Thursday, January 10, 2008

Hi I'm Howdy and I'm a technology junkie.

I've always enjoyed technology, embraced technology in our lives. We've never strived to be cutting edge, never wanted to be the first on the block to acquire... my husband is much too practical for that. Our practice has always been to wait awhile - let those that 'gotta have it' help pay back the R&D costs and when the price comes down and the bugs have been worked out - we upgrade and acquire the new stuff too.

The past couple weeks have found us in one of those UPGRADE phases.

Remember I mentioned I had gotten a really nice Christmas present from my husband?

Well... it's a TomTom 720 GPS and I absolutely LOVE IT! Love it, Love it, LOVE IT!

Since I got my license at 15 in Nebraska I've lived or worked in 7 areas that I've needed to learn my way around. Our move here to PA would be just another location to learn - although I'll concede that the traffic congestion is a bit heavier (LOL) than I've had to deal with on a regular basis in western MA.

My husband - always the engineer - did his research after seeing a "201 Best Gifts" article in the December 2007 Consumers Reports (best $5.00 I've spent all year!). After his through evaluation he selected the TomTom and choose the one that has the capability to be upgraded with other PLUS features if we decide we need those in the future.

Someone in my family said that now I'll be able to find all the quilt shops in the area... but oh noooo - finding quilt shops was never the problem... I think my dear husband wanted to make sure I would find my way back home! LOL

How do I love it... let me count the ways! OK maybe just a couple of them...

It came with a program (TomTom Home) that I run on my computer and link with the TomTom Go and can operate it with my computer keyboard. Makes it much easier to make Itineraries up and add Favorites or new POI's (point of interest). Last week when my sister was here visiting - I created a new 'POI' category called QUILT SHOPS - then I added 17 PA quilt shops with their address and phone numbers. The next morning we headed off to check out a few of them. I had set up an 'Itinerary' to visit 4 shops and then head for home. We had a great time - no concerns about where we were or where we were going. We even took a detour to have lunch at a local eatery and it kept track of where we were and how to get to our next quilty location when we were finished. When we ran out of time after visiting just 3 of the shops... we told it to navigate to home and off we went.

I've still got a lot to learn about using it... but I'm having fun and it has added a whole new dimension to driving and finding your way around in a new area.

Did I say that I absolutely LOVE IT!?

Love it, Love it, LOVE IT!

Well I do!

4 comments:

smiledarlin said...

And Tom-Tom has such a soft and pleasant voice!! :)

It was cool to be able to drive out in the country without needing a map and know we would make it to our destination, you can kinda enjoy the scenery when you know he will tell you "turn left in 200 ft".

I really had a great time also.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this critique, Cheryl. I have been looking, (and yes, waiting for the price to go down on them and the kinks to get worked out) and had about settled on a Tom-Tom. I just don't know, yet, what features I want. (I'm so simple, I probably just need one. A "don't get lost" feature! LOL) I don't know about all the linking up with my computer, etc. You and your sister are much better, about sitting there and pushing buttons until it does what you want it to do, than I am... I have to poop or get off the pot, here soon, though, as I need to get it here and try it out before we head out traveling....

Your GPS gives new meaning to the phrase: What is on the program today? LOL

xxoo
neen

Howdy said...

Neen you will enjoy which ever model TomTom you get - I'm not sure if they all have the computer program. With that program you can operate your TT from the computer - which makes it easier to input information using the keyboard rather than a stylus. I found trying to use my finger to tap the controls or move the map was too cumbersome - I have a multi-purpose stylus/pen/mech pencil that works great. I especially like my big screen...

Anonymous said...

There's no stopping you NOW!
well there never was !
Bruce has a GPS and it keeps telling us to" take the next legal U Turn " after you go a few hundred feet ! I think she messed up big time, just like he does me , when he gives me directions LOL !

Sounds like your time with it .