GPS - TomTom or Garmin?

[TurboWagon]

I just got a TomTOm 340XL. I absolutely love it!

I normally don't care for such things, but when I need to get to a specific location in an unknown or very busy area, the unit is priceless.

This is my first GPS unit and I am very pleased. It seemed like I got a better deal for the money when compared to the Garmin units.

 

[chuckerants]

Ooh, I'm really liking this map correction feature on the TTs - kinda like open source software. Hmm.

 

[chuckerants]

How do you like the built-in mounting?

Can you give me some more details about yours?

I really appreciate everyone that chimed in here. I think I decided on a TT unit (now which one?) as I may be tempted to give it to my 70 yo mother after I've used it for a while as she NEVER drives anywhere due to her being afraid of getting lost. She even mentioned that the spoken directions may even be a distraction for her, but let's see after I let her use it. AND I can set it up so it can give her directions in Korean (her first language).

Originally Posted By: TurboWagon
I just got a TomTOm 340XL. I absolutely love it!

I normally don't care for such things, but when I need to get to a specific location in an unknown or very busy area, the unit is priceless.

This is my first GPS unit and I am very pleased. It seemed like I got a better deal for the money when compared to the Garmin units.

 

[chuckerants]

Well, that sucks. Korean is not supported.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: chuckerants
Well, that sucks. Korean is not supported.

I have Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese downloaded on mine. Are you sure there isn't a Korean spoken language pack?

 

[BayouTodd]

We have Garmin and TT's, almost tossed the TT out of a window one day because it could not find a sports arena that has been open for 20 years, no way shape or form via the search function which we find on the TT to be almost useless! We were heading to a concert one night and we got stuck in traffic so we fired up the TT to find alternate routes to said arena, after 20 mins my blood pressure was so high I had to turn it off or out the window it was going...road rage indeed. I gave it away.

 

[jocomo]

I've got a garmin street pilot about 4 or 5 years old and it does have many languages available. Even has different variations of English (man, woman, British accent etc). What's nice is you can hook the unit to the computer and visit their website to download any improvements or fixes to the original software for no charge. Immediately after installing the free updates I noticed the unit pronounced the name of a street correctly that it had always mispronounced.
Maps aren't cheap and you should update at least every three years or so. I paid $69 for the latest update and they did offer a lifetime map update for about twice that much as I recall. My unit also gives the street names in addition to turn by turn directions which I find very reassuring. Love the Garmin.

 

[chuckerants]

Just happened to miss a wee bit of a country right smack in between China and Japan.

The user interface/application comes in the following languages:

# US English
# UK English
# Catalan
# Latvian
# Czech
# Lithuanian
# Danish
# Norwegian
# Dutch
# Polish
# Estonian
# Portuguese
# Finnish
# Slovakian
# Flemish
# Spanish
# French
# Swedish
# German
# Turkish
# Hungarian
# Italian
Spoken navigation instructions come in the following languages:

# US English
# Latin American Spanish
# Australian English
# Japanese
# Brazilian Portuguese
# UK English
# Bulgarian
# Latvian
# Catalan
# Lithuanian
# Chinese Mandarin
# Malaysian
# Chinese Cantonese
# Norwegian
# Croatian
# Polish
# Czech
# Portuguese
# Danish
# Romanian
# Dutch
# Russian
# Estonian
# Serbian
# Finnish
# Slovakian
# Flemish
# Spanish
# French
# Swedish
# German
# Thai
# Greek
# Turkish
# Hungarian
# Italian
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Originally Posted By: chuckerants
Well, that sucks. Korean is not supported.

I have Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese downloaded on mine. Are you sure there isn't a Korean spoken language pack?

 

[chuckerants]

Does anyone make any additional spoken language packs for TTs like RockBox does for MP3 players?

 

[chuckerants]

Is the TT Lifetime Maps and Lifetime Traffic Update worth the price? How does the Traffic Update work? Is there an external antennae?

The XL 340 TM (Traffic and Map) is around $165 shipped from Amazon. If the Traffic feature works relatively well, I'm thinking it may be worth the (extra) price even though I rarely spend time in traffic.

 

[The Critic]

Yup.

I just bought a TomTom XXL-540TM with the lifetime map and traffic updates.

It's worth it for the lifetime map updates alone-- each update usually costs around $75 if purchased individually.

The traffic feature is fed through a built-in antenna on the cigarette lighter adapter. I haven't been to a major city since purchasing the unit so I cannot comment on the effectiveness of the traffic feature.

 

[chuckerants]

So the antennae is included in the box? I wasn't sure if I'd have to shell out another $100 for that by reading the TT web site.

Thanks.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: chuckerants
So the antennae is included in the box? I wasn't sure if I'd have to shell out another $100 for that by reading the TT web site.

Thanks.

Yes, it's part of the new cigarette lighter adapter, at least it is on the XXL-540TM. The XXL-540TM has been discontinued in favor of the new XXL-550TM though.

Personally, I bought the TomTom because it was an incredible value. The GPS on the other hand is decent, but it's likely that Garmin is better. The screen on the TomTom washes out in daylight and there isn't much room for adding other items since there's no SD card slot.

 

[chuckerants]

Ok, XL = 4.3" screen, XXL = 5.0" screen.

Live=subscription,
M= Free map updates,
T= Free traffic update via a FREE INCLUDED antennae/cable.

So, now that I've learned this much, I think I'll go and actually see a TT and a Garmin at a B&M.

Thanks for the help and advice everyone. So far, I'm still leaning toward a TT.

 

[tonycarguy]

I've had my Garmin 205 1 year and hate how it has trouble finding satellites. Half of the time, it takes 5 to 15 minutes to find a signal. Yes FIFTEEN MINUTES. Even if you're away from buildings or trees! Meanwhile, my friend's TomTom which is in the same car as the Garmin will find the signal in 30 seconds. Or you could be driving on an open road with no buildings, and the Garmin will suddenly lose the signal for a minute.

The Garmin can also get confused where it is and give completely wrong directions.

Garmin = junk
I'm gonna pawn my Garmin on Ebay and get a TomTom. I've had it with this