Has anyone used Google maps as an alternative to Sat Nav. I drove from the UK down to Les Deux Alpes in France and used Google maps to give me the route directions and then used Google Street View to see what the roads would look like where I was going. I have to admit that I found this to be better than Sat Nav for me as I was able to recognise the roads and the landmarks and use that for my navigation rather than relying on the Sat Nav knowing where it was. I found this particularly useful as there were several tunnels and avalanche shields that I had to pass through that would have cut off the GPS signal.
Has anyone else used this, if so what do you think. Also do you think that Google maps and in particular street view could be put onto a mobile device and really challenge the Sat Nav market.
Any thoughts?
I think one day it could. I've tried both side by side, which is a good test. The downsides are that you are having to download data as you drive which can use a lot of data and also be a problem if you go out of good signal area. However, I think that it caches maps it thinks it will need beforehand so it could be more of a problem if you go off route somehow.
The interactivity of Google maps is just fantastic though, when you are in a good signal area.
Many of the phone GPSs use Google Maps as their data source. Some off brand GPSs also use their data. I think it is great to have mapped your route on paper using Google and then let the GPS do it's job, knowing that you have a backup if it breaks. Be sure to have the return route mapped too!