Originally Posted by
njkayaker
A non-issue: get an app that uses off-line maps. There are many of them. If you are using a phone for navigation, I'd strongly suggest doing this even if your preferred navigation program uses on-line maps (it's cheap insurance)....
At this point, any reasonable phone will have 16 GB of memory. That's much more than you need to download maps. You could even do with 8 GB. You don't need an SD card at all....
The 705 (and 605) are still quite usable. You aren't going to get much of an enhancement for navigation with a 800/810.
As I write this I am downloading a map to my phone using the Locus app. Wish I had wifi, it would be much faster. No, you don't need an SD card but it would be a good option if your computer has an SD card reader and you could find a way to download the map to the SC card by using your PC. ( nope I haven't figured that one out yet )
Good to hear the 705 is comparable to the newer Garmins when navigating. I like the mounting options for the 800-1000 series better though. The 800 ( and up ) series are suppose to be a bit faster at booting and calculating ( so I'm told ). They are also a bit more compact. Personally I'm satisfied with the 705 as I really only need it when I don't have an on-line map. Now if I can find a way to purchase a copy of
Opencyclemap of the entire USA preloaded on an SD card for a Motorola Android phone I'll be set. RWGPS will sell you a version of OSM ( pre-loaded SD card ) for a Garmin but I don't know if they will do that for cell phones. Now if these things are interchangeable between devices I really wouldn't know although I'm sure the person more knowledgeable in this area will likely let me know.
So far I've had no problems using on-line maps but sooner or later there is bound to be a problem once I get out into the boonies. BTW, the Locus app is working great for navigating.