Selecting a Mobile Phone for Bushwalking [split]

[Ent]

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[north-north-west]

Ah well, I don't really have much use for a phone, anyway.

I was thinking of a quip but before I would do that I first must check back through every post to find what sensitivities I might ruffle

It's OK, I'm not at all sensitive about being deaf.

Although if anyone does the (supposedly funny) "Eh? What's that?" routine I will go after them with a tactical nuke . . .

[Ent]

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[photohiker]

Haha.

Brett, you have only scratched the surface! Mobile phone plans are the biggest can of worms ever dreamt up by the slick and slippery marketing types to hide the basic fact that all of the plans are a rip-off. So try not to over-analyse, just find a plan that looks suitable for your usage, a phone you like the colour of, plonk down your cash and forget about it.

ie. If you want a mobile, start with the assumption you are going to be ripped off and you won't be disappointed.

[Son of a Beach]

Hate Telstra with a total passion, do not want to commit to iPhone given the new one is apparently better by a worthwhile margin but has a waiting list

You can buy the iPhone directly from Apple without the waiting list (which is what I did). It's cheaper than buying it from the Telcos. But of course this is only suitable if you want to buy it outright without attachment to any Telco, and without any plan. If you then need to buy into a plan as well, then this is financially crazy. It worked for me, because I could just stick my existing work SIM card in it, and so I don't need to buy any plan, or pay for any calls (ie, no further costs after the initial purchase).

the "new" hot property is the Google phone which is apparently usurping the iPhone.

Google's 'Android' OS for phones is supposed to be very good, but I've not seen it in person.

[Son of a Beach]

Haha.

Brett, you have only scratched the surface! Mobile phone plans are the biggest can of worms ever dreamt up by the slick and slippery marketing types to hide the basic fact that all of the plans are a rip-off. So try not to over-analyse, just find a plan that looks suitable for your usage, a phone you like the colour of, plonk down your cash and forget about it.

ie. If you want a mobile, start with the assumption you are going to be ripped off and you won't be disappointed.

Too true. Is it possible to get a plan from Telstra that does not include the cost of a new phone? Ie, if I don't want to buy a new phone, it seems I have to pay for the same plans as people who are getting a new phone included in their payments.

[BarryJ]

My phone is not included in my Telstra plan payments.

[Ent]

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[Son of a Beach]

My phone is not included in my Telstra plan payments.

Which plan are you on? Do you mean that the plan you're on cannot be used to pay off a phone (and is therefore cheaper with the cost of a new phone removed from the plan), or merely that you are not using it to pay off a phone?

[photohiker]

Soab, you need a 'casual' plan:

Casual Plans - Telstra

3. Bring your Own (BYO)

This is a great option is you already have a mobile phone and simply want to connect to Telstra.

[Ent]

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[Son of a Beach]

Soab, you need a 'casual' plan:

Casual Plans - Telstra

3. Bring your Own (BYO)

This is a great option is you already have a mobile phone and simply want to connect to Telstra.

Thanks for pointing this out Michael. I don't know why I've been unable to find these in the past. I did look, but somehow missed them (and nobody I spoke to had ever heard of them!). I know of two people who will be switching over these plans very soon now. Thanks again!

Do any of those plans include data? Or does a second plan have to be purchased for this? (Or does data come at a fixed rate per byte on these plans?). EDIT: Never mind... I see it's explained on the 'Get Connected' tab... have to purchase an additional 'Browsing Pack', or otherwise get charged $2/MB.

[Ent]

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[Ent]

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[photohiker]

back to ebay to track down a Sony Ericsson T630 for the in car kit

I've got one here. Locked to Telstra. phone + plug pack charger. Make an offer or will swap for lightweight gear.

[Ent]

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[Pirate_Pete]

The integrated true GPS, magnetic compass and motion sensors are a bonus too - great for navigation. I'm currently working on getting tasmap 1:25000 maps (and others) onto it - user supplies their own map images.

