I think my Dad had bought me a GPS unit a few years back for Christmas, but it got set aside because of other priorities, I was typically driving to familiar places and it probably ended up in a moving box. I had an early model Magellan which basically worked in connection with a PC and street mapping software, not very usable from my perspective.
For the most part, I've normally used mapping portals from Mapquest, Yahoo, and/or Google. But there are some irritating nuances. I missed 3 job interviews in Baltimore and Delaware because of bad or misleading directions. For example, one of those told me to follow an I-95 exit to a T-intersection, and instead I found myself merging into a coastal highway. I've had several problems in the past with computerized directions--for example, on a trip to Reading, PA, the printed directions suggested that I should follow a side road for 3 miles, but it was more like 15 miles; I thought I had somehow overshot my target. I think in some cases there have been directional problems, like the maps had me turn right, instead of left; what would tip me off was I noticed I was heading into a rural area.
Of course, people often give rotten directions. I like to have signposts; many times I won't see a street name, for example, today I was told to take a left on Jackson, and I inferred it was the next one-way street. My favorite example was a job interview in Irving, TX several years back. A lot of the buildings were well off the main street and the building/street number wasn't legible. I eventually discovered that my target had a massive fountain with mounted horsemen in front of it. In visiting one sister the first time I had to slow at each side street; there was a yellow traffic sign near the border of her corner lot. Another time I missed an interview was in a Baltimore suburb; there was a cluster of similarly named streets, like Oak Street, Oak Lane, Oak Ave., Oak Drive. After driving around for 15 minutes, I called my interview contact who couldn't help me and ended up cancelling the interview.
I think the first time I heard one of those GPS units with spoken directions was in a Chicago taxicab. There are some nuanced differences in the dialogs, e.g., I've heard some units say, "Take your next left." (I've noticed mine will simply emphasize "Take a left on XYZ Drive".)
I ordered my Garmin unit from a factory outlet; it supposedly came with a lifetime subscription of map updates. My first major issue was that Garmin had unified everything from registration to software install/updates with an application called Garmin Express. (Speaking of registration, all I recall was the application asking for my email address; I do recall getting an email notification. At some point I was having to install a Chrome communicator plugin to utilize Dashboard functionality, but I notice even though it picks up device details, I still see a big registration button which seems to suggest the device isn't registered.)
The big issue, though, was the fact that Garmin Express didn't seem to be able to download my necessary map. When I clicked on the detail link, it showed 0 bytes downloaded, even after several minutes. I really didn't find this issue addressed in searches on the Garmin site, but at some point I ran a Google search, and some forum contributor in an older post suggested that a Garmin utility Garmin Map Updater had resolved similar issues and gave a download link. Long story short, this resolved my basic download problem.
I didn't find a lot of practical guidance, e.g., the unit may require X amount of time of USB charging, (I haven't found or noticed a charge status indicator, e.g., the unit is fully charged or there's a limited time of operation available). I didn't find a lot on operating the interface, but it was fairly easy to pick up operating the touchscreen interface. I love the fact that there are single button options for gas stations and restaurants in your area with relevant map links.
I've lived at my current address for only a few months and never had to go to a local post office, but I had some business papers that needed to go Express Mail over the weekend. It was past 4 PM before the paperwork was ready, and I knew I was cutting it close, but decided to do a trial use of my device to find the local post offices. Ironically it showed one just up the street from me, so I set out to go to that one vs. downtown. Long story short, the device told me to take a left--and I suspect I made a wrong turn (too early?) It was very clear that I was driving away from the intended target, but I never got an error message of the nature "Stop! You made the wrong turn; turn around." I'm not sure whether it was simply looking for other post offices in the direction I was driving. But I soon find myself driving through small towns I didn't know and it had me at points driving down windy, narrow, crappy roads little more than dirt and loose gravel. At some point I connected into a road it identified as Husky Highway--a familiar road that I knew by its route number, but it was an unfamiliar stretch and furthemore I was driving north, away from home. At some point I knew that my post office destination wasn't going to happen that day, and I simply wanted to find my way back home. For some reason the device had me turn at a cul de sac leading to some gated plant and obscurely suggest that I make a U-turn. It then told me to take a left (south) on Husky Highway. What was somewhat amusing was that it told me to make a stop at a certain 7-11. Looking to my left, I saw a flagpole at a building on the left--obviously the town's post office. At some point I reset my search for home. At one point I was probably 25-30 miles north of home. The rest of the drive was uneventful--I was relieved simply to see a mileage marker for my town. What's amusing is that it messed up just as I got to my local T-intersection; it told me to take a right and then an immediate right--it's actually a left and there is no right for some distance down the road.
I chalk it up to a learning experience; I came very close to stopping and asking someone for directions, which would have been embarrassing. The weather was also drizzly. I may have made some wrong turns along the way. I definitely didn't like it having me drive narrow crappy roads out in the sticks. I would have appreciated some kind of error feedback and some verbal clues of the type "Look to make your next right...We are approaching the target, slow down now." On a side note, I did make it to the town's main post office today using the device; I did try to retrace the allegedly nearby post office going from the other direction, but I seemed to find myself at a Knights of Columbus hall. But I'll probably bring a printout from Google Maps with me on future trips until I get more familiar with the Garmin device functionality.
