Garmin or TomTom GPS which ones

[D&T]

I'm interested in buying a GPS navigation system, and what I've been hung up on is on the Garmin nuvi 260, but I know there are other good ones out there, really not looking to spend no more than $135 (theres a few on ebay right now) I just need one within the next two months... any advice on which ones you have? likes/dislike? what you would recommend? Thanks in advance everyone

ETA: oh and I don't mind refurbish (just want to make sure I don't get a lemon)

 

[Dancing Fire]

i own 2 Garmins a nuvi 350 and a older c 340.

but why take a chance on a refurbish since the new ones are so cheap now?

btw; buy one that speaks the street name.

 

[atroop711]

we have the garmin nuvi (250?) and love it. Got this for my husband as a gift and he loves it (and he''s picky). I don''t think you can go wrong with a garmin

 

[April20]

I've had both. I had the low end Tom Tom until I lost it. While it worked just fine, I disliked that it told me to turn so far in advance. And everything was in yards- ie, in 800 yards, turn right. In 400 yards, turn right, etc. I mean, at least 3 notifications as it was so early. The one I had had the smaller screen and I found if a road had more than one name- for instance, I-75, SR_____, Country Road _______ the print got so small I couldn't see.

I got a Garmin when I lost the Tom Tom (left the darn thing in a rental car!) earlier this month. It was $149 on sale at Sears and is the one with the wider screen. I really like it. For one, I can read the road signs so much easier. It doesn't tell me to turn a hundred years in advance. The other cool thing it does is post the speed limit on the screen on more major streets, which I think it really cool. When I used it today, I realized that when I got to my destination, it told me it was on the right, rather than just "ahead" as my Tom Tom did.

The interface of each one is slightly different, but each is easily used. No complaint about either and thus far I don't necessarily prefer one over the other. Neither one I have had have the text to speech feature- in other words, they dont name the actual streets. My understanding is that you don't get that feature until you hit the $200 price point or so. If I was going to buy either a Tom Tom or Garmin now with what I know, I'd get the Garmin.

 

[D&T]

Date: 7/21/2009 6:29:50 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
i own 2 Garmins a nuvi 350 and a older c 340.

but why take a chance on a refurbish since the new ones are so cheap now?

btw; buy one that speaks the street name.

true true- I guess I need a little bit assurance to pull the trigger, I take forever reasearching electronics. I''ve been mulling this over for a couple of months now, just decided to ask you all.

 

[D&T]

Atroop, April20 Thanks ladies, I have been leaning towards the garmin, then my coworker was raving about her TomTom that they were better (maybe the higher end, however, I only really would be using this when we go on trips and to the states I have no clue how to navigate around), but I didn''t go into details.

I don''t think I need anything fancy other than the touch screen and voice commands? right?

 

[cellentani]

I have had the Garmin Nuvi 350 for a year now, and it''s been a godsend - although DH thinks the Garmin is a lot nicer than I am when giving driving directions! Ditto the recommendation to get one that speaks street names.

 

[D&T]

Date: 7/21/2009 6:39:29 PM
Author: cellentani
I have had the Garmin Nuvi 350 for a year now, and it''s been a godsend - although DH thinks the Garmin is a lot nicer than I am when giving driving directions! Ditto the recommendation to get one that speaks street names.

ok I hadn''t looked into the Garmin 350 (I''ll look into that too), I don''t remember why I was stuck on the nuvi 260... maybe it was the price? for $150 hey that''s doable so I can have some $ towards gems. DH says he can download a program/gps onto his Iphone, but I''m not sure if I want to put all of our eggs in one bucket/basket -not sure of the correct usage there..lol so to speak. I like to have separate electronic devices for different things.

 

[zoebartlett]

I was looking at GPSs about a month or so ago but I ended up having VZ Navigation put on my cell phone so we could save money. It''s worked great, and it''s definitely helping me get from point A to point B as I learn my way around my new city. When I went to Best Buy, they were hyping up the Garmins and Magellans. They didn''t give great reviews on TomToms. I went to Consumer Reports and TomToms actually got pretty good ratings. I''d recommend looking at CR online and see what they have to say. If I had to pick between a Garmin or a TomTom, I''d probably go with a Garmin because it seems to get good ratings from everyone.

