Technobuddy

By Tom

August 11, 2007 12:42 AM | Link to this

Bill,

One word, TiVo.

There are other DVRs on the market, including those from the cable companies made by our hometown company, Scientific Atlanta (where I worked for 21 years), but TiVo has them all beat.

T.

By Bill

August 11, 2007 10:50 AM | Link to this

Hey Tom, you’re right as usual - I’d add Tivo - or DVRs at least - to the list.

By Nell Fernandez

August 12, 2007 8:35 AM | Link to this

Hey Bill, I read your column this morning and just had to share this: my husband and I spent a few weeks in France in July with a Hertz car and a GPS. The GPS was totally undependable—went off at inopportune moments, wouldn’t come back on, etc. When it worked, it was wonderful, but we had to keep the map handy for when it didn’t. Did we have a bad brand and are others better? If that’s the standard, we would never invest in one.

BTW, many thanks for your kind words about librarians last week. We appreciate it!

By Allen Facemire

August 12, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this

I have to agree…mostly. I find my cell phone essential but all I want is to make or receive a call. The address book is nice though but everything else is for the young.

And as others have suggested, my DVR (used to be TiVo but Direct TV HD now uses their own DVR system) has changed our TV life. We watch less TV but better quality.

And the jury is still out as far as GPS is concerned. I like the linearality of a map or the accuracy of Google Maps…but like you, if the GPS gets cheap enough…maybe!

By Bill

August 12, 2007 10:27 AM | Link to this

Hi Neil, I was glad to offer the kind words about librarians - they’ve saved my neck many times. We have some great ones in the reference department at the newspaper and - of course - in the public library system.

As far as using a GPS in France, I’m pretty much in the dark since I’ve never done that. I did do a Google search and found several references to problems, including a comment that I’ll paste below:

“In France, the National Geographic Institute doesn’t want to sell electronic maps suitable for GPS upload, and has only recently accepted to add the UTM/UPS positions to their 1:25000 trekking maps.”

So it sounds like things may eventually get better and that more accurate maps are now becoming available. But keep in mind that I’m just parroting what I’ve read (and as we’d agree, grin, the Web isn’t always right).

I’m just back from San Diego - it was quite a shock to come back to the heat after the 70 something degree days near the beach there and around Encinitas.

By Walker

August 12, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this

About GPS, two friends of mine used a TomTom ONE (can I name brands here?) that came with their rental car in Sicily last fall. They loved it.

Based on that recommendation, we bought a TomTom ONE for our five week cross country trip last Spring.

It was wonderful! I navigated with the help of the GPS as my partner drove. It had no reception problems except once among the office towers of San Francisco.

It was invaluable in major cities to negotiate the proper interstate exits. It helps us in metro-Atlanta, too.

And the accuracy was pretty amazing. It even successfully got us to the front door of a friend on a dirt street in Rosamond, CA.

The only thing we missed feature-wise is the text-to-speech for announcing turns with street names. That added feature would have gotten us through a few missteps. As it was, with one driving and the other paying attention to the GPS, we worked well as team.

If one of us was travelling alone, text-to-speech would almost be essential in order to keep eyes on the road rather than the GPS screen.

Although I want to upgrade to a GPS with text-to-speech, I am reluctant to pay the $100+ premium to get it. And I don’t care about other features like MP3 and video playback.

So, we vote that a GPS is a must-have.

By Bill

August 12, 2007 2:58 PM | Link to this

Hi Walker - first it’s fine to name names. In fact, it’s a good thing since that helps others shop.

I was especially interested in the Tom Tom since that’s the one I have been keeping my eye on in fact. It seems to have decent reviews and a price that is affordable. I agree though, it would be nice to have text to speech.

By Danney Pickard

August 12, 2007 5:16 PM | Link to this

Get yourself a GPS! Give it to her (but keep it in your car).Garmin C330 has really dropped in price. I bought one 7 -10 months ago then gave it to my son who works around Atl everyday. It has saved him miles of wandering around looking. I travel basically once per year to a Safety conference that moves from out West to East, to balance our member travel. This year I bought another C330 and when we left the Phoenix Airport I just typed in the Hotel address. First trip the wife & I have ever made with no fussing about who read the map wrong and why we are lost.

