Garmin Nuvi or TomTom

[BigGoat]

I really don't no much about either of these products. I have a builtin gps in my other car but the lease is up soon so I am looking to buy a portable gps for the sky. Especially since I am planning on moving to someplace I don't know at all soon.


Any positive or negitive feedback on either product would be great.

[V8 SKY]

All I can say is my friend is a VP at Tom Tom in Germany, so they have my vote!

[SkyBaby]

I have never used anything but Garmin. They have gotten me out of some really tough spots.... ex..... DOWNTOWN CHI-TOWN... lol..... So, they get my vote. SkyBaby

[Spag]

I love my Nuvi - but don't know anything about the tom tom...

[Superman]

My wife bought me a Tom-Tom for Christmas and I LOVE IT!!! I need to get it hooked-up to the computer so I can download some newer info (road info seems to be about a year old) but otherwise it is great. My dad has a Garmin GPS (no navi though) and he really likes that too, and the few times I've used it, the interface seemed easy enough. So....I think they're both decent products. The trick is making sure you can keep them updated periodically.

[wireless]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 660. Greate little GPS. Perfect for GitIt, my redline. Don't know much about TomTom. A friend has one and seems to like it. Either of these would be good. With any GPS you will need to get a computer link to keep the maps & software up-to-date.

My nuvi suction cup sticks right on the black plastic above the flasher button. No need to stick on the mounting disk. You can position it so it doesn't block you view or air flow and easy to read. Color screen makes it easier to read when going topless.

You can pick one up off ebay for around $650, but do some shopping on Pricegrabber.com, shopping.com. You might be able to pick up one a little cheaper, I did and had it withing a week.

[Ag94Whoop]

my vote is for Garmin Nuvi

Love mine

[2Kool4Skool]

My dad picked up a Tom Tom and I've used it a few times. It works pretty well, the only complaint I have is sometimes it takes a while for a signal to pick up.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by wireless

You can pick one up off ebay for around $650, but do some shopping on Pricegrabber.com, shopping.com. You might be able to pick up one a little cheaper, I did and had it withing a week.

Wow, are all the Garmin's that expensive? I haven't really done any research on them, but I know you can get at least one, if not a couple different versions of the Tom-Toms for about half of that. I suppose the Garmin one probably has more options or such, but so far, I haven't been disappointed with the Tom-Tom in the least. Heck, it's been worlds better than the 'Neverlost' that Hertz uses in their rental cars.

[Spag]

Originally Posted by Superman

Wow, are all the Garmin's that expensive?

no

the 660 is one of the newest models - you can get a 350 for much less!

It all depends on what features you want. I am very happy with my 350!



Just looked at their website - they are now up to a 680!!!

[xmicro_Redline]

Originally Posted by 2Kool4Skool

My dad picked up a Tom Tom and I've used it a few times. It works pretty well, the only complaint I have is sometimes it takes a while for a signal to pick up.

That is a problem with all of them. I found out if you pull over and stand still wth nothing overhead (tree or overpass) it catches up faster.

I have the Magellan 800 (same as the Hertz Neverlost) It is larger than I care for and slow on the uptake but it has MORE "Points of interest" Pre-programmed. Nice if you are looking for a restaurant or gas station and do not have address's. I think the newer Tom Tom might have caught up. The Magellan did all the work for the "Points of Interest" for Hertz. I like it when I am in a strange area and want to check out tourist attractions.

Makes it larger, due to Hard drive, but its all give and take.

Due a search on google for GPS Comparisons and there are sites that pit one against the other. Better than peoples opinions because it is a personal choice. Those comparison sites are just the facts. They also have thousands of opinions charted out for you if you want them.

[BlackSkyRL]

I bought the Garmin Nuvi 350 yesterday and am very happy thus far. An Electronic Store in my area was running a weekend special on this model for $369.99 down from $599.99! Garmin has a newer version of this unit called the 360 which is closer to $700 or so and simply ads bluetooth to enable use as a handsfree unit. If you do not need the bluetooth functionality I would say go with the 350 model since it is coming down in price right now due to the release of the newer version. Bonus functionality includes an MP3 player function, audio books can be downloaded from audible.com, JPEG picture viewer, Currency Converter, World Clock, support for separate traffic monitoring service (with purchase of receiver and subscription), and support for voice-audio language translator & bi-lingual dictionaries (must be purchased). The unit is rechargeable and will operate for 4-8 hours so you use it on-foot.

This one has my vote at the moment.

[HoldHard]

My TomTom has a 20 GigaByte capacity for MP3 songs. Plugs right into the Auxillary device so I don't have to have an IPod cluttering up the car.