 

[April20]

Date: 7/21/2009 6:43:40 PM
Author: D&T

Date: 7/21/2009 6:39:29 PM
Author: cellentani
I have had the Garmin Nuvi 350 for a year now, and it''s been a godsend - although DH thinks the Garmin is a lot nicer than I am when giving driving directions! Ditto the recommendation to get one that speaks street names.

ok I hadn''t looked into the Garmin 350 (I''ll look into that too), I don''t remember why I was stuck on the nuvi 260... maybe it was the price? for $150 hey that''s doable so I can have some $ towards gems. DH says he can download a program/gps onto his Iphone, but I''m not sure if I want to put all of our eggs in one bucket/basket -not sure of the correct usage there..lol so to speak. I like to have separate electronic devices for different things.

I think what I have is the 260. The only time I really wish it spoke street names is when I''m in an area where lots of streets intersect and criss-cross at once. Surprisingly, the place where this often happens the worst is trying to get out of the airport (specifically Reagan Nat''l- that place is a bowl of spaghetti!). At any rate, I find the screen of the 260 clear enough to be able to tell where I need to turn without it saying the actual street name. But if you can spend the extra $100, I''d do it.

 

[jstarfireb]

Garmins generally get the best reviews. I have one (660) and it usually does the trick but occasionally takes a LONG time to pick up a signal when I''m in a big city surrounded by tall buildings. Otherwise it''s fine. The 260 is a great choice because it''s the least expensive model that has text-to-speech, which allows the GPS to speak the road names. If you get one without TTS, odds are you''ll wish you got one with it!

 

[D&T]

Thank you Zoe, April and Jstar for your weigh in, I do like the 260, so I''m off to finding me one yay! thanks

 

[cellentani]

Date: 7/21/2009 6:47:48 PM
Author: April20

Date: 7/21/2009 6:43:40 PM
Author: D&T

Date: 7/21/2009 6:39:29 PM
Author: cellentani
I have had the Garmin Nuvi 350 for a year now, and it''s been a godsend - although DH thinks the Garmin is a lot nicer than I am when giving driving directions! Ditto the recommendation to get one that speaks street names.

ok I hadn''t looked into the Garmin 350 (I''ll look into that too), I don''t remember why I was stuck on the nuvi 260... maybe it was the price? for $150 hey that''s doable so I can have some $ towards gems. DH says he can download a program/gps onto his Iphone, but I''m not sure if I want to put all of our eggs in one bucket/basket -not sure of the correct usage there..lol so to speak. I like to have separate electronic devices for different things.

I think what I have is the 260. The only time I really wish it spoke street names is when I''m in an area where lots of streets intersect and criss-cross at once. Surprisingly, the place where this often happens the worst is trying to get out of the airport (specifically Reagan Nat''l- that place is a bowl of spaghetti!). At any rate, I find the screen of the 260 clear enough to be able to tell where I need to turn without it saying the actual street name. But if you can spend the extra $100, I''d do it.

I''m glad I''m not the only one who''s circled Reagan National a couple of times! I''ll just say that I like the spoken street names particularly when I''m trying to navigate alone - when I''m going 70mph on a crowded freeway, I''m not as comfortable looking at the GPS long enough to read street names. However, I''ve cracked up at how the "voice" pronounces some of them! I also can download stuff to my phone, but the larger screen, the voice, and the ability to attach the unit to my windshield makes the Garmin much better and safer for me.

I just took a day trip with my Dad, and using the Garmin, he enjoyed telling me how fast I was going (several times), my top speed on the trip so far, and when we''d arrive at our destination.

 

[allycat0303]

Well I have both TomTom and Garmin, and I think the Garmin is A LOT better (I have the nuvi one) I like the fact that Garmin will say the street names. In addition, I found the touch screen to Garmin much more sensitive. Hands down for me, Garmin

 

[lulu]

I have a Garmin 27 something and it''s great. But I heard that with the tomtom you can download a lot of different people giving you directions-like John Cleese. That would be a lot of fun and fun is important.

 

[Skippy123]

I went to San Jose and SF, CA last week and brought along our Garmin and it was fabulous; it helped big time or I would have been clueless getting around in the rental car.

 

[lovegem]

I am very happy with my Garmin c550.

 

[gemgirl]

We have the Garmin Nuvi 255W. We both like it. It''s very easy to use. I would suggest that you go for the larger screen. The small ones are just too small.

 

[elrohwen]

I own a Garmin Nuvi 350 and it works great. I did quite a bit of research when I bought it and the results were very much in favor of Garmin over the other brands.

ETA: Mine speaks street names which is fantastic. It's also nice and compact so it can fit into my purse.

 

[anniee19]

We don''t have one yet, but have used my brother''s Garmin Nuvi a few times for road trips and LOVE it! I know he paid less than $200 for it. We onced used a Magellan, and didn''t like it nearly as much.

 

[D&T]

ok- I''m going to get the wide screen version, now I''m kinda wondering whats the difference between the Garmin 255 and 260

seems the same, did one just come out sooner? Thanks everyone for replying. I will be going with a garmin.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 7/22/2009 12:16:51 PM
Author: D&T
ok- I''m going to get the wide screen version, now I''m kinda wondering whats the difference between the Garmin 255 and 260

seems the same, did one just come out sooner? Thanks everyone for replying. I will be going with a garmin.

most likely,just buy the cheaper one.

 

[Erinleigh]

We''ve had a garmin for a few years now (not sure which model)... it''s been great for us! Hope you enjoy it

 

[hoofbeats95]

I really think Garmin is the leader in the GPS world. I have a Garmin and I LOVE it. Get one that says the street names.

 

[choyoyo]

We recently used my mother''s Garmin Nuvi on a visit to get around, and I loved it! We are considering getting one, but may wait until our next roadtrip into unfamiliar territory. It was super helpful, though it would take a while to load when we were in downtown areas.

 

[omieluv]

We have only owned Garmin, which have been great! We had a basic Garmin, which was fine, but we just bought I think the 550 (cannot remember). It is the one that gives you traffic alerts and allows you to use your finger to pull the map along, plus, it is widescreen. That one was not cheap though, but our first Garmin was $150, which we did like.

 

[ficklefaye]

i have a garmin as well, i got it on sale at costco, i doubt it''s the newest version but it does the job

 

[April20]

D & T- Did you get your Garmin yet? I thought of you today when I used mine and wanted to reitterate how much better it is than my Tom Tom was.

1. It seems to find a signal MUCH more quickly than the Tom Tom did. I''ve gotten myself lost before waiting for the stupid Tom Tom to pick up the signal.

2. Once it finds the signal, it automatically switches to whatever state I''m in rather than just the last state I looked up directions in. Case in point- the last time I used it I was in Baltimore. I flew to Kansas City this morning and it automatically set Missouri as the state- i didn''t have to manually change it as I would have had to on my Tom Tom.

3. I''ve found the routes it selects are more easily navigated than the ones I got with my Tom Tom. I don''t know what it''s deal was, but it LOVED weird streets sometimes. The Garmin seems to do this much less.

I just looked at the one I have and it''s the Nuvi 250w.

 

[D&T]

Date: 7/29/2009 4:59:41 PM
Author: April20

D & T- Did you get your Garmin yet? I thought of you today when I used mine and wanted to reitterate how much better it is than my Tom Tom was.

1. It seems to find a signal MUCH more quickly than the Tom Tom did. I''ve gotten myself lost before waiting for the stupid Tom Tom to pick up the signal.

2. Once it finds the signal, it automatically switches to whatever state I''m in rather than just the last state I looked up directions in. Case in point- the last time I used it I was in Baltimore. I flew to Kansas City this morning and it automatically set Missouri as the state- i didn''t have to manually change it as I would have had to on my Tom Tom.

3. I''ve found the routes it selects are more easily navigated than the ones I got with my Tom Tom. I don''t know what it''s deal was, but it LOVED weird streets sometimes. The Garmin seems to do this much less.

I just looked at the one I have and it''s the Nuvi 250w.

Hey April - I just got back from vaca with the family just last night, so I have still been contemplating the 260 or 255 but now you say the 250? does that speak the street names as well? I did read that the 260 is the newer version that kinda picks up faster than the 255. I don''t really need one until oh about four more weeks since we won''t be going on another trip then where we actually will need it, so I''ll be keeping my eye out for one. Thanks for thinking of me. Definitely I will be going with a Garmin, thanks everyone for your reassurance.

 

[Elegant]

I''m late to this, but I would also definitely take a Garmin any day.