27-12-13, 03:06 PM
You don't need a satnav for the major routes between places, but it'll help you estimate journey times which is useful.
Where you really do need it is at the end of a long day when you just want to find your camp site or hotel it'll save a lot of messing around. After all you are meant to be on holiday!
I'd also suggest that if you want to do the impulsive thing where by you figure it out as you go along rather than plan everything to the last detail before you leave then mobile internet access will be very handy.
For example you might want to lookup somewhere nice to go for lunch, or somewhere to go for a beer in the evening, or you might want to look at tourist attractions along a route you've chosen.
So if you can only take one device then I'd suggest a smartphone with internet and Google Maps or similar would be best. It's not as good a sat nav as the garmin, but it does everything.
In respect of cost it's come down a lot within the EU due to new rules. I'm on a £7/month sim only contract with 3 and was automatically enabled for roaming as I got on the ferry. They do an offer where by you pay a fixed rate of £5 day for unlimited access, but because we were using my brother's Garmin fixed on his bike for main satnav I didn't bother. We just used my phone for looking stuff up as discussed above and a little pedestrian satnav etc and it came to around £20 for eight days. If I were using it more heavily or as main SatNav I'd have done the £5/day thing. I do use it as satnav within the UK with headphones and it works ok.
The trick is getting the Android phone yourself so you only need to buy the sim only contract, then it's only a few quid a month on a rolling monthly contract that can be cancelled any time. I might be able to lend you an android phone if you need, but I would need to check if I can find my old one and if it works. And remember, there's nothing wrong with hand-me-downs if you have a mate who wants to sell their old one!
Andy
Where you really do need it is at the end of a long day when you just want to find your camp site or hotel it'll save a lot of messing around. After all you are meant to be on holiday!
I'd also suggest that if you want to do the impulsive thing where by you figure it out as you go along rather than plan everything to the last detail before you leave then mobile internet access will be very handy.
For example you might want to lookup somewhere nice to go for lunch, or somewhere to go for a beer in the evening, or you might want to look at tourist attractions along a route you've chosen.
So if you can only take one device then I'd suggest a smartphone with internet and Google Maps or similar would be best. It's not as good a sat nav as the garmin, but it does everything.
In respect of cost it's come down a lot within the EU due to new rules. I'm on a £7/month sim only contract with 3 and was automatically enabled for roaming as I got on the ferry. They do an offer where by you pay a fixed rate of £5 day for unlimited access, but because we were using my brother's Garmin fixed on his bike for main satnav I didn't bother. We just used my phone for looking stuff up as discussed above and a little pedestrian satnav etc and it came to around £20 for eight days. If I were using it more heavily or as main SatNav I'd have done the £5/day thing. I do use it as satnav within the UK with headphones and it works ok.
The trick is getting the Android phone yourself so you only need to buy the sim only contract, then it's only a few quid a month on a rolling monthly contract that can be cancelled any time. I might be able to lend you an android phone if you need, but I would need to check if I can find my old one and if it works. And remember, there's nothing wrong with hand-me-downs if you have a mate who wants to sell their old one!
Andy