Cinnamon Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I had to go & collect my eldest daughter from a friends house yesterday, an hour & a halfs drive away in an area I have never been to before. Now,I am a confident driver & I love driving in my cool little turquoise Panda 'Marge', but I am not so good at directions,so I was a bit tense about it to be honest. But my Sat Nav got me there with no probelms at all. I could just relax & enjoy the drive, especially the motorway bit as I rarely drive on a motorway & really enjoy it. Sat Nav has got to be one of my most very favourite things ever invented Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I'd have to agree with you Sarah! Used with some common sense and a look at the mapbook, they are brilliant! They are really good for the detailed part of a journey - usually the final destination. Ours has just got us around parts of rural France which would have been much more difficult without the Satnav. The only problem we had was when Jake was in the car with us - he repeats each instruction at least 3 times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Fantastic aren't they? Mine occasionally takes me on creative detours.......like when I went to Lesley's, but I always manage to untangle myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 horray for sat navs my dad has just been in hospital (he is a millions times better now though ) my mum would NEVER have got to the hospital without her sat nav. it was like a chatty friend with her for the journey Ive never wanted one - but it has really paid for itself (ok, a lot of times ) cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 We don't have a sat nav I'm pretty good at map reading (although my OH would disagree ) but they do make life easier if you have to go somewhere new on your own. Trying to map read and drive at the same time isn't advisable no matter how good a driver you are (again, don't ask OH about my driving! ) I'm thinking we may get a sat nav in the near future.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaireG Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 They are fab arn't they. I bought DH one as he does a lot of driving for his job. We've also used it a lot for days out etc. It's so easy just to type ion a postcode and go and saves a lot of arguments as im not the best at reading maps and infurate DH when i turn them upside down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phonix Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 i love them BUT they can be irritating! I used one the other week and it just couldn't get to grips with the one-way-system where I was lol I had to keep going a different way to what it said and it kept telling me in that really irritatingly calm voice to 'turn around where possible' so that it could take me back down the one-way-street the wrong way! lol x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Fabulous things! Love Tom Tom but don't get on with the road angel my husband has for work. It seems to do its own thing at times!! Our Tom Tom has taken us round France, Germany and this summer Ciracusa in Sicily ,which has some tiny little streets. We did have to park and walk, using the SAT nav, to the hotel which was in one of these tiny little street but it got us to the door yet again. Saves many heated discussions over maps and we are both good map readers but the roads change! Wouldn't be without it now, however, I still have the maps handy just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 We don't have sat nav but on holiday in Italy last month ES and I were in a taxi (a £70 journey from hospital to our hotel - another story ) and after hearing the taxi office voice for a while I suddenly thought how repetitive it was becoming . Why did she keep saying "a sinistra" "a sinistra" "a destra" "a destra". It was only after a good few minutes I remembered the Italian for "left" and "right" . We were in small town with loads of tiny streets and hundreds of turnings . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Absolutely love my Sat Nav. In fact hubby and I both have our own device now as we travel a lot separately. Having absolutely no sense of direction, it's given me confidence to explore places (and more importantly go to music gigs) in far flung places both here and abroad. I have a Garmin now and it's even better than Tom Tom IMO. The lady who lives in it is a bit school mistressy at times (I swear you can hear her sighing when you go the wrong way ) but very nice when you get to know her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 The lady who lives in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 The lady who lives in it Made me laugh too love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Sat Nav's are the best thing since sliced bread, unless you are a lorry driver http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039618/Satnav-sends-15-lorries-crashing-family-cottage-just-year.