# Portable GPS Opinions...Magellan, Garmin...?



## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

I have been a die hard map readed for a long time and don't mind using maps. Although I got lost in Europe a few times, in the US I have never really had a need for GPS.

Until now...

My wife is a freelance interprater for the deaf. She is contracted with several agencies who may call her while on the road to divert her from one job to another or see if they can give her a job near the location of a job she is on. Many times the only info the agency can give her is an address and phone number.

Currently if she knows ahead of time, she will Mapquest the directions before she leaves. However, that doesn't help with "on the fly assignments" or when she gets lost (not that often). A couple of times she has called me at work and I have to pull up the map in order to help her out.

I know there was some discussions on the Street Pilot III back when it came out, but what about now? I like a portable auto system due to the ability to put it in either of our cars. I see the market split between various models offered by Garmin or Magallen. Here is how I see them stack up.

Garmin: Wide model range, expansion memory cards, additional Map CDs (They have a USGS Topo map from when we go off road :thumbup: ), but does it dynamically reroute you when you miss a turn?

Magallen: Extensive streetlevel maps already stored on internal HD, brags of dynamic re-routing when a turn is missed, no additional map loading capability, multiple perspectives on the maps :dunno: 

To me it looks like Garmin is the winner. Is there a big performance difference between the two? Do the displays vary that much in resolution? Am I missing something?


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## FireFly (May 2, 2002)

I have a Garmin 60C handheld, color GPS and use it on the trails, in the boat and in the car. The street maps are excellent and YES, it will re-route. At first it will re-route to tell you how to get back to where you were. After a while it will "learn" a new route to get you to your destination based on the direction you are going. I've tried to trick it by getting lost but it figures out a way each time.

The screen is easy to ready and quite bright in direct sun. Negative- the screen is a tad bit on the small side which can make for tough reading on boat or in car.

Rather than follow the map when I'm in the car I just mount the GPS ( http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52418 ) and wait for it to beep at me. This tells me a turn is coming up so I look at the screen for the turn info. It will display which way to turn, how many feet away the turn is and how many seconds (based on current speed) until you need to turn.

I give it a solid thumbs up because it has yet to do what I needed it to do.

You may also want to check out the Garmin 76c which has double the memory as the 60c.

Good luck.


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

FireFly said:


> I have a Garmin 60C handheld, color GPS and use it on the trails, in the boat and in the car.


Do you load the Topo map for the trails or do you use the built in map?



> I give it a solid thumbs up because it has yet to do what I needed it to do.


A thumbs up, but it doesn't do what you want it to do? :dunno:  

Thanks for the suggestions.


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## FireFly (May 2, 2002)

Desertnate said:


> Do you load the Topo map for the trails or do you use the built in map?
> 
> A thumbs up, but it doesn't do what you want it to do? :dunno:
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions.


Bad typo here- it has yet to NOT do what I need it to  Sorry about that.

I use the base map for trails. Not very good compared to what you can buy but it works for me. I don't think you'll drop a lot of coin on a good Garmin trail map product.

I spent a lot on the Cityselect road maps and on the Garmin Blue Charts boating software. They are expensive but well worth the $$$. You need city select for the autorouting feature.


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## JetBlack330i (Feb 8, 2002)

This is my review of the Delorme system.

A couple of updated:
a) they now have a bluetooth GPS unit. Eliminates the cumbersome wire running to your laptop.
b) updated version of Street Atlas map. Heard it solves a few of the issues I listed in my review.

All for the same price. Can't beat the value. :thumbup:


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## FireFly (May 2, 2002)

I'll also add that my buddy picked up the Garmin 276C (I think the # is correct) and it's a lot easier to read than either the 60c or 76c. The screen is quite a bit larger.


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## operknockity (Apr 19, 2002)

If you want a GPS built in to a PDA, look at the Garmin iQue units. The 3600 has been out for quite a while but any day now they are coming out with a lower cost version (without some of the bells and whistles) called the 3200.


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

Thanks for the suggestions...keep them coming.

I would prefer a dedicated unit. We don't own a laptop, and the only PDA in the family is the one I use for work. As much as I like the Delorme idea or similar units, the cost of the laptop/PDA drives the cost up too high. The IQue is a nice idea, but I doubt my wife would ever use it as a PDA, so I would rather the money spent go into a better dedicated unit.


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## FireFly (May 2, 2002)

Before I purchased the 60C I had an Ique 3600 and returned it for the 60c. 

I liked the Iqe quite a bit better than the 60c because of its compact size and the fact that it would replace my outdated Palm Pilot, and the fact that it comes with CitySelect maps. 
But the downside for me was the fact that it is not waterproof and would be toast on my boat.

Compare the IQE along with the others- you may give it a 2nd look.


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## sbono13 (Jul 27, 2004)

i love the tomtom software for the palm T3. The software+bluetooth receiver bundle, including the car mounting kit, costs $300 or so, and a PalmOne t3 can be had for about $350. That's about the price of the dedicated units. If you want a standalone product, you might try the tomtom GO (same software, but in a 1 piece). www.tomtom.com.

