ARGH-Droid GPS

questionfear

Barefooters
Jun 5, 2010
5
0
0
I'm guessing/assuming this counts under "Gear"...



I've been using BuddyRunner to track my runs, but I think the GPS is flakey. Today I checked my route against MapMyRun before I started. MapMyRun said it was almost exactly 4 miles, my goal distance today, and I ran my little heart out. I got to what should have been the last two blocks or so, and checked BuddyRunner...only to discover BuddyRunner said it was only 3.2 miles. So I set out to add another 3/4 of a mile to my run so I could hit my 4 miles.

MapMyRun said my run today was 4.6 miles, while BuddyRunner says 4. Who do I believe? I've had Droid GPS issues before (according to another program, RunKeeper, I apparently broke the world record and did a 3 minute mile for 7 miles [the actual run was more like a 10 minute mile for 1.5 miles]) but this is frustrating. Either I really pushed too hard earlier in my run and screwed my pacing up (I was very slow during my "extra" route) or I ran farther than I expected to and need to recalculate my pace because the GPS was way off.

Blech...I'm off to make dinner. Any suggestions? Or even just a fellow rant about %^)#$@ technology?
 
I don't know what Droid is

I don't know what Droid is but I can tell you I ran a half marathon yesterday in the woods under some heavy tree coverage and my Garmin FR305 recorded a distance of 13.05 miles, 0.05 miles short of the advertised 13.1 - so, honestly, I can't find reason to gripe about this particular bit of technology :D

Is it simply a case of getting what you pay for? I'd like to phrase that more diplomatically, lol, but that's really what I'm thinking here.
 
There is a certain margin of

There is a certain margin of error with all GPS devices and things like trees, how often it is set to calculate, clouds, how many turns and how sharp, etc. all effect the distance.

On a long winding trail through the trees, you will come up short, even shorter with older model Garmins. On the other hand, if you run a road race and don't cut the tangents exactly right, and/or do a lot of weaving through other runners, you will end up with a longer distance (nothing like an extra .2 at the end of a marathon!) If you are just going for a general idea, what you have is fine. If you want something really acuarte, I'd recommend a Garmin 305, 405, or best yet 310xt (drool, drool).
 
Do you have the Droid GPS

Do you have the Droid GPS turned on? The droid uses 2 methods of location. Cell tower triangulation, or GPS. GPS is turned off by default to save on battery power. When I have the GPS off, the Droid thinks I am 12 miles away from my location, using network locating. As soon as I turn it on, it is accurate to 8 feet when comparing it to my Garmin 305.
 
 Sorry, yes...Droid=Android

Sorry, yes...Droid=Android phone from Motorola. I forget not everyone speaks geek.

I definitely had the GPS turned on. This has been bugging me, so I pulled up MapMyRun's map versus the map output BuddyRunner gave me. It's fine up through the first mile, and then BuddyRunner's output lags by about a 1/2 mile versus MapMyRun.

I think I might try the same run using a different program. It's possible that BuddyRunner has some issues that another GPS tracking program doesn't have.

And if all else fails, I'll start petitioning my fiancee for permission to buy a Garmin. My problem is I have so many "must have" gadgets, it starts to be white noise to her...I do have some Best Buy gift cards, so now it's a toss up-save for an iPad or blow them on a Garmin?

We shall see...I will give RunKeeper and CardioTrainer both a shot, if they're off too then the great GPS test with the Droid will be a failure!
 
questionfear wrote:I do have

questionfear said:
I do have some Best Buy gift cards, so now it's a toss up-save for an iPad or blow them on a Garmin?

This is a tough decision?

So, I'm curious, how does it work with the cell phone? You have an armband for it, or tape it to the top of your head or something?
 
This is somewhat similar to

This is somewhat similar to an issue I had with the GPS in my Android powered phone, except it was thinking I was over 100 miles from where I really was! After some research I found that some recent map updates for Google Maps was causing peoples GPS to behave weird. A quick uninstall/reinstall of the latest update for Google Maps from Market solved the issue.