No sooner did Steve Jobs say “a product should be simple” on the nightly news than I’m dicking around with Garmin’s joke of a website, wasting time with their cluess Help operators, and so the list goes on and on and on! What a piece of crap! And, their webiste! Oh! And, their barely audible voicemail…even at top volume on my cell phone! This is soooo amateur!
My friend says his TomTom came with software to allow him to manage his maps quite easily (on and off the device, like a drive). Does Garmin? Hell no!
Why didn’t I buy a TomTom? :smack::smack::smack::smack: Kick me!
Garmin should hire some programmers who are half-competent. That would be a wonderful upgrade.
[ul]
[li]Their software gets more bloated over time than Microsoft’s (I’m still running Mapsource 6.12 on my old laptop and doing fine. Starting BaseCamp just freezes the computer and makes it run about as fast as fridge-cold molasses[/li][li]They put their software or maps in random places on your harddisk, like C:\Garmin or C:\Users<profile>\Application data (Hey, Garmin, newsflash: programs have been required to use C:\Program Files since WinXP came out!).[/li][li]If you buy a new unit, you can’t transfer the map license from the old to the new unit. Not even Apple requires you to buy a new software license when you upgrade your computer[/li][/ul]
Maybe it’s change in the last few years, but I’ve always understood that TomTom was the crappiest brand. The low end model I have used had a clunky interface. The main advantage of TomTom is that you can have Homer Simpson direct you.
thirdname: not that this will probably help you and will likely cement your opinion, but I think Garmin sells new GPSs which have free updates. I think they’re pretty much identical to another cheaper model which doesn’t have updates.
While I had problem with their new map update software, I’ve been quite happy with the purchased product.
You get automatic map updates for life wrt your country and if memory serves right with about US 100, you get lifetime updates for the rest of the world, which strikes me as a pretty good deal.
Also, with Garmin you can get Sponge Bob to give you directions, much better than puny Homer Simpson.
Overall I like my Garmin better than the TomTom, however the TomTom has a couple features I wish the Garmin had. The TomTom lets me locate cities by postal code, and the TomTom can be set to display the “Avoidances” menu whenever you select a new destination.
I can get behind the software having to be in C:\Program Files - but please don’t put application data there. It’s much easier to have a back up process if all of the data lives in one place (and C:\Users<profile>\Application data (with sub-directories)) seems like a good choice.
If you get an Android phone you will never worry about GPS again. It is fantastic, accurate, always up to date, displays real-time traffic congestion and offers alternate routes, has turn-by-turn voice commands, tons of current POI, says street names, comes free with the phone, doesn’t require a subscription, and because it’s part of the phone no separate device is needed. Why have a stand-alone GPS unit anymore?
It’s awesome until someone calls. Then it’s worthless.
I personally love my Magellan. I can enter in multiple addresses and it will optimize the route between them for efficiency. Not a huge demand for it in general, but fantastic for me.
I have the Droid X, which has one of the largest screens on any smartphone. I also have a dashboard mount, although I have the mount suctioned to my windshield instead of the dash, and battery life is not an issue when using the GPS because the dashmount has an automobile charger cable.
I wonder where you get your information because that is simply untrue. In fact, it’s the opposite. When I’m on a phone call, the navigation cuts into the call when it wants me to take an action, e.g.; make a turn, move into a lane, etc… It’s only annoying because it is unexpected, and the person I’m speaking to can hear it as well.
I like the fact that you can download red light camera locations to my TomTom. Some of the newer models also support free lifetime map updates. I’m curious to find out their definition of lifetime. I suspect it means until they change the map format enough it isn’t backward compatible
in fact, keeping user settings and user modifiable data in C:\Users<profile>\Application data… is The Right Thing to Do. It’s the very thing that the annoying UAC was designed to encourage.
I got a Garmin Nuvi esentially for free 5 years ago with Amazon points from work. After the 2 free updates I took the plunge on the lifetime subscription and have not regretted it for a minute.
I go to the website twice a year, connect the unit to my computer, and click “update maps” and that’s pretty much it. I don’t see what’s so complicated about that. The GPS itself has never given me a moment’s trouble. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do, it’s highly intuitive to use and easy to read.
TomTom and Garmin don’t require cell service to have maps available. Try navigating for an extended distance with a smart phone that has no service connection. If you are lucky you will have turn by turn directions but good luck with visual cues as the map won’t update.