Has anybody ever converted their family members or friends to use a GPS completely and forget about maps/printing directions??

My wife still likes to print out maps before she leaves. I am pretty much fully trusting my GPS now.

As several current threads note, it is always wise to have a backup plan in case the GPS fails or the routing turns out to be inaccurate.

Any time I take an unfamiliar route, I verify the GPS route with Google Maps and/or Mapquest. I also carry a paper atlas.

as a backup to my Garmin Nuvis. i have OnStar in my car.

i never print out google maps. HP ink is way too expensive for that.

I have a map for backup purpose, but the GPS gets the job done most of the time, with that said my dad still insist that all I need is a regular map.

My backup is named Bubba. He's 6'3" and weighs 240.

I never use printed maps any more. But when we travel, my wife brings the atlas and printed maps. Think of your Mom as a backup system. Backups are a good thing to have when traveling. If you want to wake her up, utilize the POI features. "Time for lunch! Let's see what's close by." Can't do that on-the-fly with a map.

We already have three pages on this subject here:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11556

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My wife thought it was a silly toy till one day I loaded the Hobby Lobby POI and voice announcing "Hobby Lobby Ahead" and set it as a tourguide before we went to town. Now she thinks it is handy.
But be careful about setting up too many tourguides it could get annoying.

And that's when it takes "forever" to acquire a satellite. How many times have you started out, say from a hotel (where I'm at a lot), to go somewhere and the thing just won't acquire the satellites? You could end up not even knowing which way to turn out of the driveway!

So just in case that could happen to me (which it actually does a lot), I check the route before going out the door with one of the mapping apps. At least then I know if I should start out right or left, and then I count on getting a satellite fix before I get to my destination!

One friend converted to GPS but I bet she has a map in the car.

Personally, I like to open a map and study it when I'm taking the "scenic route", the more detailed the better.

Hi, I take my garmin c550 every where ever i go.
I drive for living and the gps has allowed me to consentrate on the road more,rather then pulling over and looking in a map book. Every time there was a family outing at a park or house my parents never been to, I would have to drive. I took some time to teach my parents on how to use the gps, and it has made my life so much easier. Now every time we go out my parents will meet us at the location with ease.YEEEEAAAAA...

i take my gps when i skydive but i dont take a map lol

after running out of power (i didn't have the car charger with me) i used the pay service navigation app in my cellphone. driving was of course awkward using the phone one-handed (no dash mount) while trying to read the stamp-sized display, but it got me where i needed to go. but i've never left the charger behind since.

as far as other family members are concerned, those that have a gps found it on their own.

Now and then my teens want me to drive them to the home of a new friend. I ask my daughters where does this friend live? "Near the high school" is the reply. I used to try and get directions from parents but even they would send me on wildly long rides. Now I just ask for the address, pop it in the GPS and go.

BTW: I still keep a paper road atlas. There is still nothing better for getting the "big picture" when planning a longer trip.

Sound like you've tried the gamut.

Perhaps you should tell her that it's not environmentally friendly!

Fred

This could go long way towards winning your Mom over. "Hey Mom, ya hungry? Where's the nearest Cracker Barrel?..."

On the rare occasion I really "go bush" (in Australia) there is a digital mapset on my laptop that I had before I went to my nuvi that I take for emergency reference. Some of the "roads" owned by local governments have not seen traffic since the days of horses - but are still "roads" so the nuvi knows about them - except I do not have a horse....

But paper - never - save a tree!

And I have converted at least one or two family members to GPS.

We already have three pages on this subject here:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11556

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I find it foolish to still be printing directions.

Directions provide barely enough information.
If you make a wrong turn in a city like NYC that has lots of "one-way's", the mapquest or google maps directions you printed for your trip won't help you with that.
Street maps and atlases are good to have however, but it was too late to buy any from Amazon for our trip.

My "backup" only consists of my credit card and my cell phone.
Plan 1: stop at a local Walgreens/CVS/Rite-Aid or some other store that sells local maps only if there's any problem with the GPS.
Plan 2: Activate my cell phone(LG voyager) navigation.
Plan 3: Ask Bubba.

BobDee,
What atlas do you have/recommend?
I'm looking at that.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0528942565/ref=s9_subs_gw_s...

A few years ago I demonstrated my Street Pilot III to a friend and within a couple of weeks he had his own, and after that I demonstrated my 2610 to another friend and he now owns a 2610 and a 750.