One gadget I have absolutely no desire to own...

[Disney Doll]

I enjoy a map and will often look at one (as the passenger) if we are on a road trip because I like to see the "big picture" a map gives. However, when driving in an unfamiliar location, I don't like to be looking at a map or looking at printed directions. The beauty of the GPS is that you don't have to "look" at anything...you just listen to it speak and it tells you where to turn, what exit to take etc.

 

[theycallmered]

I LOVE my GPS. My husband and I just moved from Minnesota to California and our GPS has been a life saver. From figuring out how to get from the airport to our temporary housing, to driving to my husband's new job, to looking at apartments, driving to job interviews, and finding new places to eat, the GPS has been awesome. Sure I could have looked on Google Maps and printed out directions to each of my desintations, but by this point (three months post move) I would have had a binder full of print outs rattling around in my car.

I have to admit that at first I was not sold on the GPS unit. My Instinct phone has a GPS unit and I thought that I was fine with that. However the Garmin GPS blows the Instinct's GPS out of the water.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Sorry OP I love my GPS. DH was a hold out but he's seen the light and now wants his own.

 

[Geoff_M]

Stand Along GPS units are going to be phased out as phones start to include GPS applications.

Don't be so quick to write the obit for dedicated GPS units. The problem with phone-based GPS systems is that they require data subscriptions. To add that to our phone plan, that'd be an extra $30/month. I'm not doing it. The GPS units also excel in the area of in-car mounting systems and screen readability. Smart phones may eat away that their sales, but they aren't going to replace them any time soon.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

I agree with you OP!!

I can get lost in a paper bag! I have a horrible sense of direction unlike most in my family. However, I think the GPS is not always a good idea and I do think it is a big distraction sound off or on.

My cousin has one and his family has taken alot of road trips and it had come in handy....but when we were in Orlando last year, he drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up my younger sister....Well, it took them 6 hours to get back to Orlando!!! No traffic it just decided to take them a totally out of the way Route back to Orlando. When I visited them back in Memphis, they used it alot, but even after a week I knew how to get to different places and they relied on the GPS, it took them different ways which were longer.

I just would rather print out the directions and KNOW where I am going and not leave it up to a computer.

 

[clutter]

Stand Along GPS units are going to be phased out as phones start to include GPS applications.

I've got GPS on my iPhone, and it saved us on Saturday night! However, can I make it 'talk'? I have a 12 year old direction-reading challanged daughter, and I need readers to see what's written. In the dark of the night, it gets pretty interesting. I was actually thinking of joining the GPS ranks, unless I can get my iPhone to talk to me. (it is the 3Gs and has voice command, I just haven't figured out how to use it!)

 

[MICKEY88]

Don't be so quick to write the obit for dedicated GPS units. The problem with phone-based GPS systems is that they require data subscriptions. To add that to our phone plan, that'd be an extra $30/month. I'm not doing it. The GPS units also excel in the area of in-car mounting systems and screen readability. Smart phones may eat away that their sales, but they aren't going to replace them any time soon.

I agree 100%, I have an iPhone so I have the gps app that comes on it, plus mapquest, and I've used those when I am a passenger, but while driving I much prefer my stand alone gps, mounted on top of my dash..

 

[FireDancer]

Don't be so quick to write the obit for dedicated GPS units. The problem with phone-based GPS systems is that they require data subscriptions. To add that to our phone plan, that'd be an extra $30/month. I'm not doing it. The GPS units also excel in the area of in-car mounting systems and screen readability. Smart phones may eat away that their sales, but they aren't going to replace them any time soon.

We are getting close to the penetration of phones with data being common place. While the units will never be completely replaced they will start to lose market share as this happens. Stand along devices in general will start to be marginalized as their functionality is duplicated on a device that can fill multiple roles.

I've got GPS on my iPhone, and it saved us on Saturday night! However, can I make it 'talk'? I have a 12 year old direction-reading challanged daughter, and I need readers to see what's written. In the dark of the night, it gets pretty interesting. I was actually thinking of joining the GPS ranks, unless I can get my iPhone to talk to me. (it is the 3Gs and has voice command, I just haven't figured out how to use it!)

I am not an iPhone user but if there isn't voice on their GPS now just give it time. Because of how well the GPS on Android works other mobile OSs will have to step up. As the Android platform matures it will take what is good from the iPhone and the iPhone will take what is good from the Android. It is why even Apple fan boys should be rooting for the Android platform and vice-versa. They will make each other better.

I'm sure there will always be stand alone units but they will be marginalized. You can still buy PDAs but they have suffered the same fate because of data enabled phones. It just is what it is.

 

[Shutterbug]

I use both GPS AND maps.

One reason, the routes the GPS has taken are not the fastest sometimes. So whenever I put in a destination I cross check the route the GPS used against a map. Then adjust the GPS's route accordingly.

Second reason, if you are out in the middle of nowhere or in unfamiliar territory and your gps dies or loses satellite connection you are screwed. So its good to have a map back up handy.

GPS are nice tool to have but you shouldnt be too dependent on technology.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would have never bought one--but I have a techno-hubby. So we got one.

I do like using it. But I could live without it. It is a nice convenient tool and we mostly like it for the time to destination bit.

I'm not sure what you mean about using a GPS incorrectly, though.

 

[MICKEY88]

We are getting close to the penetration of phones with data being common place. While the units will never be completely replaced they will start to lose market share as this happens. Stand along devices in general will start to be marginalized as their functionality is duplicated on a device that can fill multiple roles.



s.

that may be true when it comes to younger people, trust me these old eyes like the much larger screen on my gps unit, I'm sure I'm not the only one..

