mission

Dear All

Since I will be going home to the UK mid Aug for 2 weeks, I will be hiring a car for the full duration. The cost of including a sat nav is frigging crazy - something like £11 a day (more than the hire of the car) and since i'll be hiring the car for a good 2 weeks, that's almost £150 odd for just the sat nav.

So now I'm thinking it's probably cheaper and better in the long run if I just buy a sat nav from here and take it with me.

Does anyone know if I do buy a sat nav/tom tom, whether I can use it as soon as I land in the UK, or would I need to have the software updated to include the UK? If that is the case, does anyone know if there is a sat nav which won't need that doing?

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

scrubbedexpat141

Nope.

Buy a UK sim card. Top up and do a deal for internet (eg; top 10 quid and get 5Gb of data etc).

Use google maps, free.

jam25mack

Agreed. Get a 20 GBP sim in arrivals, it'll have a data package.

I like to use Waze rather than Google Maps. Generally find it better as its users add info in realtime so crashes, jams and coppers hiding behind walls are shown too.

mission

thanks folks - my only concern is, won't the data be used up quickly and hence i'll be spending just as much on top ups?

mission

also I only have 1 smart phone (iphone) and if I put a local sim in it, then I won't be able to access my UAE contacts, emails, etc

iggle

Buy a UK Sat Nav for like 30 quid. Go Halfords and buy the cheapest.

or WAIT

Buy a map

mission

IGGLE I am pants at following maps


the thing is I need the sat nav for when I land coz i'll be heading to my folks place and I have no idea what the road route is.

jam25mack

If you put a UK sim in you will still be able to access your UAE contacts and have access to your emails....

And if you 100% need your UAE number active buying a cheapy smartphone would be cheaper than renting a satnav. Or borrow one. Someone you know must have an old spare one floating about.

As for data useage, sat nav apps don't use that much and data deals in the UK are cheap as chips.

Another route would be to ensure you get a car with built in satnav.... most do these days.

scrubbedexpat141

Mission - no, googlemaps doesn't use loads of data at all I don't think. Plus, the 10-15-20 quid sim + data thing means you can access UAE contacts, emails and all that jazz as well. I've never hired/bought sat nav and drove from Heathrow to Mums to Oxford to Wakefield to Darlington to Glasgow to Prestwick to Cheshire to Oxford to Mums to Heathrow without ever using anything other than google maps.

Jam's point is good though, most cars have it built in and hire cars are generally high spec for better resale and a lot of the ones I've used have had it. What are you hiring?

fezzer

Or download one of the offline maps apps. Here Maps is good. You can download mpas by country over wifi in advance and you have full GPS navigation when you arrive without using data.

mission

i'm hiring the cheapest one as possible - ie anything in Group A lol...and I'm pretty certain none of these have built in sat nav


Thanks SCAMP, much appreciated.

mission

maybe I being blonde here but don't you need wifi connection to access the download and I'm not going to get that in a hired a car

mission

Thanks JAM, much appreciated. Looks like this could be my best and cheapest option.

scrubbedexpat141

At the airport, go to the phone shop / stand / concession and ask for a sim card and data bundle.

Sim is normally about a tenner, then I normally buy a 10 quid bundle for 5gb (or whatever) of data (keep in mind my package here is 5gb for a MONTH, most of the time you just use wifi - yes, you can in this day and age ask for friends / family wifi passwords wherever you go, it's like asking if you take your shoes off).

That'll keep you going.

Failing that, if it's not what you fancy then I suggest driving to the nearest halfords, without a map, and buying this;

Halfords, 50 quid satnav

Can always give to someone after or keep for future trips.

scrubbedexpat141

100% try to remember the tiny little poker thing to get the sim card holder out of your phone.

Paperclips work and phone shops have the things to do it, but useful to have your own.