[jsb5717]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'm not so sure about "can't have too much help"....

Imagine being on I-35N in Dallas/Fort Worth at rush hour, trailer in tow, bumper to bumper traffic and GARMIN says "exit right now and take the next left" while WAZE says, "exit right in 1 mile" and Google says, "exit left at the next exit, then turn left".....

WHO (what) DO YOU BELIEVE or do you just keep going north on I-35 to the next rest area to "sort it all out" ?????

Originally Posted by sourdough

^^^^This is SO right. You can get too much of a good thing, and all those electronic guidance systems want to go a different route. I've been going to Branson for decades and thought I knew my way around. Came in a back way from TX so let the nav in the Hummer bring us in; DW was on her phone using googlemaps as well. Came to an intersection somewhere on the back of Tablerock Lake and I wasn't sure where to go (we were already on one of those little backroad 2 lanes). Vehicle nav said one thing, googlemaps another. I said "we'll go with the nav in the truck - it's bigger". Well, it deviated a LOT from googlemaps and I ended up driving all around Tablerock to places I'd never been, including the "bass capital of the world" or something....WAY "out yonder" and out of the way. Finally ended up coming back into Branson through Branson West and it still was trying to find me out of the way roads to take..... Now I use the truck nav, smartphone, road atlas and print out maps and study them prior to leaving. Yep, IMO there is such a thing as too much of a good thing...

But at the end of the day you still have to pick one. When you're en route, like Danny's example, you flip a coin or draw a straw, but you still decide which one to trust. I've had both Google Maps and the Garmin send me on a wild goose chase, but for the most part they both work well. I guess a good paper map is the most reliable but you've got to pull over to take a look or have your co-pilot being ever-vigilant.

In my mind, one benefit of the electronic solutions is that they can be updated frequently...especially Google Maps since it's always online. The Garmin seems to have frequent updates...you just have to connect regularly to see.

For me, since the Garmin is RV specific, I've chosen to use it as my primary direction giver. If I know better I ignore its directions, but if I'm new to an area I might double check the overall route with Google Maps before taking off.

Bottom line...there's no perfect solution.