Hi,
We're moving over in August, and in anticipation of having to drive around looking for streets while house hunting, I was going to buy a GPS/Navi device. Primarily I want it to find streets in Brisbane, but long-term I guess I'll want to use it out of the car for small hiking tours etc. Also, we'll need a mobile phone because we're staying in temporary accomodation at first which has a fixed phone line, but we'll need to make a few calls out and about.

What experiences have people got using smart phones for car-based navigation? I got the impression that mobile services can be a bit patchy in Australia, although I would hope that Brisbane and its' suburbs should be OK.

Any recomendation for a (not too high end) smart phone with GPS and a payment plan that allows you not to have a fixed address. Soemthing that only relies on a valid credit card, I guess.

And where do you buy the phone? Is there any point in shopping around, or are most "phone warehouses" the same +-5%?

Thanks.

 

Hi,

Mobile phones out here can be a minefield to work your way through the various plans and "caps" that are available. Also using your phone for internet connection can be a bit hit and miss. You can buy a simple TomTom sat nav for around $130. A cheap mobile phone on pay as you go may be worth thinking about until you are established. I just purchased one from our local Coles petrol station for $30 and it had $35 worth of credit included, but that is just a plain phone to make calls in an emergency, nothing fancy.

You will find it will be well worth shopping around if you want a smart phone to get the best deals available.

 

note that Telstra has the best mobile phone network.