I'm looking to get a portable GPS system for Christmas. I've narrowed my wish list to 3 units:

Garmin C330 (~$330)
Garmin Nuvi 350 (~$500)
TomTom ONE (~$400)

Anyone have experience with the Garmins vs. the TomToms in general? These specific models? Each has desireable features to me (cost of C330, size of Nuvi 350, etc.). But the salesreps are really not well educated on the GPS products, so are not of much help.

Thanks in advance. John

Hey John...

I can't speak about the Tom Tom, as I haven't personally used it. I've owned 5 Garmin units over the years, and they've all been absolutely SUPERB! For the record, I tend to be an upgrade junkie, so I haven't owned so many units because they didn't hold up or because I didn't like them. The Garmin units seem to have every feature under the sun, and their newer units even have built in bluetooth for connectivity to your cell phone. I drive a 2004 Lexus SUV with a pretty good nav system, and I still prefer the portable Garmin Street Pilot unit I own. I would never hesitate to recommend a Garmin GPS product to anyone! Best of luck with your purchase.


John from Boston

Thanks for the input. I did end up going with the Nuvi 350. In fact, I was able to get it for $479 at CC (BB had it on sale for $499, and CC beat the price). I am traveling in LA this week, and it really is a fantastic tool.

I started with the Garmin CC330, upgraded to the C340 (briefly), Nuvi 350 (briefly), and the C550 (briefly), and used a TomTom 910 til it was stolen. I've also tried a half dozen different in-car GPS systems -- the Pioneer (briefly) in my own and the rest in rental cars. I have now settled on the Nuvi 660, which I've been using the past two months.

The Nuvi 660 is the best GPS I have used, by far. The extra screen real estate, resolution, superior visibility in sunlight, and faster screen redraw makes it a very worthwhile upgrade from previous Garmin products.

GPS Lodge (http://www.gpslodge.com/) also agrees -- they rate the 660 as the best GPS available in North America at any price. Check out their reviews.

Which one is easiest? I've got a great system on my BMW with iDrive. But I'm thinking of getting one for my wife.

It has to be *r*e*a*l*l*y EASY.

The Nuvi 660 is very, very simple to use. No need to ever glance at the manual.

what i really hate about nav units right now are the color choices! why would i put a silvery unit in a car that mostly is black/grey vinyl? tomtom ONE has the right color but their other models are silver; same goes for the magellan roadmate 3000. and all garmin models seem to be silver. tomtom has snap-on trim colors but those seem very hard to get...
also, how many portable nav units actually display actual time/clock? my cobra navone can show it, but not on the same screen as the map.

I picked up the Garmin c340 for my wife for Christmas as she is the most directionally adverse person I have ever met and we both love it. The menus are easy to use and the voice is easy to understand. I decided on this one primarily becasue Garmin is known to have an impressive POI selection and I must admit, there has yet to be a singel place we have tried to look up that was not in there.

When i tried out the Tom-Toms I did like their keyboard menu better and thought the map was more fluid, but that did justify the price alone.

Take a look at the Pioneer Avic S1 which is a great piece! I have been usin gthis for several months now and it works very well. The menu system is very intuitive and it also incorporates the Bluetooth feature that is only found on the more expensive Nuvi. You can pick up an Avic S1 for just over $400.00 and it has everything that the top of the line Nuvi offers other then being able to playback digital books.

The Avic S1 also has a 2 mb sd card slot which supports firmware updates and maps. The piece also should be able to offer the complete European map set which includes 26 countries for a nominal fee. Nuvi additional country maps are approximately $200.00 for each additinal country which is way overpriced in my opinion. You could purchase two Avics S1 (one USA and one Euro edition for less then it would cost for one top of the line Nuvi or even 670 with addititonal SD map cards.

The Avics S1 has only one basic shortfall which is the battery life is limited to about three hours. This has never bothered me as I always connect thepiece to my cigarette lighter with the supplied power adapter.

