When is HOME not "home"?

Where do you keep your vehicle registration?

Do you keep a garage door opener in the vehicle to give the bad guys easy access to your home?

To answer your question, I set Home to be my driveway and lose no sleep because of the decision.

I kind of agree with you.

I agree with Craigw.

Home is not home when a Garmin owner doesn't get the concept that anyone in possession of the Garmin GPS receiver can just turn on the feature that shows the track log data and see where the blue lines converge.

My reg is in my wallet.
I don't have an automatic opening garage door.

And I'm sure my 2 German Shepherds would "welcome" any uninvited guests...so I set mine to my home!

What else would home be?

How can someone be so paranoid about someone breaking into and stealing their car and getting the GPS and access to the garage, but not be paranoid enough to take with them the GPS that is attracting the thieves in the first place? Take the GPS with you when you leave and you don't have to lie to yourself about where home is, and the thieves looking for cars with GPS receivers that they can follow to the home will leave you windows alone and break into a car with the GPS predominately displayed.

Arguing for a false home location is simply saying that one intends to attract thieves to break into their car and steal it and the GPS but then thinking you'll have some smug satisfaction that the thieves can't find the house. There are other ways they will find the house. Avoiding the theft in the first place is the right way to avoid the problem.

JUNKER!

that way the theives won't bother to think about stealing your wreck and going to your slum to steal what you've likely not got in the first place

is set to my local State Police headquarters. If my vehicle is stolen, I'll just give them a call and tell them to be on the lookout for it.

Its like those people that blur their license plate for their online pics. Its not like your name and address aren't searchable already. Just set home to home for convenience. If they get into your car/truck then there is a really good chance someone will figure out who you are and where you live with other things in your car if they really want to know.

When someone steals a car they are probably running from the cops,looking for some quick money or joyriding and not thinking about cleaning out someones house or garage. (not saying it doesn't happen) just probably not the top item on their mind at the time.

If there is nothing I am needing and if I can't find anything I can help someone with I love to read all the post.

This one is making my day. Love to read everyone's response to such simple suggestion.

Love it.

mgarledge,

I agree with you.. something so simple with so many choices to be found..

You might enjoy this writeup: http://www.snopes.com/crime/intent/gps.asp

So when a family member passes all the family should hire security guards for their houses if it is announced in the paper or you could have the paper hold the announcement until after the funeral.. But then no one would know to come to the funeral...

Sorry for this but I could not help myself.

I have plenty of things to worry about. This isn't one of them.

You really need GPS to remember your own home address? If you are worried you can always put it into Favorites instead of Home.

Only use for Home setting I see is when you are staying in place like hotel. Then it may be convenient to put hotel coordinates under Home option if you are driving to see other places and later going back to hotel. Otherwise there is no point of using Home at all.

I use it when we are in another town that I have not planed a route. When we are ready to go home I just hit home and it takes me there.

for the majority of people i do not think that it is necessary to set your home option. i think every one knows where they live any ways

Home is the place where I can leave on a 2 week trip and forget to close the back door but not worry.

No one's looking into my unwashed, dented, and partially rusting 1998 Honda Civic with 280000+ miles when all around my car are Mercedes and Infinitis, etc. Nice working in a hospital! Even if they do bother, The garage door opener's battery is shot, and the house alarm is always on.

There are so many ways for someone to find out where you live that it doesn't make any sense to try and hide it...

Stolen GPS is least of your worries. You will know right away it was stolen, so you can fortified your house before bad people will come.

What about your car? Somebody can follow you home! Shouldn't you park your car two blocks away from home and then carefully walk home? Checking if you are not being followed? Double backing at least three times, of course.

If you have to have home location set to home and are so afraid of theft then why you don't set PIN to GPS? Works for credit cards so it will be good for GPS as well.

Ita all a moot point, if its not your GPS, its your Reg Plate or your VIN number, or even other stuff you left somewhere in the vehicle.. old letters or bills in your visor or glove box. They also have access to your trunk which could include your workout gear and any gear/equipment that may be marked with who you are...

so shouldn't we worry about stuff that truly matters to YOU and your LOVED ones?

I'm like you. If they can get past my 2 85lb plus mutts (and I'm home), then they've got my S&M 40 caliber to contend with!

I ain't worried a bit.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Agree that the registration make it easy to find your home, but as we've all seen - criminal are generally stupid - why make it easier - I'm sure the city/town is good enough for most of us. I guess us Women are just extra cautious.

I would suggest that anyone who expects their car being broken into and the GPS stolen and so avoids putting in the correct home address but fails to take the GPS out of the car when they leave it is stupider than the criminals.

On a couple of occasions people have almost followed me home through a number of turns and intersections. Turns out it was purely a coincidence that they drove the same rather obscure route as me. But I was down to the last intersection where I would have driven to the nearest police station rather than continuing home.

I just change the name given to home as Bobbie's B&B.
I guess they could want to break into a Bed & Breakfast but I doubt it !

I tried disguising "home" and it was just too inconvenient for me. Nearly every time I'm away, I use the home button even though I know the way. That gives me traffic information and allows me to do impromptu detours without the issue of getting lost in the process.

Convenience is a big reason why I use the gps, even for local driving, but to each his own.

And - lets see if we can make it easier to get to. I am going to use my 2595 for an example.

We can all agree that the nice thing about setting a "Home" location is the fact that all one has to do to get going is to press Where To? > Go Home.

Here is how to get "Home" with only two more presses.

