Nokia Family Vacation

From July 1 through July 12 I am on vacation in Washington State, my home state. The weather here in Seattle, these first 2 days, has been excellent and a delightful change from the usual July weather in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

My mobile tools these 12 days include: Nokia N95-3, N810 and Nokia LD-3W (Bluetooth GPS module). I've been giving Nokia Maps 2.0 Navigation (N95-3) and Wayfinder's Navigation (N810) a good trial in a city I don't know well (from a driving perspective at least). The last time I spent any real time in Seattle was back in 1991, although I did make a brief visit in 1999. I have been living in Texas for the past 11.5 years and know the highways and byways exceedingly well, although I did make an attempt at using the Navigation on Nokia Maps. Using Navigation in an area I know proved more difficult than I imagined. I found myself forgetting to set destinations and ignoring the directions however, from my trial it did guide me in the right direction, even if the routes were not routes I would have chosen. Knowing the GPS in the N810 is a bit lacking I brought along the LD-3W, but I also brought it along to use with the N95-3 because Bluetooth is a lot less draining on a battery than GPS. As part of my trial I plan on testing out both devices on their own merit and while using the Bluetooth GPS module.

Thus far the GPS has been more helpful than annoying, which I'll detail at a later date, suffice it to say the wife and kids are laughing at me for arguing with the "man" in my phone. The kids have now started to join me in making fun of the "man" with some of the directions and instructions he gives. Tomorrow we're going to have some fun with the voice guidance by switching up voices and even try it out in Spanish: I do speak the language as does the wife, who is hispanic, however, the kids only know a few words (hangs head in shame). The request for Spanish actually came from my daughter, who by the way prefers the American "man" vs. the British "man" for Nokia Maps 2.0 Navigation.

I did bring my laptop but don't plan on using it if at all possible, relying solely on the N95-3 and N810 as my computers. Its late and I've got a bit of a drive ahead tomorrow as we travel from Seattle to Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho to visit some family, so I will end it here for now. If you're interested be sure to visit flickr for photos of the trip. For the record I am in no way paid by Nokia, any of its affiliates or partners including Wayfinder. This trial is entirely paid for by me. I purchased a 30-day license for both Nokia Maps and Wayfinder for each device from each device respectively.

More details and info to follow...

- Blogged from Kent, WA on a Nokia N810 on the hotel Wi-Fi.

Comments

[Darla]

Enjoy your vacation!!!

[christexaport]

OH MY GOD!! I just found out rcadden of SymbianGuru is from DFW, and now you, too? I'm a regular contributor on Symbian-Freak.com, and fellow DFW resident in Arlington. I read your entries daily. Glad to see another positive Texas sister with a brain!

Feel free to visit me in the forums at www.symbian-freak.com. My contact information is available there if necessary.

Stay mobile,
christexaport
www.symbian-freak.com

[Darla]

Hey Chris,

Sorry to dissappoint, but I'm not from Texas. Lol Matthew is the one going on vacation.

I'm originally from NY and live in NC... does that still qualify me as a sister with a brain!?

[Anders]

Hey!
I hope y'all have a great time!

[ARJWright]

Nice experiment. There is definitely a different dimension for this as you have a family. I pretty much live like this; only cracking onpen the laptop for my "other" job. But basically, its a lot of fun, and given some software enhancements, it would be nearly perfect.

I am currently on a trip to PA, from NC, and pretty much am dooing the same thing. However, my phone is an N75 and I have an N800 with the iGo BT keyboard. Slightly cheaper setup, but just as rewarding.

[dani2xll]

Whats happened to the nokia email write up you did on 1st July?