I'm sure I'm not the only one.....

[GrannyJen]

To have virtually rejected modern technology.

A big parcel arrived this morning. It contained "The AA road Atlas 2018" and a big wedge of OS maps.

I'm fed up with Sat-Navs taking me down the wrong roads and can't always rely on being able to access google street view so going back to a road Atlas to give me the "Big" picture.

I am also fed up with phone and I Pad batteries failing when I need them most or not being able to read directions on a flat screen when out walking so back to OS paper maps.

Not a complete rejection but more of a step back, and to be honest the feel of a paper map in my hands once more is a delight.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Tend to agree...

 

[Verity]

To have virtually rejected modern technology.

A big parcel arrived this morning. It contained "The AA road Atlas 2018" and a big wedge of OS maps.

I'm fed up with Sat-Navs taking me down the wrong roads and can't always rely on being able to access google street view so going back to a road Atlas to give me the "Big" picture.

I am also fed up with phone and I Pad batteries failing when I need them most or not being able to read directions on a flat screen when out walking so back to OS paper maps.

Not a complete rejection but more of a step back, and to be honest the feel of a paper map in my hands once more is a delight.

Wholeheartedly agree! My husband and son laugh at me, but I only feel comfortable on a journey with a map on my lap (well, when I'm riding shotgun, of course). Sat navs are ok for the last couple of miles when you've almost reached your destination and you are looking for the street and house, but we've got 3, and they're all odd in different ways. Since my husband updated the VW satnav, it refuses to let us use the A14, which is pretty much the only major road between where we are and where we need to be a lot of the time. Now, as a veteran of the A14 for some 18 years, I can see the satnav's point, but on those rare occasions when there isn't a foul-up, it still wants us to enjoy the delights of every Northamptonshire B road and to add about 3 hours to our journey. We ignore it.

A look at the proper map before you leave home, a pen and a piece of paper to jot down the junction numbers, and off you go.

On the Garmin in my little car, we wanted to take the car to Chips Away in Shrewsbury (less said about the reason the better) and it took us virtually to Ludlow and back just for laughs.

A map, GJ, that's what I like, a MAP!!!!!

 

[GillianC]

I always carry a map book and usually run off an AA routeplanner to take too because I just do not trust the satnav! The roads it wants to take me down near our house are ones that I would never use.
Agree with @Verity that it can be helpful for the last few miles although for some reason mine has stopped talking to me and is on silent. Better read the instructions to see how to turn the voice on again.

 

[Velma's Dad]

First time I ever got a car satnav, I tried it out on a trip up to my friend's house in north Norfolk one stormy winter's evening. It took me by a route I didn't usually use, but what the heck... until it led me to the south bank of the River Yare and profoundly instructed me to "Board Ferry".

The ferryman was comfortably installed in the pub on the north bank, on probably his third pint of Norfolk Wherry, and he took some pleading to come over for me.

 

[T6 CFO]

Each have a place depending on as ever numerous factors. Confidence in your satnav v confidence in your navigator or self.
Personally I’m a satnav man with the maps for a glance over and as backup.
Built in satnav in the Cali with backup of the phone with choices on that if required.
Getting the map book out would mean something’s gone wrong. It hasn’t yet.

Mike

 

[Meoncoast]

OS online maps are great value for a year subscription.
I use both sat nav and paper maps. Maps used to explore the area and sat nav to get from A to B. I do wonder how long before the skill of reading the land and the map will be lost.

 

[ArunAlec]

To have virtually rejected modern technology.

A big parcel arrived this morning. It contained "The AA road Atlas 2018" and a big wedge of OS maps.

I'm fed up with Sat-Navs taking me down the wrong roads and can't always rely on being able to access google street view so going back to a road Atlas to give me the "Big" picture.

I am also fed up with phone and I Pad batteries failing when I need them most or not being able to read directions on a flat screen when out walking so back to OS paper maps.

