How Many Of My Fellow POI Factory Members Still Download POIs?

We do have a cell phone but only take it with us when we go on trips just in case something goes wrong.
I use my Garmin always for on it I have Hotels, Truck stops, rest areas, GOOD restaurants( The last time we stopped at a McDonolds was to use the restroom), Crime scenes TourGuide, Historical markers TourGuide, Red Light cameras, etc.
I have over 200,000 POI's on my SD card which I do not have to pay for usage.

The RLC for sure!

Yes, that is the one I use. Unfortunately it is not actively maintained, but I have almost always been able to find a NPR station with it when on the road.

I'm still addicted to downloading POI files ... even though my wife is constantly asking me why since we now got more roll-over data than we can use from Verizon.

As to which ones ... well, it seems like I download any and all POI files maintained by Mahoney ... he and I seem to share the same interests ...

Yes I still do, and plan to continue even though I have a smartphone. To me a dedicated device with customized POIs works best, especially for longer road trips. Tend to go in spurts, lapse for awhile and then download all the updates to POI files since the last time, usually around the time that a map update comes out. Often I have to make comments (like I am doing now!) or update the files I maintain for several weeks to be able to get the RLC files. Also I get Rest areas, favorite restaurant and store chains, and offbeat attractions like aviation museums and boneyards, and others too. One of the reasons I still depend on the POI files is that it is a lot easier/safer while driving, to pick a category in Extra POIs on my Garmins than to enter and search on the name of a store or place.

I do periodically but perhaps the better question is how often do we upload them to the GPS? That I don't find the time to do very often.

I still do on occasion. I don't travel for work any longer, so I don't need the latest POI's.

Hardly ever

I download POIs for my travels like rest areas, I75, tourist points, and some of them for the area I am going to be travelling.

I do; I check the site at least a few times per week for updates.

Red Light/Speed Camera is weekly and I check on others for updates such as Rest Areas and a whole bunch of restaurants and shopping ones. Thank you to all the POI contributors for their time and effort.

Not weekly like I use to though. I download rlc, rest stops, stores, restaurants, etc. Most important is the Harley Davidson stores. The POIs installed on the new Harley BOOM GPS are so bad you will never find the stores. The file from here is very accurate. I have it setup with a 2 mile TourGuide.

a couple of times.

Yes

That's another "yes" as far as the POI files go. There are many that I don't use but there are some I love having.

...because I haven't found a good way to keep them up-to-date in my in-dash (Toyota Entune) system.

Just about every week!

Rest Areas most.

I do know that my "Offbeat Tourist Attractions" Poi file gets downloaded a lot each time I update the file!!

I find them most helpful

... despite the fact that (because of health reasons)I have little use for them.

Too many to name here but who knows what I might need. Tools, Redlight & Speed Cameras, omething to eat. Yes, I can use the phone but easier to use the Garmin most times while driving

Everything arrives via telepathy

Actually, I do download several POI files..

I check everyday for new or updated files from various categories. Currently between what I have created and what has been downloaded from this site there are over 500 GPX files loaded on my GPS. It would be very hard to narrow it down to just a few as helpful because when traveling I have at some point found that all of them have been helpful at one time or another.

Once a week especially red light and speed cameras

2597LMT

I still do but mainly ones that you don't get preloaded on GPSr's or Smart phones. Things like Starbucks or 76 stations or Best Buys are kind of not needed anymore since you can find those easily on the Phone or GPSr already. But I like the ones like National Monuments, Diners Drive ins and Dives, Offbeat tourist attractions, etc. Those are unique.

Don't use a smartphone. (Still have a flip phone)

I download and update poi's all the time.

Reading this thread I decided to go through and update my files where needed and get rid of a few I no longer need.

Every file maintainer sees a "Download Count" when accessing the file download page for the files they create. From these numbers, I can say that the files I maintain continue to be downloaded on a regular basis.

From my very small perspective, except for seasonal fluctuation, the number of downloads has not decreased significantly in the last 2 years or so.

YEP I still do and will continue to depend on this site.

Mostly used is Rest Stops.

I still download and use lots of them. All fast food restaurants, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Red light Cameras, Rest Areas, Walmart, Costco etc.
The biggest advantage I have is that they all show up on map and just touch the icon to go there.

Yes, most them should be available via built-in database or Foursquare but having them on nuvi map is the biggest advantage.

I just updated the McDonalds file with an input from soberbyker and I noticed that this file has been downloaded 61,419 times. I also have a number of other files that have been downloaded over 10,000 times.
The Rest Area file had been downloaded 203,698 times. Appears that a lot of users continue to download files from POI factory.

I also download POI's every now and then.

I check "My Favorite Files" each time that I visit. I also keep my red light and speed files up to date each week.

Thank you to all of the file maintainers!

resistance to change, I saw the Garmin commercial saying not to use a smartphone then the person fumbles it in the car....imho need to come up with a better reason to keep using the old way.

Maybe someday, they'll invent something that holds a smartphone in the car, maybe to the vents, or dash, or glass.

I recently changed banks from Wells Fargo to Bank of America. When I did I downloaded the BOA POI file here so I know where all the branch offices are when I'm out of town.

I check for refreshed POI files of interest regularly. Would love to see some more contributors for Canadian only businesses. Maybe when I retire I can find the time to contribute to some of those POI files.

VENT ... https://www.amazon.com/Koomus-Air-Vent-Universal-Smartphone/...

DASH ... https://www.igeeksblog.com/omniholder-in-car-iphone-smartpho...

GLASS ... http://www.kmart.com/insten-universal-car-suction-phone-hold...

Still down load Tim's and red light and school zones in the USA.

A smartphone can't download POIs.

I do update often

I download updates of my favorite POI files at least once a month, however I upload to GPS only before major trip (typically 4-6 months) since I tend to use my GPS only when going out of town on business trips.

Occasionally update before going on a trip but haven't in a while

I still download POIs every month or so.

I update the Red Light and Speed Camera, but not often enough. I drive in DC and MD where I think we have the highest concentration of cameras, when 100s more coming. I also have some aviation databases that interest me along with rest stops, camping areas, boat launches, etc.

Something that would really be popular here among the many players of Pokemon is a database of all the Pokestops. I'm not sure how that data can be acquired, but I'll bet there are plenty of nerds and high level (cheaters) players who have it already in some form.

I still download POIs every week.

Just try finding the next rest stop or Cracker Barrel restaurant or whatever along your route on a smart phone while driving. Actually, try finding it on your phone when riding as a passenger if it is 30 miles down the road. Finding the specific brand you want today can be tricky.

I actually can find the next Burger King while driving when I have the Burger King POI file loaded. At least I usually can. So I keep the files semi-current. I might not be in the mood for McDonalds this month, but if I am I at least have a reasonable chance of finding an upcoming one.

I only load POI files for establishments that I might want. I never load attraction/destination POI files. If I know I will be going someplace, I can find it on the GPS before I start the trip.

We take road trips as you might guess from my handle. Aside from the ones I maintain, I have quite a number of others contributed by our peers that I use regularly. Of those maybe 20-30% see updates over the course of a month and many of the others see updates once or twice a year. Aside from the regular camera updates, I typically find 3-4 updates a week. I particularly check in before departing on a trip to be sure I have the current crop. I also regularly browse the list of additions for the past week to see if someone has generated a new file that might interest me.

I refresh my POI's before every long trip.