I'm planning a trip to Denmark, Norway and Sweden for next Summer, and WILL rent a car to get around. Wanting to improve on previous European travel by car, I'd like to have GPS and a cell phone. The GPS would primarily be used to locate places we are staying. If I had one in Portugal, it would not have taken me an hour in Porto to locate our accommodations. The cell phone would be limited to calling ahead for accommodations; I'd prefer to not book all rooms in advance. I had considered getting an iPad thinking that I could load it with GPS, use it for Skype back to the states, and as a backup for photo storage. But after stopping in an Apple store yesterday, I found that the iPad with wi-fi does not support GPS; rather one needs the cellular capability that is the next price tier (+$140). Additionally, I would need to buy an adapter to connect my Canon camera to the iPad (another $39), and with no USB port, I have no way to offload photos stored on the iPad to a backup device unless I utilize the Apple cloud (I prefer local storage). The offloading of photos from the iPad is possible, but not with my Apple PowerBook G4 that is running Tiger and cannot be upgraded to the necessary o/s Snow Leopard. Arg! And no, I don't want to just buy another laptop or wireless backup device just to download photos. So my 'older' technology is getting the best of me! The iPad is too expensive a solution, and I would still need a dell phone. I can do without the Canon camera backup storage, ditto Skype, but not the GPS or cell phone. What are my alternatives for GPS? For a cheap throw-away cell phone? Thanks!
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
There are MANY other tablets now besides the iPad, if you want a tablet that has GPS and USB slots. If you want a GPS, though, I'd bring a GPS, not a device that "also does GPS on the side." If you already use one at home, just get the European maps for it. Similarly, if you want a cell phone, get a cell phone; there are plenty of threads here about this, or look at This Page from Rick's Graffiti Wall to get started.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
As Harold said, just take your own GPS from home (with Europe maps installed). You will already know how to work it, and you won't need a data plan. I travel with an unlocked cellphone that I bought on eBay, and I buy a local SIM once I am there. Probably the easiest option for you (and cheapest) is to buy a cheap phone once you arrive and put some minutes on it. I also carry a netbook, not a tablet. It is a simple thing to plug my SD card into it at the end of the day and upload my photos. I can also plug my phone into it and charge both at the same time. As you have found, iPads have some limitations that an inexpensive netbook does not (cost, ease of connections for other devices, easy photo uploads).
Posted by
Seattle, Washington, United States
284 posts
1. If you are set on a tablet, check out the Nexus 7 or 10. Both of these have GPS built into them and offer programs to cache offline maps for free. You will not be able to search those maps unless you pay for that feature through an app, but if all you need is a map then that will work just fine. The Nexus 7 will run you $199. 2. Cheap phones in Europe are plentiful. In Denmark, you should be able to buy a phone and a SIM card for about $50-60, including some talk time. Alternatively, if you presently have a good cellphone and can unlock it (t-mobile is very good about this. You just need to ask), then you can take that and use it over there with a Danish SIM. You can also check out the Nexus 4 for $299 that will do all of the above.