Another GPS Thread

[cheshrcarol]

I'm thinking about asking my parents for a GPS for my birthday, but I don't want to ask them to spend too much. There's a couple reasonably priced ones that I like that don't have the text-to-speech and I'm wondering how important that is. Basically what that means is it'll tell you when to turn, but won't be able to tell you out loud the name of the street.

For those of you with GPS, do you think hearing the street name is important, or does it not matter?

[WorkInProgress]

No idea, since I don't have one. Personally, I think I'd prefer both options, but I'd rather have one that tells me when to turn over one that only gives me street names.

[Winter Storm]

For those of you with GPS, do you think hearing the street name is important, or does it not matter?

I don't have a GPS but I'm really funny about knowing exact street names. I use Google maps but I also like to zero in the the destination street and make note of the streets coming up right before the turn. I don't like vague directions and I've been in a car with GPS that told us of a turn a wee bit too late. Worse, it was an exit off the beltway.

[WorkInProgress]

I don't like vague directions and I've been in a car with GPS that told us of a turn a wee bit too late. Worse, it was an exit off the beltway.
:eek: :eek:

[Winter Storm]

:eek: :eek:

Yeah. This was with a guy that relied soley on his GPS to get us somewhere and it said something like "turn right" or "next turn" while on a beltway with many exits but never specified which one. We nixed that and went elsewhere.

[pisces2473]

It's like that commercial!

[weary]

the one i have in my car does not speak the street/exit name when telling you to turn/exit, but it does say it in a highlighted square on the screen. you can also zoom in and out on the map that is displayed and see names that way. and it dings when your are getting close to the turn/exit you need to take.

maybe those are features you can look for/ask about if you find the models that actually speak the street/exit name are too expensive? i'm sorry i don't have any suggestions on models (the one in my car is part of/came with the car). i have heard good things about tom-tom, FWIW.

[weary]

It's like that commercial!
the one where the guy's GPS says "turn right", and he turns, RIGHT INTO THE COFFEE SHOP?! then it says, "in 2 blocks" or something like that. i love that commercial! :razz:

[cheshrcarol]

Yeah, I would think it would be more difficult not to have the street name said out loud, but one person I talked to said it wasn't a big deal. I thought I'd see if more people felt that way, or if anyways said it was hugely inconvenient. I did look into the TomTom, but the lowest cost one (approx $300) doesn't have that feature either.

[weary]

Yeah, I would think it would be more difficult not to have the street name said out loud, but one person I talked to said it wasn't a big deal. I thought I'd see if more people felt that way, or if anyways said it was hugely inconvenient. I did look into the TomTom, but the lowest cost one (approx $300) doesn't have that feature either.
it's really not [a big deal]. at least not to me/on mine with the other features i mentioned. i actually don't think i even thought about or noticed it until replying to this thread. i can see how it might be if the system's timing was too close, like what WS mentioned though.

[Ciderhillnh]

TomTom is $275 speaks and shows you what to do plus if you miss a turn it will tell you how to get to your destination from where you oopsed.

Its really tiny too! So you can use it while walking on streets as well as driving.

[GreenFolder]

Yes, thats the TomTom ONE - you can find it for under $300 now. I used it for a while and really liked it too, it will tell you the directions (actually the next two directions - nice) but it doesn't read out the name of the road. I'm using a TomTom 910 right now which does and it also has a mp3 player in it which is really cool, but its a couple hundred dollars more expensive than the ONE, but i really like both of them.