I am thinking of purchasing my husband a GPS for his 60th birthday. I would like to find one that will work in Italy and other European countries as well as North America. Easy of use is a major factor when considering what to buy as we still struggle with the VCR!!! Any info would be appreciated

You might have better luck posting your question over on the Technology on the Go Forum. There are a couple of ongoing threads about GPS systems that may help you as well.

It all depends on your needs.

Will you be using the GPS just for driving or driving plus walking, hiking etc?

I like the Garmin series their units cover a wide range of uses but they can be expensive.

Once I know more, I may be able to help more.


You might want to do a search. Someone posted a recent thread on this same subject in this forum.

I am going to move this to the Tech forum.

Thank you for moving this over, I have not been on this part of your web site. I was thinking mostly on driving but hiking would be a good addition. We are traveling south of Sorrento this time where the Cilento National Park is and lots of trails.

Marian and I were in this area last May and it was beautiful. It's a great place to drive around and I'll bet the hiking is wonderful.

Islandgirl,

I can't offer any thought on which would be the best for you, but here are some points to consider in your shopping.

Battery life - some units are specifically made to be used in a car and do not have a built in battery. Others have large screens that eat up battery power.

Mapping Software - Most GPS's use proprietary maps, you will want to choose one that offers maps in the areas where you are planning on using it. Fortunately, most of the major manufacturers offer US and European maps. When you buy your unit, you will almost certainly get only the US maps, you will have to buy the Europe maps and this can get pricey.

Additional Features - Voice commands, auto-routing, Touch screens, etc., you'll have to decide what's important for you.

There is a learning curve with these things and you'll have to spend some time getting the hang of it.

For what it's worth, I'm happy with my Garmin Quest.

pete

We love our Garmin Nuvi 360 and it has been one of our smartest buys for our RTW trip. It is small ( fits in your palm) and can be used for walking or driving and is super easy to use. ( We are tech dummies).

It was not cheap ( we decided to buy it in Europe to get those maps free) but worth every penny.

The Nuvi is a very nice unit but it has one problem. It has an internal battery.

I avoid rechargeable devices for two reasons. First you have to remember to recharge it. It is far easier to pop in a couple of batteries when needed. In Europe you have the additional problem of having to remember your adapter. Of course a lot of this might be mitigated by the fact you will be using the device in a car where it can be recharged.

The other problem with these devices is that some day the battery will need to be replaced. Many of these units are sealed and therefore the replacement could be an expensive factory repair.

One nice feature of the Nuvi 350 series and above is that they can speak the street names very useful while driving. But I believe they all speak basic directions.


If you want a hand held unit where you want to be certain that you will always have battery power then I would suggest the Etrex Vista CX or the Gpsmap 60 Cx. The Etrex is cheaper but it's screen is too small to be useful IMHO. Neither of these units have voice prompts so it would be best if you had a copilot when using it in an automobile.

Recharge capability is a bonus in my mind they can be rechared about 1000 times before the battery looses power. I think that is more use than the average person needs. Remember it also can use 220 power so no converter need just a simple adapter. I use the Garmin forerunner 301 as I use it mostly for hiking but the battery last 12 hours which is plenty. then recharge at night. RR

I am a great believer in Garmin. I own a Nuvi 350 and love it's abilities and, as a sales rep, I use it A LOT!!

However, Garmin does have a new model, I believe it is the Nuvi 390 that comes completely loaded with both US and European maps. It is expensive but worth the money in my opinion.

As for the on board batteries, I plug mine into its cradle in the car and that has the charger on it. It only goes on battery power when when I pull it off and then it's over 4 hours of charge. On a long journey, you can turn it off when you don't have to make any changes for 200 miles!

Doug

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Rainey:
Recharge capability is a bonus in my mind they can be rechared about 1000 times before the battery looses power. I think that is more use than the average person needs. Remember it also can use 220 power so no converter need just a simple adapter. I use the Garmin forerunner 301 as I use it mostly for hiking but the battery last 12 hours which is plenty. then recharge at night. RR

To each his own I guess. I just don't like the idea of rechargeable GPS device's.

I have never been able to find one of those small adapter plugs. Everything I see is a giant kit with every plug known in the world. The usually run $30-$40. A bit much to use only one plug.

OK, I'm far from a technophobe, but I have little or no experience with GPS systems, especially in Europe. While I generally don't mind getting lost (and learning more about the area in the process),our last trip to Italy left me thinking we might be able to make good use of a GPS system. The main question I have is this: we have a small flat in a small village north of Rome and love to explore back roads -- white roads, often -- by car and on foot. Last month we got "lost" (figuratively, since we could see Casperia on the hilltop the whole time--just how best to get back?) and could have used a GPS system to avoid a few wrong turns. Just how detailed will a GPS system get? Enough to show white roads? Small streets in small villages? How would they compare to the maps in MapQuest or ViaMichelin, for example? That much (or more) detail? I'd hate to spring the $$$100's for a GPS system and find the detail not what we need.
If we do end up getting one, would there be any benefit to getting it in Italy rather than in the US (price or software)?

quote:

Originally posted by JChrisP:
OK, I'm far from a technophobe, but I have little or no experience with GPS systems, especially in Europe. While I generally don't mind getting lost (and learning more about the area in the process),our last trip to Italy left me thinking we might be able to make good use of a GPS system. The main question I have is this: we have a small flat in a small village north of Rome and love to explore back roads -- white roads, often -- by car and on foot. Last month we got "lost" (figuratively, since we could see Casperia on the hilltop the whole time--just how best to get back?) and could have used a GPS system to avoid a few wrong turns. Just how detailed will a GPS system get? Enough to show white roads? Small streets in small villages? How would they compare to the maps in MapQuest or ViaMichelin, for example? That much (or more) detail? I'd hate to spring the $$$100's for a GPS system and find the detail not what we need.
If we do end up getting one, would there be any benefit to getting it in Italy rather than in the US (price or software)?

