# UAE Sat Nav !



## dubaisky (Aug 9, 2010)

What is the recommended Satellite Navigation system in UAE? Can I use Garmen? Tom Tom ? which I brought from the UK and download maps here? If I have to purchase one here, can I then use it back in UK and indeed rest of the world?
Thank you
Martin


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## Hash4272 (Sep 26, 2010)

to be honest i have one installed in my Mercedes its useless i updated it last week and still it tell me to turn left from a round about when the the road just goes straight


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

A friend who is an emirati lives off of his nav in his landcruiser. Its installed and he does get the updates. If he can not get around without it, I have come to the conclusion that its a necessity for newbies. Pretty much is in use every time we get in his vehicle to go to somewhere new. I would have been ALOT less frustrated in the beginning if I would have had one. If I still had any desire to go explore new things, it would come in handy, even a year later as I still get lost, alot. 

You will have to get the middle eastern map package with the ones you purchase there. Even when you buy one here, sometimes they do not have the middle east maps loaded on them... So if you do buy it here, be careful. If your new and they can scam you, they will. 

I heard on the radio something about a new navi that was coming out that was going to include traffic update info. ?? Would be nice as the traffic in dubai can be horrendous.


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## Dozza (Feb 17, 2009)

dubaisky said:


> What is the recommended Satellite Navigation system in UAE? Can I use Garmen? Tom Tom ? which I brought from the UK and download maps here? If I have to purchase one here, can I then use it back in UK and indeed rest of the world?
> Thank you
> Martin


I use my UK Garmin, I just purchased the Middle East maps from Garmin UK before I came out here.


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## mgb (Sep 6, 2008)

Garmin every time!
Even if the maps can be slightly out of date - our offroad one, the huge 276C, is 3 years old and it still gets you where you want (eventually), assuming the place was built 3 years ago lol.
We have got one for onroad a 3790T and are very pleased with it.


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## iccadubai (Oct 18, 2010)

You can read reviews of Satellite Navigation Systems by the real consumers, then go through them.


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## newbie913 (Aug 31, 2010)

Good luck with sat navs. They change the bloody roads every day so the sat nav inevitably will take u to a dead end or tell u to make a right turn and there will no right turn lol


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

newbie913 said:


> Good luck with sat navs. They change the bloody roads every day so the sat nav inevitably will take u to a dead end or tell u to make a right turn and there will no right turn lol


 Exactly!

I still think it's best to learn the mains roads and then work things out by trial and error. When you are new, every wrong turn helps you learn new routes.
-


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

My GPS paid for itself when I had to go somewhere quickly last week-end, which prevented me from the usual searching via GoogleEarth.

I just jumped in the car, punched in the address and drove off. The GPS re-calculates the route whenever I didn't want / can't follow the recommended route. I got to the address perfectly...

So yes, GPS is useful eventhough the some of the roads in Dubai are under construction. It constantly recalculate and recommend a new route when you make unintended detours.

Also, to find any landmark is easy like a mall / hotel / etc that you haven't been to. Punch it in, and just drive off toward the general direction, it will constantly show you the route to the location while you are exploring and learn the actual roads.

I will certainly buy another map when we move again... Some people learns by making mistakes, I try to avoid them


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## Tropic (Mar 15, 2011)

Jynxgirl said:


> A friend who is an emirati lives off of his nav in his landcruiser. Its installed and he does get the updates. If he can not get around without it, I have come to the conclusion that its a necessity for newbies. Pretty much is in use every time we get in his vehicle to go to somewhere new. I would have been ALOT less frustrated in the beginning if I would have had one. If I still had any desire to go explore new things, it would come in handy, even a year later as I still get lost, alot.
> 
> You will have to get the middle eastern map package with the ones you purchase there. Even when you buy one here, sometimes they do not have the middle east maps loaded on them... So if you do buy it here, be careful. If your new and they can scam you, they will.
> 
> I heard on the radio something about a new navi that was coming out that was going to include traffic update info. ?? Would be nice as the traffic in dubai can be horrendous.


How do you use the GPS in Dubai when they don't have street names. Can you punch in school name or office name etc to get by etc?


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## Dozza (Feb 17, 2009)

Tropic said:


> How do you use the GPS in Dubai when they don't have street names. Can you punch in school name or office name etc to get by etc?


The streets do have names?

The one's that are just numbered, are just numbered on your GPS.

Some GPS systems do have the names of Shopping Malls, Schools & other landmarks already programmed in


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## Tropic (Mar 15, 2011)

Dozza said:


> The streets do have names?
> 
> The one's that are just numbered, are just numbered on your GPS.
> 
> Some GPS systems do have the names of Shopping Malls, Schools & other landmarks already programmed in


Sorry I meant Dubai doesn't always have proper addresses. Most of the time it has PO Box addresses so how would you go about using GPS. Is there a good one you can recommend?


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## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

We have the Garmen Nuvi 1300 and it's great. We picked it up here when we arrived. You are right - I hardly ever bother looking up a particular address even though there really ARE street names (I learned most of them because of my GPS as street names aren't always properly marked).Key thing is to use point of interests. That's how we get around most of the time - when we still use our GPS. Government buildings, hotels, restaurants etc are all in there and if you are a little creative - you can find almost anything. Eg: we were trying to find a client's office but of course there was no address. Spent 2 minutes on the internet and found out that the office building is across the street from a park. Found the park on the GPS and I got to the office building without getting lost.I even use my GPS when I travel to other countries like Qatar, Kuwait, Oman etc... It really comes in handy.


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## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

^^ Sorry for the giant paragraph - My internet browser has some weird restrictions and it mixed everything up :|


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## JonM (Nov 27, 2010)

I bought a new Prado a few months ago when I got here and found the installed satnav pretty useless as the map must be 2-3 years out of date. My trusted Iphone with TomTom Middle East though works fine. Still some issues with roads that do not exist on the map or in reality, but I'm overall impressed with what it does. As I travel throughout the GCC, it's also handy to take along.


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## Tropic (Mar 15, 2011)

JonM said:


> I bought a new Prado a few months ago when I got here and found the installed satnav pretty useless as the map must be 2-3 years out of date. My trusted Iphone with TomTom Middle East though works fine. Still some issues with roads that do not exist on the map or in reality, but I'm overall impressed with what it does. As I travel throughout the GCC, it's also handy to take along.


I have an iPhone so I might try to install tom-tom on it though currently in uk I use garmin and always gets me there no prob


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

haven't had a problem (apart from the usual construction caused diversions) using Garmin or a cheap GPS I bought in Dragonmart


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