GPS Navigator Thingys

Work gave me one of those Treo Palm things, and I soon got bored
having figured out how to download my personal email, surf the web
and read UKRM and finally sticking a decent Sudoku prog [1] on
there as well.

Then I saw that you can stick TomTom on these as well, and
my pit bitch Mark (usually of this Parish) had bought one of those
natty little BlueTooth GPS boxen to work with his WinCE device
which works rather well. So I splashed out £46 quid on one thru
the 'bay [2] and got TomTom working on it and its all rather
spiffing.

So now I've loaded all the extra POIs [3] and I can work out all
my routes to lots of places that I already know where to get to...

....which is kind of the point of this drivel - I'm not really sure that
I actually need one because I'm so boring that I either go to the
same places (and know where I'm going) or will check on the map
first and write down some directions.

I really can't believe that people are spending a couple of hundred
quid on these things rather than a fiver on a map.

Or am I just missing the point?

[1] http://www.scss.com.au/family/andrew/pdas/palm/myprogs/sudoku/
[2] 32 Channel one from this guy:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/id=196577308?ssPageName=L2
[3] from here: http://www.tomtomfree.com/ [4]
[4] Which seems to be deaded right now...

 

My four year old Garmin gets a reading in under 30 seconds.

Horses for courses - they both have uses. If you haven't
understood/discovered a use for the GPS, then it's not for you.


However others may and will disagree. I think they're both excellent
tools for certain things.

Funnily enough I get lost with both, but that doesn't mean I discount
either the GPS or the Map.

 

Well, I use an HP PDA + TomTom3 + LeadTek bluetooth GPS and find it all
rather spiffy. GPS in one pocket, PDA in the other with an earphone in
my ear and some girly says all the usual things like "Turn left" "Next
right" etc without the "back there" I usually get. She even has a friend
who mutters on about GATSOs and stuff.

As one who got lost on the way home when there was a diversion outside
the fire station four streets away, I need some help for longer journeys
more complicated than "Get on at junction 4 and off at junction 8".
Maps are a bugger to spread out on the tank, read, fold up and put back
in your pocket anyway, even at legal speeds.

 

The 32-channel one I have ("BT-Q880") get a lock in ten seconds
with a clear view, and even manages it indoors in the study, so
its just down to the hardware.

Oh sure, it will be great when I go somewhere I don't know and
need to find it because I lost the directions, or need to find a
petrol station for some emergency sugar or similar.

The point was that I can't believe these things are selling the
way they are because people *need* them?

 

It saves time finding the bike / car / tent at a *big* meet (eg BMF).

It gives you something else to play with while waiting for the queue
to clear so as to leave said big meet.

 

There's a hell of a lot of people out there who spend all day going to
places they've never been before - business meetings, sales etc. Sure
you can look up an address on streetmap.co.uk & print it out, but if
you've got several appointments a day, a GPS makes life MUCH easier.

--
Krusty.

http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger (FOYRNB) '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250

 

Wouldn't happen if they didn't become so totally reliant on their GPS.

OTOH I once followed a guy who was in a rush to catch a ferry to the
Hook of Holland and we ended up in Norwich. Oh, what fun as we flew,
fully loaded with camping gear, past the power-rangers out for their
Sunday morning fast blat.

 

My HP6515 gets a fix in seconds as well, even indoors. Hell, it almost tells
me if I'm in the toilet or the living room

 

Depends if the cleaner has been in.

 

Nope.

I use my Garmin Quest to route to places/customers as I guess most folk do.
I find for just bezzing about, it works best in conjunction with a map.

Scenario.

I fancy a blat about and going to visit the anti-macassar exhibition in
Sometown. I have a look at the map. Ooh, squiggly lines and elevation
changes if I go that route compared with boring tarmac thattaway.

Add the start and end of the interesting section as waypoints and voila!,
I'm not trying to read scrawled instructions whilst riding. I'm not cursing
my shyte memory and I find fun tarmac. If I get lost, I don't GAF.

Very sad scenario two.

The trip function. It shows average moving speed, moving time and stationary
time along with highest recorded speed. Has proved a useful ally when
someone challenged a comment I made about a certain road nearby. I proved
it could be averaged at that speed without exceeding ten past naughty.

Sad scenario three.

I was assessed for the DIAmond award/test thingy. Hmm, thinks I, this route
looks like it could be useful for work. I set it to record the route and
off we went.

During the first debrief, I was given a bit of a bollocking for allegedly
speeding on a twisty section. I counterclaimed that I was carrying a higher
corner speed thus -he- was speeding on the straights to keep up. The Quest
showed my highest recorded speed to be one whole MPH below the limit. Ho
hum.