracks when jogging.
I find it suspicious that those here who speak of the GPS as "excellent", never post any tracks showing it too.. So I can only assume the GPS is poor for everyone
I find it suspicious that those here who speak of the GPS as "excellent", never post any tracks showing it too.. So I can only assume the GPS is poor for everyone
As i have said before define usable and poor .
Quick lock without WiFi Driving GPS works .
Route tracking as near as i would want bearing in mind that my route tracking would be car use . Walking route tracking had no problems when i tested it .
I have posted tracks but their was no response .
GPS as good as my Nokia 5800 was and not as good as a Tom Tom stand alone GPS unit .
Not bothered to test it against my laptop and sirf kit .
jje
Since switching to cm7, gps is great as never before.
sent from my SGS, CM7 2.3.3
Why don't you take this on the 500+ post thread on GPS?
IMHO, Every aspect of this situation has been covered.
I use the GPS up to 5 times / week to track my runs, it gives me precises speed and trajectories.
Want proof? Search for the other thread and ask in, I might post my track on the right place...
my gps works very good, idk what appened whith your phone.
sgs JPY 2.2.1 STOCK.
Auzy said:
I find it suspicious that those here who speak of the GPS as "excellent", never post any tracks showing it too.. So I can only assume the GPS is poor for everyone
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Click to collapse
As I find it suspicious that you have not seen one. I have posted several and others also posted good tracks. Maybe a troller behaviour.
get gps aids, fixed mine up
10 sec full lock
I'm in no way saying the Galaxy's GPS is better than the Desire but........last week I was on top of a mountain skiing with my mate who has the Desire, I got a lock and good tracks with accurate average speed and so on he did not. My Galaxy locked within 10 seconds while the Desire took about 3 mins and then gave inacurate results. I was using Sports Tracker he was using Endomondo.
I'm now reasonably happy with my Galaxys GPS performance although I know it's not the best.