Sat Nav Newbie

grubby23

Hi all,

We are going to the US in a couple of weeks and I wanna buy a sat nav for that to get us around. I am complet newbie with this but I am looking for the cheapest option as I wont use it too often. I was thinking about the following product

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-ONE-Classic-UK-RoI/dp/B001XCWNMC

It looks as if it is pre-loaded with the the UK maps, has anyone
an idea if it is possible to uploaded here maps for California, Utah
and Nevada or ist this limited to the UK? Anyone a rough idea about
the costs?

Or might there be a cheaper sat nav option out there for the US?

Many thanks!

Spursman180

grubby23 wrote: »

Hi all,

We are going to the US in a couple of weeks and I wanna buy a sat nav for that to get us around. I am complet newbie with this but I am looking for the cheapest option as I wont use it too often. I was thinking about the following product

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-ONE-Classic-UK-RoI/dp/B001XCWNMC

It looks as if it is pre-loaded with the the UK maps, has anyone
an idea if it is possible to uploaded here maps for California, Utah
and Nevada or ist this limited to the UK? Anyone a rough idea about
the costs?

Or might there be a cheaper sat nav option out there for the US?

Many thanks!

I think most can be upgraded by a data card, the price of buying a new map is quite expensive. You would certainly be able to buy a sat nav over there for a $100, buying here and upgrading here would be a lot more.

Check out the prices on amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com to get a comparison

Doshwaster

I assume you will be hiring a car. If so then a Sat Nav is available as an option with most hire companies (or comes as standard with some cars). That will be easier than buying one - unless you plan to go to the US regularly.

If you buy a Tom Tom then you can buy the US maps as an extra but I wouldn't think it would be worth it for a single trip.

grubby23

Buying there a Navi would probably be an option. Hiring one I think is not a good idea as it costs per day 12$ which would be a total for the 10 days of 120$....

ferf1223

from what I've seen, Garmin maps are cheaper than Tom Tom maps, for what that's worth...we already had a Garmin and got the US maps SD card for less than £40 on ebay.

I wouldn't rent one from the car hire agency - as you say, it's not cheap and you have nothing to show for it afterwards...even if when you get back you sell it on ebay, you'll be less out of pocket.

Maybe look around to see if you can find a used one or reconditioned one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Nuvi-Satellite-Navigation-System/dp/B001EJED5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302471573&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Navigator-North-America-Mapping/dp/B003FXWX54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302471632&sr=8-1

headpin

It's definitely better value to buy one than to take as part of a rental package. If you intend to visit that States agian I would certainly buy one. You need to be careful as the US is a big place and they do not always come with all the States loaded as standard. So just check.

They sell these in Walmart (owners of ASDA), K-Mart and most of the big Hyper/Supermarkets. You can probably pick up a decent unit for around $75 or less. So, if you do not get one before you go do not worry, but get when on your first day. There are Walmarts just about everywhere!!!

And if you do not want to keep it on your return put it on Ebay, as there is always a market for them and they usually sell at a reasonable price. In fact you could always look to buy one on Ebay before you but unfortunately you do not have a lot of time and it may not arrive in time even if successful with a bid.