Most new
cars come with a GPS installed, but I have an old car.
Back in 2012,
I bought a Tom-Tom GPS for my car, and it has served me well. Lately, the avatar that speaks directions has
been stuttering, so a replacement seemed prudent.
I would have preferred a Tom-Tom, but their prices were quite high. Instead, I found a Garmin Drive 53 on sale at Best Buy for under $100, and I purchased it online.
The Garmin
is unnecessarily complicated in selecting a destination address. With the Tom-Tom, I entered the city name,
the street name, and then the number, and was connected. With
the Garmin, I have to first enter a street number; next I enter the street name;
then it asks for the country (USA); next, the state; and finally, I have to
scroll down through a list to find the destination address. It seems like the input system for the
Garmin was designed by a committee of middle school children.
Once you are
finally past the hurdle of selecting a destination address, the Garmin works
fine. The display is bright, even on
sunny days. The voice directions are
distinct, and the visual directions are easy to follow.
I have seen
some wonders in my eighty-plus years: from telephones with operators to smartphones;
from computers the size of an automobile with punch card inputs to my desktop
that has a hard drive with gigabytes… But
I think the most awe-inspiring device is the little portable GPS, about the
size of a deck of playing cards, that is able, in real time, to direct me with
oral and visual directions to any address within Canada, the United States, and
Mexico.
Happy trails
the Ol’Buzzard
When we were in Italy in 2008, we paid extra to have a GPS (Magellan, I believe) in our rental car. WHAT A GODSEND!
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