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

[Hillbeans]

Love the GPS - it helps calculate the shortest routes and definitely helps when it's dark and/or you don't have a map.

 

[bookgirl]

My DH loves his GPS. He actually has two. One for in his truck, and a hand-held one we use for Geo-caching, walking in the woods so we don't get lost, etc.

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

He does a lot of traveling for his job (crop insurance adjuster) and all he has to do is punch in the address, hit "go" and Judy takes him there. Saves a lot of time doing it that way, instead of having to look at a map all the time.

We used "Judy" when we went to the Smoky Mts. a couple of years ago. We rented a cabin up in the mountains and "Judy" took us from our door to the cabin door. All without having to be looking at the map every couple hundred miles.

DH would never be without a "Judy." When this one goes bad he'll get a new one.

We call ours "Molly".

 

[Briarmom]

Without Fritz I never would have driven all around Europe with my 2 kids.

 

[LoraJ]

I love our GPS units. We have a Garmin Nuvi that we now just use when we travel. We have a built in NAV unit in our new car. It has voice activation which is great because I can just tell it where I want to go instead of typing it in, which can be a distraction.

I only had one GPS mishap with my new unit. I did not realize that I had it set to stay off the highways. I was coming home from a party and could not figure out why I kept driving through towns and was not getting on the highway. Big duh moment. i was never lost though, just taking the slow way. I visually selected the route thinking it was the right highway, but it turns out I was driving the whole time just a few blocks from the highway.

I love the point of interest mode where you can type in "Taco Bell" and your GPS will find the closest. Or the closest gas station. See if your map can do that.

 

[OK!]

Anyone else think GPS systems are simply expensive toys for adults?

No. GPS on my phone has saved me on numerous occasions when I've inadvertently made a wrong turn or suddenly had to exit a highway to avoid congestion, etc. These are things you don't plan ahead for, and since I usually drive by myself, I really don't want to attempt to read a map and navigate and drive at the same time (and REALLY don't want to pull off to the side of the road to do it, especially in some of the neighborhoods I used to end up in in downtown St. Louis). Having someone tell me where and when to turn without having to look at anything other than the road in front of me is the perfect solution.

 

[Geoff_M]

I had printed off directions to the YWCA, and drew a map. Their parents decided they knew better. The YWCA was not in the system, but it did take them to a YMCA across town on a similarly name street (of course a completely different street number, but what do I know, I had only directed 100's of parents there over the years).

However, the problem isn't the mapping system itself, but the lack of realization that every mapping system isn't fool proof. I've occasionally had problems with directions from every type of mapping system. I've found that hard copy maps I get can be out of date, I've found that sometimes Mapquest maps are only "general approximating" to actual locations (particularly rural ones), and a few times my GPS has taken me to a business that is no longer there, or it doesn't have the name of a particular place I'm looking for (for some reason, I'm 0 for 2 in trying to find IKEAs with my Garmin). When using my GPS, I prefer to start with an address when looking for a route to an important destination instead of a name.

If you prefer using your highway maps, that's great. I still keep mine in the car as I do sometimes like the 30,000 foot view of where I am. But if you've figured out how to use your highway map to locate all of the Hallmark stores between Point A and your home because your wife wants a Christmas item that they've put on clearance while you're out of town for the weekend, then I'd love to hear it!

 

[allison443]

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.

I agree! I also have used it to find a particular gas station, restaurant, etc.
I love mine!

 

[Praying Colonel]

Does everyone name their GPS? lol
Mandy (what we lovingly named our GPS) has saved me a time or 20. Having moved over 1000 miles away from my hometown, I spent the first 6 months trying to find different places around town and getting hopelessly lost at times (google maps isn't always accurate!!) I really needed some help getting around so we bought a GPS. I cannot do without Mandy now.

The kids named my GPS "Rosie" because the voice sounds like Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons.

 

[Silent1CB]

Stand Along GPS units are going to be phased out as phones start to include GPS applications. The Android OS having not only Google maps and street view built in but using the accelerometer for augmented reality is a step in the right direction. The problem with the units built into cars is that I would want it when I am walking a city or training on my bike in addition to just driving in my car.

I hate maps. I like entering two addresses and getting where I need to go. I think it is a waste of time to sit there with a 5 foot by 5 foot map trying to find a street you need. I could have used a GPS phone while I was attempting to navigate Venice, Rome, and Florence last year.

Not true. Lots of people use outdoor GPS in areas with no phone signal. All those hunters, fisherman, geocachers, hikers, search & rescue people. Garmin knows there will always be a demand for hand held devices not attached to cell phones. We purposely do NOT have a GPS that is cell phone based for our outdoor activities. Lose your GPS/cell phone & you have nothing. Odds are you won't lose both devices. One hits a rock. or drops off a cliff & smashes. Batteries die. When out in the woods, you don't put all your eggs in one basket.

We have handheld outdoor models that also have mapping /auto route capabilities. We each have one.

 

[allison443]

We call ours "Molly".

We use "Daniel"-love his English accent!!

 

[landshark]

My mom bought me one a few years back as a Christmas present and I don't know why. I think she thought it'd be a good idea to have, but my problem is I don't trust it enough to use it without getting maps from Google, etc... first. I don't like that I can't preview my route and (at least up here) it likes to guide me down local roads that would take longer than the interstates. It's also not always correct...