By Bill

August 12, 2007 6:54 PM | Link to this

Hey Danney, I probably will get a GPS before long — although the notion of giving it to her but keeping it in my car sounds good but wouldn’t really work.

Mary claims that she doesn’t need a GPS — she’s been a real estate agent for about 20 years and really does know her way around Atlanta.

But probably I can swing it anyway - I’ll use my best move, pity, and see what happens.

By doug bacon

August 12, 2007 7:22 PM | Link to this

I live in a one year old development about 30 miles north of Atlanta. None of my friends have been able to get their GPS to find our location. When a relative was in my car with her GPS looking for a long-established address in Columbus, its guidance had us driving in circles until I told her to shut the thing off. I concluded there are far better ways to spend my money than buying a GPS for land use (on water is another matter).

By jody

August 13, 2007 12:35 PM | Link to this

I love my Mac computer - I have always preferred the intuitive interface of Apple computers and the ease of operation. Everytime I have to help my daughter with Windows Vista, my Mac loyalty is reinforced.

By Kenneth Janowski

August 13, 2007 6:43 PM | Link to this

I have used a Garmin StreetPilot III GPS for several years and wouldn’t leave home without it. On a trip to the LA area this last weekend, I located a gas station near Burbank Airport so I could gas up the rental car, then had the GPS lead me to the airport. I drove through a residential area I would never have figured out using a paper map. With the GPS mounted at the left side of the dash, I could easily see every street coming up. The StreetPilot technology is getting a bit old but the GPS is still the most useful travel gadget ever made.

By Bill

August 13, 2007 8:20 PM | Link to this

I’m just back from San Diego and I got lost on purpose a couple of times, just to make the point that I need a GPS.

Like most of my plots it didn’t work. Instead my wife wondered outloud if I was getting senile. It’s hard to argue against that, smile.

By Tom

August 13, 2007 8:26 PM | Link to this

Doug, A one year old development is still too young to be in GPS units. It not well known but a company called NAVTEQ supplies the data for all major online mapping sites, software and GPS units. You can tell this by the “(c)NAVTEQ” somewhere on the map. I don’t know how long it takes for NAVTEQ to update its data, but I know first hand that it takes the online services up to two years to update their maps. It took from 2004 to 2006 to include my little 5-street development in online maps. (And yes, it was a long wait for pizza delivery operators to know where we are, and some drivers still get lost!) And my GPS unit still says I’m “off road” when I’m in front of my house. Many folks think that GPS units will automatically update themselves “from the satellite”. They don’t. All their data is in memory chips. You have to update them periodically with the new data by following the manufacturers instructions. In-dash units are expensive to update - as much as $500. So what’s the work around while you wait for all this technology to catch up to where you live? What I did was — I found out that the nearest road that was in the existing data was the road, Hill St., that the entrance to my subdivision ran off of. And I found out that, because all the online and GPS are based on NAVTEQ, that if you search for 899 Hill St in Google, Yahoo, GPS, etc. the location that it finds is the exact point where the entrance to the subdivision is. (It did not matter that the street sign at that intersection had 840 on it, all the map data knows is that Hill St. begins at 100 and ends at 1600 - for numbers in between, it just makes a wild guess). So I told everyone to enter 899 Hill St. into their MapQuest, Google, Yahoo or GPS and I gave them instructions from the entrance to my house. Because my GPS manufacturer has not issued an update yet, I still have to use 899 Hill Street as my address if I want to tell it to get me home from an unfamiliar location. Anyway, hope that all helps someone. GPS’s are great, but they can’t keep up with Atlanta’s development, you have to help them along.

