Originally Posted by
Rootman
Not ever owned a smart phone let alone one without a data / call plan I was wondering if it is feasible or if there is something that I am not anticipating.
I've even seem some cameras that sport a GPS and would consider them as I would also like to record my treks as well.
Yes, that's true that you can cache about 10 square miles with Google Maps on an Android phone. At least some versions of Google maps, anyways.
One thought is that you could try and score a used Android on eBay - you could use WiFi while at home to download the maps and all that, and you might need to buy a decent sized SD card with some room for the downloaded maps. The whole thing could cost you significantly less than 200$ depending on exactly what type of phone you end up getting.
I strongly suspect the thing will work fine without activation - a GSM phone might need a SIM card to function (but the phone wouldn't need to be activated). Anything Verizon wouldn't have that problem.
I haven't tried any of this, so I can't guarantee a thing however..