[Shop-talk] gps to find the shop

[David Hillman]

On Mon, 6 Jun 2011, john niolon wrote:
> to keep it shop related... sometimes losing my way to the shop I'm considering
> buying a GPS for the car.
>
> I start looking and realize that each manufacturer has at least 76 models
> available...  I need something in the range of $0 - $200 and easy enough for
> an old man to use... as a backup plan I do have a 10 year old grandson that
> could probably program it for me...
>
> recommendations ??

    Do you have a cell phone?  If so, don't bother with a GPS.  My phone 
came with two GPS navigation apps, and the Google version actually works ( 
the Sprint app is useless ).  It's just as good as any dedicated device 
I've seen, way more convenient, and essentially free.  My phone is 
admittedly a little high-end ( HTC Evo ), but even much cheaper phones 
will run the same app.

    I type in the address, and it plots the route and tells me when to 
turn.  Theoretically, it can even do speech recognition, but that's about 
useless.  I tried to tell it my sister's address in Cleveland, and it 
heard "3245 South Africa" or "3245 Hungary".  Seriously?  Driving 
directions from Illinois to South Africa?

    My wife has a Tom-Tom.  Easy enough to use, but she rarely does, 
because it's stowed away in the glovebox.

--
  David Hillman