Speaking of GPS systems, Tom Tom changed the definition of lifetime

[Phentex]

Just this week, I got an email from Tom Tom (another maker of an old GPS system for your car) telling me that lifetime maps were no longer available for my device. It's just too old to be updated and it doesn't have the memory. I get it. But they had to come up with new verbage to redefine what lifetime means for their consumers. Maybe people have complained.

I haven't used the thing in years but I just took it out of the closet and had my husband takes his out of the car after reading about CTYankee's exploding Garmin experience.

Haven't most of these gone the way of the dinosaurs by now?

[marylandblue]

1. I still use a Garmin GPS

I prefer to have something that stays in my car rather than worrying about forgetting my cellphone. My bigger concern is that if TomTom ends your lifetime maps, does that mean they are going to send a Terminator unit to kill you?

[Phentex]

2. should I read the fine print now?

[jberryhill]

4. Garmin tried to kill me twice

First, she sent me the wrong way down a one way road in England.

Then one time in Puerto Rico, she took me along a cow path and tried to make me drive off of a sheer cliff near the Arecibo radio telescope.

I think she got upset that I hacked her voice file to say funny and obscene things in situations like "You have arrived at your destination", "recalculating" and "make a U turn".

[jberryhill]

3. Haven't most of these gone the way of the dinosaurs by now?

If you have a good cellular data plan, drive primarily domestically, and don't stray into far-off-the-beaten path areas, then IMHO there's little use for a dedicated GPS unit.

If you rent cars when you travel abroad and don't have an international data plan (or don't know how to store offline maps in apps like Google Maps), then it can make some sense.

Some of the features like "parking near my destination" or "restaurants on my route" are more convenient to access on dedicated units. I've gone through two of those over the years, and been meaning to replace my last one, but the phone has worked well enough that I don't see the point in buying one anymore.

There are generic no-name dedicated GPS units which are compatible with OpenStreetMap data, which are preferable to the brand-name units.

[Phentex]

6. I can get lost in my neighborhood

so the phone has been a life saver when I venture out to places unknown. I still print a map when I go someplace where cellular can be spotty.

When I did use the Tom Tom, I constantly had to update (always when I hopped in the car - ugh!) and it often still took me places that were in the middle of nowhere instead of the location I was trying to reach. I find the phone to be better at updating.

My former car had built in navigation and it was bad about updating (had to be done by the dealer). Also, I didn't trust it because it got me lost a lot. Perhaps not as much as if I were on my own, but enough to make me doubt it. Still, it always got me home if nothing else.

Now I use the phone. But sometimes I don't trust the phone.

[democratisphere]

5. Nope. Relocatable GPS are still sold and offer features like Bluetooth,

larger screens, messaging, cameras and more. Nice if you have multiple vehicles or rent cars and trucks.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. I still like my Garmin more than the Ford factory GPS.

The factory gps interferes with the music. Even on silentnit still dims the music.

I like WAZE a lot lately. I really like the "police reported ahead" feature.

[jberryhill]

14. The cartoon perspective views are nice

[democratisphere]

16. I like the cartoon prospectives too! Also I prefer mounting the GPS

at eye level versus having it built into the dash; much safer!

[jberryhill]

17. The "find x along route" feature is also nice

I've gone to Google for driving directions, for the lower overall hassle factor of updating and retrieving a device which I don't always have on me in the first place.

But I really liked things like, "find a hotel along my route", "find a gas station along my route", or "find parking near my destination". That last one is really convenient.

It could be that I haven't drilled down through the options in Google Maps but I don't miss that oddly exasperated-sounding voice saying "recalculating" as if she were scolding me.

I don't get along with voice-activated devices in general, and Siri and I haven't spoken to each other in months. I think we're both happier, though.

[democratisphere]

18. Like your additional points. Also the stand alone GPS doesn't eat up your data allowance

if that is an issue. Thanks jberryhill!

[rurallib]

7. Well at least they didn't send you an email declaring you dead.

[Major Nikon]

8. I use my Garmin quite often

[FSogol]

10. I have one of those old Tom Toms. I drive a Jeep and local teens are always breaking into it

to look for stuff. They pried open my center console to find maps, napkins, a first aid kit, and my gps. They didn't even bother to steal it.

My son is trying to convince me to just use the navigation on my phone, so I'll give that a try.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. I see Garmins and Tom-Toms at yard sales all the time.

Every seller says he uses his cell phone now. As a result, I never bothered to buy one.

[crazycatlady]

12. I like my Garmin better than my phone

ANd I don't have to worry about data usage.

That said, about 12 years ago (early age of GPS) in the town my dad works for, a driver turned onto a set of train tracks and was killed by a train. My dad blames the GPS for that.

[jberryhill]

13. Garmin has my street screwed up

Garmin has my address located on a different street about an eighth of a mile away.

Deliveries, airport shuttles, etc. using Garmin units end up going to the wrong place, but at least it is the same place every time.

What's really surprising is that I usually know what's next when I am expecting a driver, and get a call from an unknown number.

"I'm here, but I don't see a house here."

The really weird thing is how difficult it is to get them over the perceptual hump to understand that the Garmin is wrong.

I will tell them, "The Garmin map is wrong, and I will get you to my door."

"Okay, but I'm looking at the GPS right now and it says I'm in the right place."

"No, you are in the wrong place. I know where you are. The Garmin map is wrong. I will get you to my door."

"Well, why don't you just come outside?"

"Because you are in the wrong place. The Garmin map is wrong. I am about an eighth of a mile away, and I will get you to my door."

"Just give me the correct address, and I'll use the GPS."

"No, you have the correct address. The Garmin map is wrong..."

It's like trying to convert some kind of religious zealot. The faith that people have in electronic devices is sometimes amazing.

The dedicated units do seem to work better in urban areas with a lot of tall buildings, in my experience.

[crazycatlady]

15. Mine found my mom's cousins house fine

ANd they live in the sticks of Maine. I guess it varies by region.

When arguing with electronics-- I know that whenever I use MS Word on a computer that is not my own, it is constantly telling me that my last name is spelled wrong. No Microsoft, I know how to spell my name.

[Phentex]

19. Don't know about Garmin, but google maps and waze and such

can't find my house. It takes people (including delivery people and a lyft driver) one street over. They can never believe it when I say I'm really NOT on that street. It's easier with deliveries because there's a place for notes and I can instruct which streets to turn on. But for others, it's exactly as you say. They cannot understand having to drive one street over. Does not compute.