I bought my first Captivate at the very beginning of August. I wanted the GPS to work, so I could use it instead of a separate GPS unit sometimes. After about 5 days the GPS was really struggling to lock. I put it outside under the open sky for 5 minutes with GPS Test, and it saw lots of satellites but used zero. I reset the phone and poof, it worked properly again. That seemed like a strange bug to me. I heard an update was coming by the end of September, but that was going to be outside my 30 days, so I returned my Captivate to Best Buy and got my $230 back, no problems.
Sept 7, I bought a new Captivate, now only $150 at Best Buy. This one worked fine and the GPS never completely failed like the first one did. But I didn't test much as I waited for the update. September 22 I forced the update on my normal unrooted captivate, and it went fine. I did some testing and the GPS seemed to track OK and lock in a reasonable time. Now its a week later and it still seems good.
Here are a couple comments.
First a note on my GPS experience. I own 3 GPS units besides the Captivate, and older MIO C230, a Garmin eTrex Centure HC, and SPOT 2 GPS Messenger. I also have extensive experience with a Garmin Nuvi 1390T. I ride a dirt bike in the desert and have used tracks to navigate extensively.
- Time to get satellite lock. The Captivate does often take a while to lock on the satellites. But so do all my other GPS devices. Sometimes they lock quickly, but often they can take a minute or more. This is related to whether they have stored data on where they are, and thus know where to look for the satellites. At any rate I don't always get a quick lock on the Captivate, but it has never failed to get a lock under a clear sky if I give it up a minute or two. 10m resolution is typical once locked under a unobstructed sky. For those having trouble with this: Are you giving the Captivate a clear view of the sky and a couple minutes? Yes, sometimes GPS's lock indoors and really quickly. But in my experience this isn't always true. What I'm saying is the Captivate works similarly to the other GPS's I use. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. But it is always locking under a clear unobstructed sky within a couple minutes.
- Google maps. After it locks, the captivate shows my location on the map well. As I said above, sometimes lock takes a minute or more. And it requires a clear view of the sky most of the time.
- Track quality. I tested with "My Tracks". I run around town on a scooter every day, so its easy to turn on the tracker and and see what happens. I put the Captivate in my pocket on my thigh, back side facing the sky. The only thing obscuring its view is my body. Basically, it seems to work fine. It certainly works as well as my Garmin eTrex. The eTex tracks are always a bit rough too. Yes, the Captivate track does sometimes cut the corner or the curve and is off the street that I actually rode on. But it basically follows my route well. It has always followed me when I loop around a block, or drive down a short dead end and come back. I can definitely tell where I went and what roads I took when I look at the track. I'm not bothered if it shows me 20-40 feet off the road on occasion (as I have noted, so does my Garmin eTrex). I expect this with a 10m resolution.
- Navigation. I've been using the google Navigation app on drives in the car. I mount the Captivate in a mount on the dash, so it has a clear view of the sky through the glass. It's not on the seat, or in the ashtray or in a cup holder. It's mounted to the windshield close to the front, so it has a good view of a broad expanse of sky. This is exactly how I mount the Mio GPS or Garmin etrex or Garmin Nuvi when I use those in the car. Used like this, my Captivate navigation has been excellent. Frankly, its far better app than the Mio or Garmin Nuvi 1390T that I have used. The searches are quick and I like the presentation. Obviously, in Navigation the app knows to lock you on the street. And when I drive past an indicated turn it always notices immediately.
Summary: So I don't know what has changed since my first Captivate, but this one seems fine to me. I don't know if it's the hardware, or the SW update. But so far mine works as well as the other GPS devices I have used. If it keeps working like this for another week, I'm definitely keeping it. I'm sure some have trouble, as I did with my first Captivate. And I do think some others expect too much: I don't expect the Captivate to be "THE BEST GPS" I have ever seen. I expect it to lock within 2 minutes, work for navigation in my car, to find me on a google map and to record a track of where I went. This all seems to be working for me. (And usually it locks in well under a minute for me). I think I'll keep it... if this performance keeps up.
IMO, YMMV
Carl
vintagephone/Carl. Yours is a very useful write up. I use a Garmin GPS for Geocaching, some street navigation and bicycle riding in the country. What you wrote should be very helpful to someone not so familiar with GPS devices in general. Thanks.
= Ron
I completely agree. People looking at 'my tracks' and showing that there are some slight variations - we don't even know if the google maps is 100% accurate, as I know there are certain places where it doesn't match up directly with the road. I think as long as no errors are being presented during navigation (mine is doing fine in navigation mode) there is not really any complaining that can be done. Even my built in car GPS makes a mistakes once in a blue moon.
