TomTom One Vs Garmin Nuvi 200

D

dojob

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Im thinking of getting a GPS unit. Just trying to figure out which is the best unit. They seem to offer of less the same. Most people say Garmin is the best, but im not so sure.

Does anyone with these units know if they tell you when you are approaching a fixed speed camera?
 
The Garmin Nuvi 200 lets you know when you are approaching a fixed speed camera, and you can download the updated list from the garmap site, its saved me a lot of time and effort too.

I did a comparison a few weeks back and Garmin was still the leader.
 
Can't comment on the TomTom, but I have the Nuvi 200 and really like it. I find the Garmin units are well supported and there is a very active community here; a good source for first hand comments on Garmin (and other) GPS's.
 
IMO the TomTom allows for more flexibility in planning routes as it provides for multiple viapoints on a route. The Garmin has the best available maps and is overall the unit I would recommend.
 
I don't have one yet, but I would say that Garmin have been in this country longer. Garmins have been vastly overpriced from the start. Old Garmin technology seems to go for an inflated price. Tom Tom seem to have a speed & price advantage and their maps are not as 'tightly controlled' (*cough, cough*)
 
Miomap is one of the better programs around..

I have a P550... awesome piece of kit.
 
I have a tomtom... haven't used it much yet, but it's great. Don't know how it compares to the Nuvi, but from what I've read it seems to be better for route planning.

The new version of the firmware has a great "help me" menu, which tells you exactly where you are (so if you have to phone roadside assistance, you can give them a decent location) and will give you driving or walking directions to the nearest police station, public transport, or whatever.
 
I have a Garmin and it broke.

So I took it to Avnic (the distributors) and the chap there swapped it out for a brand new one. Service like that is important in making your decision.

The maps a fairly good. I say fairly because they'll get you where you need to go most of the time. But if you were coming to find me, we'll you'll never get to me 100% of the time. Or my brother. Or anyone who live in 9th Street in Parkmore. Or try and find your way around the end of Rivonia Road. Or try and figure what is going on in Rosebank. Basically it seems they just changed the colout of the maps from the previous version to the current one.

Interestingly, my brother has the Tom Tom software on his cell phone. That came with a bunch of humourous voices. You only get unintended humour with the Garmin. Street name pronounciation is interesting at times. Which is another little bugbear I have with the map authors. The Garmin converts text to speech (well the model I have does) and it will say Drive when it encounters Dr in a street name. Of course the Garmap people need to be funny about stuff and like to put numbers at the end of some of the Drives. So your Gamin is very happy to read that as Doctor. Makes sense to me. Just, you get nonsense out of the deice - like 'Hans Stryshdom Doctor R Five One Four'. Brought this to their attention and Garmin got blamed.

In short - nice device and Avnic seem a good place to deal with. The maps suxxor in so far that there are errors and nobody seems to give a rats ass about fixing them - although they will be very quick in their response and will ask you to send through the corrections. Not that the corrections get applied, but they will be quick in responding.

There is some good forum support and lots of nice peeps about.

Just rather annoying in a few places - can't comment about any other devices or maps though.
 
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I first used the nuvi, then the tomtom. TomTom's interface is waaay better than the nuvi...
 
Which one to get, the Nuvi 200 or the 300. Pros and cons of both would be nice.

Thanks
Voodoo
 
I had a chat about them today. They are similar in price.
The Garmin has been in SA longer, so the maps are a little bit better. You can't go off-road with them though.

The Tom-Tom comes with peripherals like charger etc, the Garmin doesn't - you have to buy them. The Garmin only has a cig-lighter connector.

The Garmin is easier to setup.

The TomTom maps are easier to update and cheaper. For example, you can import a TT and download the maps for free. The Garmin are more restrictive and locked into the device etc..

Tom Tom is faster than Garmin in re-routing.

Garmin doesn't warn you of a turn until you are on top of it. I don't think the Garmin will let you backtrack either.
 
Go play with both and buy the one you find use. It sucks trying to get the device to do what you want when you're lost and in a hurry...
 
dojob said:
Im thinking of getting a GPS unit. Just trying to figure out which is the best unit. They seem to offer of less the same. Most people say Garmin is the best, but im not so sure.

Does anyone with these units know if they tell you when you are approaching a fixed speed camera?
Click to expand...

I borrowed a friends Garmin Nuvi 200 and used it on a trip to Luderitz. I was quite impressed. When I returned I purchased a TomTom One from Bidorbuy.

The TomTom One works quite well but it does not have the fixed speed cameras installed. For that feature you have to go onto TomTom's website and download them at a cost of about 25 Euros. (free updates for one year)

One nice feature of the TomTom One that I do not believe the Garmin has is the map share function. I have corrected 2 errors that I found, saved the corrections on the TomTom and uploaded them to TomTom's website. You can download free corrections from other TomTom users on their website.

I found that the voices on the TomTom were clearer than the Garmin. I think the Garmin screen was marginally better in strong sunlight but not a lot of difference.
 
I have tomtom in my car and on my phone, it is amazing. I have played with both, the Gamin IIRC does not do route planning. The Tomtom has mapshare and also has speed cameras
 
I have the garmin and love it, apart from having no clue how to update it it works really well, someone said it does not tell you about turn until you reach them, thats rubbish it tells you turn in 300m, in 200m take offramp, not sure if 300m is right onto of something but i don't think so.
 
My tomtom tells me the names of the roads I am approaching, does the Garmin also do this?
It actually speaks to me and tells me you are approaching Rivonia rd and then turn left into South rd, for eg.
 
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