Garmin vs TomTom

[Keith73]

Hello,

Just wanted to throw this out and let it get kicked around a Bit.
In my service area, the Garmin maps are the most acurate and reliable and the TomTom really suck.
The Garmin also pinpoints my location faster (much faster).
Both units are new and comparable and have the latest maps.
Am I the only one to notice this?

What are you oppinions?

I can recomend Garmin hands down.

By the way I'm a service tech who uses the GPS almost every day when locating new customer addresses as I imagine a lot of you do.

[cjpwalker]

I like my garmin... unfortunately i bought it before they came out with free updates, so its a couple of years out of date... Easy to use, usually pretty accurate. Sometimes it makes poor route choices but it will always get you there.

Garmin has a free download where I could record my son's voice and up load it to the unit, so now my 8 year old tells me "turn left," and "take ramp ahead!"

Truth be told I preferred using a map - that way I would actually learn where I was going instead of blindly following my boy's commands, but it got a little dangerous reading the map while going down the road.

[marvin]

i keep 2 garmins in my truck & if i have them both set on the same
address they alert at the same time. my tom tom is about 10 sec. behind them but never too late to make a turn.

[Keith73]

Unfortunately poor route choices are sometimes common to all GPS's.

Something else I forgot to mention. I have a "smartphone" with Google maps that seems to trump them all. Do any of you use Google maps?

[Keith73]

i keep 2 garmins in my truck & if i have them both set on the same
address they alert at the same time. my tom tom is about 10 sec. behind them but never too late to make a turn.

Now that's different. Ive never tried both at the same time but have been to the same street and addresses and poor TomTom is not just right. Seems the state moved some roads when they werent looking.

[dreg]

I'm a TomTom fan, haven't really had an issue with directions. I like their menus/options a lot better.

[pacnw]

poor route choices is frustrating, especially if you are not familiar enough with the are to realize there is a better choice.

my gripe is the mile plus drive through a neighborhood when there is a major street 1 to 3 street over.

Garmin is my choice as compared to Magellan. tried their 7" unit, but input seemed counter intuitive.

[dcoolair]

Google maps on Android is cool but it never fails the phone rings while driving and I have to answer it and end up missing turns. So I only use it if the Garmin fails or takes me to an empty field which isnt too often.

[Twigga]

I've had both the tom tom and garmin. Garmin is more accurate and faster than the tom tom. The only thing I like about the tom tom is that its easier to use and its easier to avoid streets that you know are slow when pre planning a trip. Biggest problem I've had with the tom tom was that it loses satellite reception alot. Especially when Im driving downtown and forget which streets are one way.

Google map on smartphone is by far the best. You can do street view to see your address to make sure you recognize it because some of the address numbers are hard to see. But I dont have turn by turn voice direction on my google map.

[Son of the South]

Garmin is enginered better. It fits right in your hand and is easier to program. It also recalculates alot quicker when you miss a turn compared to the tomtom.

[Pascone10]

Another vote for Garmin..

[JTCHVAC]

Garmin

[AcGolfer]

Garmin seem slightly better for locating houses, but better interface with TOMTOM.

My biggest complaint about TOMTOM is fastest route is always the interstate or freeway as they call it. Could be 10 miles longer but 1 minute longer and you going down the interstate. And that 1 minute is not usually right cause on a lot of side/back roads they must figure 20mph because I always get there much faster than they calculates.

Mapquest on the computer seems to give me the best route and accurate time.

[da_poppa]

I bought a Garmin several years ago but don't use it enough to be very familiar with it. It does recalculate quickly if I decide to take my own route. A friend has a TomTom that he likes a lot. I used it once and it was confusing, not because of an inherent issue but because he chooses to use the George W Bush voice.

[skippedover]

I've had a Tom-Tom for years and replaced it once. Never tried the Garmin for streets but I do know that Garmin is now the top cookie in the aviation GPS market. So they've got some serious engineering staff as well as databases that Tom-Tom has never heard about. My next one will likely be a Garmin.