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My TomTom is one of my best things, I'm nearly always driving on my own and so can't read a map at the same time ... and having had friends map-read for me, I don't have much faith in their abilities! You do need to use a bit of common-sense, and it does take you on some interesting detours. I quite often use mine even on journeys where I know the route - I like to have an estimate of arrival time, and if there is a blocked road or a traffic jam, then it's already there to find me an alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My DH has gone SAt Nav mad!! As well as the one for the car he has one for his push bike and a wrist one for when he's out running. He can program in his journey and then it will record how he has done and next time he goes running he can race his previous time - It has two little men on it so he can race himself It keeps him fit and he can't complain when I want to upgrade to a cube next year - Can he (First Eglu arrives tomorrow ) Boys and their toys Do they ever grow up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Had my tomtom a long time and would not be without it - driving on your own, it is a real plus. If it looks like it's doing something daft when I programme it, I'll check out a map as well before I accept the journey, but you can't (shouldn't ) be reading directions and/or the map when driving and that's difficult when you're on your own with no navigator. It's great when you get diverted off the main road in an unfamiliar place and the diversion signs end in the middle of nowhere and for when the M25 stops and you have to come off and work your way around. Also good for finding airport car parks that are not where they look to be on the map, and ex-batt collection centres in the middle of the Essex countryside - single track roads and no signposts! Wouldn't be without mine, but would still recommend a bit of map-reading as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 and a wrist one for when he's out running. My hubby has one of those too! In fact I think the only reason he goes out running is just so he can play with his toy when he gets back He's even started using it to measure his heart rate on the Wii Fit now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angels4 Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 How did we ever get along without them? I call my "Tom Tom" "Pat Pat" because of the soothing womens voice. "Left turn in 2miles." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I HATE ours. Apart from the fights my OH and I used to have changing its gender depending on who was using it, "recalculating, recalculating" became a very irritating mantra. It always tried to send me the wrong way, when I KNEW a better short cut, at the beginning of a journey though I must admit it is useful for fine tuning at the end. I live in a small Hamlet in the Lake district and lorry drivers are always getting stuck at the end of our lane thanks to their satnavs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My TomTom has given me the confidence to drive to my parents without my OH, a journey of 500 miles. Jane is not perfect though as she took me via the outskirts of Leeds and Manchester on a motorway and through the middle of Salford through back streets and busy town roads on a Saturday afternoon She added nearly 2 hours to the journey time She also doesn't know where "home " is. Apparently we live in the middle of a field She kept telling me to turn round when possible even though I had parked outside our cottage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little cluckers Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My hubby is desperate for a sat nav but as he only goes to work and back I put my foot down I will let him have one when he's begged enough (it's been about a year now! ) I call my middle son (14) Sat Nav cos he's brill at map reading and always take him when I'm going somewhere new, I guess I'll give into hubby when MS leaves home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesL Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I haven't got one but my parents have and since my mom has had to take over all the driving (my dad has been quite ill) her confidence has grown hugely and it is all down to the sat nav. I rarely venture away to an area I don't know (can manage my way around most of the West Midlands) but if I do go further away I borrow my mom and dad's. Managed to find my way to Stoke on Trent on my own a few weeks ago without the Sat Nav (quite impressed with myself!). Would love to have my own though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I love my TomTit too. I travel around a lot on my own and love maps but like others have said, it's a bit dodgy to be looking at maps when you're driving!! The best thing I have though, is the compass mounted to the dash in my Landy - it really helps if you are heading out of a city, for example, as you can keep heading south or whatever to get to your destination - it is just there as extra confirmation of where you are heading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlass Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 The car I have at the moment has one already installed and I was less than impressed with it !! Didn't seem tobe able to find the village I live, even after going back to the garage for a spot of fine tuning. Anyhow I treated myself to a Tom Tom a few months ago and I love it!! I didn't trust it at all at first but tried using it on routes I already knew and now I would trust it completely. I took me to Lincolnshire to an area I hadn't been to before without any problems what so ever. Would hate to be without it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surferdog Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I was in a shopping mall lift with a family who had a little boy of about three. When the announcement for the ground floor came the little lad shouted out 'It's the Sat Nav lady!', got all excited and was peering into the announcement grill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
