TomTom or Garmin?
Discussion
Hi all, Just after some opinions on which is best. we have decided to get one but know nothing about good or bad systems. Our budget is around the £130 mark and have seen the garmin 2595 with lifetime maps for that, the bluetooth and speech recognition is very appealling.
So any thoughts, opinions or recomendations would be very grateful.
Many thanks
Jamie and shelly
So any thoughts, opinions or recomendations would be very grateful.
Many thanks
Jamie and shelly
Don't use the bluetooth or speech recognition myself but the 2595 is a very decent satnav. I use it after my 3790 issues. I'm sure others will have more bespoke needs but I just typed the name of the hotels on it and it had them all, so no faffing with gps coordinates or post codes that are 1 mile from destination.
One annoying feature is the lady trying to pronounce foreign street names with some weird accent but I can live with that. It also gives you a selection of routes now. How it compares with TomTom I have no idea.
EDIT: To say that the traffic bit is an accessory if you find that important. 2595LMT will have traffic if available to purchase.
One annoying feature is the lady trying to pronounce foreign street names with some weird accent but I can live with that. It also gives you a selection of routes now. How it compares with TomTom I have no idea.
EDIT: To say that the traffic bit is an accessory if you find that important. 2595LMT will have traffic if available to purchase.
No experience of TomTom but the Garmin I bought for my daughter that I've used a couple of times has left me underwhelmed except when within a couple of miles of target.
Actually my experience of satnav in general for longer journeys has been poor. Unless you're a delivery/taxi driver then frankly they're a waste of money. Even now I'm not sure I'd spec one in a new car...and I've never bought one as stand-alone for my own use.
Actually my experience of satnav in general for longer journeys has been poor. Unless you're a delivery/taxi driver then frankly they're a waste of money. Even now I'm not sure I'd spec one in a new car...and I've never bought one as stand-alone for my own use.
Edited by caiss4 on Wednesday 2nd January 21:51
I've actually alternated between the two brands a couple of times over the last 5 years or so.
Started off with a little Garmin StreetPilot i5 (great little device - tiny but functional and could be run off 2x AA batteries if you didn't have the 12v lead handy), then went to the TomTom One v2 (very solid device, stuck with that for several years.
At the beginning of 2011 I replaced it with a Garmin Nuvi 1490T with Western European Maps. As with the StreetPilot, it's a good piece of kit - very clear, accurate maps, great built-in POIs, easy to input addresses, post codes etc, and came with a RDS-TMC traffic antenna for free lifetime traffic information.
However, I found RDS-TMC to be a very flakey way of getting traffic info, as it relies on being able to pick up a strong, clear FM carrier signal + the UK TMC data is poor - tells you there is a problem, but not what the problem actually is. In contrast, when driving in France the TMC traffic data received is far more detailed, and thus more useful.
For Christmas this year I got a TomTom Go Live 820 (again with Western European Maps). The TomTom interface is not as good as the Garmin one in my opinion, and it is definitely more fiddly to use. However, the Live service, which delivers traffic, weather, speed cameras and local search to the device via a built-in GSM data modem is far better and more reliable than using TMC. It'll be more expensive to run due to the annual charge for Live, but it's worth it to get more detailed and more readily-available traffic data.
I believe Garmin is now offering something similar to TomTom Live, but it requires a link to an Android smartphone in order to get data, rather than having a data modem built directly into the device.
Hope that helps?
Started off with a little Garmin StreetPilot i5 (great little device - tiny but functional and could be run off 2x AA batteries if you didn't have the 12v lead handy), then went to the TomTom One v2 (very solid device, stuck with that for several years.
At the beginning of 2011 I replaced it with a Garmin Nuvi 1490T with Western European Maps. As with the StreetPilot, it's a good piece of kit - very clear, accurate maps, great built-in POIs, easy to input addresses, post codes etc, and came with a RDS-TMC traffic antenna for free lifetime traffic information.
However, I found RDS-TMC to be a very flakey way of getting traffic info, as it relies on being able to pick up a strong, clear FM carrier signal + the UK TMC data is poor - tells you there is a problem, but not what the problem actually is. In contrast, when driving in France the TMC traffic data received is far more detailed, and thus more useful.
For Christmas this year I got a TomTom Go Live 820 (again with Western European Maps). The TomTom interface is not as good as the Garmin one in my opinion, and it is definitely more fiddly to use. However, the Live service, which delivers traffic, weather, speed cameras and local search to the device via a built-in GSM data modem is far better and more reliable than using TMC. It'll be more expensive to run due to the annual charge for Live, but it's worth it to get more detailed and more readily-available traffic data.
I believe Garmin is now offering something similar to TomTom Live, but it requires a link to an Android smartphone in order to get data, rather than having a data modem built directly into the device.
