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Original poster

SatNavs: hmmm

112 replies

holidaywonk · 30/12/2009 12:18

They're a bit weird aren't they? I asked it to direct me back from the tip today (two miles from home) and it tried to send me via the M25 (ie a journey of about 10 miles).

Am also finding the constant beeping very distracting. I don't break the speed limit very often so I don't NEED to know where the speed cameras are so STOP BEEPING AT ME

Can you tell I got one for Xmas?

OP posts:
CaptainNancy · 03/01/2010 19:01

Humph@soupy.... Yeti indeed? Bah!

Personally I don't need satnav- I have an inbuilt one, I never get lost, and can glance at map before leaving home, and get wherever we're going no problem.

However, I recognise there is a real need for them for some people- DH being one of them... he could not find his way from our new house to work when we moved... and he's lived in this city for over 30 years
There have been times when he has been at the other end of the next street and he wasn't sure where he was... so for some I can see they are indispensable.

I think having different voices would be fun for some people, but for me I'd find it too gimicky... even Mr. T

MayorNaze · 03/01/2010 19:04

you read the map beforehand - plan a route and memorise significant details - if you need to check - pull over. so ner

yay for maps. boo for sat nav

onebatmother · 03/01/2010 19:10

wrt laziness, on a point of principle and to stimulate debate

Is there any really intrinsic moral good in not using something which reduces the effort involved in a task?

MayorNaze · 03/01/2010 19:16

i think it is an argument that needs to be applied on an individual case by case basis tbh...

CaptainNancy · 03/01/2010 19:19

I think that depends on the sideeffects of what you use to reduce the effort... eg tumble dryer- great to have clean and dry clothes within a few of hours... but not very good for the planet long term.

Supermarket shopping- walk and carry it all back, loaded up like a beast of burden? Or use that gas-guzzling car to transport it all home with ease?

ThumbleBells · 03/01/2010 19:22

OBM, having just watched Wall-E for the first (and second and third times, flippin' DH) I can say that in SOME cases, yes. There are good reasons for not using all labour-saving devices.

In the case of a satnav, I would worry that my brain would stultify through lack of use. If I drive somewhere and DH is giving me directions, I don't take in the route as well as if I had to work it out myself - my brain is too "lazy" to remember it. Therefore I have to ask again the next time, and the next. If I had to look at it on the map, I would remember it.

LadyintheRadiator · 03/01/2010 19:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LadyBiscuit · 03/01/2010 19:45

I love my TomTom. It's much less stressful driving when I don't have to try and figure out where I'm going. And not all of us have handy co-drivers.

MonicaMoniker · 03/01/2010 19:55

I bought myself a TomTom a few months ago 'just in case' I got lost one day. On the whole I think satnavs are a very good thing, but how do you get a signal quickly on them? I tried mine out going to work one day (a journey of 9.5 miles) and I'd gone 7 miles before it picked up a signal!! Does it get quicker with use or something? I hate the thought of being lost and waiting for hours in the dark for it to recognise where I am.

GreenMonkies · 03/01/2010 20:33

Takver

When we went to Strathconon last time we used a borrowed TomTom, she got us there by the clearer route, on the bigger road. She was also a star at redirecting us when the A9 was blocked because of an accident. It was the iPhone SatNav that sent us down a tiny lane in the dark, in a snow storm, at 9.30pm...... I was just concerned that we'd get to the dam and find a locked gate across it and then not be able to turn around

Takver · 03/01/2010 20:42

I can see their benefits, tbh, though I don't have one myself (since I haven't driven further than the nearest railway station in the last 6 years I don't think I need one ).

But I think they probably work better in cities - which is where it is the hardest to follow a map, pull over etc, and where you're most likely to get jams of course too.

onebatmother · 03/01/2010 20:43

yy sorry should have said all other things being equal

is there virtue in effort for its own sake?

SoupDragon · 03/01/2010 20:43

Map reading in the car makes me want to throw up which isn't much fun.

I was in the "use a map!" camp but then, when driving alone with 3 small children, a large and important part of the A22 was shut and I had to make a snap decision which way to go to get to my parents house. I chose poorly, given that I had no chance to read a map whilst driving and even when pulling over repeatedly it was virtually impossible to work out where the f*ck we were. I saw the advantages of SatNav then. Short, simple journeys - a map is good. Anything longer or complicated and SatNav is fabulous. It makes me far less stressed about making new journeys - quick look at a map for a general feel and then SatNav all the way IMO.

Anyway, I don't understand why you'd need something as newfangled as a map - surely just a compass and a general idea of where you're going will suffice? Also, what's the point of a mobile phone when there are good old fashioned pay phones about.

WilfSell · 03/01/2010 20:59

I love maps. I am a map geek. I have been known to spend an evening poring over a new OS pathfinder working out which are the Roman Roads.

But I have been converted to the world of SatNav. Trip to France. Bloody marvellous. Even driving through Paris. There was no Gallic gesticulating at us, as we cruised effortlessly from one lane to another, directed to 'move into the right hand lane now for the next exit'.

I swear we would have been divorced (were we actually married) by now without it.

figrollinthehay · 03/01/2010 21:00

Love my TomTom. Beats a car covered in post it notes any day (though I got a speeding ticket as I thought it was 'mooing' because I had gone past a church, but it was mooing as I was speeding (or was it cuckoo-ing?)

SoupDragon · 03/01/2010 21:02

Oh, you can't beat poring over a map looking at interesting bits (actually, you can - the OS overlay for Google Earth is fascinating - look at the map and then see what it looks like really! Fab).

MonicaMoniker · 03/01/2010 21:12

Please tell me how to get a signal on one quickly

LadyBiscuit · 03/01/2010 21:15

It really depends on where you are Monica but also making sure it's fully charged before you leave the house helps.

SoupDragon · 03/01/2010 21:16

Switch it on before you leave and put it somewhere with clear access to the sky (stuff like glass etc interferes). Bizarrely, putting my handheld GPS on the roof of my car gets a lock quicker but does hold the danger that you'll drive off with it still there.

MonicaMoniker · 03/01/2010 21:37

LadyBiscuit - I've only used it plugged into the car, I'll try charging it first, thanks.

Thank you Soup - I'll do that as it has asked me if I'm inside a building when I've been in the car.(And I'll try not to forget it's on the roof ).

I think satnavs are great (ex had one he used a lot, but I suspect it was just to confirm that he knew better than it), but I think you have to back them up with a rough idea of your route by studying a map first.

notcitrus · 03/01/2010 21:54

I'm a huge map geek but found a satnav invaluable when going around one-way systems in random French towns, and for finding parking and a restaurant district in them (didn't have a map of Toulon, for example).

Got one for MrNC last year to cut down on the phone calls I used to get that usually started "NC, could you get a map out please? I'm somewhere in Hackney..." He's a dyslexic with no sense of direction. I've found they're very handy for finding routes when it's too dark to read a map (I'm usually in the back with ds) or when you need a diversion, but there's many times you need to use your wits to know to ignore it. And a 'no roads with road humps' setting would be really useful!

SomeGuy · 04/01/2010 12:47

If you have signal problems you either have an old or inferior satnav with a weak GPS chipset, or possibly your windscreen is too thick.

Easiest solution is to buy a GPS aerial - about £5 on ebay.

onebatmother · 04/01/2010 18:30

or shave windscreen?

MayorNaze · 04/01/2010 19:23

i have also navigated solo with 3 dcs in tow.[ we need a sticky out tongue emoticon ]
if my way is blocked, i find another road that goes in a similar direction to the way i want to go. and read the road signs. then you can marry up on the map where you are!

i will never get a sat nav, NEVER i tell you!

(i actually have no idea how to use a compass )

MonicaMoniker · 04/01/2010 20:01

SomeGuy, I hope my satnav isn't old, I just bought it new from Amazon a few months ago! Don't think it's inferior either as it cost an arm & a leg. I don't think my windscreen's too thick, my car's only 5 years old - what's a weak GPS chipset and how do I know I've got one please? (This is getting a bit complex - might stick to maps)