158 of 159 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Compared to Garmin Nuvi, May 27, 2011
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I don't have much to add to the overall evaluations of the other reviewers but I do have some opinions comparing this to the more expensive versions on the market.
A couple of years ago, I bought a top-of-the-line Garmin Nuvi for over $500, the model is discontinued but the equivalent one is about $400 today. I got this TomTom for a second car.
The Garmin is definitely a better piece of hardware. The entire device is more solid, the screen is larger and crisper, it finds satellites more quickly and shows location more precisely. It has better accessories for attaching to the dash and charging. But the TomTom is certainly good enough to get you where you're going. At 1/3 the price, it's a much better value for most people.
TomTom has overall better software, although some of that difference may be the two years in between purchases, perhaps Garmin has improved. I had none of the problems some early reviewers described in setting it up. Garmin was considerably more complicated, although it did have a lot more options. Someone interested in specialized features might prefer it, but I have never even thought about using any of them. I want a device that will direct me with minimal fuss, and it's nice that it can find nearby businesses.
Not only is the TomTom simpler, but it detects its orientation, which is handy in a car. It always present the screen right side up to you. I find its menus more natural. It does some little things right. For example if your last trip was from A to B, and you're still at B, a good guess to your next destination is back to A. TomTom makes this the first choice. Garmin puts it at the bottom of your favorites list. TomTom works best with a zip code, and is location-sensitive when making guesses. You type in a few letters and TomTom guesses the nearby place that starts with the letters, Garmin is apt to guess some tiny place far away. Garmin requires place names, which is sometimes hard to come up with. And if you do enter a place without a complete address, TomTom directs you to a better spot within the place.
Garmin thinks of the world in streets, TomTom in positions. Garmin says "take the entrance ramp on your right and follow route 80 eastbound," TomTom says, "turn right and get on the freeway." There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Garmin is annoying when it constantly tells you things like "bear left to remain on route 17," when you are driving on a dual route (like routes 6 and 17) and the other route separates. As a driver, this just means, "don't take the exit." TomTom doesn't do that, but it's equally annoying telling you to turn right or turn left when you're driving on a curvy road. "Don't drive off the side of the road," is all it means.
Another example is Garmin is silent sometimes on how to follow a road when it takes a jog. You're driving on route 3, and it comes to an intersection with route 35. You have to go a few hundred yards to the right on route 35 to pick up route 3 again. But sitting at the intersection, it's not obvious whether to go right or left. Garmin won't help, in its brain there is an unbroken route 3. TomTom tells you to turn right, then left. But when I was driving north on South Plum Street, which turns into North Plum Street, TomTom told me to turn right, then left, even though there was no jog, nothing changed except the street name. TomTom is much better at knowing about smaller streets and dirt roads, and warning you about them. Garmin ignores them. TomTom directs me down a private road to my lake house, Garmin takes me the legal way on public roads.
In terms of personality and accent, TomTom reminds me of a kindergarten teacher from Oregon. It seems pleased and faintly surprised when you do things right, and warmly understanding when you disobey. Garmin is more like a hyper-efficient non-commmissioned officer from a German area of Pennsylvania. It is crisply precise in directions and when you screw up its total lack of reproof is a reproof. Garmin tells you to make a U-turn at the next "legal" place, TomTom at the next "safe" place.
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