I'm not sure what Garmin Nuvi you're using, but I have a 2 yr old 250W and it smokes this phone. The phone has me driving through people's yards and buildings. It has gotten better since the JH7 update, its almost what I would call usable now. Try doing a Mytracks track on it, its a joke how far off it is. Its certainly unusable for that.
derek4484 said:
I'm not sure what Garmin Nuvi you're using, but I have a 2 yr old 250W and it smokes this phone. .
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I'm very familiar with the Garmin I used, a Nuvi 1390T. Negatives for the Garmin included horrible traffic reports, and searches for my destination took forever. Basic Navigation was OK, if you knew the address of where you were going. And if you were going someplace more than 30 miles away (a common undertaking in the LA basin), you just couldn't get there. Searches on the Nuvi only include locations within 30 miles. Frankly, the search was much worse than on my old Mio. I had the Nuvi 1390 for a couple weeks and returned i just as I got my second Captivate. For basic GPS navigation, the Nuvi was OK, but I saw no advantage over the Captivate. Are you mounting your Captivate in the same way and place you are mounting your Nuvi? I actually use a modified Nuvi windshield mount with my Captivate, so my mounting is literally identical.
Now, you Captivate my not work as well as mine. My original Captivate was worse than this one. As I said, YMMV (your mileage may vary).
I use a Garmin V GPS receiver for Geocaching and some other activities which demands a very high degree of accuracy. This receiver will use as many birds as it can find (seldom less than five) to determine its location but a cell phone GPS receiver may limit the number of satellites it tracks to conserve battery power.
Using four satellites, the accuracy of the Garmin V typically comes down to a target area that is two to twenty feet in diameter. This unit is fast; I can watch the current location triangle move past streets just as I am able to make out the street signs.
The Captivate I ordered will not be here until later today so I can't report anything about my experience with that device. I have been using an HTC device (AT&T "Tilt") and Google Maps for several years now and can report it has very good GPS accuracy and speed when compared to the Garmin unit. I would be pleased indeed if the Captivate even comes close to the performance of the Tilt.
As with any GPS device, it has to have line of sight visibility with at least three satellites to report its position with any reliability. Clouds (with heavy moisture), trees and tall buildings can reduce GPS accuracy substantially. Bicycling through heavily forested areas reduces the accuracy of my Garmin V from a few feet to hundreds of feet. As it takes a few minutes for the receiver to "lock on" and recalculate its position, after pedaling through a forested area I can be a mile up the road before the display catches up. Even at bicycle speeds (15MPH) I have missed turns simply because of trees!
With the Tilt, moving on foot around tall buildings, Google Maps sometimes can't figure out where I am. In the car, I usually pull the sunroof shade back so the Tilt gets a clear shot at the sky.
One final point: If I have the Garmin running at home, shut it off, then restart it again when I am fifty miles from home, it takes maybe five minutes to find three in-view birds. There is a feature in the Gamin that allows me to move its cursor to about where I think I am and it, then it uses this information to find new birds. I use this feature frequently and it usually saves two or three minutes locking on to a new set of birds. That feature is not available with the Tilt and it can take a full five minutes for it to find three birds when I change location with the GPS receiver turned off.
I hope these comments are useful. A cell phone with GPS capabilities is understandably no match for a single-purpose GPS receiver and particularly so when the two devices sell for about the same price.
I doubt that it is Maps or myTracks that is off (although I had wondered about this as well) because when you run the Captivate side-by-side with an N1, the N1's lock and track are very fast (almost instantaneous) and flawless. Of course we all know the Captivate's lock and track issues. The N1's track would not be so perfect if it were an issue with the base map accuracy, when the app on both phones is the same and accesses the same data.
The issue can also be seen running GPS Status or GPS Test together too, the N1's lock is always better, although I see no appreciable difference in SNR values for each satellite. It is just like the Captivate simply will not lock, even when it sees the same satellites. That is why I am sure it is the driver issue and therefore fixable.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Related
What the hell is the point to have GPS on the tilt when it has the worst reception in the world? I have to have the phone either touching the window or on the dash to even get a signal in my car. And if I am in a wooded area, dont even think about getting a signal....is there any way to boost the signal? seems just like a waist of battery life when it dosent work half the time.
Damn i cannot wait until there is a manual on off switch for GPS, then my battery will last a little longer
Um, what? Not sure how to say this nicely, but you need to read some on the GPS in the Tilt. GPS isn't on unless you are using a program that accesses it directly. And, other than being a tad slow to initialize, it's been rated as a rather good GPS device. At least I have zero problems with it. You might try using the QuickGPS program next time before you try the GPS out on anything. What program are you using for the GPS?