[Blitz_]

** Please delete, having problems with posting replies :/

[Blitz_]

I dont know about the States, but my Iphones 4 google maps trumps both the TomTom and Garmin for load times. Tested it with a friend on more than one occasion. Given it doesn't spout out step-by-step instruction on where to go, I just place it in my phone holder that clips onto my air-vent in my car and away I go. Saves the hassle of even more cords in the car

[marter]

Unfortunately poor route choices are sometimes common to all GPS's.

Something else I forgot to mention. I have a "smartphone" with Google maps that seems to trump them all. Do any of you use Google maps?

i use google maps on my blackberry
i like it

Had a tom tom a few years ago and it was good, but one day it stopped doing anything reset the memory on it still nothing so i trashed it

[tpa-fl]

I have both a Garmin and TomTom. If I had to only keep one, it'd be the Garmin. MUCH better maps. There's roads which have been here for 10 years that TomTom doesn't list, despite me manually submitting the map changes to them with each update they've sent out for the past 2 years. Garmin, on the other hand, seems to regularly update their roads and definitely listens when I report map errors.

Yes, the TomTom is more flexible and has more options to choose from, but it feels unfinished. You can tell this was a product made for Europe that they've tried to adapt to the USA. Entering addresses is a pain. You MUST know what city the address is in. More importantly, you need to know the city the TomTom thinks the address is in. Around here, quite often the TomTom thinks places are in different cities than they really are. Another TomTom map annoyance: On divided major roads, it thinks each left turn lane is an exit ramp. So you'll get "In 300 yards, keep right. Then stay in the right lane." Every 5-10 seconds. Eventually you have to mute it and just wait to get on a different road. I've submitted countless map corrections on this, but TomTom's yet to fix a single one of these. I *do* like the way the TomTom shows stats & traffic on the main screen though.

On the Garmin, entering the address is a breeze. I always skip the city entry as it doesn't need it. You don't even need an exact address. Just start typing and see what comes up. It's also very good about knowing the difference between E & W / N & S versions of streets. Very important on busy streets: It knows which SIDE of the street it's on. Garmin's traffic seems to be more accurate than the TomTom's and it has a feature which lets you search for traffic nearby. The TomTom kind of lets you, but it's a royal pain and not something you can do while driving. I just wish Garmin let you customize the unit more like TomTom does.

Whichever you buy, make sure you get lifetime maps and traffic included with it. Usually units sold at Costco have this. Sometimes at Sam's they do as well. Case in point: 2 Semis decided to play bumper trucks on I-75 two weeks ago. Road was closed for 12 hours. I wasn't aware of this, but the Garmin was and automatically routed me away from the mess.

Also, Garmin users: When you encounter a map error, report it! http://www.mapreporter.com You'll help yourself out & help the rest of us as well. I'm approaching 100 corrections submitted. They've processed most of them.

[Keith73]

Great information

[Ingersoll AC]

Just bought a Magellan Bluetooth unit and returned it even faster then it was purchased. Dropped the coin on a better Garmin 100x better and faster. Magellan = Slow & Lost

[bfd_ast]

I have a tomtom not shure what model but in one parsih its great ges me were im going! Now go one parish north and nothing! I then have to pull out a map or call some friends to get me there. To me its great in a big area but not so good in small towns!

[inzot80]

Tom tom for the price = D

[hvacjamie]

I have used Garmin for years, but wish I could get the Mr. T voice like the Tom Tom.

[marvin]

just returnrd from a trip to iowa & one of my garmins
wont work when unplugged.
has any one tried replacing the batteries in one of these.
i cant see any place to even begin to get the case apart...

[TheChillerMan]

Garmin is the leader in aviation GPS units so why wouldn't you use the best in your car too?

My first use of GPS was in the airplanes my flight school used and it was Garmin. When I bought my first GPS unit for my personal car way back I bought a Garmin because that's what I was used to. It worked flawlessly.

A few years later I wanted to get one for my wife's car. We bought a Tom-Tom for the price, and I wanted to try something different. After an hour I returned it and got a Garmin.

I did have one Garmin unit lock up on me, but the factory replaced it and have had no problems since.

Garmin rocks.

[bigmanmikey]

Three Garmins.. one in work truck one in personal truck an one in plane :)