I am not sure about Europe but all GPSs in the US come from pretty much the same source so data will be similar.

Many Garmin's come with a "basemap". This is really just the major highways. To get real detail, you will need to purchase maps.

I have Metroguide Europe 7.0 (pretty old) and I have compared various areas to my TCI maps. They have pretty much the same roads.

In some cases Mapsource has more detail than TCI.

Electric adapters are available in many hardware stores here in the US and are about 2-5 dollars. Also available on the internet.
I also try to avoid disposable batteries for ecological reasons. 1000 recharges means 999 less dumps in a landfill assuming you are not carrying back your batteries to be recycled.

P.S. I do recycle all disposable batteries RR

Chris,

The Garmin maps show dirt roads, footpaths, etc. You can get an idea of the level of detail by going Here and clicking on a selection below the header "Mapsource Map Viewer". Click where it says "Select a map product", you might want to select the City Navigator Europe. Keep zooming in.This will let you look at the maps and see the level of detail. It will not allow you to see the Points of interest, gas stations, etc. You can also buy topomaps for very detailed hiking.

As for the benefits of buying in Europe, some of the Garmin units have more memory in their Euro models than the US one. The prices are significantly higher, though.

Concerning battery life, my Quest gives me an honest 20 hours of operation from a charge and will fully recharge in about two hours from being completely dead. I have a plug adapter I bought for a dollar or so and take with me.

pete

My sister bought a Garmin Nuvi 370 for a recent trip to Italy and France and said it worked wonderfully for them. It includes both US and European maps, and has a ton of other features. Since she bought hers in February the price has come down a couple of hundred $. You can get it on Amazon now for $625.

Oh, and Radio Shack has the little US to Europe adapter plugs for $3.00 -- you can get them in lots of other places too.

- Roz

We just took delivery of a Nuvi 370 and already have it loaded it with addresses of friends we'll visit in the fall in Padova, Perugia, Verona and Asti. Coverage outside the cities appears to be a bit sketchy, or am I wrong?

Do you have the base map or is it loaded with City Select or City Navigator?

I have Mapsource which is an older product and it shows many of the white roads outside the cities. It even shows a bicycle trail that I used.

quote:

I have never been able to find one of those small adapter plugs. Everything I see is a giant kit with every plug known in the world. The usually run $30-$40. A bit much to use only one plug.

Spinnaker,
Next time you go to Italy, go to a hardware store and buy an adapter. If you have friends in the military in Italy, ask them to get you one at the exchange.

Or go on the internet and buy some.
World Import American to European (Round Pin), accepts polarized plug also... .89 cents each

Bill

Our Nuvi 370 that we will use in Italy is loaded with City Navigator software.

This should have some of the smaller roads. Check that the detail is set to the highest setting, if this happens to be a setting on the GPS.

Hi,
We purchased a Mio 310x. It was relatively cheap: around 180CAD which is 160USD. The problem is that it comes with NA maps only, then you have to buy Europe maps for 100E. Until this month the maps of Europe were not sold outside of Europe even through Internet sites.

Fortunately my husband could play with the software and now we can download and use free maps. However for someone with no background this is not easy to achieve.

We programmed all our trip into it, and I have to say it is very pleasant to play with it. I had a lot of fun. So, now they sell the maps of Europe for MIO units. It is a small pocket unit and it is attached with a special support. We also had to purchase 2 more cables to be able to recharge from the car battery and from the regular outlet. The default cable is allowing to recharge only through a PC, as it is USB type.

In any case we use it here when travelling and will be using during our upcoming trip. It was handy so far.

quote:

This should have some of the smaller roads. Check that the detail is set to the highest setting, if this happens to be a setting on the GPS

City Navigator lists many smaller roads and villages, but certainly not all. Where it realy appears to shine is city navigation. It has pinpointed addresses of friends in Padova, Perugia, Verona, Asti, Rocchetta-Tanaro and several hotels and restaurants in villages and small towns in Emilia Romagna and Lombardia where we plan to visit in the fall. I am not overly concerned about unlisted places because I can pack good regional and provincial maps as a backup.

I just purchased my second GPS. Both are refurbished, and I swear by them. The 2nd one is a Magellan 800, and it has European maps that I purchased separately.

I paid $276 for my refurbished "800" on Ebay. Then I had to unlock the code for the European maps. Normally, that costs $249, but because I'm a AAA member, I received a 15% discount. (just call the national hotline number for your discount password.) Anyway....total cost was $487.65. PS...and don't forget that IDP for Italy.

Mike
Ft. Pierce, FL