Tom Tom

there are re-furbished tomtom GO units going right now for very good prices (<$400). at that price, i believe it is the best nav unit to get. u get a bigger screen (4"), resolution, and a faster processor than most (400MHz). it is also very smart: your current position is not in the middle of the screen so you can see more of what's ahead of you; the map zooms in/out depending on your speed; it displays on the map the name of the next street on your way.

Garmin.

Absolutely no question about it.

Do you need mac support? If so i'm pretty sure that you will have to go with the tom tom because garmin does not support macs.

what i really hate about nav units right now are the color choices! why would i put a silvery unit in a car that mostly is black/grey vinyl? tomtom ONE has the right color but their other models are silver; same goes for the magellan roadmate 3000. and all garmin models seem to be silver. tomtom has snap-on trim colors but those seem very hard to get...
also, how many portable nav units actually display actual time/clock? my cobra navone can show it, but not on the same screen as the map.
why do you need a actual clock on the unit, i'm sure your car has one. :rolleyes:

Garmin. i like the free updates through the website. battery like is 8 hours if needed. i have the c330. when i upgrade and give wife the c330 i will go with a gramin that has the blue tooth. i do not like built in nav units that use dvd's. to expensive to purchase and with the portables i update about once a month, did i mention FOR FREE......

I have been very happy with my Garmin 2620

Very happy with my garmin nuvi 350

I recommend Nuvi 350.

Another vote for the Garmin 350 -- it's easily the best GPS under $500. Garmin issues free firmware updates to improve usability / functionality / performance every few months, as well as comprehensive map updates every year that you can buy for about $50. They are also well-supported by end users, with downloadable POIs for red light cameras, speed traps, and virtually every major retail chain (i.e. for the latest stores).

Above $500, the clear choice is the Nuvi 660 or the new Nuvi 680.

If you make trips where you have multiple stops on your itinerary (ex: for deliveries), and want the GPS to prioritize / optimize your route order, then you should look at the 26xx, 27xx, and Zumo 550.

I love my Nuvi 360, Bluetooth is great, simple controls, great maps, lats of feature updates throught the Garmin website.

why do you need a actual clock on the unit, i'm sure your car has one. :rolleyes:
i have an infiniti that is the analog type. also, my flip-up headunit when it opens covers the clock. also, clocks from nav units are accurate, and you don't need to re-set ever.

I bought a Tom Tom Go 700, and though it has many customizable features, the actual PoI database is pathetic, and Tom Tom makes you pay for map updates - which you would clearly need in a year or two due to the poor state of current maps. I am sure the same is the case with other Tom Tom models. So, I advise people to stay away from Tom Tom at present.

I have no experience with Garmin, but I've found Magellan units (used in Hertz rental cars) to be very good with their PoI database and their general accuracy of routes.

Take a look at the Pioneer Avic S1 which is a great piece! I have been usin gthis for several months now and it works very well. The menu system is very intuitive and it also incorporates the Bluetooth feature that is only found on the more expensive Nuvi. You can pick up an Avic S1 for just over $400.00 and it has everything that the top of the line Nuvi offers other then being able to playback digital books.

The Avic S1 also has a 2 mb sd card slot which supports firmware updates and maps. The piece also should be able to offer the complete European map set which includes 26 countries for a nominal fee. Nuvi additional country maps are approximately $200.00 for each additinal country which is way overpriced in my opinion. You could purchase two Avics S1 (one USA and one Euro edition for less then it would cost for one top of the line Nuvi or even 670 with addititonal SD map cards.

The Avics S1 has only one basic shortfall which is the battery life is limited to about three hours. This has never bothered me as I always connect thepiece to my cigarette lighter with the supplied power adapter.

I have the Pioneer...

...I love the look of it.

How much does the Euro map set cost???

I bought a Tom Tom Go 700, and though it has many customizable features, the actual PoI database is pathetic, and Tom Tom makes you pay for map updates - which you would clearly need in a year or two due to the poor state of current maps. I am sure the same is the case with other Tom Tom models. So, I advise people to stay away from Tom Tom at present.

