American Sat Nav - Advice

[gadgetgricey]

Anyone know of a decent app for Sat Nav that you can use In America.

 

I use "Waze" in the UK, but don't know if it can be obtained for USA.

 

or any other suggestions for a cheap (but good) sat nav that covers the US would be appreciated.

 

Cheers

[hairnet]

I broke a nav that had USA maps built in it was cheaper to buy a card with open source maps than fix then screen - there's lots of Garmin nuvi 200s with us maps on for 20. 30 quid

[hairnet]

Bought off sat Nav easy on ebay Inthe past you can get refurbed cheap

[Jazoli]

Waze works perfectly in the US, but beware of roaming charges if you don't have a data plan that allows US roaming, I'd be inclined to get a cheap tomtom off eBay for £30-£40.

[PhilA]

Are you going to be renting a car when you're here?

 

Most places will chuck in a satnav unit for a few extra dollars, normally cheaper than buying one if the car doesn't have it fitted already.

 

Phil

[Forty45]

If it is for a holiday then renting is cheap.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-35-Day-HIRE-USA-CANADA-MAPS-SAT-NAV-TOM-TOM-GARMIN-FLORIDA-RENTAL-GPS-/151391818905?redirect=mobile

[Mudster]

Can get Navmii on your phone with the maps stored on the device to avoid roaming charges. Got me around California a few years ago (and it's free), although I will admit a stand alone may be a better device. Doesn't come cheaper than free though.

[SiC]

When I was in America last I just used my mobile phone and paid for a years TomTom app (£20 iirc). Downloaded the map in advance and bought a cheap cradle from the nearest Walmart. Bonus was that I signed my account into my wife's phone, so we had a backup phone in case my phone stopped working for whatever reason. Don't forget to buy a decent car phone charger too.

 

Unlike buying a second hand unit, the maps of course were fully up to date. I turned off roaming data to make 100% nothing was going to cause me pain.

[MikeR]

Magic Earth app ?

[cort1977]

Waze works here and is good.

[Mrs6C]

We have Tom-Tom units and have a US map pack for Six-Cylinder's, which worked very well.

[koala27]

We've been using a shite Chinese generic satnav for a while, a bit like this:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Inch-Car-SAT-GPS-Navigation-NAV-8GB-FM-Transmit-Video-Audio-Player-TF-MP3-ROM/183617952879

 

Used it (or similar - smashed the 1st one, bought another) for 10 years now. It's pretty basic/crude hardware and a bit* clunky by modern standards, but basically just works. All standalone, no ongoing fees, no apps, no expiring software, no network needed.

 

It runs WinCE & iGO mapping software. You get any iGO maps you want, all updated on regular basis as free downloads from a variety of gps/satnav forums (eg fixmygps.info). The only restriction you have for how many maps you can have at one time is the size of the SD card.

 

Used it with the free maps over the years in UK, Europe, Oz, NZ, US & Canada. No real problems, all for 25 quid.

[wuvvum]

I found Navmii perfectly adequate for finding my way around in 'Muricah - the maps perhaps aren't as detailed as those on a "proper" nav, but they do the job, and as already said they're stored locally on your phone so no worrying about data charges.

[jonny69]

I'd be inclined to say Google Maps on your smartphone and pay for some roaming charges (check first).

 

Also, when I did a road trip in the US with no map or satnav (yeah I know, don't ask ), a compass really came in handy when you get lost. Most of their roads point roughly NSEW so if you don't have a map and you get lost or you're forced on a diversion, you can follow the compass and know what direction you need to follow.

[werntmeguv]

https://maps.me/ should work fine with the relevant maps loaded. Works offline once the maps are loaded.

[wuvvum]

Depending on where you're going in the US, bear in mind that not all areas have a decent data signal, so Google Maps might not always be a possibility.

[angle]

If your phone is unlocked, get a Three pay as you go SIM - they do an offer where £20 gets you 12Gb of data to use anywhere abroad for 30 days. Much cheaper than roaming, and will be fine for Waze or Google maps. Worth having maps.me as an offline backup, but it won't take traffic etc into account. You'll only get 3G though.

[willswitchengage]

https://maps.me/ should work fine with the relevant maps loaded. Works offline once the maps are loaded.

 

+1 used maps.me all over the world, doesn't have traffic updates and is less intelligent than Google maps due to lack of live data but it will get you there. Also has an index of all businesses and addresses.

[Arfur Foxache]

I just went straight into the first big supermarket I found outside the airport in Kissimmee and bought a $40 Sat nav off the shelf. 

 

Sold it for about £40 on ebay when I got home to somebody who was going out there on business for a few weeks. 

 

I'd keep an eye on ebay for sat navs with US maps. There is always some on there. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xsat+nav+usa.TRS0&_nkw=sat+nav+usa&_sacat=0

[hpi_matrix]

You can download google maps so you can use them offline, as said above if your phone is unlocked just buy a cheap sim from three off Amazon for some data too.

[Dan_ZTT]

Last time I was in the states we rented one with the car, it wasn't actually a satnav though but was a large-screen Samsung phone with an unlimited data allowance so we could just use google maps for directions, the added benefit being you could also use it as a wifi hotspot for everyone in the car, I also used it as my own camera/phone/internet device when my smartphone broke during the trip. Made sense because there were 5 of us travelling together for 3 weeks, it meant everyone could use their phones on the road, in hotels etc without any roaming costs. We could also use it to call back to the UK for free which was a bonus. Think it was about $20 a day though, but between 5 of us that was ok.

 

Data coverage was pretty much fine, we were driving through deserts in Nevada/Arizona/California and it would occasionally lose signal but never enough to cause us any problems. This was 5 years ago too so if anything it'll be better now.

 

The car was proper shite though, a GMC Terrain. Worst autobox in any car I've ever driven.

[Clanger]

Satnav?   Fuck off.... this is what you want*