Sat Nav's In The U.s?

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Virgin charge £5 a day for a sat nav in u.s.
We did think would it be cheaper to purchase one over there and how much if anyone knows are they?
And has anyone used one over there?

 

[jharrowell]

The problem isn't the units but the maps.

The ones you rent from Virgin are USA units. The only way around this is to buy one in the states, or get one here and get the US maps for it (you might be able to get one with these pre-installed, but I honestly don't know).

I bought the Autoroute+GPS system (for £99) for my PC (By PC, read Tablet laptop, I didn't tote my full sized PC to the states ) then "aquired" the US version of the software for use in the states.

But I go often enough that:

1) It was cost effective to own one
2) I know the roads so well I no longer need it!

I could navigate around Orlando better than my home town.

End of the day if it's a one off visit, (or at least, one of for the foreseeable future) it's probably not worth it unless you also want a SAT Nav for home (but make sure the one you get will work in both places).

As an aside, the Micosoft one has the bonus of being able to run on batteries, use bluetooth and talk to a PDA. So you can actually GPS whilst walking.

 

[Mike&Mel]

Virgin charge £5 a day for a sat nav in u.s.
We did think would it be cheaper to purchase one over there and how much if anyone knows are they?
And has anyone used one over there?

Hi we thought about getting a sat nav over there as well, we are there for 14 days (£70 to hire sat nav) we found this at a walmart over there via web = http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4016515 so about £100, then we thought we could sell on ebay (only used for 14 days lol) and if we make at least £30 + selling + P&P we would be fine and we have no worry if we loose or break the hire unit (lots of money to hire company if we did)

 

[jharrowell]

Hi we thought about getting a sat nav over there as well, we are there for 14 days (£70 to hire sat nav) we found this at a walmart over there via web = http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4016515 so about £100, then we thought we could sell on ebay (only used for 14 days lol) and if we make at least £30 + selling + P&P we would be fine and we have no worry if we loose or break the hire unit (lots of money to hire company if we did)

Here's a thought. According to your ticker, you're going in 6 months, and Beth is going in 9...

Why don't you pool resourses then pass the unit on at the end of your trip to Beth?

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Hi we thought about getting a sat nav over there as well, we are there for 14 days (£70 to hire sat nav) we found this at a walmart over there via web = http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4016515 so about £100, then we thought we could sell on ebay (only used for 14 days lol) and if we make at least £30 + selling + P&P we would be fine and we have no worry if we loose or break the hire unit (lots of money to hire company if we did)

Thank you for that,that is ideal.
Also if your interested in what someone else mentioned us buying it off you afterwards? Let me know

 

[alisonbestford]

I have a TomTom 910 which I've used in Fuerteventura and Italy

It also has the US maps on it so will be getting it's 'virgin' trip next May

They seem to retail at around £280 if you use a price comparison site like Kelkoo.
Like any other item though be a little careful if you decide to buy off E-Bay - I purchased one, with 'Buy it Now', only to find it was a scam and had to claim my money back from PayPal

 

[Mike&Mel]

Thank you for that,that is ideal.
Also if your interested in what someone else mentioned us buying it off you afterwards? Let me know

Sure that sounds a great plan this is only in a pre-planning stage at the momnent, just looking around for a good one but basic as only going to be used for short times and dont need to be all singing and dancing, that one looks good but after further reading etc, we would need to buy before we went as needs to be installed etc etc via a pc so would need to buy and have shipped over 1st. send me a pm, then as soon as i found one and and decided if thats the best way forward, we can sort a plan together for it if ok ? we could even start a sat nav hire for the dis boards

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Sure that sounds a great plan this is only in a pre-planning stage at the momnent, just looking around for a good one but basic as only going to be used for short times and dont need to be all singing and dancing, that one looks good but after further reading etc, we would need to buy before we went as needs to be installed etc etc via a pc so would need to buy and have shipped over 1st. send me a pm, then as soon as i found one and and decided if thats the best way forward, we can sort a plan together for it if ok ? we could even start a sat nav hire for the dis boards

Sounds funny but you know it could work? wonder if anyone would be interested? Ill keep in touch.If not let me know how you get on.

 

[Mike&Mel]

Sounds funny but you know it could work? wonder if anyone would be interested? Ill keep in touch.If not let me know how you get on.

Thinking about it, your right it could work £2.99 a day hire, with min 1 week hire (£20.93 a week, saving £14 a week) and inc shipping & return shipping to uk address half the price of most Car hire companys over there, and £50 deposit and you get to play with before you get to your holiday

Only rough plans, but i would hire one

 

[ppow]

we go next july/august and we would deinately be interested in hiring one!

 

[castanea1985]

Hi
DH has a Garmin i3(not an expensive one) and he bought some maps of the USA from ebay for about £20. They are great, it works just as well as here in the UK. You can buy the maps and the sat nav from ebay for less than £100! Then you've got it for the UK too!
Tracy

 

[Soprano]

I would say Orlando is a very, very, very easy place to drive even for first time drives or those who find the idea driving in another country daunting.

Everything is very clearly sign-posted and the roads are wide.

We thought about getting one, but glad we didn't as it was so easy to get around.

 

[Dead-metal]

I would say Orlando is a very, very, very easy place to drive even for first time drives or those who find the idea driving in another country daunting.

Everything is very clearly sign-posted and the roads are wide.

We thought about getting one, but glad we didn't as it was so easy to get around.

I thought about getting a satnav but I agree with the post above. Just take it steady and you will be fine. I found driving in the US much easier than driving in the UK.

 

[Lisa1976]

We have a Tom Tom Europe that we are purchasing US maps for, for our break in January. We currently charge ours through the cigarette lighter, is it the same set up in the American cars or would we need a different charger? I wasnt sure if the cigarette lighters had the same voltage as the UK

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

We have a Tom Tom Europe that we are purchasing US maps for, for our break in January. We currently charge ours through the cigarette lighter, is it the same set up in the American cars or would we need a different charger? I wasnt sure if the cigarette lighters had the same voltage as the UK

No. lighters are the same world over.

 

[Mike&Mel]

No. lighters are the same world over.

Just like us smokers