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GPS system showdown!!: Garmin VS Magellan

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Which machine is better??? (or any general comments about other brands or these two brands specifically)


the Garmin 350

51Y5QE3V75L._SS400_.jpg



VS Magellan 4040

Magellan-Maestro-4040-Map-screen.jpg
 
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I've never really used a GPS system beforem except a few times, but just messing around with it. I'd say go for Magellen. They've been around for ages, and are one of the most popular GPS companies around.
 
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Well, I was using a Garmin the other day in Rochester, NY. We wanted directions to the local Dino restaurant. We were a few blocks away, just didn't know the directions, or how to get there from where we were, so we picked it out on the Garmin, and it was giving us directions to the DIno restaurant in Syracuse. But not sure if that is Garmin's fault, or something else.
 
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Well, I was using a Garmin the other day in Rochester, NY. We wanted directions to the local Dino restaurant. We were a few blocks away, just didn't know the directions, or how to get there from where we were, so we picked it out on the Garmin, and it was giving us directions to the DIno restaurant in Syracuse. But not sure if that is Garmin's fault, or something else.

Is the local one new? Maybe you need to update your maps?
 
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Both are great companies. I've heard many great things about the Garmin. Magellan is not bad either... I would be happy with either.

I'm actually debating whether or not to get one for myself... come to think of it. Don't know what to do!
 
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i had a Garmin pda right b4 i switched to Mac and I loved it! accurate and easy to use!
 
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As a long time GPS user For hillwalking I would recommend Garmin as they seem a little more Mac freindly at present. There isn't much in the way of 3rd party software which support Magellan at the moment I should know as I use Magellan... Oh well here's hoping
 
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Garmin 350 is better. imo, Garmin Nuvi is #1 one and TomTom is #2. If you get anything else you probably won't be as happy, especially given the amount a good GPS system costs.
 
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I personally have the Garmin Nuvi 350 and I love it. Its is super accurate and it works great. Keep in mind if the Restaurant or Point of interest that your are going to (like in StretchR's example) is new then it might not be loaded to the device. But give it any address and you'll b rocking in no time.

I love my Garmin actually the 350 is my second unit. My Original one was the C330 which was also great, but I like all the neat features on the 350 so I gave away my older one to my parents ;P
 
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I personally have the Garmin Nuvi 350 and I love it. Its is super accurate and it works great. Keep in mind if the Restaurant or Point of interest that your are going to (like in StretchR's example) is new then it might not be loaded to the device. But give it any address and you'll b rocking in no time.

I love my Garmin actually the 350 is my second unit. My Original one was the C330 which was also great, but I like all the neat features on the 350 so I gave away my older one to my parents ;P


do u know if the 350 also has an MP3 player? i heard it does...

and what about updates? is there any way to update the map since its built in memory??
 
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Garmen gps systems

I just came across a fantastic deal from an auction. It was a lot of Garmin GPS systems. You should definately check out this site. I got an amazing deal.
 
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I got a Magellen first. The battery only lasted about 45 minutes and it stopped working are a month. I contacted Magellen to get it fixed. After over a month and several phone calls I finally got it shipped. Another month later I got it back in the exact same condition I sent it out.

The next day I got a Garmin Nuvi 255W and love it! Never have any problems at all and it's usually very accurate. (Aside from asking me to take an unnecessary u-turn once) You'll hear a lot about them taking a long time to link up with the satellites, but that is with the older models. Mine links in less than a minute every time.
 

cwa107


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I have a Magellan Maestro 4200. It's fairly basic, lacks text to speech, but otherwise a very solid little machine. I bought it off of Woot.com for about $150 and couldn't be happier. I even updated it to the 2009 maps (cost was about $70) and that brought along with it a number of UI refinements and a whole bunch of new POIs.

The only brand I would steer you away from is TomTom. I bought my mother-in-law one of these for Christmas (it was about $160) and it is an utter piece of crap. I could go into more detail, but suffice it to say that both the device and TomTom's customer support are nothing short of terrible. I sent it back to Amazon and bought another Magellan (this time a Roadmate 1250) and it's flawless.
 
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I got a Magellen first. The battery only lasted about 45 minutes and it stopped working are a month. I contacted Magellen to get it fixed. After over a month and several phone calls I finally got it shipped. Another month later I got it back in the exact same condition I sent it out.

I researched all GPS models for months before reducing the choice to two: Garmin and TomTom. I made a call to the office of the latter expecting to be connected with Nepal or some such but it was New England.

Anyone who has ever bought a Magellan would not have done so if he/she had Googled for the reviews and testimonials on their GPS. 8 out 10 are not only negative but vociferous in their condemnation of the after-sale non-existent tech or customer service.

Fleurya's comment is the norm. You're in a world of hurt if you choose that outfit.

I finally chose TomTom model 910 with maps for all of North America AND much of Europe and is a HDD model which gets updated and can also be programed via the computer. When I had some trouble with my windshield attachment arm it was replaced with an FM upgrade that allows listening to instructions and downloaded music over the car's stereo on an unused frequency.

Garmin has also stellar reputation and one cannot g wrong with either brand.
 

cwa107


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Fleurya's comment is the norm. You're in a world of hurt if you choose that outfit.

Odd, I haven't experienced this "world of hurt" with either of the Magellans I've purchased. Granted, I have not needed to contact their tech support since both of them worked perfectly out of the box and have continued to do so ever since.

TomTom, on the other hand, I have needed to contact. My experience was absolutely awful. After waiting 4 hours for the unit to receive satellite data (outside, in clear view of the sky), I finally broke down and called their hotline.

I sat on hold for 45 minutes, only to be abruptly cut off and told that the lines were now closed, I'd need to call another time. In my book, that is terrible customer service. If the queues are close to closing, they should stop taking calls, but finish those customers that are in queue.

When I finally did get the unit to acquire the satellite signal (after multiple reboots and fooling around with the software), it seemed to work fine for a day. The following day, this time starting up at a different geographical location 30 miles away, the unit went back to not being able to acquire a signal for hours at a time.

My Magellans were exactly the opposite. Out of the box, *and indoors*, both machines nearly instantaneously acquired the satellite signal and were basically plug-and-play.
 

cwa107


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I finally chose TomTom model 910 with maps for all of North America AND much of Europe and is a HDD model which gets updated and can also be programed via the computer.

I would also add that an HDD equipped GPS in my opinion has a distinct disadvantage in terms of longevity. Exposed to the temperature/humidity/vibrational extremes found in your average automobile, the life expectancy of such a unit would be severely diminished compared to a comparable flash-equipped model. In this day and age, with flash memory being nearly ubiquitous and inexpensive, I'm not sure what would possess any GPS manufacturer to include an HDD in their product, unless it was simply a misguided attempt at cost-reduction at the expense of longevity.
 
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I use a garmin nuvi 255. I dont see why people need those large screens, you only need to see the path in which you are traveling on, not 500 ft around you. Especially in city driving, I dont think its useful to have a wide screen, in my opinion.

But I LOVE my garmin. I use it all the time, even if just recording my speed and location on the map. It helped me memorize road names and locations, so i dont need to tell someone "yeah its somewhere near that speedway..."

my 2 cents =D
 
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TomTom vs Garmin

In the interest of full disclosure:

My comments re the TomTom after-sale service deserve a correction:

After not needing any contact with them while I programmed my TomTom GO 910 on the PC, I asked them for info on a Mac version of their software and after a week have not had a reply.

That puts TomTom on a par with Magellan as far as customer service is concerned. I recommend to stay away from both - Garmin is definitely the winner.
 

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