GPS isn't running unless you're running a program using it, so there goes the battery savings. Obviously you're not going to get the performance of a $500 GPS unit in a $300 phone with GPS. Agreed though, I couldn't even pick up a signal until I came to a stop today and held the phone out the window! I pretty much just plan on using it on the golf course...
You guys are nuts, it's working beautifully for me, even out in the mountains... It tracks perfectly via Live Search (although it was disconcerting to have it a bit off while driving over a bridge! )
I actually get pretty good signal, i keep the phone in the center console under the stereo and still get almost full reception. Question i had about quickGPS is when you update it do you have to keep it on to get the benefits of using it? or can you just update and then close it?
You can update it and you are good for 6 days. I too have to say that my Kaiser's GPS works really well, even gets a few birds indoors.
I'm using TomTom 6. I've never owned any kind of GPS but I can often get a signal inside my home if I'm close to a window. As I understand it it, this is actually quite a sensitive GPS.
Add me to the list of satisfied owners.
-James
My GPS works great also... something else you may want to realize is that with anything that utilizes a signal from a satellite then it needs to be line of sight... It is possible for the signal to penetrate some structures but its going to be best used when it has a clear view of the sky.
Am also very satisfied with the GPS-reception although my old E-ten Glofiish X500 was a little better at this (but worse on all other stuff... ;-)
Also be aware of the fact that GPS-units in cars with embedded sun-protection in the windscreen (not sure how you call this in English, it is basically this blue-ish thin layer of foil over the whole windscreen) get much worse reception than in cars without this. Usually French cars have this by default.
The QuickGPS (assisted GPS) tool usually does not improve things for me btw.
Edward
I think its quite likely the people complaining has anti-frost layers on their screens.
Surur
surur said:
I think its quite likely the people complaining has anti-frost layers on their screens.
Surur
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Didn't think about it before, but my Land Rover has the heated windshield with wires running throughout. Probably doesn't help. I'm thoroughly satisfied with it overall though.
Many cars now have a vaporized metal layer in the glass for whole window defrosting, it makes a great shield for blocking satellite signals...
Can't complain about the GPS, its not as good as a dedicated device (Garmin Nuvi). But nice to have with Live Search if traveling without the nuvi.
Performance is not bad in the car. It helps if you're stationary to acquire sats. Anyone know if there is an app to check the sat tracking?
Actually I find it better than a Nuvi (assuming you load a good Nav app on the phone) because you get nav and things like Live Search and Google Maps which together, are pretty awesome.
You can search for GPS viewers but here's one...
I don't have a problem with using any GPS app TT, Copilot, iGo etc and the reception on my unit seems to be peachy, i get sats in my house as well as in cars with front demisters and sun shielding foil (i must just be lucky).
Not had it cut out on me except in tunnels that are too long to keep the signal (although through the Alps I kept full signal for 17 km in a tunnel through a mountain thanks to their internal antenna).
Very happy with the GPS built in its worth the money for the phone on its own for me.
Russ
QuickGPS
I have been using it in my car via Google Maps "Track Location" command from the menu and it has worked like a charm for me. I agree with initiallizing it while stopped, it takes about 30 sec - 1 min to initialize then works great. My car is old and doesn't have any new advances that may interfere.
I was showing it to a friend indoors after using the QuickGPS program (Start -> Programs -> Tools -> QuickGPS) and he suggested that it uses a combination of cell towers vs it's GPS info it downloaded. Don't know if you can use this info to help you out but it may explain a bit.
The GPS works great on the Kaiser. That you don't have to mess with it, i.e. it turns itself on and off completely on its own only when needed is awesome. If you think its onl all the time, you are either running a GPS prog constantly or just confused.
It picks up a signal very very well. The onyl thing I will say is it is n't the most accurate. I mean it isn't quite as accurate as a true Sirf III chipset unit. So, it isn't the best for using for golf (i.e. it can still be a few yards off, enough to matter). But for driving, directions, routing, etc. it works nearly perfectly.
RemE said:
Actually I find it better than a Nuvi (assuming you load a good Nav app on the phone) because you get nav and things like Live Search and Google Maps which together, are pretty awesome.
You can search for GPS viewers but here's one...
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Thanks for the cab I'll give it a try. I like to keep things lean on the phone... still trying to make it a phone first, before anything else... So I try to keep apps to a minimum.
