I have a Garmin, it's probably 10 years old now, and it's been fine. Almost never takes me on a wrong path. I've used the smartphone based one that I have a bit too, and it seems accurate too. I find it extremely helpful when in totally unknown territory. IDK about TomTom though. It also may depend on what area you're using it in, the map source, etc.
Been a while since I used the Tom Tom. Indeed, it thought a road close to me was still closed and would try to avoid the direct route home. Minor problem, eventually someone updated the data.
But that reminds me, my smart phone is set to use Google Maps, and it "knows" about traffic patterns by time of day and sends me on different routes at different times of day.
Checking...checking, yep, it also uses real time data:
As Maynard G. Krebs used to say, "what a world we live in".
And mine even lectures me when I am speeding, just like SWMBO! (-:
It should get me some cat food (Friskies cans).
The only time I needed a GPS device to find something, it was really close. It just thought my friend's house was on the other side of the street. However, I recognized the Christmas decorations.
It's very annoying to deal with people who refuse to use a smart phone. In my extended family we can plan events very easily with smart phone apps but for the few family members that refuse to use one we have to arrange things manually.
The check depositing is very nice, I use that often. The other thing I like is the map apps with stored maps. It eliminates the need for a separate GPS and the maps are always up to date and when traveling in other countries without a car you have a GPS that can run on the battery for quite a while.
And of course it doesn't need to cost $45 per month. There is so much free Wi-Fi these days that you can get by with relatively small amounts of data. You can have a smart phone on Verizon's network for as little as $2.50 per month with prepaid. We were on AT&T's network with Consumer Cellular for a year and it was about $22/month/phone and we never went over on the included data. We temporarily moved to T-Mobile just because of their international roaming (included texts and 2G-speed data plus
20¢/minute voice calling), but U.S. T-Mobile coverage is pretty spotty, at least out west.Just got the Lollipop update yesterday. Very nice UI. Google did a good job on this release.
I have a 7" screen in my car. New models have 8" now. It has never failed me when used.
used my garmin to take me to a customer today. mostly out of laziness and not going the way i normally do to avoid some construction.
boy was i surprised mendon school took me to west newton elementary. but previously garmin thought mendon was in the median of I 70
I'm a cheapskate, so I've been waiting for years for a smartphone. I don't care about the cost of the phone, but I was damned if I was going to pay more than $20/month, or $30/month tops for a plan. And no contract. So I've stuck with my el cheapo Virgin prepaid plan and a dumb phone I bought in 2004. Costs me $80/year.
Then Google announced their entry into the mobile service market with Project Fi. The service uses both T-Mobile and Virgin networks, plus a host of free wi-fi networks nationally. The phone detects wifi and uses it when available, otherwise it selects whichever carrier provides a stronger signal in your current location.
$20/month for unlimited talk and text, and an additional $10/GB for data. When you sign up, you choose how many GB of data you want per month - but Google only actually charges you for the amount you used. If you used less than you signed up for, they issue a refund for the amount you didn't use and apply it against the next month's bill.
I've had it for a few weeks now. I mainly wanted a smartphone to get on-the-go directions, and it's wonderful for that. Also, a lady stopped me in the parking lot at FleetFarm to ask why the air was all smoky, and I just pulled out the phone and said, "OK Google - what's causing the smoke in this location" and it came right back with local news reports about the Canadian wildfires affecting our local air quality.
I have a Nexus 6 phone, which is popularly called Shamu on the tech sites, because it is so large for a phone (phablet, actually). It's an excellent phone for old eyes. Also, Google Navigation beats anything by Tom Tom, Garmin, etc. by a country miles. It also gives spoken turn-by-turn directions, and unlike my Garmin POS, it knows how to correctly pronounce street names.
That is about the way I was up to about a year and ahalf ago. I am already paying about $ 50 per month for the internet at home. I doubt I would use it very much away from home. Then they came out with the wifi systems. I had a cell phone on the $ 10 per month plan and crried a tablet with me for wifi. Then Republic came out with a unlimiated cell text and wifi internet plan for $ 12 (after taxes and such) if you bought one of their smart phones. So I went with them. Good thing is that if I ever need the internet away fromthe wifi I can tell the phone to go to the $ 20 per month plan and get the internet and when I am done with it , I can tell the phone to go back to the less expensive wifi plan.
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