I have had my Garmin satnav for about 3 years but have not tried to update it until today. When I got it I wanted one that covered eastern Europe and it has worked fine in Hungary. Yesterday I was using it in Croatia and I've found it only has very basic mapping for that country. Most villages are not included and it only has 2 or 3 streets mapped for each town. I went onto the Garmin UK website to try to download an additional map for Croatia but that is not something that is specifically available. There is a map that appears to be suitable but it is over £30. When I tried to make the purchase it failed, as it only accepts UK addresses. I don't much fancy having to wade through the Garmin.hu site! I had not realised the mapping was so expensive. I would like proper mapping for Croatia but I'm wondering if this is the most cost effective way. I have been thinking of getting a tablet device and I'm wondering if it would be better to put the money toward one of those? I had a guest who was on a cycle tour who used such a device to find my house.
Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.
Satnav
We drove many times to Croatia.Last December we celebrated New Year's Eve in Rijeka and our Tomtom was going wild as we approach the border. But we knew the way into the country, so we took the motorway to Zagreb.
Check this sites for your Garmin and hopefully is free to update your device.
http://garmin.com.hr/Default.aspx?sifraStranica=19http://garmin.com.hr/
Indeed Satnav maps are expensive, we wanted an update for our device and was 50 quid! No way.....
Cheers!/Zivjeli;)
I used to work for NavNGo, makers of iGo, but it's been a while, so take this with a pinch of salt.
Also I usually have the GPS face-down in the car and only listen.
The price you pay for a GPS at the store is roughly 90% maps, going directly to one of the few map providers. The price of the device is almost negligible: It's just a dumbed-down tablet afterall.
That's why updates are so obscenely expensive, and rarely a better deal than getting a new device altogether.
If you plan to drive within mobile data coverage (so probably not abroad unless you are willing to pay for data roaming), the built-in android navigation in most phones and tablets is fine. Live traffic data is nice too.
For off-line navigation (without an internet connection), you can either buy one of the big brands, or try OsmAnd: a bit fiddly, does not know house numbers at most places, but it's free (as in speech, uses OSM data, which is a great initiative in itself), surprisingly up-to-date and complete to the street level. Missing house numbers can be annoying though when you try to enter an address.
Very customizable, or put another way: a little fiddly until you have it set up the way you like it.
It took me about an hour to get the maps I need, tone down the graphic details, increase the fonts, turn off some annoying announcements and turn on some vital ones, but it is worth it.
Now if you are looking for a tablet, get this one if you can:
http://laptop.org/about/xo-tablet
Not the cheapest, but a good middle ground, supports a great cause, and can keep your child/grandkid busy.
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