I'm breaking up with you. It's been a fun ride really. But already there are problems in our relationship. I've only been with you a few months and already you have let me down. You consistently waste my time by sending me in the wrong direction and harass me when I don't go the way you want me to go. Do you remember the time I asked you to take me to that Township Rd and you insisted that it didn't exist? Well it DOES exist and has for at least 15 years. I know this because my new 'thang' Google App for phone showed me how to get there in 10 seconds. I think you just didn't want to go. Now I know I could easily pay $69 to update your attitude but after only a few months I think that paying you for an attitude adjustment is just another way for you to drain our already broken relationship. I don't think it's fair to ask me to do that as I already paid big time to be with you in the first place. I thought since I got the high maintenance model I was getting the top of the line in companionship. Not so. You have yelled at me repeatedly to the point I think you suffer from turrets and when I make a wrong turn you insist I go YOUR way to fix it. What's wrong with MY way huh?
So I'm sorry my dear Garmin, but things just aren't working out. As much as I hate to say it, you just don't cut it. It hurts me more than it hurts you, I will really miss our friend the mortician and his friend the elf.
Sincerely, Your lost Realtor

Go to Costco and buy a Magellan Road Mate 1340. They are only $99 and do route optimization with up to like 20 stops. I like it so much I bought 2 of them.

I love my garmin and it a lesser model, 200w I think. I only update every other year or so. If I not mistakin the Garmins are top rated too in most tests. I never used the sound, I listen to music so sometimes I miss a turn but they all adjust to wherever your at. Try something else I suppose, good luck.

Whatever you do, don't buy a Magellan. You'll be begging your Garmin to take you back.

My Magellan tried to route me through a packed childrens' park on Saturday. There wasn't a road there. And, it seems that my Magellan thinks three left turns is more efficient than a right turn.

The first day I got the Magellan I wanted to test the accuracy, so I used it for a drive from Buffalo to Harrisburg. It wanted to route me through Cleveland and Pittsburgh using the fastest time setting. The thing is pure garbage. Stick with the Garmin.

I use the verizon Gps on my Blackberry. It's awesome and it updates automatically plus it has real time traffic notification also. You can use the phone while its on and it will verbally notify you while talking on the phone or checking your email.

My Garmin suits me fine....Jill gets a bit b*tchy, but I don't blame her....I work her pretty hard..

My Garmin is great as well. Sometimes, maybe 1 in a 100 is does not find it but as somebody mentioned, the google maps on iphone will locate it.

I swore off Magellan a long time ago and will never look back. Especially the roadmate series. I have the mygig radio in my car and its decent , but it has its quirks. If I wasnt using the mygig I would definitely be using a Garmin. Try calling Magellans customer service and you will stay away from them forever.

I have been using MAP 1.0. Shows streets, does not talk back, and I can fold it up and put it out of my way when not needed.

What's a map? Lol.

Mad- Thanks, I, too had to sever this relationship!! Glad you found a better partner for your trips.

I've had the Magellan 6000T for going on four years, never updated. My biggest issue with it is the start up time when you turn the sucker on. Other than that, no issues. It is also a sturdy one, I've dropped it a few times and it still works like a charm.

We've done several long trips on it to West Virginia, Delaware, and Maine with no problems. I can't trash talk it. I bought my sister one for her birthday, too. Just a newer model.....

Yeah...Garmin has it's issues. I talk back to it, makes for great entertainment most times. But this past weekend when it took me straight through downtown DC and through 2 of the biggest circles it almost got chucked out the window. But..I have to say...it has been with me through thick and thin and taught me that I simply should know in general where I'm going.

I have a Garmin and really don’t know how I got along without it for so long. I don’t use the audible as I find it somewhat annoying and distracting but love the mapping.

I have a Garmin, and my map book hardly ever comes out anymore. True, it sends me down dead-end streets and seasonal roads in the dead of winter, so it's not foolproof. It has sometimes told me a property is on the opposite side of the street from where it actually is, or in rural areas it has been known to be off a mile or two. You still have to have your brain activated.

I change the settings from "fastest time" to "shortest distance" especially if I'm not in a hurry. That has lead me to discover routes I never before knew existed. It has even sometimes told me to turn in goofy places where a better turn is coming right up.

But overall, it has been a tremendous addition to my arsenal of tools.

yup... Im a map reader too...I toss it in the back seat when Im not using it...thieves could care less...and upgrades are in my budget...and Ive been doing this soooo....long...you would have to blindfold me and spin me in circles to get me lost...or the very least fall down...LOL

weeeee....kerplop....brush,brush me off....that was fun....

Similarly, I use maps.google.com and its even better now that it includes "take the 2nd left," or whatever, on it's directions.

When I'm done, I save the first page that has the total miles on it and file it for my tax preparation.

I have a Tom Tom and he rarely steers me astray. Tom does get a brain cramp on finding roads that I know that have been there for 10 years, but Tom cannot seem to find. We have been together for a couple years, and I should update him. Cannot decide if I should update or just find someone new.

I dusted off the old map book the other day to make my way to an mls upgrade training and had a thought about the chaos that could arise from raising a generation who don't know how to read a map. How the bleep are they going to get anywhere with out the gps. I know people that could not find the grocery store without the gps. These are the same ones that can't read a analog clock, or never learned to tie their shoes, or work a clutch.

