and the Garmin V seems to be the only small GPS unit that does auto-routing-of-driving-directions...But then, how useful is that anyway?

As Loren said, very. I've used mine to get to Geocaches all over the city, getting driving directions outside the city (it was VERY useful when I went to Quakecon), and it's also very useful for my motorcycle trips to see where I went.

I wish I had the unlock codes for the Ohio area for a better demo at the meet.