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GPS

So this Garmin Nuvi 360 is what we used on our Oklahoma trip. I’ve been a little curious about these GPS systems, partly because Ryan brings them up pretty regularly, and partly because they’ve just recently started making commercials that have drawn my attention to them. So when we loaded up and I saw that we were using one, I was really interested to see how it’d work out.

Overall, I could definitely see the benefit. I haven’t had other experiences to compare it to, but by my stepfather’s reckoning, he thinks the TomTom is a better brand.

For the most part, the Garmin was right on. We hit more patches than I expected where the roads had been changed and the Garmin maps weren’t updated to show it. It was understandable when we were stopping for food in smaller cities and heading through some of the country roads, but there was more than one instance on a major interstate where the Garmin showed us driving through the woods, even though the roads had been changed for well over a year. (I don’t know how long for certain, but to me, I saw no evidence of the old road that should’ve still been in sight from where we were.)

I really would’ve liked a pause feature on the unit, as well. Now, I’ll be honest in saying that I didn’t really get to play with it much myself, but it seemed the only option really, was to turn it off, or back all the way out to the menus. It got really annoying to hear, “Recalculating,” every time we pulled off for gas, or when we were on those mysterious interstates that didn’t exist…

I’ll admit though, the times when it showed us as lost, it was always still obvious where we needed to go. So I’d say for anyone with a decent sense of direction, it’s definitely worthwhile. It was amazing to be able to hit “food” and see a list of places nearby!

It’s given me an idea of how well GPS systems can work, and now I’m considering looking into something cheaper for Ryan, maybe for Christmas. I think I’m gonna get Roger to help me look into my options. I’m gonna ask him about the system they had before the Garmin. I know it was a little cheaper, and I may be able to find a good one on Ebay. Ebay is my homeboy