We are one big "Electomagnetic Pulse" away for total mayhem.

You forgot to add the group who can not do math without a calculator.

I do not say that I do not use and much appreciate all the tech. (How many remember when you got a magazine each week with one photo and a few lines about each listing? Then by the end of the week it looked like it was used to train a dog.) But, it would be interesting to know just how bad off many if not most would be if the worst happened.

EMP.....I saw that on 24.

I love my Garmin, although I share the frustration with Township roads and such. You might want to be sure you have the latest map update, it seems to get much better every year.

I had a Tom Tom for a week and found it much worse...

Is this guy up for the Darwin Award or what???

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/151282

Map 1.0 works for me!

I looked high and low for a new road atlas for our recent trip to Michigan. A friend had offered me her garmin (Which I took) but hubby was stubborn and wanted an old fashioned atlas.

Now, I do have a LOCAL street atlas of 9 counties in my area - it's AWESOME and I use it ALLLLLLL the time. I love love love it. I have no need for a garmin for my local driving.

The best argument I had for the garmin on the trip was the ability to find restaurants. So hubby consented to having it on but ONLY if the audio was turned off.

I don't like reading maps and directions while I'm in a strange area so while I was driving, I used the garmin; hubby drove - he used his maps and papers. We were both happy.

Until. Kids wanted Panera bread. So I told hubby garmin would find it for us.

Well after driving aroudn the same circle multiple times he said to shut the darn thing off. We were not happy campers. I was embarrassed, cause here it failed in the main thing I used to brag about....

The best part for my hubby was that HE found the Panera Bread, and it was NOWHERE near where the Garmin said it would be.

Needless to say, owning a garmin is probably not in our immediate future....but I was surprised to see a lot of local stores phasing out maps and atlas selections.

Sounds like you need to try a new gps with more recent updates because the gps in my car works great. I would take a gps over anything on paper any day. I type something in and I dont even need to take my eyes off the road. I can listen to turn by turn directions. My gps routed me off of a freeway yesterday because of the accident that caused a huge traffic jam a few miles up. I don't see an atlas being able to do that.

I have a internal compass...LOL...

Nope - for my local travels, I do not need a GPS - I know my way around fairly well (this is all Hicksville Country Road country.) I know more "back ways" and "short cuts" than a lot of folks. Some ways HAVE no back ways or short cuts.

I have had customers be lost due to lost signals, others have had the same issue as the OP w/ roads not being recognized...and if I'm in a place where I don't know where the he** I am, chances are it's the boonies where there is no signal of any kind. LOL

My atlas never loses signal, always has ALL the roads on it, including the "name" as well as the township road number....because some country junctions are missing the street signs, cause some folk take 'em as souvenirs...but leave the little white directional signs that say TR123 on them...

I only want the GPS system for when I am traveling out of my area, which is rare (once or twice a year maybe.)

If a gps is losing signal then its broken. Gps use satellites so you cannot lose a signal unless you are underground. I embrace technology, and the people who don't usually cant or unwilling to understand it.

Btw my radio found Panera without a problem Broccoli cheese in a bread bowl was delicious.

Satellites never lose their signal??? Sure they do, I am living proof that they do. I have to use satellite as my IPS if I want anything faster than dial-up. I constantly lose my signal with the satellite, that may be because of weather conditions or the dish not being seated correctly or the uplink center itself being down.

Further, there are areas of my county which are not geo-coded, not sure why, so GPS wouldn't do me a bit of good. If you can't get it to map by Google or MapQuest (isn't that the new Bing?), you're not going to get GPS to work. Yep, maps are good to have.

I get the two for special...broccoli cheese soup with a greek salad...but around here...Paneras is known by St Louis Bread Company...it originated here...and goes by the original name...good stuff...

You know, I detect a fair amount of disdain in your post. There is no need for that, and there is no need to assume someone "is unwilling to understand technology" because someone chooses to use something that has proven to be more reliable more often.

More than once I have had customers call me on their way to my office because their GPS "lost signal" or had them going to the wrong place or did not recognize the address.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using maps like I do for my local needs. Nothing. Doesn't mean I'm a technofailure.

Maps work no matter what the weather, they work no matter how the stars are positioned, they work if the car runs out of gas and if the battery dies simultaneously . Maps work *all the time.* Even in areas that are NOT geocoded, or not geocoded correctly.

Maps help me if I need to find something that I know the general area but not the exact location. I can usually find what I want on my LARGE MAP quicker than I can scrolling around on a little 4 inch screen.

Technology is great - but I embrace whatever is most practical for me in my area. No need to be snide.

My hubby is originally from St. Louis. I love going there to visit. The Zoo is beyond totally awesome.

As I said in my prior post. MAP 1.0 works well for me.
I am not a Ludite but the Map providers are ahead of the GPS providers at this point as far as reality is concerned.

My only complaint with the GPS I use is that sometimes it wants me to drive down an alley when there is a perfectly good street half a block away. I have it set at shortest distance.

I was in France a few weeks ago and rented a car with a built in GPS. The systems are updated 24 hours a day and show road construction and even show where there are traffic jams or accidents, then offer alternative routes. Now, if I could only read French...