So I saw this thing on a map, and...

lee4hmz

...it reminded me of somebody I used to know. 

you didn't have to FOLD ME UP 

put me in the glovebox while you use your Garmin

Yarrun XIX

There Was A Version Of That Song That Was On Grooveshark

Now it's gone and I'll never see it again

Bee

It's funnier when you realize Garmins are pretty much outdated too since smartphones can do the same thing with a longer battery and less freeze-prone OS.

glennmagusharvey

GPSes have built in voice readout and bigger screens and often things for mounting them in one's car.

Also they're dedicated mapping devices, as opposed to having to co-opt my phone to do it and do it less satisfactorily.

Princess Alice

glennmagusharvey said:

GPSes have built in voice readout and bigger screens and often things for mounting them in one's car.

Also they're dedicated mapping devices, as opposed to having to co-opt my phone to do it and do it less satisfactorily.

You really do enjoy being contrary for the sake of being contrary don't you?

glennmagusharvey

Central Avenue said:

glennmagusharvey said:

GPSes have built in voice readout and bigger screens and often things for mounting them in one's car.

Also they're dedicated mapping devices, as opposed to having to co-opt my phone to do it and do it less satisfactorily.

You really do enjoy being contrary for the sake of being contrary don't you?

But it's true!  I still do in fact keep a GPS in my car and I don't use my phone as a GPS, for precisely those reasons!

Calica

smartphones have built-in voice readout too, there are devices with bigger screens, things for mounting them on your car are like five dollars, and being a dedicated mapping device mostly means not having an internet connection and thus not having up-to-date maps in my experience

glennmagusharvey

Calica said:

smartphones have built-in voice readout too, there are devices with bigger screens, things for mounting them on your car are like five dollars, and being a dedicated mapping device mostly means not having an internet connection and thus not having up-to-date maps in my experience

oh fine

regardless though i'm quite satisfied with the GPS that I have and I plan on continuing to use it

if I didn't have one I might have to make do with my phone though

also phones with bigger screens are harder to fit in one's pocket so there's a trade-off there

plus, if i lose one device i don't lose everything if it's all spread over multiple devices

Bee

Yeah dedicated GPS has to download updates, and they usually charge out the ass for them.

Also my mother's GPS freezes constantly.

glennmagusharvey

My GPS actually has lifetime maps and I just haven't updatd them yet.

Princess Alice

I am gonna surprise nobody and mention that I don't tend to use GPS, even on my phone.

I've lived in Columbus my entire life and spent a good part of my childhood studying street maps for fun, so I usually have a pretty good general idea of where places are. When it comes to minor subdivision streets and such, I just consult Google Maps (or my dead tree maps if I'm feeling nostalgic) before I leave and that tends to be good enough.

I suppose it helps that I have that weird autistic power of being able to remember the layout of a neighborhood after only briefly looking at its map.

glennmagusharvey

I admit to using the GPS as a way of being lazy and not having to look up how to get somewhere if I'm in a hurry.

Though normally when I go somewhere new I do look at it on a map first to get an idea of the spatial relationships between various features relevant to my journey.

lee4hmz

Thing is, I will give GMH a point for convenience there. Google Maps on my M7 can route around bad triffic and doesn't need updating, but the C-Max's built-in navigation is better integrated with the car's steering wheel and voice controls. Also, I can use the radio while the built-in GPS is running, and not lose voice guidance; it's either-or with the phone, since I have to switch the source to Bluetooth audio (or mess with the Bluetooth settings on my phone, which is dumb).

lee4hmz

That said, I will use Google Maps anyway if traffic is bad enough, since the "Avoid" function on the bult-in GPS isn't quite good enough (it knows about accidents, but doesn't have the real-time traffic flow data Google has). 

lee4hmz

holy hell, this thread is dad joke prime

also, it turns out my car's GPS does get traffic info via Sirius. I still end up using my phone, though.