Sat Nav for US buy or rent?

Gemini Chica · Sep 24, 2016

Booking car hire for Florida and the Sat Nav is expensive enough for a week so wondered would I be better buying one to have? If so any recommendations on where to buy (online) and what brand etc?

DeniseM · Sep 24, 2016

Can you use your Smart Phone?

Gemini Chica · Sep 24, 2016

DeniseM said:
Can you use your Smart Phone?

I think we would find the screen too small.

catharsis · Sep 24, 2016

Use Nokia HERE which allows offline navigation worldwide ... you download all maps for florida before leaving home.... completely free.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Passepartout · Sep 24, 2016

You can buy a Garmin or Tom Tom on Amazon for well under $100. If you have a device you use at home, you can get N.American maps on a chip on eBay for cheap.

dioxide45 · Sep 24, 2016

Couldn't you just rent one through the rental agency?

We booked a car on our recent cruise stop in Rhodes Greece. I asked if they had GPS available and they acted like they didn't know what I was referring to. I later learned that they oft called it Sat Nav. We didn't book it nor need it anyway.

BigMac · Sep 24, 2016

Gemini Chica said:
I think we would find the screen too small.

yes the screen is smaller but they have voice command which is what you should be listening to anyway when you are driving. I wouldn't waste the money on a purchase or a rent

Luanne · Sep 24, 2016

BigMac said:
yes the screen is smaller but they have voice command which is what you should be listening to anyway when you are driving. I wouldn't waste the money on a purchase or a rent

I have a question. If your phone, and service, are from another country, are there data charges to use it as a GPS type device when you are traveling internationally?

Also, if you do plan to use your phone as a GPS be sure you have a car "plug" or charger. We had to use my phone in this manner when our portable GPS went belly up. I wasn't prepared and it pretty much drained my phone.

Pompey Family · Sep 25, 2016

Luanne said:
I have a question. If your phone, and service, are from another country, are there data charges to use it as a GPS type device when you are traveling internationally?

Yes there are. We are on the Three network and our data and call plan allows us to use our allowance in the US for no additional charge however they recently changed the data allowance from unlimited to capped (2gb in my case).

dioxide45 · Sep 25, 2016

BigMac said:
yes the screen is smaller but they have voice command which is what you should be listening to anyway when you are driving. I wouldn't waste the money on a purchase or a rent

Many stand alone units have voice command also and most of them provide turn by turn directions via voice. I still prefer a dedicated unit.

Ken555 · Sep 25, 2016

Got a modern phone? Android or iPhone? Then simply download the free app Waze and you're done.

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SherryS · Sep 25, 2016

I also recommend the Waze app! Voice commands are loud and clear.

catharsis · Sep 25, 2016

Luanne said:
I have a question. If your phone, and service, are from another country, are there data charges to use it as a GPS type device when you are traveling internationally?

Pompey Family said:
Yes there are. We are on the Three network and our data and call plan allows us to use our allowance in the US for no additional charge however they recently changed the data allowance from unlimited to capped (2gb in my case).

SherryS said:
I also recommend the Waze app! Voice commands are loud and clear.

Again just to clarify the nokia HERE app allows full offline usage (meaning that NO data is used/required to use it - you download all maps and data before leaving home.

Waze is excellent but only if you have fast free data, which is often not the case for those travelling internationally

Big Matt · Sep 26, 2016

I'd just rent it from the rental car company. You don't have to worry about a hand held, data usage, and if there is a problem, they are on the hook to fix it.

I don't know how much money you are talking about, but it shouldn't be more than $150 for the week.

Ken555 · Sep 26, 2016

Big Matt said:
I'd just rent it from the rental car company. You don't have to worry about a hand held, data usage, and if there is a problem, they are on the hook to fix it.

I don't know how much money you are talking about, but it shouldn't be more than $150 for the week.

Have you priced them lately? A standalone unit is less than that. Of course, data isn't difficult to get these days, which is why an iPhone and Waze is the best solution for most people.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Big Matt · Sep 27, 2016

Sure. I own one that I paid $129 with free lifetime maps about five years ago. They are similarly priced now.

My point is that the OP doesn't seem to have a use for one with US maps other than for this trip. They also said they don't want to use a smart phone.

Ken555 said:
Have you priced them lately? A standalone unit is less than that. Of course, data isn't difficult to get these days, which is why an iPhone and Waze is the best solution for most people.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sat Nav for US buy or rent?

Gemini Chica

DeniseM

Gemini Chica

catharsis

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert

BigMac

Luanne

TUG Review Crew: Expert

Pompey Family

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert

Ken555

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SherryS

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catharsis

Big Matt

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Ken555

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Big Matt

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