Sat Nav for Florida

[Amys]

Any ideas of the best place to get Navman (for the F20 on an SD Card) maps for the US. The RRP is £99, the company's own web site has an offer for £59, but are out of stock, no seller on ebay have the US card and the SD cards sold by US sellers clearly state that they can only be used in systems ourcased in the US.

I really do not want to spend £99 on maps, even £59 will hurt!

[BillScarab]

If you're hiring a car why not just hire a sat nav while you're there?

[Amys]

it seems daft to hire one as the cost, as for the time were are there it would cost more than the cost of buying the maps.

[LittleTinker]

What do you need a Sat Nav for?

[hammy the hammer]

Originally Posted by LittleTinker

What do you need a Sat Nav for?

to reduce the stress when driving around in the States ?
i bit the bullet a while back and bought a tom tom 910 (because of US and Canadian mapping) .....i wouldn't want to be without it now

[Amys]

will be driving around the state quite a bit

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by hammy the hammer

to reduce the stress when driving around in the States ?
i bit the bullet a while back and bought a tom tom 910 (because of US and Canadian mapping) .....i wouldn't want to be without it now

We bought a 910 for the same reason as we always get lost at some point on our holidays in the US :rolleyes:

Would THIS be of any use to you?

[Amys]

I don't know atm, I am not sure if they will be compatible with the F20, but will look into it

[Nobjocki]

You're wasting your time.
There's only a few roads that only go anywhere you want to go -I mean how hard is it to find Orlando,Miami,Ft Lauderdale,Key West.
Spend five bucks and buy a map
SatNav is for Mondeo-driving reps who are too stupid to find their way from Travelodge to a Harvester..

[hammy the hammer]

have you looked on ebays US site to see what price you can pick up an american sat nav for ?
walmart have them for under £70 as a starting point

[hammy the hammer]

Originally Posted by Nobjocki

You're wasting your time.
There's only a few roads that only go anywhere you want to go -I mean how hard is it to find Orlando,Miami,Ft Lauderdale,Key West.
Spend five bucks and buy a map
SatNav is for Mondeo-driving reps who are too stupid to find their way from Travelodge to a Harvester..

i'll just go on my own experiences that the sat nav cuts a huge amount of stress out of driving on a trip to the US and Canada.....
have you ever used one in the States ? (or even here?)

[Nobjocki]

Originally Posted by hammy the hammer

i'll just go on my own experiences that the sat nav cuts a huge amount of stress out of driving on a trip to the US and Canada.....
have you ever used one in the States ? (or even here?)

No - for a very simple reason.
The road system in the States is incredibly easy to follow for several reasons - because of the long distances there is plenty of time to use a map;most towns and cities have by-passes to avoid you getting lost in them and the roads were designed by and for American who are without doubt the laziest drivers on God's earth.
I've probably driven 20,000 miles on US roads and never got lost once.
I repeat - you are wasting your time and money.

[Penny-Pincher!!]

We just take our own one and downloaded the maps needed 3 years ago.

PP
xx

[hammy the hammer]

Originally Posted by Nobjocki

No - for a very simple reason.
The road system in the States is incredibly easy to follow for several reasons - because of the long distances there is plenty of time to use a map;most towns and cities have by-passes to avoid you getting lost in them and the roads were designed by and for American who are without doubt the laziest drivers on God's earth.
I've probably driven 20,000 miles on US roads and never got lost once.
I repeat - you are wasting your time and money.

i thought it would be just as easy getting lost driving 4 miles through philadelphia to find hillside avenue as driving through birmingham to find hillside avenue.
i commend you on never getting lost in driving 20000 miles in the States ...i feel embarrassed to admit that i must have got lost for the first time in the States after about 20 miles ....my first time in boston involved viewing most of the city centre over and over again....thankfully i had unlimited mileage!.
i had a history of viewing parts of various US cities in the car that i really shouldn't have visited.
road signage in the US is pathetic compared to what we are used to here.
if i want a cashpoint i tap the screen on the sat nav ..want to eat in a particular restaurant chain i just hit the screen
absolute piece of p

[utterbar]

Originally Posted by Amys

it seems daft to hire one as the cost, as for the time were are there it would cost more than the cost of buying the maps.

Long trip then? I've hired units for a few $ per day.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by hammy the hammer

i thought it would be just as easy getting lost driving 4 miles through philadelphia to find hillside avenue as driving through birmingham to find hillside avenue.
i commend you on never getting lost in driving 20000 miles in the States ...i feel embarrassed to admit that i must have got lost for the first time in the States after about 20 miles ....my first time in boston involved viewing most of the city centre over and over again....thankfully i had unlimited mileage!.
i had a history of viewing parts of various US cities in the car that i really shouldn't have visited.
road signage in the US is pathetic compared to what we are used to here.
if i want a cashpoint i tap the screen on the sat nav ..want to eat in a particular restaurant chain i just hit the screen
absolute piece of p

Oh good , we're not the only ones! We've ended up in some pretty dodgy areas too. Miami was a bit scary

I agree about the signs being poor over there. Mind you we get lost in the UK a lot too My fault probably , i'm not the best at navigating. OH gets mad at me as I tend to point and shout "go that way" and he keeps saying pointing's no good as he can't tell where i'm pointing to :rolleyes:

Oh and the OH is not a sales rep and has never driven a Mondeo in his life

[eslick]

for those that have never got lost, here is a question, if you are on a freeway and you miss your exit you need to going miles before the next one. Not all exits are well sign posted, in many states the sign posts are right on the exit and its not always clear before the exit approaches which one is needed.

Myself and our inlaws have driven from one side of the US to the other and have had this happens on numerous occasions. My father in law (an ex traffic cop and used to motorway driving) took his PDA which he has a satnav on his last trip and his belief is that it made driving so much easier.

I am not one for satnavs but have to admit that when we go to the US later this year, I will be using one.

[vikingaero]

Originally Posted by Nobjocki

No - for a very simple reason.
The road system in the States is incredibly easy to follow for several reasons - because of the long distances there is plenty of time to use a map;most towns and cities have by-passes to avoid you getting lost in them and the roads were designed by and for American who are without doubt the laziest drivers on God's earth.
I've probably driven 20,000 miles on US roads and never got lost once.
I repeat - you are wasting your time and money.

I disagree with you Nobjocki.

A holiday is a holiday and if something makes the OP more relaxed about motoring in the States then that is a valuable aid for them.

Yes it is easy to get from City to City in the US. But what happens when you need to find your hotel each night? I've done loads of fly drives and business mileage and whilst the interstates are no problem I find that it is a problem finding hotels. Sometimes there are so many hotels of the same chain in the area that it's easy to turn up at the wrong one.

Also on the older interstates the entrance ramps are almost hidden and the signage is appalling. It's so easy to miss them.

When you're on holiday, it's late, dark, the kids are whinging and hungry, sat nav is worth every penny on holiday.

[Murphy_The_Cat]

I use WifeNav.
Admittedly, it is very expensive to upkeep, but I've always found it to be 100% reliable (although at times it does have an annoying 'voice' programme) and has several fringe benefits that aren't available in an electronic device.

[Nobjocki]

Well,the OP mentioned Florida rather than a cross-country trip but the result is still the same.
If you plan your journey in advance and write down exits numbers that you need to take that are clearly marked on the map then they're very clear on the road.
Either way each to their own but I still regard SatNav for tourist purposes in the States as a complete waste of time - besides which one of the joys of a road trip is getting lost and discovering new places.