Okay, I have been charged with deciding which GPS system to recommend to my boss for purchase. These will be solely for the Car so no muli-use GPS is needed. However, between Magaellan, Tom Tom and Garmin there are an unbelievable amount of choices. Anyone have one and if so I am really interested in: Accuracy of directions Ease of updatiung maps (free or pay) battery life overall expectations met or not?
I LOVE the Garmin Nuvi 350 that we got for Christmas! The maps are great, the text to speach function is wonderful, we haven't had any battery issues, the screen has a very clear picture.
I owned a Gamin and replaced it with a Magellan (and I bought my son a Tom-Tom for Christmas) The reason I replaced my Garmin with a Magellan was only because the Garmin I had originally bought had a dead battery and was out of stock, so I bought the Magellan since it was the only on in my budget. The Garmin will give you the latest map update for free. You have to pay (a lot) after that for map updates. The Magellan (as far as I can tell) does not charge for map updates. One feature the Garmin had that the Magellan didn't was an ETA display. That changed at the last update. The Magellan now has ETA display as well. Other than that, the two systems I had suit me well for their purpose. One thing I should mention is that, in neither case, are the batteries user replaceable. If the batteries wear out, and you don't have an adapter, you will need to send the unit back to the factory for battery replacement. I didn't mention the Tom-Tom above because I have heard neither good nor bad about i from my son.
This is very helpful and I welcome additional comments. One thing I am having a hard time substantiating is Garmin's map issues. If you read the News & Disturber, specifically the Barry Saunders column he recently did an article about Garmin and the fact their maps do not have I-540. That is pretty major in my opinion. I mean I can see brand new streets but a major Interstate? I have heard Tom Tom has a better map update and it is always free as opposed to the information that Clif just noted
I don't have mine here with me, but I'll try to remember to look at it when I get home and put in something in the 540 area and see what it comes up with.
DH and I both have a Mio, love 'em. Especially for the $$. Supposedly they can be hacked to use one of the namebrands maps, but we haven't done that. No need.
No Problem! At the very least, I can bring it to work with me tomorrow and head out 64 towards Knightdale at lunch (because 64 goes over 540) and see if it picks it up or not.
When I had my Garmin (last summer), the update that I did get showed I-540 between I-40 and Capital Ave. The connector south had just opened, but it wasn't part of the update at that time. My Magellan shows the I-540 connector south of I-40, but does not show the I-540 connector between Capital and the 64 bypass. For the record, I did not comment on Tom-Tom other than to say that I gave one to my son for Christmas and he has not commented about it to me since. I did say that Magellan does seem to have free updates.
Clif, Bad wording on my part. I was trying to say I have head that Tom Tom has free updates versus Garmin which you indicated and as I have heard that Garmin charges for an update after one. Did not mean to imply your comment was for the Tom Tom. Sorry for the confusion
One more thing Clif, Does the Magellan "speak" the roads? I have seen some reviews that say some of these GPS systems claim they do but really do not. What is the model for the Magellan you have?
No, it doesn't "speak" the road names. With the way pronunciations are, I wouldn't trust it to be accurate anyway. I have a Magellan Maestro 3100. It is rather low end, but I just need to get from here to there. We do a lot of travelling during the summer (camping mostly) and it's been great at getting us where we're heading.
My Garmin speaks the road names (text to speach), and for the most part it does very well. Sometimes she pronounces some of the words funny, but that inpart is my own fault because I have it on "Emily" voice, and she speaks with a british accent, she also drives a little pink princess-mobile on the screen!! So cute... :mrgreen: Also, my mom has a Tom Tom, albeit an older model, but she likes the Garmin she bought DH & I better.
My wife has put Tom Tom software on her phone and on a recent trip to a northern city with major road construction I put her Tom Tom up against my brand new Garmin nuvi 200w and her Tom Tom beat the pants off my Garmin. It warned of construction, showed roads that were out and warned of weather issues. That said, I still love my Garmin!
ok... just powered it up and pulled up Triangle Town Center mall, 540 does only extend to the mall. But it will be interesting to see what it will do, if I take it with me to work tomorrow and get on the unmapped section of 540... she'll be "recalculating" her little brain out probably! LOL
I love my garmin. I just used it to get to Florida and it told me of construction and accidents.... although two times since being here it has led me on a wild goose chase looking for a target and a grocery store. (???) But I picked the next closest one and it was right on target.
We actually nicknamed mine Floozie. She is a floozie, let me tell you. Give her a chance and she heads for the 'hood. I think she misunderstood me when I said she was cheap (i got her on sale during the Black Friday sales). We were in Savannah, and were looking for any good, off the beaten path, bbq restaurant... well she took us through every 'hood she could find outside of "historic" Savannah. Then we took her when we went to Boston, not that I haven't make the trip oodles of times, and could do it with my eyes shut, BUT... I put our fate in her hands to see how she would direct us, and if would save any time. She took us right through downtown D.C., questinable areas of Baltimore, over the GW bridge in NYC, and then wanted us to even get off at 17th Street in NYC, I had to keep telling her No, no, no! I think she might have a secret "through the 'hood" option that we accidentally turned on... LOL :lol:
DH & I have a running joke that his co's salesmen could not find a poop in a paper bag without checking their GPS. It drives me crazy that the guys that visit a customer site 10x could not drive there again if their life depended on it without their GPS. :lol: People use a MAP. Another lost art???
