SatNav - Screwing up your sense of Direction

craichoe

Anyone else find this.

I'm in Holland now, moved over recently and got a Satnav using Tomtom with the full Euro maps. Now don't get me wrong, it has bloody excellent coverage with POIs and everything. But its totally ruining my natural sense of direction. The battery died in it once and I didnt have a clue how to get home !!

So i recon,
Satnav for Holidays and non home towns.
Force yourself not to use it in your home town.

Anyone else have this experience ?

timmywex

you clearly have a bad sense of direction if you need it in your home town in the first place.

blastman

LOL Exactly, the only time you should need satnav is when you're on holiday or trying to find somewhere in an area you don't know. If you need it to get to work, you have bigger problems than losing your sense of direction!

yayamark

timmywex wrote: »

you clearly have a bad sense of direction if you need it in your home town in the first place.

im laughing cos i used it i killarney where i used to live for 20 years and it told me to turn down a st that i has never been a st during my life time. i nearly turned down only i would have mounted the footpath and killed about 5 people.:o

It makes u stupid i think it takes away your brain totally. you totally forget to look at signs, when and if it goes dead and ur without a charger ur LOST:eek:

galwaytt

or, the new Via Michelin one which thinks the way to the RDS is across the M50 at the N4, down the Quays, up Leinster Street and down - Baggot Street ? :rolleyes: - instead of M50 to Junc 14 to Stillorgan Dual carriageway and left to RDS.......

Actually, hold on, maybe it's not so dumb after all !:D :eek:

Seth Brundle

The RDS would not be on the left of the N11 (Stillorgan DC)!

galwaytt

...according to our recent trip - and Tom Tom - it is. Along Stillorgan DC to the bus depot, and turn right?? Or am I missing one link?

Either way, it's still not down the Quay's.......

craichoe

timmywex wrote: »

you clearly have a bad sense of direction if you need it in your home town in the first place.

Uggh ... did you read the post "Moved to Holland"

So Den Haag is my new home town.

I'd like to see you navigate the roads here, its mostly one way and you have to share parts of the road with Trams + Bicycles

Its definetly fun ! But you can't use the Irish Approach of "Its over in that direction" because you'll end up on a ring road or go off in the wrong direction as you get trapped on the one way system

Max_Damage

I'd take a road atlas any day over a SatNav.

Stephen

My Garmin GPS takes the most scenic of routes to get to Shannon Airport It tries to make me turn off the N7 and head across horrendous back roads that you'd be risking your life to do 50kph on in deepest darkest Clare rather than driving on the lovely primary road to Limerick.

I followed its directions to the airport once and it did get me there but it was bloody stressful and the road was not wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass for most of its length :eek:

craichoe

Max_Damage wrote: »

I'd take a road atlas any day over a SatNav.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=den+haag,+netherlands&ie=UTF8&ll=52.061462,4.37567&spn=0.009274,0.020084&t=h&z=16&om=1

These things make total sense on an atlas ..

ARGH ... I'M IN THE WRONG FRIKKING LANE AGAIN ... Oh well .. off to Rotterdam for me

Especially when all the road signs are in Dutch
Doorgaan, Let Op! and some other ones wouldn't be blindingly obvious to an irish person

peasant

A good satnav with good maps is great. Used it recently to travel back from Germany through Holland and the UK. While the route as such was simple enough and all motorway, the satnav announced route changes and the correct lane to take so well in advance that driving was pleasure. No longer did you have to peer at signs all the time, but you could fully concentrate on traffic. Found it very relaxing.


Also in Ireland I use it to get to remote spots with the camper. Pick a possible overnight spot on a lonely beach from the (paper) map, enter it into the satnav and off you go. No more constant consulting of the map in the maze of boreens that is the Irish countryside ..the satnav just takes you there. And if you don't like the look of one road (too narrow for the camper for example) you just take another one and the satnav will have an alternative route for you in seconds.

I'm very happy with it (mine's a route 66)

macshadow

I think satnav is the biz. When in an unfamilure place like a large foreign city where there is a language barrier it really comes in to it's own.
Route66 also,for sale if anyones interested:D

Seth Brundle

galwaytt wrote: »

M50 to Junc 14 to Stillorgan Dual carriageway and left to RDS.......

kbannon wrote: »

The RDS would not be on the left of the N11 (Stillorgan DC)!

galwaytt wrote: »

...according to our recent trip - and Tom Tom - it is. Along Stillorgan DC to the bus depot, and turn right?? Or am I missing one link?

You are mixing up left and right. Presumably, your first post meant turn at the bus depot. Turning left here would bring you towards Clonskeagh. Turning right would bring you towards the RDS.

TigerTim

SatNav is still cheaper than divorce. It has nearly come to that with SWMBO navigating a few times. Might as well have a map of Holland as a map of Ireland. Satnav was my best investment for domestic harmony:D:D:D.

T.

craichoe

TigerTim wrote: »

SatNav is still cheaper than divorce. It has nearly come to that with SWMBO navigating a few times. Might as well have a map of Holland as a map of Ireland. Satnav was my best investment for domestic harmony:D:D:D.

T.

Totally agree with this one .. The missus would try "helping" inevitably with me cracking saying "THATS A ONE WAY STREET .. JEEEEEEEESUS"

peasant

Stephen wrote: »

My Garmin GPS takes the most scenic of routes to get to Shannon Airport It tries to make me turn off the N7 and head across horrendous back roads that you'd be risking your life to do 50kph on in deepest darkest Clare rather than driving on the lovely primary road to Limerick.

I followed its directions to the airport once and it did get me there but it was bloody stressful and the road was not wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass for most of its length :eek:

You might want to set it to "fastest route" instead of "shortest route" and also set the correct mean speeds for all the different road types (if you can do that with the Garmin)

astrofool

craichoe wrote: »

Totally agree with this one .. The missus would try "helping" inevitably with me cracking saying "THATS A ONE WAY STREET .. JEEEEEEEESUS"

women + maps = fail