Could be several reasons. Typically it's a result of your IP address, which is assigned to your ISP provider, not to your house. I don't know of a way to tell your computer what your zip code is, because that's not a function in your Settings. It may just be something you have to live with. Most of us are happier when we aren't able to provide everyone else info on our precise location.

I'm too lazy to try to explain all that factors into the precision of computer locating abilities, but here's a 5-minute video that explains what's going on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H234wK-3F_w

I definitely do not have that problem, as even my phone keeps losing GPS while I am trying to help my brother navigate, and so even my phone does not know where I am most of the time. I would prefer that it did. I cannot understand why this would be a problem in Los Angeles, but I can sort of understand it when we drive through mountains or through Death Valley. It is really a problem in Palm Springs, where we go about every other week-end.

Richard-

Thanks. That's something I obviously didn't know. I just went in and turned all of it off because I want to reduce the number of ads targeting me more precisely. ;-)

A desktop computer doesn't have GPS. The approximate location is (I believe) determined by looking up the IP in a table and the result is just an approximate. Also, it seems some tables are more accurate (and perhaps more costly) than others. (I'm guessing a bit)

For instance, when I visit https://www.whatismyip.com/ip-address-lookup/ ...

IP2Location(dot)com places me in West Palm Beach, which is wrong

ipdata(dot)co places me in Vero Beach, which is correct.

kudzu9

I had to turn Location on in Windows and install the Map app to test.

I don't remember removing the Map app but... apparently I had. :)

This might help you, Lars.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/13225-turn-off-location-services-windows-10-a.html

It will guide you through turning ON Location services as well in Win10.

Location does works. It annoyed me so that I turned off the Location option on my system but it's easily turned back on if need be.

I got HD to recognize where I am. I had to allow it to access my location, and now it has me shopping in the correct store.

Thanks, Richard! At least your computer put you in a nice neighborhood, West Palm Beach, whereas mine put me in an industrial neighborhood, and not a nice one.

To quote Wikipedia, "In 2019, Huntington Park was ranked California's 'most miserable' city, according to census data compiled by Business Insider, ranking 10th on the list of 1,000 of America's most miserable cities."

So you can see why I do not want to shop there, besides the fact that it is not close to me at all.

My location services are always spot on with stores close to me I shop at. Makes it easy because I do in-store pick up at best buy a lot. Mary

I have location turned off on my PCs, that's more useful for me.

Every retailer's website gives you the option of specifying which store is of interest. Because we have two homes, I prefer to set the location myself. Frequently I'm at one house and I'm looking to pick up something in the other area for the other house. Or, sometimes I'm going to be in a different part of my general region and near a different store location and find it convenient to go there instead of what otherwise would be closer to my home.

Different options for different people. With two homes, the same approach as I use may be useful for Lars.

(PS - I hate Best Buy, its prices are usually not competitive. Amazon or Costco are usually better choices for electronic stuff.)

Yeah i like it being automatic when i check out plus i search a lot of places in my area so makes it easier. So used to it being like that on my phone. Mary

The default setting I use on my phone is to keep "Location" turned off. It needlessly drains the battery. The effect is significant.

When using an app that REALLY needs it to function, it can be easily turned on. Few fit that description. When it is helpful, like Yelp or whatever, I turn it on and then off when the session is over.

Has never drained my battery on my android phones. I leave my battery saver on lite and don't leave apps running in the back ground so get great battery life with normal use.

It's advice I first heard some years ago from Verizon Tech Support, when trying to help my wife get more use time after a battery charge. They said it applied to all phone brands, a "quick fix" to reduce power consumption. I've seen it mentioned since in a number of articles.

You must be a special person with a magic phone if you think it doesn't apply to you.

I'm in Cathedral City right now, and Home Depot correctly identified the Palm Springs store as the one closest to me, but I did not change my location here. I use my laptop here, and I leave it here also, since I do not need it at home and don't like having to carry it back and forth.

When I do the IP Address Look-up, it has me in Palm Springs and Cathedral City, and since I shop mostly in Palm Springs while here, that is fine. Sometimes I have to go to Rancho Mirage or Palm Desert, but not that often. I am as close to Rancho Mirage as I am to Palm Springs, but Palm Desert is a bit further.

I just know how my phone works to manage battery life and thanks to the android forums have learned a lot. Now if you put the battery saver on extreme that disables a lot but lite works good enough for me. I travel with my battery pack always so if I did drain it I get 5 charges off my pack before I have to recharge the pack. Mary

crafty, you should call the experts at Verizon Tech Support, and all the authors of articles advising turning off the Location feature, and let them all know that they're wrong.

If you had Location turned off, you maybe wouldn't need to use a battery saver. I don't and easily get two days of moderate level use from my phone. It was three days with my previous phone that had a larger battery. If just phone use and no data use, it's longer.

If you've ever used your phone in the car as a sat nav device - Waze, Google Maps, Android Auto, all that stuff - you'd know that the phone needs to be plugged in because of the power usage of constant GPS function pinging. If you see phones in holders in nearby cars - as when stopped at a red light - you'll notice they're all plugged in. You and your phone are not different from everyone else.

Lars, the "location" function works differently on PCs than on phones. WIth PCs, it's the IP address lookup, as you describe. Which is why the answer is sometimes goofy, as a function of where the ISP's local base office is located. With phones, it historically was done using the tower location but increasingly it's by referencing the phone's GPS data.

Don't really need the battery saver just choose to use it. Have navigation built in but have used Waze before as it consumes less data than Google maps I find. Have a car charger so no worries when driving. Mary

Also I don't leave my 4g on. Why because I am back and forth across the Canadian border a lot.. I do get some data over there if need be plus unlimited calling and texting in Canada. Need the calling and texting over there more thsn data. Mary