Not a complete rejection but more of a step back, and to be honest the feel of a paper map in my hands once more is a delight.

Bet the delivery driver was using a Sat Nav!
Have to agree with you but I must admit the GPS/map does come in handy when your lost in the woods.

 

[Hotel California]

Me also like to have a map witch don't require 12v to look at ....
For me it's comforting to now i have a paper map when abroad , i mostly use GPS just to cruise from city to city looking at a map on witch i point out destination . That way i can change plans during the ride.
Going from A to B using GPS when travelling in a Cali is not much fun , i like to wander arround.

 

[SimonB]

As a geographer and aerial photo interpreter, I love maps and have lots of them, plus aerial photos.
I took a long time to trust a SatNav, but I have one now that I generally have faith in. I update it regularly and it will find post codes that many other ones don't seem to have listed. It very quickly steers me around blockages and advises me how long I am going to be held up in a traffic jam. But best of all it has stopped arguments when the wrong road is taken.
I love the OS offer of access to all the OS maps for GB for £19.99 a year. I regularly make use of it in areas where perhaps paths and cycle routes have changed since the last printed map update. You can print out the parts of the map you might need and take them with you.

 

[sidepod]

Agree with the “big picture” thing.

The thing I don’t get is that Apple (insert smartphone manufacturer of choice) carry on as if we all have perfect access to to 4G everywhere we go at all times yet it’s simply not the case.

The tech is waaaaaay ahead of the infrastructure.

This is surely where CarPlay, fails as it’s SatNav function is only as good as the internet connection?

On the subject of road atlases, I can’t locate a European LAMINATED one. The paper versions just fail immediately.

I have a French Michelin laminated one.

 

[Rich20]

Having had two sat navs fail on me, resorting to the old paper map got me to the right place. Always take a map with me even if I now where I am going in case there is a detour.

 

[Whistler]

Was coming home from France last year heading towards the tunnel and blindly following the Sat-Nav. Only questioned it when we arrived at the Swiss border! Fortunately there was a place at the border that allows you to turn round and join the motorway going the other way.

When walking has to be with a paper (or laminated) map.

 

[WelshGas]

Wholeheartedly agree! My husband and son laugh at me, but I only feel comfortable on a journey with a map on my lap (well, when I'm riding shotgun, of course). Sat navs are ok for the last couple of miles when you've almost reached your destination and you are looking for the street and house, but we've got 3, and they're all odd in different ways. Since my husband updated the VW satnav, it refuses to let us use the A14, which is pretty much the only major road between where we are and where we need to be a lot of the time. Now, as a veteran of the A14 for some 18 years, I can see the satnav's point, but on those rare occasions when there isn't a foul-up, it still wants us to enjoy the delights of every Northamptonshire B road and to add about 3 hours to our journey. We ignore it.

A look at the proper map before you leave home, a pen and a piece of paper to jot down the junction numbers, and off you go.

On the Garmin in my little car, we wanted to take the car to Chips Away in Shrewsbury (less said about the reason the better) and it took us virtually to Ludlow and back just for laughs.

A map, GJ, that's what I like, a MAP!!!!!

I would suggest it’s not the fault of the SatNav but the settings you have altered in some way. I have no problems using the A14.

What I am astounded by is the number of people who have absolutely no sense of direction and no sense of the geography of their own country.

 

[BerndRos]

I would suggest it’s not the fault of the SatNav but the settings you have altered in some way. I have no problems using the A14.

What I am astounded by is the number of people who have absolutely no sense of direction and no sense of the geography of their own country.

Agreed.

When I set my sat nav I always have a quick look to see if it coincides with my view of where I want the vehicle to ‘head & end up’

 

[Verity]

I would suggest it’s not the fault of the SatNav but the settings you have altered in some way. I have no problems using the A14.

What I am astounded by is the number of people who have absolutely no sense of direction and no sense of the geography of their own country.

We've checked all the settings. It never did this before the upgrade. D'oh!