 

[Geoff_M]

We are getting close to the penetration of phones with data being common place. While the units will never be completely replaced they will start to lose market share as this happens. Stand along devices in general will start to be marginalized as their functionality is duplicated on a device that can fill multiple roles.

Yes, but that's not quite the same as being "phased out". In addition, the on-phone product would also have to be seen as on-par with the stand-alone GPS product in order to be a real threat. In a similar manner, the camera phone isn't likely to drive the point-n-shoot digital camera into extinction any time soon.

 

[AndreaDM]

I didn't want one either and thought they were silly, but DH convinced me we needed one about a year ago. I love it!! Of course we use it for directions, but we also use it to look for what kind of restaurants are coming up so we know where to stop and eat. DH also kindly put in every Target in the US.

 

[Becky2005]

i LOVE a gps. i don't want to read a map while i'm trying to drive. i'd rather someone read it out loud to me, which is what the gps does.

That's my biggest thing for wanting one OR after my getting lost in a cornfield with NO STREET names -- made it extremely difficult to find out how to get back to the road we wanted when the crossroads didn't have street name signs!!! How do you find out where you are at on a map, if you don't know where you are at in the first place? At least a GPS would have told us.

I think that was my straw that broke the camel back turning point. We were only an hour away from home, it was very late/dark, the police had us turn off the road we were on but we had no idea where we were so getting turned off the main road onto this unmarked side street going the opposite way we wanted to go (we knew we wanted to go East but they made us go West). We turned on the first road we could to go North, which is the direction we had been traveling but we were hesitant to take the next street East as all we could see was corn -- it was like being in a corn maze with roads. Eventually, we found a sign & it had US Route #'s on it, so Woo Hoo we got out of the cornmaze! Only took us an extra hour or two of our time.

If I had been driving by myself I would have been REALLY messed up. Luckily, I was the navigator. It's kind of a pain to keep looking at the maps, driving in Chicago traffic & hope you don't get cut-off/end up in the wrong lane & watch for construction changes all at the same time.

Otherwise, I really don't have much need for one.

 

[Jockaroo]

The one in his truck, we call Judy. He has her voice set on an English accent. So sophisticated.

Our GPS has a male British accent. We call him James for James May, the host on BBC's "Top Gear" who typically gets lost.

We love our GPS. We have a Garmin and I feel much more comfortable traveling alone with this gadget. It really came in handy when I was trying to take an ill dog to various specialty hospitals in unfamiliar areas. I was already not at my best, the GPS helped me make appointments on time.

I like that the GPS gives an arrival time--I am one of those people who does not ever want to be late. It is nice to have traffic alerts and weather alerts. When traveling in unfamiliar areas, we can get directions to food places and other points of interest (POI). We can check gas prices and many other features. I like the GPS. I can read a map, but it is very difficult for me. I get extreme motion sickness and can't read in a moving car. So even as a passenger, I can't read a map.

 

[debster812]

Sorry, man, but the GPS is truly one of those "greatest thing since sliced bread" products. Both kids play travel hockey and when you have to be at a rink by a deadline on the other side of the state out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter and you've never been there before, a GPS totally rocks! And when you're driving home and the subject of supper comes up and it's agreed that a Boston Market would hit the spot nicely, it's great to be able search for one along your route home and see if you can find one. And when your in that city for a "away game" and you need to run by a sporting good store to pick something up, it's great to be able to search for one and be able to see the store's phone number to call ahead and see if they have what you're looking for in stock.

ITA with all of this. From the soccer standpoint, but the theory is all the same. We were at a tournament 2 states away, and our keeper FORGOT to pack his cleats. He realized this at the boys' 1st practice session. We found a sporting goods store, he and his mom shot down there, got him new boots, and he was back in time for 1st game warmups.

 

[Feralpeg]

i LOVE a gps. i don't want to read a map while i'm trying to drive. i'd rather someone read it out loud to me, which is what the gps does.

I agree. I don't own a GPS, but I would love to have one. Most of the time, I am driving by myself in heavy traffic. There are many parts of Orlando that I don't know that well and need step by step directions. I can't be looking at a map while driving and my memory just isn't good enough for me to remember the route. A GPS would be wonderful!

 

[Tuffcookie]

OP, I take maps as a back-up to my GPS (which I lovingly named "Gypsy"!)

I do not leave home without my GPS. IMHO, it is the best invention of the last decade!

TC

 

[Sandy V.]

Add me to the list who think that GPS systems are in the "greatest thing since bottled beer and sliced bread category".

We've owned one for 4 or 5 years and used it in the U.S. for travels all over and it has been extremely helpful.

But it really earned our worship this summer when we went to Europe. We rented cars while in Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria. We bought a European map chip to go in our unit and it was a true timesaver, mileage saver, and relationship saver.

When you're dealing with street names and places that are very unfamiliar to you, it was WONDERFUL to plug in a destination and get near perfect directions on how to get there. Definitely kept the stress level down!!!

 

[bicker]

When I'm going somewhere now and need directions, I look it up on Google maps and print those out.

I think as soon as cellular WAN Internet access is commonplace in vehicles, that'll be the end of GPSs. The best feature of a GPS is being able to find your way when there is a traffic jam or a road is blocked... you cannot drive back home, re-Google, and then drive back to where the block was.