Get Garmin or get lost

numpty · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 6:01 pm Post subject: Get Garmin or get lost

Get Garmin or get lost

Just a few thoughts on all the sat Nav Units I have used on a recent trip to France and nothing touched the NEW! Garmin Nuvi. I would like to know what other users think and what units can beat the Garmin Nuvi overall.

The build quality puts any TomTom and Navman to shame first glance.

The mapping with the Nuvi in Europe actually worked and did not take you through Toll roads 20 times like the Navman and TomTom were going to (local knowledge & the Gamrin know different), maybe this as something to do with Navteq. Don’t get me wrong, I could have had the settings wrong for avoiding toll roads on TomTom and Navman, but I guess my Grandmother would be confused as well, if I can’t get it right.

I was just not happy with the Navman 550 or the TomTom Go 700. The Text to speech in Europe was so helpful help and clear, it really did outclass the other two. I was a bit put off buy the TravelGuide giving me info at present time and not planning ahead, but Gamrin have informed me there will be a update for this, if there is not one all ready. What I would say with all the units make sure you back your info up on your cards as you could be prone to deleting files…. Woops! I did on the Nuvi.

Basically thou, on all, the Nuvi out preformed the other two units, the Nuvi did not loose the signal once, the Navman 5 times and the TomTom 3 times. Lets face it we want to go from A to B and don’t really care about to many features as long as it works.

But I chilled out on the way listening to Pink Floyd on the Nuvi plugged into my Kenwood Stereo but voice commands were a little load through the car. I think a few people thought I was shouting at them haha
Rooms service found it quite funny talking to a Nuvi down the phone trying out the French Language Guide. It worked quite well I got a JD with redbull and steak and chips humhum with not much confusion.

I think Garmin have set the standard now and I can see a techno war this year. But I shall wait for a waterproof Nuvi and then I can use it on the bike.

Not a great post but come on im at work

Tim Buxton · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject:

An OK post, but not good enough to publish twice, so I've deleted the second one. Also, BBCode doesn't work in the Subject line.
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Tim

Sabre · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 09, 2006 Posts: 1

I have to admit that I was very impressed with my Nuvi 300.... untill yesterday. Then in a comparison with the Tom tom 300 for one of the girls in the office I found out you can select roads to avoid whilst on your route - ie A34 is busy, choose an alternative. You cant do this on the Nuvi. YOu have to go through the pain of being told to U turn before it eventually finds another route after you have turned off.
Also, I was told, although a handfull of salt taken with this, that the Tom tom has a pub database built in out of the box. From a village outside Loughborough the nuvi couldnt find ANY parking, pubs or shopping centres in Loughborough, in fact it didnt seem to exist, whereas the Tom tom found the pub selected a route and found parking nearby!. I looked like a right Charlie having forked out for something that basically only tells you where you are and roughly how to get somewhere.
Is this anyone elses view or have I missed something in the very US-centric manual???? I tried RTFM but found nothing new!

SOmeone tell me Im wrong please.

markjohnson · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 20, 2006 Posts: 41

Hi,

I have both a TomTom One and a Garmin Nuvi 300.

While some things are better on the Nuvi, some things are also better on the TomTom.

I think the spoken directions are clearer and more helpful on the TomTom. Also, the map display during guidance is better and easier to follow. Autozoom on the TomTom works pretty well whereas on the Nuvi it is poor.

I think if I had to buy one device, and if it was mainly for navigation, it would probably be the TomTom. That is a fair bit cheaper reinforces that choice.

Kind regards,

Mark

numpty · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 11:26 am Post subject:

Hi Tim

Iknow the TomTom RIDER with NAVTEQ GB maps as got better but its not for sports bikes.

numpty

Hi, Mark

If you have both a TomTom One and a Garmin Nuvi 300.

But you think you had to buy one device, and if it was mainly for navigation, it would probably be the TomTom. That is a fair bit cheaper reinforces that choice then why buy two?

Believe me i like the tomtom but its not as good as a Nuvi but the nuvi 350 mapping is different to the Nuvi 300.

Jonboy

swing

markjohnson · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 20, 2006 Posts: 41

Psgps · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 20, 2006 Posts: 11

I agree with you on this one all the way. Garmin offers excellent GPS support, plus their voice-activated support is top-notch.

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