In a pinch, MS Live is great! I do prefer the larger screen on my Nuvi for driving... and it seems to do a better job tracking when I'm speeding down the highway.
I am surprised how well it works, I have a Garmin 2610 (yes its old, about 4to 5 years old) I put the Kaiser with TomTom 6 side by side on the car dash and they both perform great, the garmin a bit faster in aquaring Sat signal, but as I drive acuracy and speed its about the same. I still prefer the Garmin due to larger screen but its a dedicated GPS unit the kaiser is a Phone with GPS, but over all I think the GPS on the kaiser is great.
My $0.02 cents (Canadian)
GPS and Tilt
Actually I have a Dell bluetooth GPS receiver and I can confirm that the Tilt GPS works way better than Dell. It takes only few seconds to lock onto the satellites. I am more than satisfied.
http://free-pc-guides.com/news/first-att-samsung-captivate-owners-report-problems-with-gps-02887
This is such a sensationalist article. There aren't any problems with the GPS. You're supposed to use a GPS outside, and even inside, mine got a signal fine.
This article also says that T-mobile is expected to get the Captivate, which is false. It already has the Vibrant.
What GPS Problem??
No problems for me, thus far...
Mine has locked once. After that it refuses and just triangulates using cell towers and accurate within 2600 meters.
I'm not sure I would call it a "problem", but the GPS chip in these things is definitely not as good as the GPS chips in most other newly released phones. It could be a software issue, but I doubt it. The Aria would consistently lock onto twice as many satellites as this thing. When driving near large buildings and under bridges I sometimes lose a lock and Google Nav jumps around, which never happens in those same places with the Aria.
It seems to be working fine for me, but then I saw that someone had posted a fix for it when you dialed into the GPS settings, so I did that, and now.... it's still working fine!
gtg465x said:
I'm not sure I would call it a "problem", but the GPS chip in these things is definitely not as good as the GPS chips in most other newly released phones. It could be a software issue, but I doubt it. The Aria would consistently lock onto twice as many satellites as this thing. When driving near large buildings and under bridges I sometimes lose a lock and Google Nav jumps around, which never happens in those same places with the Aria.
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I've recently used both an Evo and an ATT-band Nexus One. I do have to say that the GPS on both of those seemed to acquire signals from satellites much faster than the Captivate, and give a more accurate location. Even standing outside, in the open, this one never appears to lock in on my precise location as well. I realize that's only anecdotal, but I no longer have access to either of the other devices.
Maybe its just mine, but I traveled over 300 miles today using Google Navigation, the phone up in the dash, with a clear view of the sky keep on having issue finding me.
I have an N1 and Aria, neither of these have these issues.
Do the specs indicate which GPS chip is being used? Some are better than others. Is it SirFStar III, IV, or MTK or what? This can certainly make a difference but costs about the same, so why get a cheapo chip? Hope Samsung did not do that.
GPS is definitely poor. From watching GPS Test I'd wager it's a firmware issue. No reason to have satellites popping in and out of view in the middle of a field on a clear day...
I've had many GPS units (>10) and the GPS in the phone is the second worst I've ever had. Very flaky. It looks like they also tried to mask the problem by averaging a bunch of the last fixes. I say this because the speed indication trails reality by quite a bit!
And I did try the proposed settings elsewhere but it didn't seem to improve much.
Hopefully they'll get this fixed. It's not the way GPS should be working on a top tier phone.
AJerman said:
It seems to be working fine for me, but then I saw that someone had posted a fix for it when you dialed into the GPS settings, so I did that, and now.... it's still working fine!
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Okay, so to change my stance a little, the GPS has been a little off tonight. Locking has been slower than I like, but it has been locking, and I saw it lock to at least 7 satellites earlier so I know it has no issue with handling that many at once.
The bigger annoyance that I'm having now is that my AGPS is off by quite a bit, telling me I'm in the next town over until it gets a full GPS signal. Not only is this annoying, but it also throws off every app that uses the cell data for coarse location, and I wouldn't be surprised if it has an effect on how fast it locks to the actual GPS satellites since it has the wrong location info to start which is the whole point of AGPS.
I actually did the GPS tweaks found in another thread, and I was navigating around my city. Maps was spot on for 98% of the time. Once or twice it put me about 30 meters away, but that was when i was surrounded by trees or concrete. Overall, I was very VERY impressed with the voice navigation, and the re-routing it did when i drove past a turn!
hmose said:
Do the specs indicate which GPS chip is being used? Some are better than others. Is it SirFStar III, IV, or MTK or what? This can certainly make a difference but costs about the same, so why get a cheapo chip? Hope Samsung did not do that.
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I'm starting to think that the processor and screen on this phone cost so much that Samsung had to cut corners in other areas to keep prices competitive. So far we've seen widespread evidence of crappy chargers (take forever to charge), GPS chips (slow and not very accurate), compasses (all over the place), internal memory (slow memory is causing the stalling issue / lag), and lack of camera flash. Hopefully not all of those are hardware issues and some can be fixed with software, but I'm just saying, they might have cut some corners to keep this thing reasonably priced. Personally, I would have rather paid $100 more to have the best phone ever made hands down. Oh Samsung.
I got it to lock like one time outside. Then I found this http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/128026-everyone-who-having-gps-problems.html and now it locks on inside my house. And this is actually GPS I'm talking about not wifi/cell tower triangulation. Hope it helps some of you.
I picked mine up the 19th in the burbs of Chicago. Drove up to Milwaukee with it the same day and did a side by side comparison with my Garmin GPS after my friend sent me the article.
Besides 2 minor hiccups, they worked very similar.
*the first hiccup shouldn't even be credited as a hiccup because it was an alternate route, I knew from experience it was slower but my Garmin and my Magellan of past never recognized it as the faster route.
*the second hiccup was when I was driving down 294 to merge into 94. Both had about the same instruction but out of nowhere my captivate's nav system said to take a left into a random road. It "recalculated" after a quick flicker and went back on course with my Garmin.
Recently I noticed there was an update for the Maps application which gave me "Navigation" and after installing it, I prefer my phone to my Garmin because:
1. It now gives you a picture of the destination in "street view" which you can touch and scroll around when you've arrived or pretty much arrived.
2. It shows traffic (green is good, red is bad)
3. I'm not sure if this was before the update but you can scroll through the map using the touch screen rather than just zooming in and out.
I'll do a few more runs driving between Milwaukee and the Chicago burbs before I completely set aside one or the other, but my experience has definitely met my expectations of a GPS
Why not download GPS NMEA MONITOR App and watch the data sentences. If they keep coming then it is a software problem, not the GPS Chipset. If those data sentences are stopped, then you got a hardware chipset reception problem. Try getting a clear view of the sky.
Zero GPS issues here, faster then backflip, tilt, & tilt2 for me. Grabs and maintains connection just fine.
Complain if you are outside with a clear sky and you can't get a lock, not if you are in your parents basement, in the cab of your car (not on the dash in a car mount), inside your office cubicle, they need a clear view of the sky to work properly.
Sorry, read too many idiots saying the GPS doesn't work IN their house... Duh!!!
THanks but I will complain if I want to considering every Blackberry I owned prior to the Captivate got a GPS lock within a few seconds in pretty much every location "clear weather" or not. Expecting GPS to work in a basement is one thing but expecting it to work in your car...anywhere in your car, or even a normal house (unless you live in your parent's basement) is completely reasonable IMHO. My Boss' HTC Incredible's GPS locks in our office which is on the 1st floor of a 4 story office building as long as he is near an exterior wall. When I run the app GPS Status from that same office space I can see the GPS sats but they won't lock. Sorry if you are tired of hearing "idiots" complain about Samsung's suck ass GPS but you should pretty much just deal with it. It isn't too much to expect a brand new state of the art smartphone to have at least as good GPS performance as a freaking 3 year old Blackberry.
I am also am unhappy consumer related the poor GPS quality - I expected a high end phone to have an accurate GPS. With that said, I think everyone can agree that it could be better, however, the phone in my opinion is very great and boasts many other positive features.
I do believe the GPS will be fixed. Why may it be taking so long? - I think they are planning to roll out a large fix including a proper GPS update as well as Android 2.2. We may even have to wait as long as November for the release of Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) as I don't believe it would make sense for them to continue extensive work on Android 2.2 and update everyone to that and then weeks later force the switch to Android 3.0
For Captivate users, this wait may end up being for the better - Imagine being one of the first devices on Android 3.0; a completely redesigned and much better Android version.
More information gathered during research of Android 3.0:
This update would be limited to only the high end devices with recommended 1GHz processor, 512mb RAM and at least a 3.5" screen. Great news! We fit all of that criteria.
It has been rumored of a release date of Mid-October of 2010 - I would say at least November for us; with some luck maybe even October 15th!
The Android 3.0 system will incorporate a complete design overhaul and include a larger Android Marketplace - Basically no more TouchWiz, Motoblur etc.