I am looking into getting an iPhone & using it on my present Telstra plan. I do some fishing (both sea & lakes), kayaking (touring down rivers & fishing) & am looking to use its GPS. What maps are presently available for Tasmania & how do you use the 1:25000 maps??

[Son of a Beach]

The integrated true GPS, magnetic compass and motion sensors are a bonus too - great for navigation. I'm currently working on getting tasmap 1:25000 maps (and others) onto it - user supplies their own map images.

I am looking into getting an iPhone & using it on my present Telstra plan. I do some fishing (both sea & lakes), kayaking (touring down rivers & fishing) & am looking to use its GPS. What maps are presently available for Tasmania & how do you use the 1:25000 maps??

Unfortunately, the only way to get 1:25,000 maps in any sort of versatile* format is to buy them from Tasmap or the relevant government department. This has proved to be an extremely painful process, and the maps are VERY expensive in this form. I gave up in the end, and am using maps from elsewhere for now. The mapping program I wrote for the iPhone works very well, and if you have the 1:25,000 maps they will work very well on it, but getting the maps from Tasmap/Government is VERY painful.

*When I say "versatile format", I mean a format that is not tied to a particular application, and which can be used by any graphics viewer, for general purpose viewing use.

[Pirate_Pete]

Thanks for the quick reply Nic.

I have a cd somewhere with all of Tasmania on it but cant remember at the moment what scale it is. It was in some funny format & you needed to download a special veiwer to see it. It wasnt very easy to use as it was just a basic image veiwer & didnt have any way of finding a point on the map via coordinates.

I will dig it out & check what scale & format.

[Son of a Beach]

If you can export them to any standard graphics format, you'll be able to use them on the iPhone (either with my app or possibly with others).

[Macca81]

my only qualm with the iphone is that it is not shockproof or waterproof. if apple could bring out an iphone that can be in my pocket when i swing into the side of a cliff while abseiling and not end up broken, or survive the 14 dozen swampings of the boat while sailing, then i would buy it tomorrow... in the meantime, ill keep the ericson that is cracked and regularly turns itself off/looses all sound/decided the sim card isnt in the phone. it still works most of the time and its now so old and redundant that when i finally kill it completly i wont be dissapointed....


bring on the "on the move iphone"!!!

[Pirate_Pete]

The CD has a SID file on it of 535Mb it can be viewed with MrSID Viewer. Here is the full view of Tassie



This is as close a magnification I can get of the Big Bend in the Mersey River where I like to kayak.



I can export the file from MrSID as a TIF File but it will end up just over 30Gb!!!!!!!!!

[Son of a Beach]

What's MrSID?

[Pirate_Pete]

What's MrSID?

[Son of a Beach]

So it includes most of Tasmania, with what looks like 1:25,000 maps, and can export to TIFF? How much did it cost, and where can I get the Tasmanian maps?

[Macca81]

im glad you explained that, cause yesterday i wanted to make a really inappropriate reply to describe MrSID....

[Pirate_Pete]

So it includes most of Tasmania, with what looks like 1:25,000 maps, and can export to TIFF? How much did it cost, and where can I get the Tasmanian maps?

It was given to me & I dont know where it came from sorry.

It can export to Tiff but it it ends up at nearly 40Gb

[Son of a Beach]

So it includes most of Tasmania, with what looks like 1:25,000 maps, and can export to TIFF? How much did it cost, and where can I get the Tasmanian maps?

It was given to me & I dont know where it came from sorry.

It can export to Tiff but it it ends up at nearly 40Gb

TIFFs are huge by nature. That can be converted to a PNG with no real loss of quality, but a substantial reduction in storage space (although I'd still expect it to be many GB large). It can then be split into tiles, if you wanted to have several smaller images, rather than one huge one. I'll have to see if I can find out where to get those maps and MrSID.

[Pirate_Pete]

Just google MrSID & its a free download

[Son of a Beach]

Just google MrSID & its a free download

But where (and how much) for the maps in MrSID format? That's the difficult bit.