Does anyone have a GPS that doesn't give stupid directions

[superme80]

They make a GPS that isn't stupid????

 

[laurie31]

My GPS is convinced that we live across the street. She always sounds really ticked off when I turn into my driveway... like this....

(sigh) Recalculating. (sigh)

Ours sounds like that too - so put out with us! LOL!

We had a pretty hilarious experience when using one on vacation. There was new construction, and the road had been rerouted. The new road we were on was freshly paved and very nice. There was no access to the old section that had been replaced. We were fine with this, but the GPS was totally freaking out. "Return to the paved road!" "Continuing to operate your vehicle could result in injury or death!" "Return to the paved road now!" "Turn around!" We were ROTFL!

However, I was using it just this week to go someplace very unfamiliar which was out in the middle of nowhere. The GPS got us there, but when I was ready to leave, I turned it on, told it to take us "home" and it thought we were on our street! It told me to go one block and turn into my driveway! Ummm....I was TWO HOURS AWAY, and since I'd used the dang GPS to get there, I hadn't noticed landmarks or street names of where all I'd turned, and I had no clue how to get out. I was 30 minutes off the highway, literally in the middle of cow pastures and two lane roads with little signage.

Fortuately DD12 was with me and pointed out that I have a GPS in my phone. Who knew? lol! And it was able to find the blessed interstate, from which point I knew my way home. I was ready to chuck that GPS out the window!

 

[mjkacmom]

For those of you unfamiliar with NE NJ, when you are heading north on the Garden State Parkway, do not exit in Newark, Irvington, Orange, etc. - maybe the GPS is trying to save you from paying the toll? Do not take these local roads - just pay the toll.

 

[shortbun]

Ours directs us to make u-turns on the freeway, lol! My husband loves to confuse it and it makes our son laugh. We rarely use it except for entertainment.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Our Garmin is really good. It has never gotten us lost and can actually find my friend's house that no other GPS's can find.

However, I realized that the map was outdated shortly after buying it... I'll probably get DH a GC to update it as part of his Christmas.

 

[Juliegirl1]

My boyfriend had a TomTom that he called DumDum. He was a truck driver for a while and it would give him the worst directions. Once it told him to exit and turn right on this particular street which ended up being a dirt road. Poor guy had to figure out how to turn his 18 wheeler around without driving through a bunch of farmer's crops!

 

[SandrA9810]

My boyfriend had a TomTom that he called DumDum.

I thought every one called their's DumDum. I haven't met a person that doesn't hate the directions it gives.

 

[manning]

Have you updated the maps? On mine (Garmin Nuvi), it doesn't get any updated info unless we pay for an update once a year, so if it was made when the bridge was out, the bridge will always be out unless we we hook it up to the computer and pay $99 for an update.

.

Check the Garmin site and verify if your unit qualifies. Garmin has made a deal with a map company to supply maps until around 2014. For around $90.00 you can get updates for the life of the unit or until the contract is over whichever is shorter.

I have a Nuvi 680 that is several years old and it qualified. Updates can be 4 times a year.

 

[manning]

I rented a Hertz with a GPS unit in it which is not made by Garmin. I also had my Garmin. I knew the area and decided to take another route instead of the interstate. I'm going thru town away from the interstate. One unit wanted me to go around the block making left hand turns. The other one wanted to go around the block making right hand turns.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I love my GPS. Yes sometimes it has crazy directions but the traffic feature on mine can't be beat. I do have lifetime updates on mine which I think I paid about $100 but can be updated several times a year which I do because of travel.


Golfgal, I noticed on the black friday Target ad a tomtom that has lifetime update maps for under $100 which is a great deal especially with the maps.

 

[si-am]

They do still sell paper maps, you know.

 

[clh2]

With Garmin, you can update the maps within 60 days from when it is first used. (When you register your Garmin - it will let you know if there is a more updated map available.)

I am pretty certain I learned this on the Disboards.

Just thought I would toss this out - as on Black Friday - some of the best bargains are sometimes older.

 

[*JoGo*]

I have a Tom Tom. The woman's voice was constantly scaring me. So we switched it to a male English accent.

I have a terrible habit of getting lost in PA. Especially this one particular place where there's a bridge and a few exits very close together - making the "Exit Right" difficult to discern WHICH right. I always choose the wrong one. During a particularly frustrating part of our trip - kids screaming in the back seat, few wrong turns, just DONE with the trip, the Man told me to "Go Straight Home"... I told him I AM TRYING!!!

After he repeated it a few times, and the kids were quiet, we realized he was saying "Go Straight On".
Oh.


I think the use of GPS can be helpful, but relying on them ALWAYS is somewhat dangerous. People seem to not be as aware of their surroundings - why do you need to read signs when the GPS will tell you "Turn Right" when you need to? It is an instance where I fear technology is actually making people dumber. i.e. cell phones - no one memorizes phone numbers anymore, it's programmed. I think one should still have a map in their car and directions on paper to where they are going.

 

[DebbieB]

I was with a coworker in Irving Texas last year. He brought a GPS that he borrowed from a friend. We put in a search for restaurants and found an Olive Garden nearby. It took us to an FBI building! We saw a sign about no unauthorized visitors beyond this point and the GPS kept saying go foward! Yikes!

 

[manning]

I was with a coworker in Irving Texas last year. He brought a GPS that he borrowed from a friend. We put in a search for restaurants and found an Olive Garden nearby. It took us to an FBI building! We saw a sign about no unauthorized visitors beyond this point and the GPS kept saying go foward! Yikes!

Sometimes that happens. I have a De Lorme map on my computer and there some poi that are out of place.

 

[bookgirl]

I've typically found that the GPS is less stupid than any of the human navigators I've ever had. With the possible exception of my dad who is a wiz at navigation. Luckily I got that trait in the gene pool, but it's really hard to navigate a map and steer at the same time.

I'll keep my GPS.

(I always have a paper map as well, and I always look it up and print online with map quest or my AAA triptics so that I have a rough idea of where I'm going. I never rely on just one method. Kinda like birth control....LOL)

 

[manning]

It is still possible to get lost by some.

I know someone with a GPS who missed Paducah Ky by 300 miles...Drove west instead of south.

To this day still can't figure out how.

 

[LBIJim]

They make a GPS that isn't stupid????

Does anyone other than a stupid person rely on a GPS?


Jim

 

[LBIJim]

They do still sell paper maps, you know.

Jim

 

[OhMari]

We have a Garmin.
We turned off the voice and just follow the map.

I don't know if they fixed this problem,
but it doesn't know where Disney Studios is located.
It takes you to Universal Studios.
Finally I plugged in MGM Studios and it finally had the correct directions.
They are not to fast to update correct names.



I was impressed when we came home from Niagra Falls. We came back through Buffalo NY, PA, Ohio and we said 'no tolls", it kept us on actually express way - highways until Sandusky Ohio. We figured we saved almost $50 in tolls. We avoid the tolls too in IL, we go through downtown Chicago.