I have no experience with Garmin, but I've found Magellan units (used in Hertz rental cars) to be very good with their PoI database and their general accuracy of routes.
i just got a tomtom go 510 and the 2006 map update was free, except for a $6 shipping & handling charge. i don't think any manufacturer gives map updates for free, including garmin...
i'm not sure about the POI database either because i believe this will be based on the map provider: TeleAtlas or NAVTEQ. i don't care about POI's too much anyway; i have google maps on my treo.

Another vote for the Garmin Nuvi 350. It is one of the most amazing pieces of technology I have ever owned. Small and lightweight. The perfect travel companion.

GPS
MP3 player
Audible Book player
SD card slot
Language Guide
Travel Guide
Picture Viewer
World Clock
Currency Converter
Calculator


and more.

i have an infiniti that is the analog type. also, my flip-up headunit when it opens covers the clock. also, clocks from nav units are accurate, and you don't need to re-set ever.

that sounds reasonable.

They are also well-supported by end users, with downloadable POIs for red light cameras, speed traps, and virtually every major retail chain (i.e. for the latest stores).



do you have any links for POI. i can not find any on the web. and i'm not sure how to load them. i have the c330

do you have any links for POI. i can not find any on the web. and i'm not sure how to load them. i have the c330Sure, see the GPSPassion forums.

Garmin Nuvi Discussion Area on GPS Passion (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=172)

POI Area on GPS Passion (http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?CAT_ID=20)

Use the Garmin POI Loader to add these to your Nuvi. I recommend that you save the POIs to a SD card, so you don't mess with the internal storage.

Hello,
Am alex and i work for a company that deals on wholesales of tomtoms and garmin. Pls mail me for more enquiries..

Thanks
Alex




I'm looking to get a portable GPS system for Christmas. I've narrowed my wish list to 3 units:

Garmin C330 (~$330)
Garmin Nuvi 350 (~$500)
TomTom ONE (~$400)

Anyone have experience with the Garmins vs. the TomToms in general? These specific models? Each has desireable features to me (cost of C330, size of Nuvi 350, etc.). But the salesreps are really not well educated on the GPS products, so are not of much help.

Thanks in advance. John

I have a Tomtom 910 It is really easy to use but I am disappointed with a couple of things.
I hear conversations great but everyone tells me it is almost impossible to understand me.
I have tried a new external mic and that didn't work. Also the POI are not very good on the TomTom If you tell it to find home depot for example it will find them all in an area but it does not list the address or the phone number I borrowed a magellan that did this. It can be frustrating. Overall I wish I had bought a different brand And will when it is time to upgrade.
The new Magellans seem a little complicated to use. I may not have given it a fair shake.

Hey John...

I can't speak about the Tom Tom, as I haven't personally used it. I've owned 5 Garmin units over the years, and they've all been absolutely SUPERB! For the record, I tend to be an upgrade junkie, so I haven't owned so many units because they didn't hold up or because I didn't like them. The Garmin units seem to have every feature under the sun, and their newer units even have built in bluetooth for connectivity to your cell phone. I drive a 2004 Lexus SUV with a pretty good nav system, and I still prefer the portable Garmin Street Pilot unit I own. I would never hesitate to recommend a Garmin GPS product to anyone! Best of luck with your purchase.


John from Boston

I am currently enjoying trips with my Nuvi 660 and loving it, this is my forth Garmin, I also have the Tom tom one and its ok but I dont expect much more out of a $280.00 unit. Look at costco, they have pallets of the nuvi 650 for like $500.00 either way go garmin you wont be dissapionted..

why do you need a actual clock on the unit, i'm sure your car has one. :rolleyes:


You are kidding ALL GPS units have a clock, how the hell would they get you somewhere ( at a specific time ) with out a clock??

I have a Tomtom 910 It is really easy to use but I am disappointed with a couple of things.
I hear conversations great but everyone tells me it is almost impossible to understand me.
I have tried a new external mic and that didn't work. Also the POI are not very good on the TomTom If you tell it to find home depot for example it will find them all in an area but it does not list the address or the phone number I borrowed a magellan that did this. It can be frustrating. Overall I wish I had bought a different brand And will when it is time to upgrade.
The new Magellans seem a little complicated to use. I may not have given it a fair shake.

