Sat Nav Or A - Z

[nailit]

Is anyone here 'old school' when it comes to driving and getting directions?
Had to drive foodbank van yesterday to pick up several harvest festivals from local churches and schools. Not a problem until the last one which was some miles away and located in a very rural area which I was not familiar with. Had sat nav on board (ive never used one in my life) and was told only the postcode and that it was a Methodist church.
Put postcode in sat nav and followed directions...turn left, take 3rd exit at roundabout etc.
Sat nav eventually said ''You have arrived at your destination''. Looked out of the windows to see nothing but fields of cows. Not a building, let alone a church, in site. Spent nearly an hour driving through narrow country lanes, utterly lost, trying not only to find the church but trying to figure out where I was. Found it eventually when I saw a man walking his dogs and he gave me directions.

If I just had an old fashioned A-Z with an actual address I could have been there an hour earlier.
Anyone else prefer a proper address and map (and simply asking someone) over a sat nav?
Just curious.

[Baldric]

Sat Nav every time for me.

[THECORBYLOON]

Was the postcode correct? Did you input it correctly? Could you have input the address instead?

[BANANASPLITS]

Sat nav here ...so far always arrived in the place I put in

[Buenchico]

I was one of the first people in the country to try out a satnav (even before the emergency services got to use them) when I attended a press launch arranged by the RAC (which was the first organisation in the country to have them). However I've still never found the need to go out and buy one. I can look at a map and remember a sequence of directions (e.g. "left where the road forks", "second right onto Maybush Lane") for around twenty or so key waypoints, which is all I ever seem to need on a journey.

[wiltsman]

I have a Sat Nav built into my car, but I always take a road map with me me as well. Should I come across a road closure or similar, it's good to know I can get directions from a map. A map is also good to get a general idea of the surrounding area, better than a Sat Nav could do.

[douglas9401]

PoI, Community, Places of Worship, select from list, follow directions.

[nailit]

//Was the postcode correct? Did you input it correctly? Could you have input the address instead?//
Didn't have the address Corby, just the postcode. Turned out that I was in the right area, just not the right 'street' . Postcode appears to have been for a very small (rural) area. An A-Z would have got me there much quicker I think.

Not knocking sat nav technology, im just used to been given an actual address (which probably would have taken me there on a sat nav anyway)

[IJKLM]

I resisted satnavs for years, priding myself on my map-reading and navigation abilities.

Then I used Google maps on my phone, and have not used a map since.

It does the route planning, and takes into account traffic conditions.

And finds better routes than I used to, and I can use it when I'm driving...

I've used it in China (over a VPN), the USA, Mexico, Singapore, and throught Europe. All for free.

No contest, in my mind.

[CrapAtCryptics]

Its possible that the satnav hasnt been updated recently - on newer units there are 3-4 updates a year.

[nailit]

//I can look at a map and remember a sequence of directions (e.g. "left where the road forks", "second right onto Maybush Lane") for around twenty or so key waypoints, which is all I ever seem to need on a journey//
Same here Chris. 25 yrs ago, I used to drive a 7 1/2 wagon all around the midlands without the need of technology (a map and a tongue in my head to ask when I got near the destination was all I needed)
All this sat nav stuff just confuses me...especially when I end up in a field full of cows when I should be at a church...)

[nailit]

//Its possible that the satnav hasnt been updated recently - on newer units there are 3-4 updates a year//

That makes sense then. The sat nav is (how shall we say) not exactly a recent model!

[Prudie]

I don't have a sat nav and have no desire to get one, the times it would have helped me are minimal. I prefer to use a map and if desperate stop and ask someone!

[nailit]

//I prefer to use a map and if desperate stop and ask someone! //
So glad its not just me then ;-)

Been asked to stand in for a driver thats off next week and was a little hesitant after recent experience but will buy an A-Z and do it without some electronic voice directing me to a field full of cows...

[retrocop]

The Mem Sahib won't entertain Sat/Nav. I update her AA Road Atlas each year. Many a time in the dark we have ended in the middle of nowhere because,"she know's the way and looked in the map" If single manning behind the wheel you can't read a map on a motorway by pulling over. Give me Sat?Nav any day. I update when required each week or more (Tom Tom) and do not need to stop for directions. Sat/Nav tells me of any horrendous traffic queues in advance and offers alternative routes. Road Maps do not.

[Prudie]

Sometimes I think people like tech for tech's sake and nothing else :-)

[retrocop]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
When Mem sahib is driving long distances and "knows the way" I always take Mr Tom with me. Surprising how often it has to take over on route. :-)

[Tilly2]

I don't have Sat Nav but if I'm going somewhere different, I look on Google maps, find a route I like and write out the directions. I often have a look on the Street View as well to familiarise myself with the surroundings.

I don't go that far though and Google maps serves my purposes. I hate driving.

Where did you end up, Nails?

[Baldric]

I have a built in Sat Nav, if I need to diviate from the planned route due to a road closure it will automatically reprogram if I ignore the request to do a U-turn.

[retrocop]

Driving through the Glens and running low on Go- Juice. The Map doesn't tell you the nearest filling station. Sat/Nav does.

[sunny-dave]

Sat Nav is very good for 'the last mile', particularly in big cities or, conversely, the back of beyond with no road name signs. Milton Keynes would be impenetrable without one.

For the main part of any journey I always have a mental plan of my route (from a previous look at a map) and ignore the pratnav unless it offers a decent reason for changing my plans.