Wednesday, April 16, 2014

GPS, Oh Garmin Where am I?


(Charlotte, North Carolina)
We've made it to N so far in our challenge.  N for Navigate.  "Re-calutating", Make a U-turn.  Can you hear the winy voice telling you that?  You do if you've ever used a GPS be it a Tom Tom, or Magellan, or the most popular of all Garmin.  We have a Garmin, why I sometimes wonder.  Hubby will ask me where's so and so, or such n such.  I turn it on and he precedes to argue with the machine, almost 100% of the time.  I love it personally, because I do not have a good sense of direction, AND...men, I'm willing to admit it.  Not something many men are willing to admit to........ask for directions, surely you jest.

A GPS gives us comfort, by us I mean those willing to listen to it.  You can navigate using your cell phones, but it's not really the same thing as a true GPS, and if you loose cell coverage you loose your directions.  So, I personally much prefer a GPS.

However, they can be frustrating.  We have the type of unit that can be updated.  However, I wish I'd never done it.  Why?  It's a bit of a come on, and very misleading.  I had the whole US when the unit was purchased, finally decided with construction perhaps I should update.  Apparently they've added so many graphics with updates that you don't have room to do the whole update.  So, once you've plugged it into your computer and waited 20 minutes you get a message telling you there's not enough room to load the new maps.  They ask what section of the country you'd like to add.  We were traveling in Arizona, so I choose the SW and added all the addresses of the hotels we would be staying in.

We arrived late at night, turned on the GPS as we exited the airport, and it spoke to us in Spanish....gees that was helpful, NOT.  Hubby turned to his smart phone.  Took two more attempts the following day to get the proper updated maps in English.  When I attempted to add my home area, once we were home; I again got the message insufficient room.  Nixed that idea and decided to load maps of Spain for an upcoming trip.  They wanted an additional $75.00 for that.  My unit is 2 years old, most new ones run around $110.00.  My choice add Spain, then attempt to remove and add my area once home again???

Solution..........currently I took the GPS out of the car, it won't be packed for the Spain trip, and I currently can't use it for here.  Do I opt to purchase a new one?  Isn't that their plan?  Planned obsolescence?  Jury's out on what to do next, but my advice is NOT to do the updates and just make adjustments to the areas you know have construction or have changed slightly.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

10 comments:

  1. My kiddo reprogrammed our gps to sound like Darth Vader so now he threatens to kill us when we make a wrong turn ...and he insults us by saying " the force is weak in this one."

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  2. Hmmm...my GPS has been telling me (for about a year now) that I should update it...maybe not.

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  3. Zoe that's really funny. Wonder how to program something entertaining like that? Susanleighnoble....do yourself a favor and don't do the updates. We still haven't made a decision about whether to purchase a new one or try and re-load the home area on our unit.

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  4. When my wife and I are driving and the Garmin tells us too much detail, or what I already know, I tend to snap at it and tell it to shut up. Our Garmin has its own personality. We call it Miss Garmin. When it's helped us I make a point to pat the dashboard and say "Thank you, Miss Garmin." She needs encouragement, you know.

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  5. I haven't seen a GPS yet that gets the directions right!

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  6. Bob, that cracked me up. Must tell hubby that. Paula, when hubby's not in the car I follow my Garmin it's perfect, which is why I'm upset having done the updates, now it's screwed up.

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  7. For a while in the beginning, Hungarian GPS maps were hacked into Australian apps. You would take a left in Budapest, and end up in Sidney... XD

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com
    http://hungarykum.blogspot.com

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    1. PLEASE leave your bloglinks in a hyperlink or use the name and url option...the cut and paste isn't easy to work with.

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  8. My wife has one in her car, but I found a map app on my iPhone that is much more accurate.
    That seems criminal they would update so much it wouldn't fit.

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  9. I use an app on my phone. Occasionally a tone sounds and the person talking just gives up for a moment or two. We all sigh now and say, she's on another toilet break.

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