Is there anyway to download maps of to the n900 and then us eit offline without internet conenction only using gps if need be, so I can search for directions to address in my city to go to customers locations?

I downloaded PC Suite and and Map downloader from Nokia. With these softwares i was able to download maps of all the coutries i wished.

When abroad i was able to use Nokia Maps only with GPS. I just had to click several times to "No" when "Maps" wanted to connect to the internet. this was ennoying. And all in all the positionong took much longer with GPS only then also with internet.

hope this will help you.

PS: i used windows with PC Suite in a virtual machine with xp.

You can't search for locations when offline however.

So what can you do offline then just see the map and zoom in and out, but now search for an address and start a starting pouint and desintation?

I did one trick...

When I was about to go to new place, just decided to walk for 3 km..so from the point when I was starting my walk journey, I just connected N900 to internet, then opened "Maps" application. After I got GPS lock, I just scrolled the path from starting point to end point on the map.

After that I turned of my internet connection..(Or just go out of range of wi-fi), but I did not close my Map application. Then, I could then easily navigate my path.

You can search street names and numbers just no POI
I cant use map loader on Vista 64.

Edit: actual you can't search the map if you are not online.

Go to settings/location and disable network positioning.

FYI you don't have to use map loader. Search around... there's a thread that points you to instructions on how to do it manually. I did it.

I've not had much luck with the search in Ovi map, online or off. It's really limited. Usually i give up and find the basic area and just use the map itself with GPS to get there. It's not ideal...

@timwatt - so you are able to enter street/town names etc. in the destination field(s) while you have no internet connection and it will find possible matchies? I've used ovi maps extensively (pre and post 1.2) in several countries, using downloaded maps and no internet connection - and it doesn't allow such searches. it just says unable to search (or similar).

what I can do though is set my starting point as my current GPS position (say) and then set my destination by clicking on it on the map. Ovi will then happily calculate my route.

something i'd love would be the ability to set a route by search on wifi (before leaving hotel/cafe) and be able to SAVE the route somehow to a file. that way i could later fire up ovi, load the saved file, and check the route when needed. currently I need to leave ovi open in the background once the route has been calculated to avoid having to reprogram it (without internet connection to allow search) later. anyone know of some way to do this?

See this bug though and be warned:
Data transfer even when not using network positioning