GPS Navigation

[DannyboyDS]

Ok heres something that i've been wondering about recently, though this is more aimed at the fresh P platers and the like.

Who relies on thier GPS? I find I can get places quicker and with less hassle if I read the melways, follow road signs and simply head in the correct direction and hope for the best.

Recently I have been using a GPS for my new job and it just made things difficult, I might reverse over it on Monday, who wants pics :P

So anyway back on topic, I have a habit of going off topic, so who uses a GPS 100% of the time when going to new places?

[phatsix]

I use mine if i have absolutely no idea.

The only other times i use it is when i need to navigate out the city or a place with lots of one way streets.

It is handy though.

I have a Tom Tom

[ParkwayDrv]

i use a gps all the time if i'm going somewhere i'm not sure of, still yet to let me down

[Stressball]

I use one to find my way around because I work at multiple different places each day, I've never even heard of half of the suburbs that I have to go to lol. I don't find out where I have to be until I'm just about needed there, so having a gps is pretty handy for that.

Shame it barely works in the city, what with the buildings and everything.

[GetToDaChopa]

I use it always. but because i partially know my way around the gps a guide for just incase.

[VjamesY]

I'm on my red p's and if Ive got no time to waste, and don't want to stuff around I use my gps, but with familiar areas and general known directions I don't.

I like it mainly on long trips, as I don't have to worry about what direction or route I need to take, I just let the gps do the thinking while I just drive, relax and get told what to do ha ha.

[phatsix]

oh yeah forgot to add:
-good for finding maccas at 12am when you have no ****in idea where you are haha

[azzfox]

I use it nearly every day. Not only does it guide me when I have nfi where Im going, but its also handy to know when Im going to arrive, how many k's to go, where the nearest servo is.etc. And if you miss a turn then it recalculates the route. I couldnt live without it. I got a melways when I got my licence but once I got a job that required me to drive here there and everywhere I forked out the cash for a GPS and gave up the melways. I dont regret it for a second. Trying to pull over somewhere to fumble around with the melways is just annoying and inconvenient.

[melissasd]

I have a Tom Tom, and yes, rely alot on it.

It has saved me alot of time and hassle, and alot of pulling over looking in the map book lol.

But then I havn't lived down in perth since I was 13, so don't really remember much lol..

And yes on the way home the next morning after a night out, it's great to find the closest take away along the way lol.. hang over food!

[jakbob]

I use mine a lot of the time, mainly because my cars speedo is way out. Generally I use it for going to new places, except for once when it wasn't working. I had to go to two different places without it and I found my way just fine, so its a relief to know I'm not totally reliant on it.
I find its good because you don't have to look out for all the street signs when I'm in an unfamiliar area, and the street signs in brisbane are piss poor.

[melissasd]

I wouldn't rely on your gps to give you a correct reading.

I've used mine in 3 different cars now and it all says i'm doing between 8-10km over the speed limit and I know i'm not.

But it is great if your unsure of the speed limit around.

[jakbob]

It gives a much more accurate reading than the car's speedo. It tells me I'm doing 85 when I'm doing 100.

[Stressball]

It gives a much more accurate reading than the car's speedo. It tells me I'm doing 85 when I'm doing 100.

I wouldn't rely on your gps to give you a correct reading.

I've used mine in 3 different cars now and it all says i'm doing between 8-10km over the speed limit and I know i'm not.

But it is great if your unsure of the speed limit around.

Generally the speedo will be more accurate below 80kmh, but once you go 90-100+ the gps is considerably more accurate... If it refreshes quickly enough. You cant trust it to be giving an accurate reading for that very second that you look at it, generally they only have a 400mhz cpu in them, so it can take a second or two for them to refresh. For example, my gps claimed 109kmh. A speed camera said 117 >.> Speedo was somewhere between the two.

[azzfox]

^Speed camera by default is the most inaccurate

I think my tomtom is fair accurate and I trust it over my speedo. It always reads about 5-6k's over when doing 80km/h and about 8k's over when doing 100km/h. Speed = Distance/Time. Your navigation device is constantly updating your position on the map with the aid of multiple satellites. The map thats loaded onto your device has distance scaled into it and therefore can calculate speed.

Some people are mistaken into thinking that the speed and whatnot comes directly from the satellites when actually everything is calculated within the navigation device. The only data you receive from satellites is their position in the atmosphere.

[VS-S-PACK-UTE]

im almost dependant on the thing, im an apprentice chippy and am always heading out to new and diff locations every fortnite or so, however as i havnt updated the map on mine half the new estates i am workin in arent even listed on the map yet which is a pain in the ass.

[Dangerous Dave]

I'd be screwed without my Tom Tom.. Not just for the GPS though.. bluetooth handsfree, it shows my incoming SMS on it, speed camera's, red light camera's.

They are not just navigators anymore, they have become something most drivers need just to stay LEGAL !!!

(Oh and tomtom's are easy as to update maps.. PM me and i'll tell u where to look )

[Reaper]

I'm far from a P plater but here's the drum. I'm not far off a walking melways and can easily beat any navigator from suburb to suburb although I can see this changing as live traffic updating gets better. Once I'm looking for a specific address that iv'e never been to before the navigator wins hands down. It saves me up to several hours per week with out having my nose in the Melways. I use it less than 5 times a year now.

Reaper

[arrow224]

I have Tomtom on my phone, but I rarely use it. 98% of my trips are to places I already know different ways to (work, uni, home, friend's houses etc). I only have it because I know that sometimes when I am in an area that I don't know so well I tend to get lost easily.

[Escape-The-Fate]

im 19, green p plater..and my dads a truck driver. He has taught me well, reading maps and such..and when i went on the truck during school holidays my head was stuck in the CBD as we call it (map book) reading and studying where we needed to go as the delivery address was on the docket. He would ask me where to turn even if though he knew where he was going and 9 times out of 10 i was right. I know the goldcoast like the back of my hand, city im not so great at but thats because its all 1 way streets and crap..i hate the gps because it tell u to turn, when u drive past the street, i've used the tom tom once on the way through the city and i got the shits with it and found my own way..street signs and a bit of knowledge always prevail.

[DannyboyDS]

my last few attempts at using a GPS have ended with me threatening it with a quick window exit.