hondated wrote:Every time I think about splashing out to get a cycle navigation computer I come on here seeking advice and after scrawling through many previous threads on the subject I decide to forget the whole idea. There just seem to be so many difficulties still with them when it comes to loading up maps and battery life that it makes the cheaper paper option a far better method.
It saves me plenty of money to waste on other things but I must admit it is very frustrating.
To an extent I also feel like that about anything even remotely tech'y, in my group of friends I was the last to get a Smartphone, the last to get a home PC, the last to get Broadband and one of the last to get a GPS for my car let alone for my bike! I normally spend so long a pondering "shall I shan't I" that the item I was considering has been replaced and I have to start the pondering process all over again! In the end I normally succumb and end up getting something, often accompanied by groans of "finallyyyyyy" from my friends. Most of these purchases have proved useful but none are perfect and yes they do have their limitations. I dare say we can all say something negative about most things we own, a negative which could potentially deter someone especially if they were still very much at the unsure stage, I confess in my case that can easily translate to
so unsure I'm almost relieved when I see these negatives, as I then can use that as an excuse to continue merrily a pondering!
For me the appeal of the my bicycle GPS was far different to may car GPS, with the latter it is far more about just reaching the destination without getting lost, with my bicycle GPS it's far more about the journey. It was this draw of riding new routes which outweighed my normal "bah humbug, I've ridden all these years without one and so I don't need one now" thoughts that I normally apply when it comes to embracing change, I like it far more than I thought I would and like it far more than I thought I'd admit to! Even if like my smartphone, laptop and car GPS, as much as I have come to enjoy them they all do drive me up the wall on occasion. In conclusion I am pleased I have one, although I still recommend a back up if exploring new routes for the odd occasion it's let's you down; but when it works as it should do, which it does for most of the time, it is I have to say very impressive.
Paul Smith.