I have used a 910 as well...I didn't have the same problems with speakerphone (works great for me)

I had a chance to look at the 720 recently and was wowed...my friend replaced his nuvi with a 720 and the new version of the tomtom software is really good. It's worth checking out.

tomtom beause from what I understnad (I have a Garmin Nuvi 660) the tomtom's use linux and you can hack it to play video on them

hahaha....that works as well...was using my girlfriends TT One in her car the other day, works like a charm...great for people who aren't too technically inclined.

tomtom or garmin you wont be disappointed ... magellan umm i dont know if they improved their satellite reception, my uncle owns a magellan and he managed to go to his destination before he got a reception lol.

I own a tomtom 910 and is satisfied with it and my brother has a nuvi 360 and i tried using it and also satisfied with it. the only difference is the interface and the software. they are both user friendly and lots of features like mp3 player, picture viewer and hands free calling via bluetooth. they also comes with optional services like traffic notification through your cellphone and al updates specially map has a fee. When it comes to POI there's alot of forum support that you can gather alot of information.

I just got one for $310 shipped. The outside box was plain, inside was a unit
that looked to be brand new. All the cables, mount parts etc were in sealed bags.
No sign that the Nuvi had ever been handled at all.

It works fine and now that it's firmware has been updated on-line, the new
V9 map CDROM is in the mail from Garmin.. :)

Shop around. One thing that I've done is find stores on Ebay and then
track down their on-line store. Sometimes, the on-line store prices
and/or shipping prices are better than on Ebay.

tomtom or garmin you wont be disappointed ... magellan umm i dont know if they improved their satellite reception, my uncle owns a magellan and he managed to go to his destination before he got a reception lol.

I own a tomtom 910 and is satisfied with it and my brother has a nuvi 360 and i tried using it and also satisfied with it. the only difference is the interface and the software. they are both user friendly and lots of features like mp3 player, picture viewer and hands free calling via bluetooth. they also comes with optional services like traffic notification through your cellphone and al updates specially map has a fee. When it comes to POI there's alot of forum support that you can gather alot of information.

In response to your tomtom 910 comment...friend of mine picked up a 720 recently..it's quite good and makes some upgrades on the 910...plus its slimmer.

now that i installed a double din with navigator on my montero ... anyone interested with a tomtom 910 used ... bought it last march i even updated the map and i will give you the upgrade dvd. send me a message if anyone interested ... accessories includes whats in the box plus the external antenna and upgrade map dvd.

i am looking for a GPS for my father. he is in his 70s, so i need simple to use. but he also wants to use it in Europe this summer.
What do you recommend?

i am looking for a GPS for my father. he is in his 70s, so i need simple to use. but he also wants to use it in Europe this summer.
What do you recommend?

Just throwing a guess at ya, but since TomTom is European, I would expect it to have better maps for Europe. Their US maps lack a bit in terms of POI database though.

The Magellan unit used in Hertz's NeverLost GPSs is awesome in terms of POI database. I don't know what the equivalent consumer model is for Magellan, but the cheaper model I tried (some lower end sub $200 model from Costco) did not have that comprehensive database though. I don't know how good the European maps are for either Garmin or Magellan.

I originally started looking at garmin since they were the most well known. Then the TomTom's caught my eye, lots of cool features like mapshare. But the TomTom's have a big shortcoming IMO, they don't tell you if your destination is on the right or left of the street. Some may not care but it's a deal breaker for me. So back to Garmin I went, ended up with a 750. Here's a decision tree that can help decide what you need.

Do you need Bluetooth? YES|NO
Do you need Traffic? YES|NO
Do you need a 4.3" screen? YES|NO
Do you need Text To Speech? YES|NO
Which map do you need? REGIONAL EUROPE|FULL EUROPE|NORAM|ICBM
do you need routing? YES|NO

After answering these, look at this thread to figure out which nuvi to get. Nuvi's are very easy to use and Garmin customer support is great. You'll be hard pressed to do better than one of these units.
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=82414

If you aren't sold on the nuvi's, check this thread for a breakdown on the major plusses and minuses on all the major brands.
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=102255

if anyonf is interested I have a mint condition tomtom go 910 for sale $300 plus shipping.

