easy to use sat nav for parents

JJayoo · 21-12-2010 07:09PM #1

Hiya guys

I am just wondering if ye could point me in the right direction. I want to pick up a sat nav for my parents. They have just about learnt how to send txs:rolleyes: so it has to be very simple to use. Something that does the basics well. Argos has some good deals at the moment, but I don't want to get one thats hard to set up.

Thank you for any info

x in the city · 21-12-2010 07:17PM

if your mom is anything like my mom forget all about it..

id say they would cause more harm than anything else....

5uspect · 21-12-2010 07:19PM

I got my parents a Garmin a few years ago when they went to Oz and NZ. They were able to handle it fine for the most part.

One issue that came up was that my mother somehow managed to change the navigation mode from car to pedestrian which made them think they had "knocked it off" and it was broken. Somehow the older generation are convinced that there is a button on every device whose only purpose is to **** it up.

Fortunately I have a similar model with the same UI so it becomes easier to provide over the phone tech support. So if you have a GPS yourself get them the same one.

That said the conservation usually goes like this:

Me: Okay, do you see a button with Menu written on it?
Mother: Yes.
Me: Okay press it.
Mother: Okay
Me: Now do you see the large magnifying glass?
Mother: [Silence]
Me: What do you see?
Mother: [Silence]
Mother: Wait I've knocked it off.
Me: What do you see?
Mother: Menu

And repeat...

JJayoo · 21-12-2010 07:36PM

lol
Surely some company would see a market for simple to use satnavs/phones/laptops. My parents are a disaster when it comes to this stuff

Eric Cartman · 21-12-2010 07:39PM

JJayoo wrote: »

lol
Surely some company would see a market for simple to use satnavs/phones/laptops. My parents are a disaster when it comes to this stuff

if somebody cant use a garmin theres no hope, the only way it could be simpler is if it came boxed with a midget to type things in for you

Berty · 21-12-2010 07:39PM

Just buy them a nice cheap Tom Tom which are always on special offer. Ensure you get an up to date map and/or voucher for download from Tom Tom. Install it for them and do the computer stuff for them ALWAYS.

They are easy to use. The main screen says "Navigate to". Click City Centre and type in the place you are going or for street navigation Click Address, then City Centre, then street name. It will then try to confuse you and ask what building number. If you ignore that it will ask you what junction you want on that street. Once you click "any" it will direct you towards it.

When my parents got one I had to go to the trouble of ensuring the screen went to the map/directions within 10 seconds because they would just stare at the big map and say

"I cant read that".
"Click the screen"
"What again?"
"Just click the screen".
"I have"
"Now what do you see"
"The map again"
"You clicked it twice"
"Click it twice"
"NO!!, you probably did"
"I don't know what you mean"
"I don't mean anything"
"Just click the screen again"
"*Sigh"
"Okay it says it will take me two hours to get to O'Connell Street but I only live 20 minutes away"
"What O'Connell Street did you say?"
"I don't know"

Later find out they selected Dublin or something or other instead of Limerick.

Had I not been there I'm sure they would have driven to Dublin and got very annoyed. :mad:

To be fair my mother couldnt answer a phone around the year 2000 and now she is texting and googling things. :rolleyes:

5uspect · 21-12-2010 07:40PM

The thing is, most companies figure that their UIs are idiot proof enough. They forget that most of our parents are simply not used to thinking in terms of menus like the rest of us.

mayo.mick · 21-12-2010 07:41PM

I find tomtom sat nav's very simple to use:)

Eric Cartman · 21-12-2010 07:43PM

5uspect wrote: »

The thing is, most companies figure that their UIs are idiot proof enough. They forget that most of our parents are simply not used to thinking in terms of menus like the rest of us.

my mother doesnt seem to be thinking in terms of anything , she has an iphone, ipod touch, garmin , ipad and a bunch of other 'cool' things that tool in the irish times told her to buy , not a clue how to use any of them and ive given up trying to show her

bmw535d · 21-12-2010 08:04PM

Eric Cartman wrote: »

my mother doesnt seem to be thinking in terms of anything , she has an iphone, ipod touch, garmin , ipad and a bunch of other 'cool' things that tool in the irish times told her to buy , not a clue how to use any of them and ive given up trying to show her

nab them off her, say theres something wrong with them and you will fix them, YOINK:D

trad · 21-12-2010 08:07PM

Buy them a map

snowman707 · 21-12-2010 09:29PM

5uspect wrote: »

I got my parents a Garmin a few years ago when they went to Oz and NZ. They were able to handle it fine for the most part.

One issue that came up was that my mother somehow managed to change the navigation mode from car to pedestrian which made them think they had "knocked it off" and it was broken. Somehow the older generation are convinced that there is a button on every device whose only purpose is to **** it up.

Fortunately I have a similar model with the same UI so it becomes easier to provide over the phone tech support. So if you have a GPS yourself get them the same one.

That said the conservation usually goes like this:

Me: Okay, do you see a button with Menu written on it?
Mother: Yes.
Me: Okay press it.
Mother: Okay
Me: Now do you see the large magnifying glass?
Mother: [Silence]
Me: What do you see?
Mother: [Silence]
Mother: Wait I've knocked it off.
Me: What do you see?
Mother: Menu

And repeat...

if it's for rural or small towns forget tom tom, maps are useless

JJayoo · 22-12-2010 04:31PM

Ended up getting a "navigon 20 easy" half price in argos. Hopefully it will be ok

easy to use sat nav for parents

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