Navigation is great, multiple voices to select from and alot of other features (like phone control) that I'm still finding out about.

Just my 2 Cents.....

HoldHard

[gffct2]

I am looking at the Garmin nuvi 660 right now, but whatever one you choose, make sure it has a very bright display for top down driving. If you can't see the display with the top down, all the other features don't matter! You may wish to visit gpsinformation.net It is full of impartial info. Good luck!

[Superman]

On that note.....my wife and I were driving around all over town last Tuesday with the top down and Tom-Tom running, because we had no idea where we were going. She wanted to go to some store clear on the other side of town. But we never had a problem reading the screen. The Tom-Tom has a real nice feature that makes it quick to change from day-time to night-time colors as well, as the day-time colors kind of blind you at night, lol.

[TexSon]

I haven't used the Garmin NuVi or the TomTom, but I do have one of the original Garmin StreetPilots and I have their IQue 3600 (PDA/GPS) and both work great! Garmin is a US company, if that makes a difference to you, one of the first GPS companies, and seem to do do a good job supporting their products. Also, they have a lot of options for mounting the GPS in the vehicle, or on it in the case of the StreetPilot and motorcycles.

[wireless]

Originally Posted by Superman

Wow, are all the Garmin's that expensive? I haven't really done any research on them, but I know you can get at least one, if not a couple different versions of the Tom-Toms for about half of that. I suppose the Garmin one probably has more options or such, but so far, I haven't been disappointed with the Tom-Tom in the least. Heck, it's been worlds better than the 'Neverlost' that Hertz uses in their rental cars.

The Nuvi 660 at some stores are over $1000....be carefull and do your research. I chose the 660 because, its a releatively new unit, has bluetooth, updates fast, color screen for top down driving, changes between day time drivin and night time, has an SD card slot for putting all my mp3's eliminating the IPod clutter. It has a wider screen 4.3" and thin, will fit in your shirt pocket. Has an 8 hour rechargeable battery for use when not in car. Uses MapSource for keeping your waypoints on a PC with USB cable. You can plan your routes and stops on a PC and upload to Nuvi if ya like. Just too many good options
Yes a little expensive, but so far been well worth the investment.l

[canonball]

Anothet issue to consider is portability. If I left it in my car in NYC it would get ripped off easily, not to mention damage to the R/L. Consumers report just rated the Nuvi 350 tops and the Tom Tom one was well up toward the top of the list. They did not have the Nuvi 360 but i'm sure it would have kept up.
I would say for my needs it has to be easy and small like my blackberry so I can take it out from the car and place in my attache or belt holster. Theft is a major issue in NYC as it is allover the country.

[SKYwatchdog]

My Red Hot Chili Pepper got a TomTom 910. Fits great on the dashboard, or wherever you want to put it in your car.
Works great! 20 Gigabyte MP3 player (12 left with all the maps), plays directly through the AUX. The handsfree works great with direct mic that you can hook on you for even better reception.

Maps of USA,Europe and Canada. Worked great for me on the eastcoast, and soon taking me across from DC to LA.
Now I'm using it in my car here in Norway and works just as great

Remember that new downloading of maps is free with TomTom. Which a lot of people do tend to forget doing.
And they offer a lot of services for a good prize.

[dmbdlatc]

I have a Garmin 2820 that has Bluetooth connectivity. I highly recommend any GPS that Garmin has that comes with bluetooth.

I plug the audio output from the GPS into the audio input in the SKY. When in the car, the GPS connects AUTOMATICALLY via bluetooth to my cell phone in my pocket. When someone calls me, the car rings just like with Onstar (which is a waste of money), I just press the touch screen display on the GPS to answer the phone.

My GPS has XM Radio as an optional add on. I transferred the XM subscribtion from the SKY to the GPS. So I now listen to the GPS XM receiver instead of the SKY's built in XM.

OK so now you say, "what about the CD player, I can't listen to the CD player in the car when the GPS is connected to the audio input?" Good question. I use the MP3 player that is in the GPS instead of the cd player. I just purchased a 10 disk collection of "Classic Sixties Collection" I ripped all the songs I liked onto the computer and then sent them to the GPS.

So with the Garmin 2820 GPS having:

1. XM Radio (optional add on).
2. XM NAV/Traffic/Weather/Stocks, (added on top of the XM subscription for $3.99/month)
3. MP3 Player, built in.
4. Bluetooth connectivity for the cell phone, built in
5. And being able to download & play Audio.com "books on tape" built in.

I am very happy with this Garmin unit.