Sources:
[http://phonereport.info/google-android-3.0-gingerbread-releases-in-october/]
[http://b4tea.com/information/review...3-0-gingerbread-features-release-date-review]
[http://thegadgets.net/technology-ne...gingerbread-details-and-release-date-leaked/]
Disclaimer - Obviously I am no expert, nor am i affiliated with Google or Samsung so I can not make any guarantee to the information provided in this less than extensive research. It is solely just for a moral boost!
My Nexus had no problem getting a GPS lock, even on the first floor of my house. Even if I stand by the window on the 2nd floor, the Captivate will not get a lock. So yes, the GPS is severely crippled
CougarBroker said:
Complain if you are outside with a clear sky and you can't get a lock, not if you are in your parents basement, in the cab of your car (not on the dash in a car mount), inside your office cubicle, they need a clear view of the sky to work properly.
Sorry, read too many idiots saying the GPS doesn't work IN their house... Duh!!!
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Sorry to burst your bubble but GPS signals do penetrate light structures. Yes, you can get a GPS fix inside in many conditions.
The Galaxy S GPS is just terrible - why? We still don't know. But I can place it right next to any number of other GPS receivers and watch them work properly inside and out while the Galaxy S sits there wasting battery and my time.
CougarBroker said:
Sorry, read too many idiots saying the GPS doesn't work IN their house... Duh!!!
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My crap Navigon unit gets a signal inside the house....Duh!!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I'm with the original poster on this one. I have a variety of GPS devices, including a SPOT GPS messenger and a Garmin eTrek HC. While they can work in adverse conditions, the only way to truly compare one to another is under a clear sky, not even glass in between. There are SO many variables inside a building, in an alley or inside a car that anecdotal comparisons in varied conditions are useless.
Saying your GPS doesn't work indoors is like saying your shoes are uncomfortable when you're in bed. And saying you got a lock indoors is similarly unimportant. To test GPS properly, you should turn off all other triangulation services including Skyhook and AGPS and then get into a vehicle and drive.
A - B comparisons between different types of devices would be useful but really only with raw data taken under controlled conditions. Things like SNR for each bird, time to acquire lock, ephemeris and almanac data.
I don't think I am asking too much when I want the GPS to acquire a lock wherever my old iPhone and my old Nexus One can. I also don't think I am asking too much that the signal holds steady and doesn't throw me around on the map when I do have a lock.
I really don't understand why they don't just issue an actual fix. Samsung must have a skilled software team to deal with things like this. Or maybe not.
If you can get a lock indoors on other devices, the Captivate should have NO problem whatsoever
The BCM4751 is considered(by broadcom themselves...go figure) to be the "industry standard" in mobile GPS chipsets, it was designed to be able to find even the weakest signals whilst still being a power miser. That being said, its a little strange that ANY of my older GPS equipped devices have no (0, NONE) problem getting a lock indoors (waaaay indoors at that).
Im thoroughly convinced this is not a hardware issue, I should be getting more than one satellite indoors (the same one satellite I get outside on a clear cloudless day)
It's gonna be another "wait and see" game. Hopefully sooner than later
ianwood said:
Saying your GPS doesn't work indoors is like saying your shoes are uncomfortable when you're in bed. And saying you got a lock indoors is similarly unimportant. To test GPS properly, you should turn off all other triangulation services including Skyhook and AGPS and then get into a vehicle and drive.
A - B comparisons between different types of devices would be useful but really only with raw data taken under controlled conditions. Things like SNR for each bird, time to acquire lock, ephemeris and almanac data.
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Sigh. I'm not even going to respond to this anymore. While I appreciate your desire to add more rigor to the process you don't seem to have much experience with GPS.
My sampling is 3 Garmin GPS units, Holux, iPhone 3G and Captivate. With the exception of the iPhone none of them have any sort of AGPS. The Captivate should handily come out on top thanks to AGPS, improved circuits/amplifiers, firmware and filtering. Especially when considering some of those GPS units are nearing 10 years of age.
There is no need for "raw data" and "controlled conditions". Side by side is enough here because the performance difference is glaring. We are not talking about marginal differences in performance. We're talking about working vs. not working.
Fact is, every single GPS I have bests the Captivate under *all* conditions. The Captivate is the second GPS I've ever had that I was disappointed with the performance. (I've owned many others in addition to the ones I listed.)
Yes, GPS works indoors. It even works if your shoes are uncomfortable while taking a shower in your bed.
yeah, gps doesnt suppose to work indoor. but when compare to other phones, samsung gps is garbage!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTOi82o56Tc
Sorry but your post sucks and so does the GPS on captivate. I used to have a Backflip before my Captivate and i could be in a bomb shelter and still get a GPS lock.
After applying cognition 2.1.5 & tweaking LbsTestMode, I could get a 8/8 satellites to lock indoors ~ its amazing! I'm so happy ^_^
honestly nokia phones are the best gps phones I've used. Downloadable maps, text to speech, voice navigation, personalize your own voice, accuracy is amazing! But on my captivate I can get a lock inside my home with 10m accuracy.
haydonxda said:
Sigh. I'm not even going to respond to this anymore. While I appreciate your desire to add more rigor to the process you don't seem to have much experience with GPS.
My sampling is 3 Garmin GPS units, Holux, iPhone 3G and Captivate. With the exception of the iPhone none of them have any sort of AGPS. The Captivate should handily come out on top thanks to AGPS, improved circuits/amplifiers, firmware and filtering. Especially when considering some of those GPS units are nearing 10 years of age.
There is no need for "raw data" and "controlled conditions". Side by side is enough here because the performance difference is glaring. We are not talking about marginal differences in performance. We're talking about working vs. not working.
Fact is, every single GPS I have bests the Captivate under *all* conditions. The Captivate is the second GPS I've ever had that I was disappointed with the performance. (I've owned many others in addition to the ones I listed.)
Yes, GPS works indoors.
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Never said it didn't. I did say claiming your GPS doesn't work because you can't get a lock indoors is not meaningful i.e. it's not constructive. And most aren't doing the A-B comparisons you are. There are too many factors influencing getting an indoor lock for the forum to determine anything useful from it. It might be easier and more meaningful if we tested our devices outdoors with clear line of site to the sky so at least we eliminate the variables influencing getting a lock indoors.
BTW, I agree that the Captivate's GPS is utter rubbish. I've tested it on a number of trips in my car and it has never given consistent results. What the controlled testing and raw data might reveal is why it is rubbish. Is the ephermeris or almanac data corrupted? Is the antenna poorly positioned and therefore less sensitive than it should be? Is there noise/crosstalk?
A dedicated GPS device is always going to be better then a phone GPS. They have better antennas and usually more sensitive receivers. GPS signals are not as strong as other radio signals and are not designed to pass through buildings. If you get a lock indoors, you are lucky - or just have a house without a lot of interference.
When testing, everyone needs to make sure that they are not using AGPS or Skyhook type services (Google location services is another). AGPS uses cell towers, and Skyhook/Google location uses Wifi - even if Wifi is off. Skyhook and Google mapped all the Wireless access points they could find and use them for GPS location.
If you want to compare 2 devices side by side, you probably should put them in airplane mode and make sure Google/Skyhook location services are off. Also, be outside with clear view of the sky - no tall buildings or heavy trees.
Okay. I barely get a lock and can't hold a lock and if I had to navigate somewhere using it in a life or death situation people would be dead, outside.
I wouldn't rely on any GPS in a life or death situation - I can't even imagine a scenario.
I agree GPS is broken, but I would pull out my phone and use it to make a call to 911 - that is its primary function after all.
alphadog00 said:
I wouldn't rely on any GPS in a life or death situation - I can't even imagine a scenario.
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Well, of course I am using hyperbole
Hello,
I'm encountering some issues with my Samsung Nexus S GPS. I got the i9023 (Europe/SLCD) version of the phone, which is running default rom (stock), freshly updated to 2.3.4 (via official OTA!).
I couldn't figure why, when using Maps, my position would usually be around 1 km away from where I am. I found out later, this time using Navigation, that it is desperately searching for a GPS signal, that it can't find. Sometimes I manage to get a lock, when I keep it running for like 30 - 40 mins, but it immediately disappears. GPS Statuts keeps showing 0/5 sats.
I was convinced that my GPS chip was defective.
But today, I was hanging out in the city and tried running Navigation. I got a lock, for the first time, within a 15 sec delay. That was the first time that I managed to get live GPS tracking. I've walked a bit around, and the tracking was really, really accurate.
Back home, in my apartment, again I can't get any signal. I live in the 3rd floor, walls aren't that thick and, as for an anecdote, in the same room, my iPhone 3Gs instantly finds my position.
I've bought this phone 6 days ago and therefore still under warranty. Question is, can we say my GPS chip is defective ? Is it worth requesting a replacement ?
Thanks !
1st) You cannot expect to get gps reception inside even with professional equipment. When your iPhone gets a fast fix it's most likely WLAN triangulation. As Apple uses a different database than Google, it may work on on your iPhone and not on your Nexus for a paticular place and vice versa.
2nd) It's unlikely that your gps is broken if you can connect to GSM/UMTS/CDMA2000 networks as gps is processed using the same chipset.