 

[Velma's Dad]

What I am astounded by is the number of people who have absolutely no sense of direction and no sense of the geography of their own country.

Well yes, isn't that why we use maps - or satnavs for that matter?

(I'm a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, but my sense of direction is still rubbish. And I'm pretty hazy about whatever it is that lies north of about Dunstable.)

 

[motacyclist]

I’d be divorced now if it wasn’t for sat navs ... Mrs M wasn’t the best navigator!

 

[GillianC]

I would suggest it’s not the fault of the SatNav but the settings you have altered in some way. I have no problems using the A14.

What I am astounded by is the number of people who have absolutely no sense of direction and no sense of the geography of their own country.

A few years as a sales rep out on the road during my 20s improved my sense of direction no end! No satnav a in those days just a road atlas and the sun!

 

[BerndRos]

I just completed a long long three week haul through Europe. From Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, UK. With a sense of direction & looking at the map book for a couple of minutes a day, I always knew exactly where I was and where I was headed, lots of specific points to visit & no errors or mistakes. This way I was able to rely on my sat nav and, tell it to ‘shush’ and correct as needed.

 

[SimonB]

One of the main useful aspects of a SatNav is to update you on the traffic situation ahead and to guide you around it, if possible. I have had numerous situations where a holdup quite a long way ahead has changed the route taken by the SatNav. In one case an accident on the M4 near Reading 60 miles ahead took us off the M25 and down the M3 to then join the M4 after the incident. What some of them do not do well is show the options between the routes which sometimes can be only a few minutes as Google maps does.
Paper maps are much nicer for local more detailed driving, but can lead to disagreements if the navigator makes an error.
But SatNavs don't sulk if you ignore their suggestions for the best route, then look smug if you were wrong.

 

[sidepod]

One of the main useful aspects of a SatNav is to update you on the traffic situation ahead and to guide you around it, if possible. I have had numerous situations where a holdup quite a long way ahead has changed the route taken by the SatNav. In one case an accident on the M4 near Reading 60 miles ahead took us off the M25 and down the M3 to then join the M4 after the incident. What some of them do not do well is show the options between the routes which sometimes can be only a few minutes as Google maps does.
Paper maps are much nicer for local more detailed driving, but can lead to disagreements if the navigator makes an error.
But SatNavs don't sulk if you ignore their suggestions for the best route, then look smug if you were wrong.

Well that largely depends on where it gets it’s intel from.

If it uses radio traffic info then it’s going to be , at best, an hour out of date.

Due to my £1k Alpine SatNav unit being , well, garbage, we always run google maps in tandem just for comedy value.

Usually a sizeable delta in ETA, google always better.

I believe google and TomTom use real time “other user” data to predict traffic.
In other words, if 50 users are stationary on your route then it’s a safe bet there’s a jam.

Rant over.

 

[larrylamb]

I believe google and TomTom use real time “other user” data to predict traffic.
In other words, if 50 users are stationary on your route then it’s a safe bet there’s a jam.

This in itself is a huge advantage over paper maps although each has it's own merits.

 

[SimonB]

When you sign up to TomTom it asks if you are prepared to share your data. If yes you get access to the traffic holdups. I think it monitors the movements of Vodafone users, as their SIM card is Vodafone, and can thus see where traffic is flowing slowly. On occasions where you are passing a queue on the opposite carriageway it is generally very accurate in predicting the tail end of their queue long before you get to it.

 

[Velma's Dad]

The higher-end satnavs (ie those with a SIM card) access blended traffic data feeds curated from a broad range of sources. Those include data from other satnav users, telematics in commercial vehicles, mobile phone 'big data', Highways Agency traffic cams, and so on. This is overlaid on historical data of route speeds at various times of day to calculate best route, ETA etc.

I've noticed that it's getting much more accurate/reliable recently, as SimonB says. A year or two ago, we found Google Maps gave most accurate traffic intel, but now it seems to be our TomTom.