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GPS advice

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by melock, Mar 7, 2008.

  1. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    The best part, for me, is when you do take a wrong turn, it adjusts to your stupidity.
     
  2. patchs

    patchs Active Member

    My father, who has been a sales rep for more than 30 years swore he would never want one.
    Then we got him one (A Garmin, of course), for his birthday last year.
    He loves it. He bought a special case for it, then a new mount, the guy is never without it.
    I remember when I was driving my rental car in Orlando 2 years ago trying to find a Chipotle, with just an address, took me an hour to figure out it was in a shopping center and wasn't a standalone.
    I got a Garmin 3 months later and anytime I'm out of my home area, I use it.
    Last Dec., I was in South Fla, visiting friends and family and that GPS was amazing. I didn't have to worry about a thing.
    They have come down drastically in price the last 2 years and the beauty is, you can take them from car to car without a hassle (Of course, that means they can easily be stolen too.).
     
  3. schiezainc

    schiezainc Well-Known Member

    "You damn kids and you're moving vehicles! Back in my day, if you wanted to go to school, you woke up at 4:30 in the morning, washed yourself, walked 22 miles uphill in the snow and made it there by 8am. God forbid you felt sick. If you had a temperature of anything less than 167.31, you went to school.

    And don't even get me started on that new-found internets fad. If I want to know what a certain word means, I don't go to some fancy dancy websitepage. No, damn it, I get up, walk 42 miles to the local drug store and buy a dictionary. You're all a bunch of pussies!"

    The proceeding announcment has been brought that you by A.F.T.R.O.T.A.T.T.C.M.Y.L.E.B.W.D.W.T.F.O.A.T.D.H.T.M.B

    (Americans for the reversal of technology and things that could make your life easier because we don't want to feel outdated and those dohickies have too many buttons)
     
  4. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    I use the VZ Navigator on my Voyager, which comes with the cell plan I have. The directions I printed out FROM THE MARRIOTT WEB SITE got me horrifically lost a month or so ago. I popped in the address, and the Navigator had me there in 10 minutes. And it has the voice too.
     
  5. gretchd

    gretchd Member

    My Garmin has been a lifesaver. It's really a fantastic investment.
     
  6. OTD

    OTD Well-Known Member

    We were in Ireland last fall and on the advice of several people, I got a GPS with the rental car. I unplugged it and threw it in the back seat when it kept telling me to take an exit when I was stuck in a traffic jam nowhere near an off-ramp. Fortunately, I got my money back from the rental company.

    I know those who swear by them, but I'll stay old-school for the time being.
     
  7. StaggerLee

    StaggerLee Well-Known Member

    Sorry for bringing up a three-year old thread, but I'm about to move to a new state and I'm thinking about dropping $150-160 on a GPS unit to help get around the area.

    Seems most popular units are Tom-Tom or the Garmin nuvi. I want something portable, that I can take from my car to my wife's car with ease and something with turn-by-turn voice directions.

    Anybody have suggestions on some of the newer models?
     
  8. pressmurphy

    pressmurphy Member

    As long as the thread has been re-opened, I'd also like to make an inquiry:

    Are there models that allow the user to just type in the name of a high school rather than an address?

    Or that allow me to upload a file of 200 or 250 possible destinations and corresponding addresses ahead of time?
     
  9. I just write out the directions. I'm very good with directions, so the GPS is an unnecessary expense to me. There's one on my phone, but I almost never use it.
     
  10. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    My advice is to not drive into a river just because the GPS says there is a road there.
     
  11. StaggerLee

    StaggerLee Well-Known Member

    Good advice Ace! In fact, I'll probably put that as a sticky note on the window next to the GPS as a reminder.

    I don't have a GPS now and I do fine. I was thinking about getting one just for the sense of security. I have one on my phone, but it drains the battery like crazy and doesn't have some of the cool features the GPS units have.
     
  12. Smash Williams

    Smash Williams Well-Known Member

    Many GPS' have "destinations" databases built into them. Mine's certainly not the most expensive unit in the world, but I can go through menus of restaurants, gas, transportation places (like airports or train stations) and schools. I can also program in favorite addresses in a shortcuts menu, though I never really have to do that.

    I don't use mine all the time, but it's invaluable when I'm driving around cities I've never been too. A little bit of common sense also goes a long way. If an exit looks sketchy, then I keep driving and eventually the GPS gives me an alternate route.
     
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