Does it cost money to use the GPS system on the Nokia N810?

Do you need to be connected to the internet/WiFi to use the GPS system?

How does the Rhapsody software work on the N810? Can you download whole songs from it for free?

Thanks

Not if you're using it just for the wayfinder maps or any of the free navigation software provided for the tablet. Yes, if you buy the wayfinder maps with includes gps routing and voice directions. In other words the gps is useless without some kind of routing software.

No wi-fi needed to use it with the built in gps, although a wi-fi connection helps in getting a quicker sat lock fix.

Never used rhapsody with the N810, but it's probably a subscriber service where you can download and listen to music for a monthly fee.

The GPS is NOT useless without routing or direction software, but the use will be limited to determining directions manually. It WILL tell you exactly where you are so you can use the map to find things yourself. Also the GPS can be used for geocaching or logging a travel or other things.

You cannot download songs, its a basically a webclient so you have to have network access in order to use it. I can play songs when tethered to an HSDPA connection with a little bit of stuttering, but it works extremely well over wifi. I wish you could download tracks for offline listening but oh well. I already had a rhapsody subscription for my N78 phone so this is just an added bonus feature for me.

Maemo Mapper is a popular 3rd party map application. It will do routing, but you must have an internet connection to download it and save it. So if you know where your going ahead of time, you can save the route and then open it when needed.

What I do is set up the route on my computer in Google maps, make any adjustments I need to, then export the .gpx file and open that file in Maemo Mapper.

In my driving world that translates as being useless. Without routing directions, it can make it quite dangerous if you are constantly just looking at a map without any feedback from audio or quick glances at visual guided directions especially in this fast paced world where even something simple as blinking on the road at the wrong moment can have huge consequences. Maximum concentration is needed under the best of circumstances, so needing to keep looking at a map while using manual directions can open up a whole can of worms on a safety level. Tried doing it the manual way, hated it, bought the Wayfinder software and feel safer while driving. If the term useless is too harsh, then I'll change it to extremely limited and rather risky while driving without using routing software.

Given that I use it in my motorcycle as well as my car, it would doubly apply, except that if I have to do anything requring ANY attention I generally pull to the side of the road or into a parking lot, reorient myself, and then continue when I know where things should be the next 5 minutes at least and repeat as necessary. If you know the destination you can usually plot a route (and with the street images it becomes easier). If you don't know where you're going, maps won't help.

My other point also still stands - the only use you can possibly think of for the GPS is routing while driving. There are other activities which a GPS is very helpful that don't involve speaking directions. So in any case it is not useless for those applications.

I've also gotten the "directions" where they lied. Google Maps. There is no exit 105 on northbound I-35E (I passed the one they might have been referring to, which was 104b or something). So I pulled off, got the map application out, did a little zooming, and found the set of roads I needed to get back on track.