posted
While my Garmin 2820 still does not have full support for my phone, and I still have not figured out how to make its Bluetooth hookups work MY way, instead of its way, today all is forgiven.
Today was the first time I really took advantage of the optional FM traffic antenna I got a while back. Totally, totally worth the money.
Using the antenna's traffic info and the "route around traffic" option, I managed to get to Anaheim at rush hour in an hour fifteen, and back again at a slightly lighter traffic time in under an hour. And I never had to sit in traffic! It meant an extra 12 miles on the way there, and an extra 7 on the way back (tacked onto a 33-mile trip), but it was definitely faster than the original route (which is also the route Mapquest and YahooMaps had suggested). I was dreading sitting in stop-and-go on the I-5, and this meant I didn't have to!
Since I also spent enough time with the manual last night to figure out how to customize the display (which is FAR more customizable than I had realized!), I am a happy Garmin owner.
Now, if they'll only add support for my cell model . . . Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I love it. It doesn't do the traffic thing, but it got me all around California on my trip last month. Wonderful technology.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Looks very portable. And it comes with Garmin's excellent maps -- far superior to those that come with many other GPS units.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I did learn for the future that when out in the desert I need to turn off the "no u-turns" feature. It had me drive 30 miles out of my way just to get me to turn around.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I loved my rental Garmin and wanted one of my own - until it led me to an imaginary airport in Florida. Now I am afraid of those things.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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Yeah, I loved the Garmin I rented when I went to New England. For all its flaws, it still kept me mostly on the right track, and I was able to survive my trip and make it back home.
It did lead me to a number of imaginary places, of course. Mostly hotels. And an imaginary ice cream stand. (It seemed to think that King Kone was in a residential neighborhood in Nashua instead of its actual location, off exit 11 on the Daniel Webster Highway.) Once it even asked me to turn the wrong way down a one-way street. Only once, mind you. But once.
The Garmin is an amazing piece of technology, and I am forever grateful that I had one with me. But they must be used with caution, because they don't always quite know what they're doing.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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People keep talking about "the Garmin" as though their second- or third-tier models were the same as my first-tier. There's a reason mine cost more, and is one of the highest rated GPSs on the market.
And it was worth every penny. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Anyway, it's not better because it cost more. It's WORTH the higher price because it does more (and has better maps, which only come with the higher-end models).
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by brojack17: I thought of this thread when I got lost in Houston twice today.
I got pretty lost today too. But that's because we were in someone else's car, and didn't bother to snag my GPS because we were only going a mile away . . . Shoulda grabbed it.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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