GPS in Italy- Garmin Streetpilot Question
 

I recently just purchased this product. I believe as far as GPS's go, this is a simple one (the i5). I checked out the Garmin website, and it appears that I can buy a cd for European maps. Would I need to buy more memory on top of that? Have you found that the GPS's work almost everywhere in Italy (I will be going to the Puglia and Calabria region in June). Is it worth the investment?

Topping this for you in hopes someone will reply.

FWIW I have a Magellan Roadmate 760 which has pre-loaded Western Europe maps. I recently used this in my hire car in England.

If your own system's maps are anything like mine I think you'll be pleased with the results.

I drove on a lot of what some would characterize as "back roads" and my system recognized them all.

Admittedly with good conventional maps you probably don't need a GPS...BUT, once you've used one I suspect you'll never want to be without it again. They can make things so much less stressful so my advice would be to spend the money, especially if you will be in Europe again and driving.

I'm not familiar with the i5, but I have the C330. There's a slot for an SD card to download the European maps. I bought the 512 which gives me plenty of memory to download all of Italy, Switzerland, parts of Germany & Austria all at one time. I read that the i5 can only hold 256 of memory but that would be more than sufficient to download the maps for all of Italy.

I have the Navigator Europe V7 version, and I understand the V8 is now out. Shop around on the internet for this software if you are interested in buying as it is a lot cheaper than going thru Garmin. You would also need to purchase an SD card. I imagine a 256 would cost you less than $30.

Haven't used it yet in Italy -- will next May. It was invaluable in Germany & Switzerland and it certainly took the stress out of paging thru a map and wondering if I made the right turn or not. Biggest advantage was for my wife. She got to watch the country side during the trip, and if I were to bark at anybody, it would be the lovely voice on the Garmin. :-)

Worth the investment? It's up to you, especially if you plan to go back to Europe. Personally, after having used one in Europe, I would not leave home without it. :-)((b))

We just returned from a 4 day holiday in NE Italy with our new Garmin Nuvi 350. It rocked! It literally took all of the stress out of driving those small Italian roads with font challenged signs. :D It was worth every penny.

Budman,

Are you saying that the Garmin only gives you one choice of voice types?

I don't know? ((b))

SloJan,
What software did you have in the Nuvi for Italy? DId you use their Europe software? Thanks.
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2Italy, we bought our Nuvi 350 in Europe so it came loaded with all of Europe (for the most part). Western Europe is very well covered, Slovenia and Croatia less well covered but the major roads are there. I checked the prices in the US and it seems that we actually paid less for it over here! I am flabbergasted.

Dukey, there are lots of different voices. You can choose Jill with her American accent or Daniel and Emily with British accents. Surprisingly, Jill's pronunciation was horrible. She couldn't pronounce many of the Italian street names. Bassano del Grappa was alway Bassano delaware gragga! :D

The Nuvi 350 that you purchased in Europe that came with European Maps, did it also come loaded with the North America maps?

I can't believe how the costs have dropped over the past year for these portable GPS units. I see them all the time on the road when I go to/from work.

My wife paid $600 last year for our StreetPilot C330, and if you do a google search, you can now get them for under $350. You would have to purchase the SD card & Europe Navigator software separately.

Don't you just love capitalism, supply/demand, yada, yada, yada. :-)((b))

Budman, it only came loaded with Europe. Since I live here, it isn't a huge problem. Depending on the price of the maps and how long one was traveling, it may or may not be worth it. Still, for us, it probably saved us from a few tense marital moments!

Topping

You can buy a paper map for a few euro.

How, exactly, simply put would I get the Mapsource City Navigator Europe v9 ONTO the GPS?

Yes, I always travel with paper maps- but when you get into these little cities with all kins of little streets that are not names, etc., it can be quite frustrating!

I know what you mean. I tried to navigate in Munich with maps/mapquest directions, and it was impossible.

I'm not sure how to answer your question with your i5. I would call Garmin 1-800-800-1020 and talk with tech support. They have been very helpful in answering my questions. I see from their website that it is discontinued.

If you already have the Europe V9 maps, I would download to your computer with the unlock key, then hook up the USB port and download to your GPS. You may need an SD card (I did for my 330). ((b))

You can get paper maps with coordinates that can be related to the GPS coordinates. Then all you have to do is look at your current coordinates on the GPS, and find that spot on the map, and you're done.

Isn't the whole purpose of using the GPS to quit "reading" the paper maps?

Anyway, as I posted on the other Garmin thread my Nuvi 370 arrived today. It comes with both North America and Europe loaded and it's SO cool. (Tiny too)

The whole purpose of GPS is to be able to determine where you are, which in itself fulfills a goal that people have dreamed about for millennia. And a simple GPS receiver does just that, by providing you with your longitude and latitude.

Beyond that, you are free to reference other databases. But a map is not part of the GPS system; it's just a gadget added to some GPS receivers. And it's usually inaccurate and out of date.

Additionally, GPS works best in open areas with an unobstructed view of the sky (wilderness, air, sea). It is far less reliable in congested urban areas because of the interference from structures.

So, it should work well in the regions of Puglia & Calabria in Italy then? It does somewhat get messed up here in NYC, where I am.

If you're relatively out in the open, the GPS itself should work very well. The only question then is the accuracy of whatever built-in map your unit is using. I don't know how accurate the average GPS map would be in those regions. Probably enough to get from town to town but perhaps not enough to accurately represent the current state of roads in less built-up areas. It never hurts to have a paper map. If the GPS map is inaccurate, you can still use the GPS position to find yourself on a paper map.

I agree with Anthony that it never hurts to have a back-up map.

I've used my Magellan GPS in Europe several times and the map database has been very accurate.

It isn't those smaller backroads you have to worry about since those have been there forever and are likely to not change much over time.

Much newer roads, if there are any, may be the ones not included or changes on those such as one-ways, etc.

But if you do make a wrong turn, etc., your system will do its best to quickly re-route you.