Streetpilot i3 and Europe

channeler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 19, 2006 Posts: 32

I have only had my i3 a short time, but I am finding it to be excellent. However, the cost of additional maps is substantial and if you need it to do more than the UK it seems worth comparing total costs. I have recently discovered that you will soon be able to buy TomTom mapping software for the whole of Western Europe for instance for under £100.
http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php?xProd=147&xSec=61
The cheapest Garmin European Mapping I can find is around £160 and that's the City Select version, which I understand may be being phased out in favour of City Navigator. The mapping add on costs start to significantly erode the price differentials between the i3 and other units.
Admittedly the difference if you buy data cards for individual countries doesn't seem as great.

For the moment I'm committed to the i3, but I do need other maps, particularly for Europe, but the cost of buying individual cards for each country is prohibitive. The only way to get a copy of the City Select Europe DVD seems to be to buy one of the various Auto Navigation Kits which are really designed for other units but include the DVD. I think one of these was mentioned in another post somewhere. Are there any problems in buying the DVD in this way and using it in an i3?

MaFt · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject:

for entire european mapping you'd be better off getting the nuvi 350 (about £450 - £500) - this has full european maps plus loads of other extra's. basically the i3 is a very basic unit (hence the price) if you want more maps you pay. if you pay more for the unit initially then you tend to get more maps!

MaFt

birdman41 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 29, 2006 Posts: 5

For full europe coverage from Garmin one option would be to buy the C320 which comes with the City Navigator Europe NT DVD and full unlock.
PCWorld have these for £250 for store collection.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/product.php?sku=043202

paradime · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 17, 2005 Posts: 30

It looks like the route to the C320 (via PC World) is the best route if you want European street level mapping. The City Select Europe V7 has within the last few days been updated to the Navigator DVD. If you bought City Slect V7 after the release date you are entitled to a free upgrade.

Pete

portman · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:06 am Post subject:

None left.

ride4smilesjonny · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:24 am Post subject:

channeler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 19, 2006 Posts: 32

Thanks for the posts. The c320 looks an excellent buy at the moment if anyone could find one still for £250. Having just bought my i3 I'm committed to it at the moment and I will just be trying to find the most economical way to get the Europe maps. I am very happy with its performance. There were two reasons for my original post. Firstly for anyone just starting out as I have recently done it is useful to look at total costs of units plus any additional mapping that might be required. The situation though seems to keep changing rapidly. I didn't come across any c320s for anything like £250 at the time I bought my i3. The offers are constantly changing. Also the european software mapping for units like the tomtom seems to be lower now than Garmin's.

Does anyone know the answer to my second point please ie: is it possible to buy one of the auto navigation kits for another unit and use the City Select Europe CD with the i3?

zogman · Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 12:04 pm Post subject: Re: i3 and Europe

DeeDubleYuh · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 03, 2006 Posts: 18

You do realise that in the UK the i3 comes with a base map of parts of Europe, do you? OK, it's not street level for towns and cities, and it covers only a few countries, but for some people that's enough to get started with.

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