MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: Garmin or TomTom...

> It's funny, because I've never owned one. I just always print out a map, get the key
> roads memorized, and drive. The only times I've gotten lost, in retrospect I
> shouldn't have been driving. But I've driven in foreign countries and just used the
> directions I was given by someone.

I got a Garmin nuvi 1350 a few months ago, it was an anniversary gift and a marriage saver. I used to print out maps, which worked fine when I knew where I was going ahead of time. There were lots of times, though, where I would be out with my wife and we would decide to go somewhere on the fly. We used to try to navigate with her iPhone, which tended to be difficult because it would update too slowly and my wife is not great with maps to begin with. One day, after an entire day of wrong turns and driving in circles, I lost my temper and we had a rip-roaring argument that may have involved some screeching tires and high-g maneuvers.

She got me the Garmin not too long after, and things go much smoother now.

It's pretty sweet, just plug in the address and it tells you where to go. You can also search for businesses or landmarks, if you don't have an address. Mine has "lane assist", which is nice. It shows you what sort of turn is coming up and what lane to be in to make it. It also (attempts to) pronounce street names, which is pretty handy.

The one feature I'm not crazy about is the live traffic updates. It picks up traffic updates with an antenna and attempts to route you around any heavy traffic, but it can end up sending you some screwy ways. Coming down 95 through NYC, it decided to route us through the heart of the Bronx to get around about 5 minutes of stop-and-go traffic, which was quite the adventure.

I guess it's OK as long as you use your judgment and don't just follow it blindly, but in retrospect, it's not a feature I would pay extra for again.