3rd) That 1km-off-fix might be celltower based location, 1km sounds quite plausible.
4th) Try _NOT_ to move until you get GPS fix.
5th) Keep internet access while trying to get a fix. The Nexus S as most phones on the market use assisted gps, where your phone contacts a server that provides data which enables your phone to track its position more easily.
6th) Good luck.
Yes, well, I had 2 friends which came to my place, in my room, and just activated GPS on their iphones and it located them straight away, to our exact position. So it was definitely the GPS tracking and not triangulation.
Indeed, when MY phone locates me off 1 km, this is definitely triangulation or cell-towers.
Of course, when I try to get a fix in my apartment or on my balcony, I just put it on a table and must wait for at least 30 mins to get a lock, and it disappears quickly. Doesn't seem normal to me ...
Finally to answer your 5th point, I got 3G, so a perfect fast & smooth inet connection.
GPS testing should always be done outside, you are not supposed to use it indoors.
What is probably happening there is that the other devices are more sensitive and can still get a lock. You might be able to get a lock if you place your phone very close to the window.
I got a Nexus S recently and noticed that the GPS is quite weaker than the one on my old HTC.
Although the Nexus is faster to get a lock (if you let it use 3G) the GPS itself is less sensitive and accurate.
It looses signal easier, for instance, if i go under some trees, and it takes more time to get signal back after loosing it, for example, if you go under a bridge, the old HTC would get the lock back in 2 seconds after leaving the bridge, the Nexus took half a minute.
Having said that, i think it's good enough for driving navigation, i have done some tests and on the road it behaves well enough.
You shouldn't be surprised, this phone is very similar to the Galaxy S and that had terrible GPS issues, this nexus is better, but still weak.
Thank you for your feedback, temp9300 !
I guess the Nexus S can't compete with iphone's. But it's ok, as long as it works fine outdoors, this is what matters.
Aside from the standard Google Maps, are there any good GPS systems to go along with this phone? Should I just rely on Google Maps?
Google Maps should come with the built in Navigation and it works very well IMHO.
unclespoon said:
Google Maps should come with the built in Navigation and it works very well IMHO.
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Pre-render? Can you have satellite view pre-rendered?
I spent the day driving around in a roughly 25 miles radius, to put the gps of the device to the test. I used google maps as it came pre-installed on the phone and this was my first full day with it.
Gps works as a gps, and functions even with wireless and cellular service disabled. (duh, but had to check it wasn't getting location via 4G)
Worked extremely well, and the radius to my location only raised above 10 meters a few times. Generally speaking I feel comfortable in saying it'll peg the phone to 10 meters through gps alone pretty consistently.
This was at speed in a vehicle, and on foot through parking lots and such. Even though it said to within 10 meters, I found that on foot it pegged the phone to about 3 feet. (1 meter) I could tell this by coming to and crossing roads marked on the map, and being zoomed in gauging how far that road actually was in front of me)
Using GPS only for location services, I lost reception whenever I entered a building, but sometimes it would find it again. Some of the buildings I walked into have enough electrical interference that cell phones don't get reception, so it was a good run of places to test it.
I got a handful of errands run in the process, so it was a pretty win situation.
For an out of the box solution, i'm impressed. It did much better then my year and a half old bottom of the line garmin nuvi 255w. Granted I bought that as the cheapest one I could find at the time, so it's no surprise this phone has a much more advanced gps functionality.
One of the reasons I purchased this device was to replace my GPS. When I bought the GPS unit I wasn't sure it would be worth the money at the time. Since then i've capitalized on having it by getting a job that entails a lot of running around to different locations, and a GPS unit is a necessity for the work. I've been looking to get a better GPS unit then a low end model for a while now.
I'm definitely on the lookout for other GPS capable map apps to use for navigation - what's better and why?
I'm excited to finally try Satellite imagery on my next trip. Most coverage areas certainly cover the traveled highways, so it should be very interesting.
Now if I can just find that pesky windshield mount!
After a few days of heavy usage, i'll say that using google maps in satellite view for gps navigation in a vehicle absolutely chews through battery power.
Not too bad with regular map view.
Also, more time spent on foot gets me to reasonably often within 4 meters on foot in the more populated areas.
I've been intentionally not using my car charger while doing all my running around, it's giving me a good guage of how much battery it eats. Car charger is a necessity if using satellite view.
Edit:
Is there any way to download the google map database for offline browsing? I know you can pre-cache map data using the google labs option in the maps app, but can I download something like my state, for instance, and access it offline?
Anyone know if it works in flight or what the maximum altitude might be?