Obscure question of the day...

Does anybody happen to know if GPS devices purchased in the UK (or Singapore) would work in NZ?

I know little about them, but is the technology a global thing, or do different regions operate slightly differently?

Any ideas?

A GPS will work anywhere in the world, regardless of where it was purchased, the only bit to look out for is the maps on the GPS, make sure that it can take a reload of maps for the new area, such as Garmin's top end GPS and their own software, Mapsource, which covers most of the world to street level. You have to purchase a cd of the area you are interested in. Its not cheap for the software though, from memory Australia is £170 ish.

Watch out for the super cheap GPS with next to (or none) no maps on, and no ability to add any to them.

Phil.

Its worth checking they have your countries grid datum aswell, or you may end up having to use lat/long coordinates, which can be a bit of an arse. Eg....in the uk, ours is the OS datum.

thanks, I knew someone here would know the answer.

I was looking specifically at something like the Garmin eTrex Summit, which has an altimeter and compass as well.

I'm not sure I'd ever rely solely on an electronic compass, but I have a feeling that compasses produce slightly different results depending on the country they originate from...?

Is it possible to get both a GPS based compass, and a real compass recalibrated for NZ?

You've never wondered what the 'G' in GPS stands for ?

Yes Global of course, but I thought it was still a valid question.

Obviously you didn't.... oh well

Of course it was valid...if you wanted it for street navigation, and it can't be loaded with your local street maps, its pretty much useless.