I really just use mine as a backup to my maps since the route auto-correct works well for this application.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Nope, I love our GPS! I used to be very nervous about routes I didn't know, but now I can drive a lot more places by myself.

P.S. - We call ours "Tommy" or "Tomasina", depending on what voice it's set to at the time.

 

[glitterkittyy]

My mom bought me one a few years back as a Christmas present and I don't know why. I think she thought it'd be a good idea to have, but my problem is I don't trust it enough to use it without getting maps from Google, etc... first. I don't like that I can't preview my route and (at least up here) it likes to guide me down local roads that would take longer than the interstates. It's also not always correct...

I really just use mine as a backup to my maps since the route auto-correct works well for this application.

Check your settings. You can program it to drive the fastest route, the shortest route, avoid the highways, avoid toll roads, etc. You could have a setting set incorrectly for your personal preferences.

 

[FireDancer]

Not true. Lots of people use outdoor GPS in areas with no phone signal. All those hunters, fisherman, geocachers, hikers, search & rescue people. Garmin knows there will always be a demand for hand held devices not attached to cell phones. We purposely do NOT have a GPS that is cell phone based for our outdoor activities. Lose your GPS/cell phone & you have nothing. Odds are you won't lose both devices. One hits a rock. or drops off a cliff & smashes. Batteries die. When out in the woods, you don't put all your eggs in one basket.

We have handheld outdoor models that also have mapping /auto route capabilities. We each have one.

Geocaching and fishing will be one of those edge cases that keep stand alone devices from dying completely but I know about 50 people who have GPS and only one uses it for anything other than driving and walking cities.

In the tech community we look at stand alone devices as specialty devices. Sure, there will always be a market for e-book readers that do nothing else, PDA's, and GPS units but I would say in the next 3 to 5 years the majority will be parts of other devices, like cell phones, and not stand alone devices. I said the same thing about PDA's 3 years ago and how many of those are out there. I would personally rather have my Android phone switch over to GPS when I need it and then back to whatever else it can do at the time I need that function.

I guess we'll just have to check back in 2013 and see. Some of the tech journalists on cNet were just having this very discussion a few weeks ago and pretty much came to the same conclusion.

 

[wvjules]

Mine was "jill". I miss her.

 

[binny]

We LOVE ours and use it all the time. I bought it for Dh 2 years ago and since he spends his time traveling all through new towns it really helps him! He doesnt have the time to stop and use maps.

We are moving next month and I have to buy one for my car before we go~!

 

[N.Bailey]

I'm the type of person who couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag. I have absolutely NO sense of direction whatsoever. I've been frustrated with myself too many times to count. It truly is my weakest skill. It's so bad that I wouldn't travel anywhere unknown by myself under any circumstance.

When my MIL bought one, we borrowed it one time when I had to drive hubby to BWI airport. Had it not been for the GPS and my son riding along with me (he was 16 at the time), I just wouldn't have gone, period. That GPS gave us lane by lane directions out of the airport and I came out of there looking like it's a place I visit daily. It truly knocked my socks off. Oh and it got us home perfectly from there too. LOL

So, it was a no brainer when we purchased the same model (though the screen had been reduced in size since MIL bought her's) for the kids for Christmas last year. Hubby and I still don't have one yet, but since the kids are both still at home, we're ok with that. I will never be without one again.

In addition to directions, you can pull the thing down and find out where the nearest gas station and restaurants are. We went to Jersey this past summer (my daughter and I went to pick up my son, another thing I'd have NEVER done prior to GPS) and my daughter and I were starving. We were in a hurry so we couldn't stop at a full service restaurant. My daughter was insisting that we HAD to eat at Burger King. She pulled the thing down from the window and found us the nearest BK. The GPS just instantly took over to get us there, then immediately took back over to get us back on track for the rest of the trip to Jersey. Priceless!!!

 

[Handbag Lady]

I am with the OP on this one.

I already know my way around Los Angeles so I don't need one.

If anyone seriously needs one to get to the store, I feel so sorry for you!


We managed to also drive all around Hawaii (the big island) without one and did just fine, thank you.

 

[N.Bailey]

I am with the OP on this one.

I already know my way around Los Angeles so I don't need one.

If anyone seriously needs one to get to the store, I feel so sorry for you!


We managed to also drive all around Hawaii (the big island) without one and did just fine, thank you.

It's not a matter of being able to get around. Everyone had to get around without GPS in prior years. We're not talking about necessity here, we're talking about convenience and for everyone I know who has ever used a GPS, they find the convenience worth the price tag.

GPS systems are not perfect and no one is suggesting they are. I'd suggest you keep a map in your car just in case the GPS fails you for whatever reason. Have the backup there, but otherwise, enjoy!

 

[bicker]

I think there is a big problem with looking at things that other people value in an overly-prejudicial manner. Think about something that you value that other people don't: Do you feel comfortable with those folks essentially condemning the value you place on what you value, because they don't attribute that value to those things? Of course not. So given that some people say that these are valuable devices, let's all accept that they are indeed valuable devices, for folks who choose to see the value in them.