GPS. Tom Tom Or Garmin for towns and cities?

I use Tom Tom and find it has good maps and is user friendly.

Recommend either 730 or 930 models but all of the models have the same maps (sensis). Both have hands free phone and the 930 has a music transmitter for playing MP3s but for just navigating the 730 is excellent.

Haven't used a Garmin so I can't comment on them.

Cheers

I have a Garmin and love it, even though it embarrasses me sometimes.

My daughter commented to me recently that she much preferred Garmin over TomTom as the user interface is much better. She used both around Sydney when she was a publishing rep.

Regards Philip A

I suspect even different models in the same brand will work slightly better, easier, etc.
Either of the two should be OK.

I like the fact my Tomtom can be kept up to date on a regular basis without any additional cost.

Bill.

Mine is another vote for Tom Tom. Mine is a 720 a couple of years old and still very user friendly. As stated, cheap to update as well. Bob.

Gidday!

I have a Tom Tom XL somethingorother model - Its great as long as the maps actually have the address in them. I say that because about 5 percent of the time, the street I want - sometimes even the town is not in there. Because of the way the interface operates - i.e. town first, then street, it can sometimes be pretty hard to figure out if the device has the address in it at all. This is not for way, way, way outback towns - just ones within throwing distance of a major centre. A few spots I can think of that I have had problems with so far are: Widgee and quite a few spots on the NSW north coast. I'm very, very far from impressed.

I hear around the traps that some other systems ask for the street name first, then town - so if its not exactly the town you thought it was, you can still hopefully find it in a the next town / or up a level to the city...

Its my wife's birthday in a few weeks and I figure I will get her either a Navman or a Garmin - depending on what people say in this thread!

Cheers and happy navigating!

I have a Garmin 255W as well as a Tom Tom 750. Both are very good around towns and cities. Both are not much value (as bought) in more remote areas unless you stick to the sealed roads although I suspect the Garmin is slightly better. Both have good and bad points and neither is foolproof.

I purchased the Garmin 255W first and was initially very happy with it, however, as I tend to create many way points in distinct categories I found it difficult to upload way points into separate categories. In fact the only way I can figure it out is to load all the way points into one big file and then load than onto my Garmin. I have not loaded OzTopo onto my Garmin as I've read less than favourable comments about that product and I admit to a bias for Natmap and Hema maps run through OziExplorer on a PDA. I have loaded Shonky Maps onto my Garmin and will be giving that a run in the next two months while on a trip.

The Tom Tom was purchased for three major reasons.
1. I was not happy with the way way points are dealt with in my Garmin. I can create way points by the thousands(as I do) and store them in separate categories and display them in a variety of combinations very easily.

2. My model Garmin does not have Bluetooth whereas the Tom Tom Go 750 does so I can use my mobile hands free.

3. I am going to load ttMAPS onto my Tom Tom soon so that I can then use Hema and Natmaps ECW files and view them on my Tom Tom. I haven't been game to do that just yet and I'm psyching myself up for a while first.

In all other aspects the two units are equally good. I would never purchase a Tom Tom or Garmin that does not have external memory capability such as an SD or MicroSD card. For me that is essential to store all those waypoints. I think from memory the Tom Tom Go 750 is the first of the latest TomTom models that has that capability. My Garmin 255W does too but that is now an obsolete model being at least two years old.

WBS

I met an ex member at Rathdowney a couple of years ago...he was a member back then, and he was all fired up on getting a GPS, I told him to get a Garmin, he bought a TomTom, next thing he's on the forum complaining about the piece of ...poo,
So the Garmin Nuvi range is worth a look, depends on what features you want, Bluetooth, MP3's, etc. have a look at the link and compare the models.

THE NUVI RANGE

.

is the vms 2010 range going to be any better?

Garmin are the GPS experts..all the others throw features at the rival to make up for inadequacies!
Search the GPS forum for side-by-side test of all the known brands...for equal units...Garmin always wins hands down!

All the best

Matt.

I have a Garmen Nuvi with card slot for outback travel.
I have also used a Tom Tom 750 and in my opinion for town and city travel Tom Tom are the best.
They are easy to use and the display is excellent.
For outback travel however Garmin and Hema Navigator lead the pack as brands.
Which ever you buy ensure you do not get the bottom of the range. You need on that calls the streets out and also has the favourites, waypoint functions which apart from the base models all of them generally do.

Cities/towns - Tom Tom.

Regards Will

Gidday - its me again (the bloke buying a GPS for his missus).Well - after keeping tabs on this thread and looking at a heap of others - I have just purchased a Garmin nuvi 255W.

I tried three addresses in the shop before I bought it. These were addresses I could not find in my Tom Tom - all were easily found in the Garmin. The Garmin allows street searching by whole of State rather than just town / suburb, which has made all the difference. To towns it tells me those addresses in were quite bizarre - towns I never would have found in the Tom Tom.

I haven't actually road tested it yet though - but from all the reviews I have read - its a pretty reliable unit. It doesn't come with many bells and whistles - which neither I nor my wife want, and its very simple to use (easier than the Tom Tom in my humble opinion). The Aussie voice is refreshing too (rather than the english one).

So far - just messing around with it in the car (please don't read between the lines for that ! ) the mounting system is easier to use than the Tom Tom's - although it is not as compact. I intend on buying a second suction cup mount and charger for our other car - so we can just use the navigator in whichever car we like without moving all the other stuff around.

It's quite an old model - and heading towards clearance prices right now! As such, I picked it up from JB HiFi for $168.00 with 2010 Australia and NZ maps installed. A bargain.

So thanks Ma for asking this question - I got a lot out of it!

Cheers!