Well, as many of you know, Amy and I made the trip to Southern California this past weekend to attend her cousin's wedding and to be there for her Dad's back surgery. What you may not have known, is that the weekend was made a hell of a lot easier with the assistance on my new toy - The Magellan Roadmate 700.
I got my unit for a fairly reasonable price (free). But I have to tell you, this thing is a must for roadtrips. First, it calculates the best route for the trip with estimated times and mileage. It guides you on freeways with multiple off ramps and merges with a lot of ease. It even has numerous "points of interest" pre-loaded such as hotels, hospitals and restaurants.
A good example of how useful it was came into play Saturday night. We were going to a reception at Amy's Aunt's house. We plugged in the address, and were happily on our way. We got on the 405 with no issues, and we were told to get off at the Olympic/Pico Exit (it displays your next manuever at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, there was a sign that said the Olympic/Pico exit was closed. So we got off on the exit before it, and the Magellan was able to recalculate our route and led us straight in. It got us to and from the hospital with no issues and even got us out of LA with minimal issues. The only thing it didn't solve for us was LA traffic and I'm afraid there is no solution for that.
While these things are still pretty pricey, it's definitely something to look into for your next major roadtrip.
8 comments:
Sounds like a great purchase! I hate driving in LA. I have only done it twice but it freaks me out worse than the traffic here. Glad you both got back without incident.
hmm this sounds like a toy you would buy :)
Can I borrow it for my roadtrip next week? heheheheh
Amanda - Thanks. I don't really like driving there either. I'm an aggressively tentative driver (which boggles Amy), and don't do well in LA.
Teri - Let's talk. It's a definite possibility.
Even as the IT advocate that I am - I am just not sure why I'd put the money down for one of these. I've done alright so far, and getting lost now and then... well, whaddya gonna do.
BUT, I said the same thing about satellite radio. So there you have it.
Very neat new toy...
Perfect toy for us males who hate to stop and ask for directions...with this you will never get lost and have to do so. haha
Lora - Agreed. I said the same thing about TiVo and Satellite Radio. I have both now, and wouldn't give it up. The only reason I have one is a client gave it to me.
Manka - Exactly. Mapquesting may be a thing of the past. Last weekend I very well may have needed a binder full of Mapquest directions just to navigate around.
I love toys like this. Looks like I have a new item on my list for Santa to bring me.
Fred - By all means, put this on your list. Costco routinely runs sales on these, and they are getting into WalMart and Target. It's a way cool toy.
Post a Comment