Advice for a noob

Celestica · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jun 10, 2011 Posts: 1

Hello all, I'm Tom from Manchester, turned 20 last week.

I'm in a bit of a pickle at the moment and would like to know if anyone can help me. Please go easy on me (I know absolutely nothing about GPS, Satnav and the like) but for the first time in my life I could soon be lost without one!

I should explain. I'm going backpacking next month over Europe, Ukraine and Russia with a friend. We were originally going to use her Iphone as a quick and convenient way of finding our way around. It pinpointed all the major metro stations in Moscow, Stalingrad etc (we tested it from home). It was vital to our trip. However, she got back from Romania last week and told me that the price of doing so is absolutely huge. Not practical for months out in the East. She even told me that it won't work at all when we're actually in Russia, or would be extremely slow (don't know if that's true?).

I'm looking for a handheld pocket GPS of some kind. I'd like to keep it between £150-£200 but we're willing to pay extra for a reliable bit of kit. Can GPS find searches in Russian Cyrillic ? Any ideas or models I can take a look at?

I apologise for my complete lack of knowledge, this just isn't something I've ever had to consider until now.

sussamb · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:07 am Post subject:

I think many 'solutions' are going to cost a lot, although it depends exactly what you want to use your GPS for. To complicate it further, there are a number of cheaper 'work arounds' but some take time and trouble to learn/understand and it sounds like you're starting from scratch?

Given that you're backpacking you're really restricted to handhelds, as the (cheaper) car satnavs won't give you the necessary battery life. the advantage of handhelds is most take standard batteries.

Something like this would suit you:

http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/2164/garmin-dakota-20

and is within your budget, but you'd probably need additional maps as well as only the basic basemap is included. You can buy Garmin maps that cover all of Europe but they're expensive. A better bet would be to look at what's available at http://www.openstreetmap.org/

Come back with further questions when you've had a look at the above.

Guivre46 · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 12:34 pm Post subject:

ActiveGPS do a Russia map for £84.95 for Garmin HERE.

And I think the cheapest handheld to run them is the Dakota20 for another £200.

There maybe cheaper alternatives?
_________________
Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

BigPerk · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 12:42 pm Post subject:

Is it not possible to download the maps to the iPhone celestica has and keep them 'onboard'? I thought it was possible with some phones and would presumably save on roaming costs? Or does the GPS cost megaRubles as well anyway?

If possible it would save quite a lot of money. Also it's partly a question of whether the upfront purchase costs of a handheld+maps is going to be more or less than the iPhone charges anyway.
_________________
David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

AliOnHols · Pocket GPS Verifier Joined: Oct 15, 2008 Posts: 1936

Have you got an Android smartphone with GPS already? as sussamb mentions above, check out the places you are going to visit on OpenStreetMap to see if it has the coverage you need.

If YES to both try OsmAnd (see my signature). Free map downloads stored on your phone = no data/roaming charges.
_________________
Garmin Nuvi 2599
Android with CamerAlert, OsmAnd+, Waze & TT Europe.
TomTom GO 730, GO 930, GO 940 & Rider2.
SatMap Active 10 & 20.

sussamb · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:00 am Post subject:

Given the sort of trip you're undertaking I'd rather have a dedicated GPS device that takes AA batteries, at least that way I'm not having to rely on mains power to charge a phone, and whose battery will flatten pretty quickly if being used to navigate and in areas of poor reception. Sods law dictates that when you need to use the phone as a phone the battery will be dead Crying or Very sad

Guivre46 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:37 am Post subject:

Celestica, try posting in the 'Garmin Handheld Devices' section, that should put you in touch with expert users.
_________________
Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

AliOnHols · Pocket GPS Verifier Joined: Oct 15, 2008 Posts: 1936

sussamb · Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:12 am Post subject:

Ah, now that's another argument ... Laughing

DennisN · Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:52 pm Post subject:

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