# GPS in Dubai



## parandroid

Hi all, 

What is the best GPS device to use in Dubai and where can it be obtained from? 

It seems that a must feature of a GPS here should be updateability as the road system is in constant improvement. What are your recommendations, experiences? 

Thanks..


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## Jynxgirl

Have a friend who has GPS that is built into their 2010 landcruiser and it works wonderfully! I dont know how good the updates are but really the large roads are mainly built already so the roads are not changing quite as fast as people seem to claim. Everyone told me not to bother with GPS and still 8 months later, I am lost and get lost about every time I go out to anything off the my daily path. Just get the gps. It will make life so much better. Some phones have gps in them, so that might be an option as well.


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## ccr

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 1410 from Carrefour (on sale, largest screen, Bluetooth speakerphone, etc) with GCC maps already installed, and it is working great.

It seems to have 99% of the roads mapped. You can search for address, street, location (mall, etc) and it could give you turn-by-turn direction to it. If missed a turn, it recalculate immediately.

You could add your own locations of interests (friends, stores, clinic,etc) so could get direction to them from anywhere.

Turn the track on when going somewhere new, and that makes going back home afterward easier. Lots of uses...


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## titirangi

i'm with CCR, just get a garmin and pref with bluetooth. For noobies this is a great investment to save frustration, if you miss the exit it can take you 15mins of frustrating recovery! (this still happens to me 18mo even with gps


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## Elphaba

There have been a number of threads about this before, so you may want to do a search.

Some people find them essential, others of us see no need for them. 
-


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## Dozza

ccr said:


> I bought a Garmin Nuvi 1410 from Carrefour (on sale, largest screen, Bluetooth speakerphone, etc) with GCC maps already installed, and it is working great.
> 
> It seems to have 99% of the roads mapped. You can search for address, street, location (mall, etc) and it could give you turn-by-turn direction to it. If missed a turn, it recalculate immediately.
> 
> You could add your own locations of interests (friends, stores, clinic,etc) so could get direction to them from anywhere.
> 
> Turn the track on when going somewhere new, and that makes going back home afterward easier. Lots of uses...


Any prices for buying these?

Also, I have a Garmin (UK Spec) put it has a hole for an SD card, meaning I can just purchased the UAE maps on a n SD card & put it into my UK Garmin.

Have any of you seen these in the local shops, if so any ideas on there price. Too purchase in the UK they are £100 which I think it a little high, as im sure you could buy a complete Garmin in the UAE for less than 500dhs, correct me if im wrong

Thanks

Craig


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## parandroid

Many thanks for all the replies, I'll probably go for the Nuvi 1410 then.


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## Fatenhappy

Again Nuvi available just about everywhere ... shop around for the best price ... Try either Plug Ins at Festival City, Sharaf DG at City Centre Diera, Carrefour or the larger electronic shops in the malls .... At last report LuLu's still didn't have them in but that may have changed

Why Nuvi ... they cover all the GCC as standard and also have the expandable maps should you also want to upload other countries ....

I simply unplug ours here from our second vehicle, throw it into a hire car when we get back to Oz and away you go ... and all for under 1000 AED here ! ... Nothing wrong with that all ...

There are also Garmin that cover the GCC ... To my knowledge as yet TomTom who are still my overall preferred unit still do not ...

PS .... Forgot to mention ... good luck with any of the GPS updatability here in Dubai with the amount of work that gets done ..... Google are just about to launch a real time GPS however that will over come this ... exactly when still has not been released ..._. bummer !_

Cheers


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## titirangi

almost forgot, we took our garmin to jordan in dec and fortunately it had the 2010 maps which includde jordan. so check to make sure it is 2010 model (not old stock) if you plan a trip to petra etc.


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## Fatenhappy

titirangi said:


> i'm with CCR, just get a garmin and pref with bluetooth. For noobies this is a great investment to save frustration, *if you miss the exit it can take you 15mins of frustrating recovery!* (this still happens to me 18mo even with gps


Had to laugh and fully agree ...How many times have we been on a 20 minute sojourn just to get back to somewhere close to get you back to being close to where ever .... and why so few turn arounds in road design here ? ....:confused2: ...  

One of our cars has an inbuilt GPS with 2006 maps ... Well forget that upgrade at 3000 AED from the dealer and then only 2009 maps - Why would you bother in this place - they'd also be out of date ... Do the words _Richard Henry (*DH*) _mean any thing? ....  .... Go buy a cheapy at 1K that can be moved around and keep the change (difference) in your pocket! .... :eyebrows: ... 
:focus:


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## ccr

I bought the Nuvi 1410 at Carrefour for 1000 AED. It has the largest screen, includes GCC maps, Bluetooth speakerphone for handsfree phone calls while driving, and came with 100 AED voucher for anything in Carrefour.

It is not for everyone (what is?), but it works well for me and well valued.

If you already have a GPS that could be loaded with GCC maps, then just buy the maps (eBay,etc).


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## Maz25

The best way to find your way around Dubai is by getting lost. Once you've completed that 30 minutes detour, you'll remember the road for next time. The last time I used the GPS, I spent 30 minutes driving round as there was a massive construction site where the road used to be so my GPS got thoroughly confused!

I tend to rely on road signs for the most part! I've stopped trusting my GPS and has barely used it since I bought - it's hard to trust a machine that tells you to do a u-turn on SZR! The roads change way too often for a GPS to be of much use!


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## paisleypark

yep - recently got a GPS too, and due to the road works, frequent road changes and other things...the GPS does not always work that well...so be prepared to get lost even with a GPS.
Also, many of the new developments are not on the latest maps yet either...but at least you should be able to get to a stones-throw distance away from your destination (inter-galactically speaking)


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## M123

I have tomtom on my IPhone which isn't too bad if you can't be bothered to carry a satnav. I'm not sure I would pay money for it though as it doesn't have all the roads. The Garmin is more up to date and is useful, but I do find within 1 month I used it less and less. 

The only time I get it out now is if I am going to a particular place in another emirate, where you can navigate to a landmark (e.g. a hotel) or point to the exact place on the map (even if it isn't named) and you'll be there or thereabouts.


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