Steely
Dumped Comcast for FiOS
Premium
join:2000-10-15
Princeton Junction, NJ
| [Poll] Which GPS map orientation do you use when driving?
My wife and I have had a long-running argument about which is the best way to orient a GPS map. I like direction of travel (or "heading") up, which essentially mimics how the driver sees things (although from an overhead perspective) as the car makes its way along a route. She prefers North always on top, which is like watching your car drive along a map held steady in its standard North up, South down, West left, East right orientation...no rotating allowed.
Naturally, I believe most people think like me and she believes most people think like her. I started wondering if maybe it's a "male/female" thing, hence the gender part of my poll choices.
I'm not sure I'll get a decent size sample here, but the results might be interesting. I'm certainly curious to know what most people do.
| Which GPS map orientation do you use when driving? |
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| | | I usually use Direction of Travel (Heading) up and I'm a male |  58 (74.3%) | | I usually use North up and I'm a male | 13 (16.6%) | | I usually use Direction of Travel (Heading) up and I'm a female | 3 (3.8%) | | I don't have a GPS system | 2 (2.5%) | | I usually use North up and I'm a female | 1 (1.2%) | | My GPS system doesn't let me choose map orientation | 1 (1.2%) | | I switch back and forth with no particular preference | 0 (0%) | 78 participants.
results as pie chart in flash |
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OZO
Premium
join:2003-01-17
| Naturally, spouses should use the same system. Otherwise, divorce. Only divorce could help 
Let me know phone number of your wife 
If serious, I could do either way. Both ways have their own pros and cons. But more often I use "North up", though.
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Keep it simple, it'll become complex by itself... |
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DavisPhotog
Flyingphotog
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-26
Oakland, CA
clubs:
| reply to Steely
I prefer north-up and I'm a male. Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely *LOATHE* car GPS nav systems with their funky 3-D maps. All I want is a dot showing where I am on a regular map. The map will always be north-up. I have a much easier time using my iPhone for navigation than I do using any TomTom or Garmin car-oriented device.
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I am the Flying Photog, see my website accordingly named Flyingphotog.com. User known formerly as zakooldude. |
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dandeman
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-05
Chapel Hill, NC
 ·AT&T Southeast
4 edits | reply to Steely
I use North up..
Has your wife had, or been exposed to professional navigation training, e.g. military service, aviation, off shore sailing, coast guard, etc?
Strong influence from my Navy days (radar systems, paper charts of course are North up) in that you really need to know your track in relation to objects (like land, reefs, etc) that will ruin your day.. The last time I checked the earth doesn't rotate when you change direction
With North up, you can take a quick glance and know if you are still heading in the overall right direction in relation to your destination. The map constantly rotating to me anyway makes it more difficult.
I just love it when the guy I work with (who insists on direction up) makes a wrong turn, is driving in a circle on an exit loop and asks which way to go while the map is spinning in circles.. If it were locked in North up, would be no problem to quickly see which way to head. |
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n1zuk
My wood is stacked
Premium
join:2001-10-24
South Burlington, VT
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·ViaTalk
 ·Comcast
| said by dandeman  :The last time I checked the earth doesn't rotate when you change direction Actually, the Earth rotates all the time, whether you changinge direction or not... 
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New to Forum Life? Click here and learn. |
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dandeman
Premium,MVM
join:2001-12-05
Chapel Hill, NC
·AT&T Southeast
2 edits | The last time I checked the earth doesn't rotate as a result of you changing direction |
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ctgreybeard
Old dogs can learn new tricks
Premium
join:2001-11-13
Bethel, CT
clubs:
·AT&T Yahoo
| reply to Steely
I use North up when the distance to travel is more than a few miles but I use direction up as I approach the destination. I find it easier to navigate local streets in direction up but highways in North up.
Luckily my Garmin has a threshold that is set to switch from one to the other as the zoom increases or decreases.
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Old dogs can learn new tricks! |
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Steely
Dumped Comcast for FiOS
Premium
join:2000-10-15
Princeton Junction, NJ
| said by ctgreybeard :I use North up when the distance to travel is more than a few miles but I use direction up as I approach the destination. I find it easier to navigate local streets in direction up but highways in North up. That makes a lot of sense, actually! |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| I voted heading up. Mostly because I tend to keep track of which direction i'm heading in subconsciously. Or at least, can determine it fairly quickly.
However trying to take the time to look at a panning map and determine what's in 'front' of me is somehow mind-boggling.. Though I can do it easily while sitting still. |
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Steely
Dumped Comcast for FiOS
Premium
join:2000-10-15
Princeton Junction, NJ
| reply to Steely
Wow...no female responders yet! Well, I guess that's to be expected in a "gadgets" forum, LOL!
The sample size is small as predicted (30 as I write this), but so far it appears that at least most men agree with me by a margin of approximately 3 to 1.
I must say, however, that on long trips, particularly on long stretches on any particular highway, I like to zoom out further than usual and flip to the North up orientation. Helps me to better grasp where I am, where I'm going, and how far along I am on my trip. But for general tooling around and when going through a lot of turn-by-turn steps, direction of travel up is definitely the way to go! |
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tcope
Premium
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
·Comcast
| reply to Steely
I keep the map oriented to the direction I'm taveling... after all... this is the correct way to use a GPS.
With that said, I'm not using the GPS as a map... I'm using it to give me _directions_. This is why I keep the unit oriented to the direction of the vehicle. It does not tell me to turn east or west... it tells me to turn right or left. As such, I have little need to know what direction on a compass I'm traveling. |
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ttiiggy
Premium
join:2001-03-27 | reply to Steely
Direction of travel up if we are moving.
North on top if stopped. |
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Siko
Premium
join:2006-11-27
Mechanicsburg, PA
clubs: | reply to Steely
I use track up/3D while driving. When using it as a pedestrian, I use North up. |
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