thanks. if i do go the android route, i'll have no immediate need/desire/incentive to use the device as a phone or get any kind of data plan. my dumb-phone works fine (as long as i don't need to read the screen in daylight) and i hardly ever use it... battery lasts about a week.

if the phone has wifi, i can update maps at any library or cafe, without a data plan.

the prices i'm looking at, it seems like a dedicated GPS navigation device would be 2-3x the price of a weatherproof android phone... which would probably be worth it, if it were indisputably "better".

edit: that last paragraph is wrong, i was confusing prices in USD and NZD. it looks like the prices would be roughly comparable.