Tomtom or Garmin GPS?

[jd_1138]

I have a Tomtom 140s. It is the smaller type -- 3.5 inches. I had the larger one but it was just too bulky and unnecessary, so I sold that to a friend. The 140s has IQ Routes, spoken street names, Advanced Lane Guidance. The IQ Routes means that it takes into effect traditional traffic patterns in areas, especially cities, to get you to take the fastest possible route.

I have used GPS's for years, almost every brand, and I have to say Tomtoms are the best, IMHO. The ability to do things like remove roads that are no longer there or washed out is invaluable. There's an important bridge near here that is permanently out of service. When I had a Garmin (brand new with the latest maps), I couldn't remove it from the GPS, so you'd have to examine the route to see if the bridge was in the manifest and then click on detour many times to find another route without that bridge. Or guess and start driving in another direction to see if it would reroute around the bridge, but then it may have been better to head in the other direction. Sounds like not a big deal, but it matters. It's just not clean and easy. But with the Tomtom, I simply clicked "revise map" and highlighted the bridge and marked it inaccessible.

And the Tomtom user interface is more logical and easier to use. The Garmin's is kind of muddled and not as intuitive. I've also used Magellans and Rightways and Nextar. None have matched Tomtom. In a job I had for 2 years, I had to do a lot of driving to customer's houses, and 99.9% of the time, the Tomtom got me to their front door. Hardly ever had to look at a map or consult Google Maps.

I had a Tomtom 130 that my company gave us 4 years ago, then I bought a brand new Garmin but was not impressed, so I picked up a 140s 2 years ago. I was out visiting my parents, and they loved the spoken street feature, so I let them keep it, and I took their 130 in exchange, but then I bought another 140s.

[BigFoot]

I agree the Tomtom has nicer features. But mine has gotten me lost so many times. It would just give bad directions. Got ticked and bought a Garmin I have never been given bad directions once. Was the Tomtom just a lemon?

[Topgumby]

Funny, when I think GPS I still think handheld.

My aging eyes may convince me otherwise, and soon.

[art803]

i have 2 tomtoms. One is the small from a couple of years back and it has given many bad directions. The other is a newer wide screen and it works great, no bad directions.

[jd_1138]

You have to connect Tomtoms to your PC at least once every 2 months or so to download new GPS data (as to where the satellites will be) or else they will gradually become unusable. But this only takes like 2 minutes to do. Tomtom Home is the computer application that you will run. And you have to make sure the settings are set correctly -- "fastest route", "allow highways", etc..

I used Tomtoms in my last job, and they got me to hundreds of addresses with no problem. Only time I had problems were if the person didn't know their own address. Like, they'd tell me they lived on Johnson St., when they really lived on Johnson Ave..

[Go West Young Man]

If you're the DIY type, a cheap hackable GPS unit from eBay and a downloaded copy of iGo8 is the best solution out there.

[malocchio]

I still use a free texaco paper folding map....I guess they will put me in "the home" soon...

[maxman]

I just bought a refurbished Garmin 1490. It does everything I could want it to do. My brother has a TomTom and it's OK.
I do like the 5" screen on the Garmin the best. I can see everything easily.
Plus I got to change the little car to a piece of pizza.
I love pizza.

[Clovis Man]

Garmin all the way.

I've had a GPS-2+, GPS-V, eTrex Legend hcx, and now a 465t in the 18-wheeler. The 465 is a little "different", but I'm getting used to it.

[TimmyBoston]

I love my Garmin in my car and I love my Garmin Forerunner 305 even more.

[Crag]

I had both a TomTom and a Garmin and they both eventually died The Garmin died from heat exposure (my fault), and the TomTom had a hardware failure..ultimately I ended up with another TomTom...only because it was on sale and the features were just a little better than what the equivalent Garmin offered... Also, for some strange reason, the Garmin liked to crash whenever I did a map update which required a factory reset...the TOMTOM never did that once...

Good luck with your purchase!

[Topgumby]

I still use a free texaco paper folding map....I guess they will put me in "the home" soon...

Yeah, but your map doesn't break if you drop it, won't run out of batteries and isn't subject to problems with satellite coverage.

Seriously, it's always good to have a paper map and compass, if you are planning to go someplace off the beaten path.

[probesport]

Garmin is the industry standard, hard to argue with that. All of my GPS' are Garmin.

[jd_1138]

Yeah, but your map doesn't break if you drop it, won't run out of batteries and isn't subject to problems with satellite coverage.

Seriously, it's always good to have a paper map and compass, if you are planning to go someplace off the beaten path.

Rand McNally Road Atlases are dirt cheap and good to keep in the trunk, though you will probably rarely use it if you have a GPS. We drove down to the wedding of my nephew 300 miles away in a city we never been to before. I plugged in the hotel's address, and it got us to the hotel's entrance. Never had to look at a map. And then we punched up "restaurants" on it and found one we liked, and it took us there, and then we drove around checking stuff out not worrying about keeping track of where we were. Then I pulled up the hotel's address and it took us right back.

After the wedding, some of the guests followed us to the reception because they weren't sure how to get there, even though most of them lived there locally. The directions were confusing, and that whole area is confusing for directions, but I just plugged in the address and it got us there.

[jd_1138]

Garmin is the industry standard, hard to argue with that. All of my GPS' are Garmin.

I used to use Garmins. I loved my C330 StreetPilot (first GPS I ever had), and then I got a Nuvi 200 that I loved. But then my work bought us all Tomtoms, and that was the start of my Tomtom fanboyness.

[Topgumby]

Rand McNally Road Atlases are dirt cheap and good to keep in the trunk, though you will probably rarely use it if you have a GPS. ....

I agree. I reach for the GPS over the map every time, but I still have that map available!

Probably not a big deal for driving in civilization, but once you get out in the boonies, especially if you're hoofing it...a map and compass just make me feel better, if nothing else.

[OLDMAN]

We've had a Garmin for 3 years and it has not let us down yet.

[Optionyout]

I've had both as well. My opinion is you buy whichever one is one clearance that week. But, and only negligibly, I liked TomToms a bit more. Different models have different features though so what I've liked more in one over the other may be available on either on a different model.

[brucered]

i've had both. TomTom was very user friendly, but directions and navigation were HORRIBLE sold it for what i paid and bought a Garmin. wouldn't buy another TomTom, even at 1/2 price of the garmin.

just my 2cents

[bassmanlarry]

I have a TomTom, but it hardly ever comes out of the glove-box. It's probably long overdue to be updated. My wife is the navigator on our road trips and actually loves using maps. As a backup, we also have VZ navigator on both our cell phones, which has helped twice when we needed roadside assistance, but didn't know where the nearest towing or garages were. Other great thing with the VZ navigator is the ability to find cheap fast food among pricey restaurants while doing downtown Charleston SC on foot.