Tom

By Rick

August 13, 2007 8:42 PM | Link to this

Come on Bill, you can afford GPS for $30 can’t you? Delorme Earthmate connects to your laptop without an internet connection,and does all the rest do and better! Instead of a 2 inch screen, you use your laptop screen, I wear glasses to read, but don’t need them for my GPS, hookup a pair of USB speakers(ears ain’t working as well either),velcro them in place, and add a DC to AC converter(got it at Fry’s about 3 years ago on Black Friday-free after rebate,knew someday I might need it) to save battery time for the McDonalds free WiFi. I bought my Earthmate on line for $60 and it wouldn’t download to my Sony laptop, a email to HQ and they sent the newest version for free. Then Fry’s put it on sale a couple of week’s ago for $30 with a rebate. Word of caution about Fry’s, best to deal with them on sale items only, they can usually be higher on other items to make up for the bargain hunters like me. I have been using my GPS to get back home(new girlfriend lives in Woodstock), and it has saved me a lot of time because of traffic, taking me back in the woods and over the dales. Learning a new Hood was never so easy, but another word of caution about GPS it may not always be correct, I have been taken down a dirt road that ended at a river, still showing it when through. But it is handy having a map on the screen trying to adjust a shortcut without reaching for the glovebox and pulling over and finding where you are first.

But even with all this said, just add one to your phone from Verzion for a few dollars and put your reading glasses on!

By Rick

August 13, 2007 8:42 PM | Link to this

Come on Bill, you can afford GPS for $30 can’t you? Delorme Earthmate connects to your laptop without an internet connection,and does all the rest do and better! Instead of a 2 inch screen, you use your laptop screen, I wear glasses to read, but don’t need them for my GPS, hookup a pair of USB speakers(ears ain’t working as well either),velcro them in place, and add a DC to AC converter(got it at Fry’s about 3 years ago on Black Friday-free after rebate,knew someday I might need it) to save battery time for the McDonalds free WiFi. I bought my Earthmate on line for $60 and it wouldn’t download to my Sony laptop, a email to HQ and they sent the newest version for free. Then Fry’s put it on sale a couple of week’s ago for $30 with a rebate. Word of caution about Fry’s, best to deal with them on sale items only, they can usually be higher on other items to make up for the bargain hunters like me. I have been using my GPS to get back home(new girlfriend lives in Woodstock), and it has saved me a lot of time because of traffic, taking me back in the woods and over the dales. Learning a new Hood was never so easy, but another word of caution about GPS it may not always be correct, I have been taken down a dirt road that ended at a river, still showing it when through. But it is handy having a map on the screen trying to adjust a shortcut without reaching for the glovebox and pulling over and finding where you are first.

But even with all this said, just add one to your phone from Verzion for a few dollars and put your reading glasses on!

By Bill

August 13, 2007 10:12 PM | Link to this

I have used the Earthmate, Rick, and - while it worked just fine - I am going to hold out for a self-contained GPS.

Part of the problem - and I mentioned this in an earlier note - is that it seemed unwieldy to use the laptop in the car (I have a small 2-seater car).

I know it’s a good unit. My brother-in-law owns an insurance agency and - when he insures a property in the country - he needs to have exact latitude and longitude coordinates down to the minutes and seconds. He uses the unit you describe and loves it.

So it’s just me - just a preference thing.

By Bob

August 14, 2007 12:13 AM | Link to this

I found a 340C for a good price on line and used it on a trup to Ill. It worked great and was worth the small amount I paid to save the problems with being lost and the savings in fuel that it provided. If you travel any it is a great investment.

It will save you many arguments with the wife or other.

By Tony

August 14, 2007 3:13 PM | Link to this

Hi Tom, I also want to put my vote in for Tivo. I can’t imagine how I watched TV before I had this. You can fast forward through commercials and stop action to do something else. I would sooner give up my cell phone than my Tivo

By @@

August 16, 2007 11:54 AM | Link to this

Text to speech is great, but in atlanta a courier doesn’t need it cause you sit at long lights so much, you really only need a map cause you get plenty of time to study it in detail with the way traffic just doesn’t move ever in fact traffic is really parking with benefits.

Philosophical softball: is the world a parking lot or a road or are they all mixed together in some ethereal GPS system in the sky?

Try not to shoot anyone while driving, my fine friends.