shopping in china

Hi Graham,

We recently bought a Navman S90, top of the range, got a very good price from JB HiFi. Check them out.

Cheers,
Stan

Graham,
That must be some serious holiday.
Have you checked the prices of the maps for the countries you'll want?
for example the TomTom Western & Central Europe (incl) UK) are 169.95.
Australia is $149.95
Paper ones are generally free...

I would suggest that you make sure whichever device you buy has the maps that cost the most already installed because that may work out cheaper.

ie it might not be very easy to get a UK map device in China.

They will happily sell you one and leave you to buy/download and install the maps you want.

But I haven't investigated it, so I may be talking through my "download port".

Ken

Hi Graham
I now use a HP IPAQ Travel Companion. Cost about $400 here in Oz after $100 cash-back from HP. It's a PDA rather than a dedicated (sole purpose) GPS but came pre-loaded with standard Tom Tom software and with dash/windscreen mount and car kit. I was using (and still have) a Magellan eXplorist 500 (which is great for hiking) and had been using a Tom Tom One (now given to the kids). The HP is great because I've loaded OziExplorer CE onto it. That means I have put all the Hema 250 k maps into it (covers all of Oz), plus the Desert Treks, etc (or in fact any map that can be scanned). I can therefore have the one device on the dash that can be used both when travelling both "on road" and "off road". In fact, I found I can have the OziExplorer maps up on the screen but with the Tom Tom voice-over (audio) in the background giving directions over the top of a "paper" map. Being a PDA, I also have all stored all my reference manuals (GPS, HF, UHF, VKS, sat phone, cameras, mobile phones, vehicle owners manual, etc) stored on it. Makes all the manuals accessible even if screen is smallish (about size of normal in-car GPS).
One reason for this was just to reduce the number of gizmos on the dashboard. I got pulled over for a routine RBT outside Kununurra last year (no reading) but the copper complained (warned) that he reckoned I had too many gadgets on the dash and that my vision was obstructed!
Re buying in China. For the (likely only few) dollars you will save in the overall context of a Europe trip, I'd shop around and buy it here. You can ensure it actually works, the software for the UK/Europe is already loaded, the software is the most recent version, you know how to use it, you have much easier after-sales service and warranty is more likely to be enforceable, etc.
One of my brothers just came back from a 6-week touring holiday in USA with wife and 4 kids. He bought a GPS over there but had various dramas. All the "voices" had American accents and he couldn't understand any of them well enough in heavy traffic. He had to get a British accent added (none were provided as options unlike here in Oz). He had some other problems as well but I can't remember what they were! None were show-stoppers and he did find the GPS was great, but he did have some things to work through when he first bought it over there.
Another thing to think about is that European cars generally have a different size of cig lighter socket to Australian ones, so you may need an adaptor to use an Australian one in Europe, or a Europe-sourced one back here in Oz. See Site Link
Rick

Graham,

One thing you have to consider when purchasing a GPS unit overseas is that it will come with that countries mapping installed. If you want to use it elsewhere you then have to purchase maps for that country.

Any discount that you obtain by buying overseas will probably be wiped out when you have to buy the Aussie Maps for home use.

Brian

Many thanks to all respondents, it seems I will have to wait until we get to China to checkout prices but I am now leaning towards buying cheaper units in UK and or Europe which will probably be cheaper than buying a top of the range one here or in China and the maps required will come with them.

Ken (gottabejoaken) hit the nail on the head with his comment about paper ones being cheaper!
As an aside, my wifes cousin just came back from 5 months touring nth and sth America and Europe and did not bother with a GPS, the point being that even if you get lost you are still seeing something new!

thanks again for the tips
graham

Graham,

Just for your information, while in the UK I have seen several GPS units advertised for 99 Pounds that have the UK maps already loaded on them.

Brian