Hope that helps?
Hi folks and Happy New Year, Thanks for the replys, Since posting this i borrowed a neighbours garmin and it seemed to work well,l but i may go the phone with tom tom app as that has been recommended also. Thanks again for all your advise and i will let you know what i decide on
Jamie
Jamie
My only gripe with tomtom and I am on my 3rd is they make everything so expensive. I mean the top gear one I have is now 12 months old and to keep it all up to date is best part of £90 quid a year and that's discounted.
Maps for one year about £40
Speed camera depends on whether you have premium 15-40
Live services 50 quid a year gives you good traffic info so you can avoid delays etc
Never had a garmin as I like tomtom but do feel they try and bleed you dry.
Maps for one year about £40
Speed camera depends on whether you have premium 15-40
Live services 50 quid a year gives you good traffic info so you can avoid delays etc
Never had a garmin as I like tomtom but do feel they try and bleed you dry.
Had a Tomtom then upgraded to Garmin however I found the Tomtom easier to use and better route finding/planning. Not impressed with the Garmin at all, the only thing it does better is the speed at which it locates satellites, Tomtom could take a while to get hooked up.
In the first few months of ownership the Garmin had to be replaced as it had software glitches.
In the first few months of ownership the Garmin had to be replaced as it had software glitches.
Well we have just upgraded our Tom Tom and im a bit pissed with it/them.
The speech recognition is poor - admitedly it doesnt stand a chance with my wifes black country accent, but ive got surrey/London accent and its pants.
The other thing that annoyed me was i tried to transfer my map of the USA over and it said no room so i bought an sd then 'computer said no'
I rang tech and they said it was bound to my old unit - thanks a lot. so i had to cough up another £35
To add insult to injury i let the unit at home so ended up with CoPilot Live which was fantastic for £7 on offer. I wish i hadn't bothered with the US map now
I was going to pop tom tom o my iphone after having on my nokia but they can forget that.
I'll begetting a Gramin next, my cycle GPS is great.
The speech recognition is poor - admitedly it doesnt stand a chance with my wifes black country accent, but ive got surrey/London accent and its pants.
The other thing that annoyed me was i tried to transfer my map of the USA over and it said no room so i bought an sd then 'computer said no'
I rang tech and they said it was bound to my old unit - thanks a lot. so i had to cough up another £35
To add insult to injury i let the unit at home so ended up with CoPilot Live which was fantastic for £7 on offer. I wish i hadn't bothered with the US map now
I was going to pop tom tom o my iphone after having on my nokia but they can forget that.
I'll begetting a Gramin next, my cycle GPS is great.
I've used both and the most reliable to date has been the Garmin. I've got one for my bike, now five years old only frozen up twice in over 100k miles, got one for the work too, I'll stick with Garmin unless they change the way they function and reliability. Very good once you get used to the route planning etc, but I guess I should maybe read the manual, one day...
I've just had to throw all my kit away because it needs re-installing and TomTom have informed me that the product is no longer supported and an activation code is no longer available. Hundreds of pounds worth of stuff in the bin. I certainly won't be buying anything else from that company.
Edited by herewego on Wednesday 17th April 16:17
herewego said:
I've just had to throw all my kit away because it needs re-installing and TomTom have informed me that the product is no longer supported and an activation code is no longer available. Hundreds of pounds worth of stuff in the bin. I certainly won't be buying anything else from that company.
Herewego - you don't permit PM's so PM me and I'll see how I can help.Edited by herewego on Wednesday 17th April 16:17
Only interested if it comes with life time maps as there maps as I really disappointed with the cost of maintain my tomtom after the intial 12 months which is £100plus a year for £149 sat nav?!?!?!
Live services are like £49 a year
Speed Cameras £14.95 or £29.95 for premium
New Map and 12 months updates Around £50
How can they justify it!
Live services are like £49 a year
Speed Cameras £14.95 or £29.95 for premium
New Map and 12 months updates Around £50
How can they justify it!
Edited by jbsportstech on Saturday 20th April 14:48
jbsportstech said:
Live services are like £49 a year
Speed Cameras £14.95 or £29.95 for premium
New Map and 12 months updates Around £50
Live services - Live Traffic has saved me from sitting in traffic for at least 2 hours this year, so I am happy with that.Speed Cameras £14.95 or £29.95 for premium
New Map and 12 months updates Around £50
Pocket GPS world cameras are more accurate - so wouldn't pay for TomToms
Maps - I never bothered updating them as most of my journeys are on roads that haven't changed in last 2 decades - and I can cope with the odd one that isn't on the MAPs. Maths says don't update for three years and you'll have saved enough for a new device.
jbsportstech said:
How can they justify it!
because people will pay for it.Gassing Station | In-Car Electronics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff