On 9/17/2015 5:43 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 11:27:43 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Thu, 17 Sep 2015 06:15:39 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

I mostly use them to get good paper maps (remember those?) and I have
had one road service call in the last 20 years.

I feel I have gotten my money's worth over the years. Mostly tows, but also some paper maps just for pre-trip reviews. My GPS and phone are my drive-time navigation tools, but I like to look for alternatives to the main routes. Sometime I program my way-points based on the AAA info so my nav tools take me on the route I want to go

I have not embraced GPS/Nav yet. It is certainly not what I want on
vacation. Some of the most interesting things we have found were
because we were "lost". I prefer a paper map so we can get an overview
of where we are and look for things we might want to see. Google Earth
is the new technology we use the most. We are mostly old school using
travel books and paper maps.

Businesses change so much that if you don't buy the updates every
year, your nav is not going to be right that often. It is pretty
discouraging to drive to a place that is out of business.

That's not an issue with Google navigation on a smart phone. No updates needed. In fact, not only don't I have to worry about a business being out of business, I often don't even have to worry about them being closed for the day. For example, I just searched for a Grainger location in another state. Before even showing me the route, Google displayed the following message:

Your destination may be closed when you arrive.
Open today: 7:00AM - 5:00PM
Estimated arrival at 2:16AM

I'm guessing your paper maps can't do that. ;-)

Now, a major difference between Google Navigation and my GPS is that I can tell my GPS to avoid highways so that it will guide me on the scenic route, which I often like to do. I can't do that with Google (or at least I can't get it to do that) I plan to look for a smart phone app that has that feature. Once I have that app, I won't need my GPS anymore.

The problem with Google navigation is that it only works if you're in an
area with cellular data. No problem in metro areas, but a big problem in
more rural areas, especially if you're on the T-Mobile or Sprint
networks, but sometimes on Verizon or AT&T. too. Also, Google navigation
uses quite a lot of data.

I have the CoPilot app on my Android devices. I think it was $6 when I
bought it, now it's $10. You download maps onto your phone or tablet
(helps to have a phone with a MicroSD card since map files are large).

For $60, the cost of a 7" tablet and the app for the U.S. you have a
very nice GPS. And the $10 is per Google account so multiple devices
with the same Google account on them can use the app. They also have
maps for other countries. I bought the European maps for a trip to
Europe for a lot less than a GPS for Europe would have cost.

It lets you select non-freeways if you want.