A few years ago i got a Sat Nav for Christmas from my girlfriend. The main reason i got this particular model (Garmin Nuvi 610) was because it had bluetooth so it doubled as a handsfree kit for the car…
I use it pretty much every day heading up and down to college and it has come in very handy for the odd phone call or quick diversion. However, the maps on it are now 3 years old. So any new roads or layouts that have been built in the last 3 years don’t exist according to my sat nav.
After a while, that get’s very frustrating. Even though my sat nav is muted 99% of the time, i can still see it throwing a hissy fit once i plough through what it thinks are fields. “Recalculating” is the cry until it finally picks up a familiar route.
Now that i have a new car i also plan on driving a bit more around the country (by the way, i said i’d be going away today but had a change of heart). So i’ve just bought a ‘lifetime map update‘ for my garmin nuvi. It cost about €120 (one off fee) but for that i get up to 4 updates per year until the end of garmin’s life, or mine.
I like to know well in advance what lane to be in, what exit to take etc… so up to date maps will give me great peace of mind and make driving more enjoyable. It is a fairly hefty price to pay for peace of mind but it’s worth it for me… i like to be up to date in everything and when on the road, you can never have enough information 🙂
GPS is used by nearly a billion people worldwide for everything from farming and aviation to public safety.