BMW Navigator Map for holiday in Florida

Paulontheball · Nov 9, 2013

Recommendations requested for the way forward with this one please.....

The missus and I are flying out to Orlando from Gatwick next Thursday morning and have a 50 min drive to a villa that I've hired. We are also planning to do a bit of driving around out there and to prep for that I had ordered a micro SD card from Amazon a week ago (on a fast delivery) with US maps - the plan being to simply plug it into the upgrade slot on my Navigator 4.

Fast forward a week and it's not turned up, lost in the post somewhere. Amazons supplier have admitted liability and will refund cash, nevertheless I'm now stuffed for getting my US SD maps in time for when we head off. :blast

Options.....
1. Brave it out with a paper map.... But I'm crap at directions! :confused:

2. Hire a SatNav with the hire car at Orlando airport, but they shaft you £13 a day for the pleasure of having that - rip off!

3. Try and buy a SatNav at the airport before I collect the hire - May or May not be possible :confused:

4. Try and find a vendor who could post out a US map micro SD card in super quick order in the UK before we go (can you recommend anybody)

Any ideas grateful received!

Cheers

Paul

Ant1967 · Nov 9, 2013

Hi give Burrows gps a ring in always use them. I know they have this micro ds card in stock as I rang yesterday as I need one for after Christmas I think it was £46.99. Tony

Rushy · Nov 9, 2013

A map would be easiest , its a piece of piss getting around the US and you'll get to 'know' the area better using a map rather than just blindly following a sat nag.

iand46 · Nov 9, 2013

Can you not just reorder with express or next day delivery. Amazon use different suppliers, some on eBay as well. :thumby:

Nutty · Nov 9, 2013

Rushy said:
A map would be easiest , its a piece of piss getting around the US and you'll get to 'know' the area better using a map rather than just blindly following a sat nag.

+1.

The roads in Florida are in a grid system, so it's pretty difficult to get lost.

ThorH · Nov 9, 2013

You can buy and download from the garmin website, and just install with BaseCamp. (Or MapSource, if you're the old fashioned type.) But as others have pointed out, you rarely need a GPS in the US.

jkersh1 · Nov 9, 2013

At Walmart, or any big box store, you can pick up a basic GPS like a Garmin nuvi 30LM for around $US70. Units with Traffic alerts are more, but may be worth it in the Orlando area where traffic can be horrendous.

shoei · Nov 9, 2013

Have you got an iphone? If so, usa a tomtom app, no roaming charges and took me 4000 miles around USA and Canada without a problem

webfoot · Nov 9, 2013

.....

iand46 · Nov 10, 2013

shoei said:
Have you got an iphone? If so, usa a tomtom app, no roaming charges and took me 4000 miles around USA and Canada without a problem

CoPilot live USA app £6.99 offline GPS for iPhone. Android or Windows mobile. :driving

Blackal · Nov 10, 2013

As previous - drive to Walmart and buy a unit.

Don't take one from the rental company - my experience of those is that you can't re-program on the move, as they have disabled that feature due to their perceived liability if you crash while prodding the buttons.

Al

GADGET · Nov 10, 2013

You can buy mine for £20 posted 1st class.
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showth...rth-America-NT-For-Sale&p=3624409#post3624409

TJ · Nov 10, 2013

Paulontheball said:
Recommendations requested for the way forward with this one please.....

1) Buy your own card...
2) Download US maps from Garmin site Warning have a good Internet connection and two-three hours to wait. ( This what we did a few weeks ago, had all our hotels plotted and POI that we wanted to see...then enjoyed driving the charger for two weeks...)

Harlequin · Nov 10, 2013

Depends where you are going in Florida. Some roads are real backwater, deliverance , kind of stuff, and advertising your lost is not always great.

I would use maps but keep the sat nav as a backup, for emergencies. If you want to really get off the beaten track , go prepared, it can be wilder than you imagine.

have fun

Paulontheball · Nov 10, 2013

GADGET said:
You can buy mine for £20 posted 1st class.
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showth...rth-America-NT-For-Sale&p=3624409#post3624409

Sounds interesting, can you PM me a few details please sir?

The other possible alternative is, I've got an iPhone 4S, so will could download the TomTom app, although in my ignorance I have always assumed that it's not a real GPS built in, and that they still need to download some data - so they're needing to still use data roaming????

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I don't fancy ending up in Deliverance, besides I can't play any stringed instruments!!

Paul

sven · Nov 10, 2013

If you can borrow a Nokia Lumia phone with GPS built in, you can download maps for free and use them on the Nokia GPS app without a data connection. Worked a treat when I was in China the other week. I think you can also do the same with Google maps on Android phones.

Rushy · Nov 10, 2013

The Nutty GSER said:
+1. The roads in Florida are in a grid system, so it's pretty difficult to get lost.

Exactly. I visit a mate who lives an hour North of Dallas, he lends us a car whilst we are there and we go all around the local area (within 25 miles radius) and also down to Dallas with northing more than some vague directions from him. The dominant grid system means it easy, within a few days you know quite a few of the major roads and then if someones says " its 3 intersections down from Memorial Ave" then thats all the info you need.

Sgt Bilco · Nov 10, 2013

Just buy a paper map like Rushy has already mentioned. The US is simplicity itself and you'll do well to get lost over there.

Think of it as an adventure

Tommy Gunn · Nov 10, 2013

Sgt Bilco said:
Just buy a paper map like Rushy has already mentioned. The US is simplicity itself and you'll do well to get lost over there.

Think of it as an adventure

Interesting. I'm heading to North America next year and was going to buy maps for my Nav V. Would you suggest otherwise?

Sgt Bilco · Nov 10, 2013

Timaloy said:
Interesting. I'm heading to North America next year and was going to buy maps for my Nav V. Would you suggest otherwise?

You would be fine with paper maps because the route is fairly straightforward. There is generally only one way from A to B and the grid system they use is obvious. Most small to medium sized towns are built along one road so it's hard to really get lost. However, getting mapping for the GPS is always useful on a trip just to see whats around you, check distances and find the motel but it's not essential :thumb2

BMW Navigator Map for holiday in Florida

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