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Benefits of a GPS
Personal GPS: Well Worth It By Zach Bowman, DriverSide Contributing Editor
The Garmin Nuvi series: a
brave new world.
The newest tech gadgets tend to fall into one of two categories: fun wants and blah needs. The ones that everyone wants to see for their birthday or as a Christmas gift are the ones that manage to bridge the gap between the two. Take the Apple iPhone. The reason Steve Job’s newest techno-wizardry is selling better than cotton candy at the circus is because the company managed to take the largely boring phone and turn it into something fun. The gadget is packed with all kinds of surprising innovations that make life in general more enjoyable. But that’s beside the point, except for fishing for one as a gift.
A total of 27 GPS Satellites orbit the earth. I recently located to a new city, and after spending more than a few hours doing my best impression of a lab rat bouncing off labyrinth walls, I realized I had a new need. If I ever wanted to arrive home in a timely manner again, I needed directions to my house from wherever I was at the time. I needed a GPS.
For a long time I’d scoffed at the sweater-vest crowd clicking in their destination on the dash as they whiled away the time listening to Kenny G in their car. Me, I was a pioneer. I blazed a swath across the land the way my ancestors did it - atlas sitting shotgun on the passenger seat, eyes set forth on the horizon. The romance started to wear off when the inset in my atlas refused to give me any useful information. You know, like which streets are one way and which aren’t. Let’s just say coming face-to-face with the front grille of a garbage truck is a life altering experience.
So I did what any enterprising young lad with a laptop would do. I Googled GPS units , and after a few solid hours sorting through reviews, I ended up with a Garmin Nuvi 255WT . According to the bountiful information on the Web, it was worth it to go for a larger screen (hence the “W” designation) and a feature that reads out street names as well as turns. I got the whole kit and caboodle for just under $300, including a windshield mount and power charger, and the bargain hunter in me felt pretty satisfied. Boundless directions and information at my fingertips for just $300? Game on!
Then the box arrived at my doorstep. It was tiny. As in, I could barely fit my hand inside. I just paid $300 for this? Really? I tried my best to reassure myself with clichés about good things in small packages, swallowed my doubt, unpacked the gizmo and stuck the little sucker to my windshield. After a quick loading screen I was asked to input my destination, starting with the state. From there, the Garmin asked for city and address, with the screen offering a few options to select from after I plugged in a few characters. Then—bam—instant directions, complete with drive times, speed limits for the current road and all kinds of res...