To use MrKenFL's example, create a Favorite/Saved Place by doing Where To? > Address > home street number > Done > home street > [select your city] > done > "i" to get to the "info" screen.

Press the three bars in the upper left corner and press Save. Enter Bobbies B&B as the name and press done. Press OK to get back to the "info" screen. Then, press the "back arrow" until you get to the screen where you can press "Saved".

Press "All Saved Places" and (assuming you are sitting at home) "Bobbies B&B" ought to be the first entry. Now press "Bobbies B&B" and then the "i" to get back to the "info" screen.

Now, when you press the three bars in the upper left corner, you will get a screen that will have "Edit" as an option. Press Edit > Categories. What should be in the top line is "Address,". Backspace to clear the line and then press the "&?%" symbol at the bottom to the right of the back arrow. Press the "!" symbol (maybe add other characters like B&B) and then press Done.

Now back up to where "All Saved Places" appear on the top line and you will see a new "Category" called "!" as the second entry. Pressing that "Category" gets you to "Bobbies B&B" for you to now press "Go"

So now you can get "Home" in 4 presses in a very straight-forward manner without actually designating an obvious "home" address.

Presses?—how 20th century.

I just say "Hey Karen," then say "Go Home."

What I was trying to do was provide a way to get "home" AND NOT HAVE "HOME" specified (as many people worry that specifying "Home" is a problem if the GPS were stolen.

Now if your voice command is such that you have not had to "set home address" using Where to? > [three bars] > Set Home Address, then how did you do it?

As do I. If my burglar alarm and dogs won't deter them, they deserve what they get!

I have both a garmin and a nav system. they both are set for home. IF someone gets into my home. they wont get out...

I love the replies-at least it is better than posting in the chit chat for weekly credits.
I have 3 attack cats. Well, they attack bugs and ants.

Setting AND using a PIN is the best idea/comment I have seen yet!!~!!~!!

Real good advice for all.

--This is pretty cool too!

...My cats do that as well-

Please explain how that keeps the blue track lines from pointing out where your home really is anyway. And if disabled they can be enabled in 4 presses or less (and track logs provide other utility making hiding them an inconvenience).

Why? Setting a pin and leaving the GPS in the car doesn't keep your window from being broken at all. And if the crook is just doing a snatch and grab they will get away with the GPs and only know that it is "locked" later. And if they were planning on taking the car and go to your home they likely will find some form of address such as registration or a piece of mail and go there anyway. I offer you this idea as an alternative: Don't attract thieves in the first place. Take the GPS with you when you leave the car.

Well on my 255W, I frequently erased the blue track line. As soon as you have more than one or two, they are almost useless anyhow, so erasing was the only practical way to manage the one I might be interested it.

On my NUVI 50, it seems they cannot be erased. So I have this jumble of indecipherable (i.e. useless) blue lines. Of course they do a really good job of highlighting my home.

@Frovingslosh, obviously I can not. For newer models with the "Where I've Been" app, this would be a way to determine where the device usually winds up.

However, I never implied that this was a way to keep a knowledgeable thief from determining where one lives after breaking in to a vehicle. As has been pointed out, there should be many pieces of paper in the glove box that will give the address of the vehicle owner.

I was just trying to provide an alternative to those who are reluctant to enter their "Home" address - making it as efficient as possible.

Note that the technique I offered has uses for other situations where one wants a "Favorite/Saved Place" to float to the top of the listing (and appear just under "All Saved Places"

Set the home button for the middle of one at the other end of the state from where you actually live. Enter your real address in saved places and name it "Department of Corrections".

But then there's the suction cup mounting disk...

In all of the 40 plus posts in this thread, no one has mentioned the fact that it does no good to "take the GPS with you when you leave the vehicle" (a good suggestion, as offered by "FrovingsLosh" below)...

... when the attached disk does give the indication that a GPS is/was being, or has been used.

My suggestion is to throw a old baseball type cap over the disk, having the flat bill of the cap hide it... thus also reducing the possibility of having your vehicle broken into when the GPS isn't there.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

.... when my homelink is pre-programmed for my garage door. Incidentally the rego and insurance copies in each car have the addresses blacked out.

PIN lock is a great idea except I do not see it avaiable on my newer Garmin...

I leave "home" as my home.

I eliminate the worry about someone breaking into my car to view my GPS favorites and then track down my house by removing the GPS when I leave.

Can't you also password protect your GPSr?

I don't think people who break into cars are looking for your home address. Maybe the cities you live in have rampant crime, with every thief plotting against the honest citizen. If so, time for you to move.

My experience with someone breaking into my car is that they steal CDs, loose change, or it's just plain vandalism. I once had a side window broken for a measly $2+ dollars in change left in a cup holder. The center console and glove box were not even disturbed.

Yes, I don't doubt they would take the GPS if it was in plain sight. But I think you are giving these "people" to much brain credit that they go around looking for suction cup marks on the windshield.

Gladly, I don't seem to be as paranoid as this thread suggests some of you are. Life is tough enough with out this added paranoia.

That is undoubtedly true for most. But there are some smarter criminals out there and they tend to get caught/detected far less often. For example some guy at valet parking or the car shop could take a quick look at your GPS screen and you would never have a clue.

I just don’t see why you would ever label your house as home. If you cannot find your way the last mile, you must be even dumber than the criminals. If you position “home” a block or two away, the GPS still works normally. When you are further away, going “home” stills chooses the route and gives the estimated time and distance. Why tell a potential thief where you live when it takes no effect not to.