Hiring Satnav from Ebay for USA Holiday

Murphy_The_Cat

Lynz, if you lived closer to me, I'd happily lend you my TomTom with USA/Canada maps on it --- does anyone else on here have one to lend ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-Satellite-Navigation-Worldwide-Mapping/dp/B000FDQF6K this is mine and Amazon have it fro £129.99. Just be aware, its not the newest model and its quite chunky, but it is feature packed.

lynzpower

Murphy that's lovely of you! what a generous thought

We are doing Asheville-gatlinburg ( side trip to cherokee) -Nashville-Mammoth Caves- Memphis- have you ever been this way?

Theres a walmart on airport road in asheville, literally opposite the airport. I dont think we can get too lost !

trets77

we find a sat nav invaluable when driving in the states .

yes the road system is much easier than UK , but it great to able to search for nearby Gas stations when on the move . we always liked to search for a independant gas stations like Dave Gorman . and places to eat at our destination while on the move . it's fun making a reservation 200 miles away . also like others have said POI you would never have found if you had not had the sat nav

just think you can buy this thing, then rent it out on Ebay and it might end up paying for itself .

lynzpower

Yes me too trets. Have been looking at https://www.roadfood.com and want to store some of the locations.

Also love https://www.roadsideamerica.com

balt

photome wrote: »

Is that really the case? Doesnt the phone use any type of paid for connection to keep track of where you are?

It uses GPS, Google maps uses Data and GPS

M4RKM

If you buy an iPhone application for Navigation, and you disable the data on your iPhone (by default roaming data is turned off), it cannot use any data whatsoever.

There are cheap options as has been mentioned such as CoPilot Live USA FOR £2.99. This is 1.19GB is size, so all the mapping data is included. There are some extra in app purchases as well you can buy, such as text to speech for £1.79.

One review states - It did not use data roaming to work - This link will take you to the iTunes page - http://m4rk.in/fMiX8O

Go onto eBay and just buy something to stick your iPhone somewhere and a decent car charger if you don't own one. That'll set you back £20, plus then a fiver for the app, and you're good to go!

Finally, if you wish to use your iPhone in the USA, then there are ways of using an AT&T sim in your phone, as long as it is unlocked - http://m4rkm.com/iPhone


M

photome

Have driven in the states a lot withouit a satnav but am tempted by the £2.99 app for my android phone, It seems like that is all it would cost me

chocolateteddy

We went to orlando in february and rented one from the company below was a great deal £23 plus p&p of £7 and (£100 deposit) we went on a wednesday and received sat nav on friday before so we could get used to it. It was already loaded with usa maps. We had problems getting it to work over weekend and phoned them monday they immediately sent another out at no charge and told me to return both when we returned. We then put in all the addresses we wanted before we left. When we got back we had to pay to send back special delivery (about £7.50) but all in all a very good deal when I don't need a sat nav of my own. Deposit returned promptly on day they received units back. Wouldn't hesitate to use again.

www.easy2rent.co.uk

lynzpower

thanks chocolate teddy that seems like a god recommendation. Were you worried then you wouldn't get it on time before you left>? that would be my fear, while trying not to pay for too many extra days unnecessarily...?

Doshwaster

photome wrote: »

Is that really the case? Doesnt the phone use any type of paid for connection to keep track of where you are?

Yes, it's true. See https://market.android.com/details?id=com.alk.copilot.market.usa&feature=search_result and http://www.alk.com/copilot/android/

GPS signals don't count as part of your data package or roaming. The maps are stored on the phone and not downloaded.

For the price it's a bargain. Just a shame the European version is so much more expensive.