Find my Phone App

[bmc]

I have recently been reviewing the current GPS device units on the market and have narrowed it down to the following:

Monitored GPS from reputable established company in NZ i.e Snitch

Pros: After sale support, on going software updates, precise tracking

Cons: Cost of product, on going month my month software access costs

Ebay/TradeMe device

Pros: Low entry cost, some devices come with online monitoring, txt alerts

Cons: After sale support, unknown quality, no re-assurance online features will be on going for devices which offer the tracking services

The third option was mentioned to me today by my electrician. In his own words, he said I should not tell you this, but your best and by far cheapest option is install an old phone in the car which runs of a permanent car charger power supply. You then install the "Find my Phone" App and away you go.

I would be interested to know what peoples thoughts are on the above, but not with giving to much away given this a public forum.

One would think the Find My Phone App is best if you have a spare phone and are not prepared to part with the increased price for a top of the line product.

[Scoobydoo]

Hrmm that's a feasible idea. The cost then would be the upkeep of the phone's sim card, and any data charges, which if it's on pre-pay, would be quite exhorbitant. The phone would have to be on 24/7, and so would location / GPS / mobile data services.

However if your car was parked at home within WiFi service, that would bring the cost down.

[slystiguy]

Dunno about you guys but every so often my phones ****s itself and needs a restart, I'd hate for that to happen when your car went missing

[DaktaPhil]

pretty sure on my android the wheres my droid apps can send texts with gps coordinates. so you probably wont need a data connection if you just wanted to do text. so 20 bucks on a 2dgrees sim or something where texts cost 9c would last a while.

i remember reading some **** about using wifi access points to determine rough locations too, but dont know if thats any relevance to this

if you had one of those headdecks which can control phone music players, could also double as permanent music storage

[Guest]

 DaktaPhil said:

pretty sure on my android the wheres my droid apps can send texts with gps coordinates. so you probably wont need a data connection if you just wanted to do text. so 20 bucks on a 2dgrees sim or something where texts cost 9c would last a while.

i remember reading some **** about using wifi access points to determine rough locations too, but dont know if thats any relevance to this

if you had one of those headdecks which can control phone music players, could also double as permanent music storage

If phones hooked up to headdeck it wont be much use in that situation.

[DaktaPhil]

 evowrx said:

If phones hooked up to headdeck it wont be much use in that situation.

my very old panasonic headhead i had a while back had the ports on the back of the unit.

guess most of them have em on the front these days

[AdamOst]

Theres a few 3g gps trackers on ebay/aliexpress that have tons of positive reviews for ~$50. I keep meaning to get one but forget. Has realtime tracking as well for just the cost of keeping the sim card topped up. Can do the txt for gps as well, but as far as im aware the data cost is **** all.

[Joker]

google DX.com gps trackers

got this http://www.dx.com/c/car-accessories-799/vehicle-tracking-systems-717

heaps options under $50 delivered

[Marky]

 bmc said:

In his own words, he said I should not tell you this, but not with giving to much away given this a public forum.

.

Lols at super secret info he's read on google somewhere

Has been summed up already - there's devices available or your idea of a cellphone would work fine, it'll know approx where it is if asked and hiding one in the vehicle is a super simple task. Can pick up a dirty old android phone for $20 and give it a whirl

Not a huge need to be paying a third party for it unless you're super attached to the car

[Scoobydoo]

I'd be a little wary of those type that Joker linked. I had one once and found that it was drawing power from the battery, due to being connected to a constant power. It's not much, but after the car was left inactive for 2 weeks, it was enough to almost flatten the battery.

But if the car is used at least every 2-3 days, should be no issues.

[94 Leone]

Have a spare battery it is connected to that charges off a solar panel, but switch it so that when the car is running it draws from car.

[Guest]

 DaktaPhil said:

my very old panasonic headhead i had a while back had the ports on the back of the unit.

guess most of them have em on the front these days

Head decks the first thing to go lol. If ots connected any way they will find it.

[Joker]

sooo in a perfect world you wants something that's free and not plugged into the car in anyway

try Google maps to find you car

[chulozumo]

most cheap chinese ones use google maps anyway, have one in mine - goes okay, has its own internal battery and takes a sim card, text it and it texts back with location, speed etc. Can even set a parameter box so if the car moves out of that area it will spam the emergency list, has panic buttons/ reset switch. Can even be connected to the oil pump for remote shut off. Havnt actually used it in an emergency just to play around, its buried in the dash cable tied to that massive cross bar, cant get to it unless you actually take the dash apart

[Guest]

 Joker said:

sooo in a perfect world you wants something that's free and not plugged into the car in anyway

try Google maps to find you car

Into the head deck diddle.