Sat nav from Walmart?

[howlongtillsummer?]

Hi! Not long now . We are pondering using a sat nav this year but would be total novices - never used one at all.

Has anyone bought one at Walmart? Good? Worth it? Is it easy to set up etc? Any prices or model recommendations would be great! Thanks so much.

 

[disneyholic family]

i don't know what's available at walmart..

last year i bought a garmin from amazon.com and had it shipped to the resort, so it was there when i arrived...

first time i'd ever used a GPS device....i got a very cheap one since i only intended it for use in orlando....it's very easy to use and got me where i needed to go (places i'd never been to before, including the big medical center inside orlando itself - which made me very nervous about making a wrong turn)...

i'm sure they have similar cheap models at walmart...

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Thanks! Do you mind if I ask how cheap is very cheap? Sorry.

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks! Do you mind if I ask how cheap is very cheap? Sorry.

i think it was about $ 100 - but that was a year ago, they should be cheaper now...
here's the walmart page:
http://www.walmart.com/search/searc....y=0&Find=Find&_ta=1&search_query=gps&_tt=gps

 

[wayneg]

We bought one from Walmart in Feb, we bought this one from the store on Hwy 192 towards Kissimmee. Worked out at £45 incl tax.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/TomTom-XL-335SE-4.3-GPS-Navigation-System/15173175

This link cuts down to Car GPS units and lowest price 1st.
http://www.walmart.com/search/searc...c=48_0&_refineresult=true&search_constraint=0

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Thanks so much both of you - they seem very affordable. Is it just a matter of taking them out of the box and turning on? Are there batteries or anything to put in?

Sorry I am very clueless about this!!

 

[wayneg]

I used ours out of the box in Feb no problem. You just plug it into the car to charge, enter where you want to go and it plans the route.

When I got home I plugged into into the PC, loaded the software and it connected to TomTom site to upgrade to latest map, this is a free service (for the 1st month IIRC)
I could have done it on the laptop while we were away but we had a really slow connection so decided to wait til I got home.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Great Wayne thanks. I hope you have a fantastic time at OKW this year.

 

[disneyholic family]

my garmin nuvi also just plugged into the car charge...

the first time i plugged it in, it took a while to "find the satellite" or something like that

i don't remember how long.....but once it found itself, it was very easy to use...

the model i bought is for the US - at the time it was the cheapest available on amazon.com and i wasn't interested in using a GPS anywhere else (it's silly to use them where i live - no bigger than your thumb)....

it worked fine....

however, i will say that in my opinion you should still look at a map before you set out.....i didn't always like the way the GPS wanted to take me..

for example, it was great on the way to celebration....took me the shortest route, no problem..

but on the way back, it was obvious to me that it wanted me to enter WDW by the main gate -which wasn't the fastest way to get where i was going (where you can enter WDW by the 'backdoor".....so i ignored the instruction to turn right and instead turned left (going back to WDW the same way i'd come)..
once i made the turn, the GPS recalculated and then took me the way i wanted to go...
but had i not known that, it would have taken me the round about route...

so i always checked the map first to be sure which way i was going..

the whole reason i bought it, was i knew i had to drive into orlando itself (to the medical center for a meeting) - orlando has some rather dangerous neighborhoods....i wanted something to help me navigate.....but i still looked at a map first ...the GPS was backup.....also because the signs in orlando sometimes leave something to be desired...

 

[disneyholic family]

i just pulled it out of my computer bag - the model is a Garmin Nuvi 1350

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Many thanks for taking the time to advise me. Much appreciated.

 

[jns]

we got a garmin from there a few years back
works great
downloaded the UK Ireland Maps when we got back and use it all the time here too

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

We will pick one up on Wednesday!!! Thanks again all of you

 

[tigger137]

We got ours (TomTom) at Sears. They had 3 sizes and we opted for the smallest which was less than $50.

It was easy to set up and is easy to use.

If only my DH had listened to it when it kept telling him he was speeding ...... he'd be $150 better off now!

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

That sounds useful lol

 

[madmumof2]

Do they sell sat nav's at Sanford airport? I've never driven in Orlando before and have to somehow find my way from Sanford airport to the villa key pick up place, then to the villa after 20 odd hours travelling, not to mention learning how to drive 'on the wrong side of the road' with the little rule differences! lol