But the TomTom's have a big shortcoming IMO, they don't tell you if your destination is on the right or left of the street. Some may not care but it's a deal breaker for me.


I was taught from an early age to determine street address's using the odd/even - left/right method. Not all that difficult, as it only requires you to see one ending digit prior to arriving , and you're all set. Oh Well, so much for the common sense factor.

Owned several TT's and now am using the GO 720. 90% of the time a destination will indeed show a little notched turn either L or R pointing to your destination.

Well aren't you a navigational wizard! I'm sure most people realize that addresses are typically sorted by odds and evens, but thanks for enlightening us. :rolleyes:

Look, common sense tells me I can figure out where to go using a $2 paper map too, but what fun is that. Pretty much everything in this entire forum is not about common sense, it's about fun toys. Common sense says put your money back in your wallet, you don't need any of this crap. So much for common sense indeed. ;)

All I'm saying is it's a pretty easy feature to add that is very useful, and I personally feel it's a big drawback of the TT's. Why do I want to look around for tiny address numbers when the device can just tell me? Common sense says I should be looking at the road, not trying to read tiny numbers. If I wanted to do it myself I wouldn't buy a GPS in the first place. Clearly you like your TT and that's great. When I was in the market for a GPS (actually for my wife) I wanted that feature. I was taught from an early age to form my own opinions as to what I think is important, not what some other guy on a web site does.

If the TT's do indeed do that, then I stand corrected; from some time spent on GPSPassion I was informed that is not the case.

Well aren't you a navigational wizard! I'm sure most people realize that addresses are typically sorted by odds and evens, but thanks for enlightening us. :rolleyes:

Look, common sense tells me I can figure out where to go using a $2 paper map too, but what fun is that. Pretty much everything in this entire forum is not about common sense, it's about fun toys. Common sense says put your money back in your wallet, you don't need any of this crap. So much for common sense indeed. ;)

All I'm saying is it's a pretty easy feature to add that is very useful, and I personally feel it's a big drawback of the TT's. Why do I want to look around for tiny address numbers when the device can just tell me? Common sense says I should be looking at the road, not trying to read tiny numbers. If I wanted to do it myself I wouldn't buy a GPS in the first place. Clearly you like your TT and that's great. When I was in the market for a GPS (actually for my wife) I wanted that feature. I was taught from an early age to form my own opinions as to what I think is important, not what some other guy on a web site does.

If the TT's do indeed do that, then I stand corrected; from some time spent on GPSPassion I was informed that is not the case.

WOW!!! Take things said on the internet personal or what?
He was just showing you a simple way to bypass that need/request........but he also said that the TT shows a small arrow depicting which side of the street it is on.

Be glad, I have factory GM Nav and it doesn't say what side of the street about half the time so ya make do. :shrug:

yeah my bad, sorry bout that :(
guess I don't like my common sense being questioned, but yeah I shouldn't have taken it personally as I realize now he was probably just trying to be helpful like most people on here

yeah my bad, sorry bout that :(
guess I don't like my common sense being questioned, but yeah I shouldn't have taken it personally as I realize now he was probably just trying to be helpful like most people on here

No worries dude. :D

How do you like your 750? I got my Mom a 650 for Xmas and am excited to see it in action and I hope it is a good fit for her.

I like it a lot. My wife is home with our baby so even tho it's for her, I've been using it a bit myself. Not much help for just driving to work obviously, but I can see it being very useful in a lot of situations. This is our first gps so I don't have much to compare it to, but so far it does everything I expected.

I read that because of the non-flip out antenna that the satellite lock is much slower, but it seems ok to me, locks in about 20 seconds. Takes up to 60 seconds if moving.

The routing is nice, which is the main reason I decided to bump up to the 700 series as opposed to the others. I put in a route from San Diego to Miami, to Limestone ME to Anchorage AK and then back to LA. It was maxed out, it says it will update me with more info as I travel. The map only showed a route out to about halfway between Limestone and AK, beyond that it just faked straight lines to the last 2 stops. Total distance was nearly 10,000 miles, so I think most any road trip should be covered! :p

Also impressed with the FM transmitter, I've used those before and they never worked good for me, in the Chicago burbs, but this one actually works great! Not sure if it's because it's just transmitting voice and not music, will have to try with some tunes but there was almost no static.

I like that the power plugs into the dash mount, (I've read some don't do that), and that it powers on when you start the car (again, I've read some don't do that). Not that I would ever leave it in my car, on the mount, waiting to be stolen. It's just one less step, put it on the mount and go. Am going to look into having the power hardwired in so there's no dangling cable.

POI's seem good but I have found some holes, for instance I put in Kohl's and it found a bunch, but not the one right down the street that has been there for years.

Hmm what else... I had read that there were issues when entering addresses, that you had to put the city in first. The 750 does not do that, you can just select search all instead and then type in your address, so you don't need to know the city. It does not correct spelling when keying in POI's, which would be nice and I think some others do.

I've had a Tomtom for 1 year now. Here are some annoying things

* You need to know the city of the POI/Address you are heading. I live in toronto and you have no idea if you are in Scarborough/Markham/Richmond Hill/Vaughan/Toronto/Mississuaga ... EVER! - Garmin allows you to search by address
* This unit has bad out of date POI and updates are no better
* Mapshare sucks and does not work
* Never shows you which side of the street to look. This is a hazard, especially when you've relied on the unit to get you were you are at

Good things
* Quite user friendly
* Nice Graphics
* Smooth Scrolling of maps
* Downloadable voices

Im having huge problems getting "books on cd" onto mp3 player on garmin 660. The unit puts all tracks out of order. I have renamed tracks 01,02,03 etc. It is very painstaking to rename every track. I rip using windows media player 11. All audio is ripped mp3. I am using a 4gb sd card. When i open sd on my computer all cds are in numerical order and also are tracks. but when i put card in gps, it only puts the first 13 cds instead of the 26 that are on sd card. Gps only sees files at random. Any easier way would be appreciated. I dont want to use audible.com , very expensive. Library is free. Im a truck driver and i use gps 24/7 and love it. Store bought roadmaps will only get u 90% of the way to your destination, gps will get u the last 10. Worth every penny. I need mp3 player help!

i have owned both.
personally, i prefer the maps and layout of the garmin, its just very intuitive on how to use it and search for things. this is for the garmin 360 with bluetooth

I picked up the Garmin c340 for my wife for Christmas as she is the most directionally adverse person I have ever met and we both love it. The menus are easy to use and the voice is easy to understand. I decided on this one primarily becasue Garmin is known to have an impressive POI selection and I must admit, there has yet to be a singel place we have tried to look up that was not in there.

When i tried out the Tom-Toms I did like their keyboard menu better and thought the map was more fluid, but that did justify the price alone.

The main reason I chose TomTom over the Garmin, and Magellan, was that latter two BOTH caved in to US government pressure in disabling a key SAFETY FEATURE: Speed limit check and audible warning upon exceeding speed.

Magellan tech support openly admitted this and Garmin supervisors just ignored the question....

This would have taken about five lines of programming and the data is in the map database.

(Also my Tomtom DOES allow scrolling and asks for the street first and does not require the number as the Garmin my friend had seemed to require.)

A superficial compare of this last feature, but the speed warning alone was enough to pass on the Garmin. (It will pay for itself in insurance.)

However, the POI database seems a little small, but the Garmin was missing POIs the TomTom had. They all seem to get this data from different sources and have holes the others do not.

Hi guys...i m new here...well couple of month back i bouth nuvi 200 , i know its pretty old but so fat i like it....i pay only $80....now i have update the map...n its cost $65....is there anyway i can get it free from any site? pls help me

Hi guys...i m new here...well couple of month back i bouth nuvi 200 , i know its pretty old but so fat i like it....i pay only $80....now i have update the map...n its cost $65....is there anyway i can get it free from any site? pls help me

no.