If you do go with the palm-based unit, you might consider checking out proclipsusa.com for a nice custom-designed mounting bracket for your Bimmer (i use the angled console mount for the 3-series).


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

FireFly said:


> Before I purchased the 60C I had an Ique 3600 and returned it for the 60c.
> 
> I liked the Iqe quite a bit better than the 60c because of its compact size and the fact that it would replace my outdated Palm Pilot, and the fact that it comes with CitySelect maps.
> But the downside for me was the fact that it is not waterproof and would be toast on my boat.
> ...


Thanks. If my wife was a PDA user, I would give it more consideration. I am the PDA user and my wife needs the GPS, so that doesn't really suit our needs.

However, after going to Garmin's website again, I really like the 60C like you have (they didn't show a 76C on their website) but they also showed a new devise called a Quest that looks pretty good. The advantage of the Quest over the 60c for us would be the vehicle mount. We don't have a boat or a motorcycle to worry about the ruggedized case. They seem to meet the same standard of water proofness.

Noticed that there is a regional Topo map that can be loaded to the Quest as well as you 60c.

Can you really read the map on the screen, or do you just go by the arrow and the directions. That is the only real drawback I can imagine. I would like to go with something in the price range of the Quest/60C. $1K+ of a device with a larger screen seems a little steep, but would it be worth it?


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

sbono13 said:


> i love the tomtom software for the palm T3. The software+bluetooth receiver bundle, including the car mounting kit, costs $300 or so, and a PalmOne t3 can be had for about $350. That's about the price of the dedicated units. If you want a standalone product, you might try the tomtom GO (same software, but in a 1 piece). www.tomtom.com.
> 
> If you do go with the palm-based unit, you might consider checking out proclipsusa.com for a nice custom-designed mounting bracket for your Bimmer (i use the angled console mount for the 3-series).


That TomTom Go is pretty cool. The company website didn't offer much, but the C-net review did. I really like the big display and the graphics.

One down side that I see is the way it breaks the maps out into regions. I live on the border of two, and my wife commutes between the two regions daily. If I can load states individually, it would be a good option. However if you have to load the entire region as one mass, it would eat up a gob of memory and possible require multiple SD cards. Also, for us to drive 6 hours to my in-laws (a frequent trip) we would go through THREE regions. Once again, being able to load individual states would prevent this from being an issue.

How do you like the TomTom software?

It doesn't include the ability to load Topo maps when we go off roading, but I could break out maps again for that.

I really like the looks of the GO and will research it further. Thanks!

Great, now there are even more choices 

I love shopping for toys.


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## sbono13 (Jul 27, 2004)

Desertnate said:


> One down side that I see is the way it breaks the maps out into regions. I live on the border of two, and my wife commutes between the two regions daily. If I can load states individually, it would be a good option. However if you have to load the entire region as one mass, it would eat up a gob of memory and possible require multiple SD cards. Also, for us to drive 6 hours to my in-laws (a frequent trip) we would go through THREE regions. Once again, being able to load individual states would prevent this from being an issue.


On the palm, you can load multiple maps on the SD card, and it's relatively easy to switch between the maps within the software. I have a single region with 12 western states on mine, so there's no switching as long as I am confined in that region.



Desertnate said:


> How do you like the TomTom software?


I like it a lot. I don't have a lot of experience with other Nav software, but this one works great for me. I especially like the 3D map view, and find it difficult to resist the temptation to drive based on that view alone, like some sort of video game . My only complaints are that the points-of-interest library is not very comprehensive and the default view does not tell you which direction you are heading (N,S,E, or W). The map rotates so that the direction you are heading is always vertical, so you can easily lose your sense of direction, which is fine if you are willing to give up control completely to the GPS unit. Here's a more extensive review of the Palm-based unit and the Tomtom Navigator software:

http://mypalmlife.com/index.php?p=589&more=1&page=1



Desertnate said:


> It doesn't include the ability to load Topo maps when we go off roading, but I could break out maps again for that.


Yeah, the Tomtom software is exclusively for street level navigation. I think a PDA based solution might better suit your needs, since you could easily switch to different topographical maps and GPS tracking software as needed. Heck, you could try out different Nav software as well (mapopolis and navman are also well received). I don't know if Garmin sells their software separately. A PDA bundle would cost $729 complete (t3+ sd card+ tomtom for palm). http://store.palmone.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1763789 . The Tomtom Go is comparably priced, but less flexible (although more integrated).


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

For in car use, I would go with either the Garmin Streetpilot 2610 or 2620 or Magellan Roadmate 500/700. The 2610 uses SD cards and you download maps from CDs to it. The 2620 has a built-in Hard drive w/ the US preloaded ontoit. The Magellan Roadmate 500 uses SD cards and CD based maps (just like the 2610), ad the 700 has a hard drive like the 2620. I have a Roadmate 500 and am quite pleased with it. I also tested the 2610 and the ique before I got my 500. I found that the Roadmate plots routes much faster, has a much better UI, and that the maps look better. I also like that the speaker is integrated into the unit. THe Garmin has a few more "techie" features, but overall I found it to be the worse of the 2. The iQue is nice, but its just not convenient to use in the car, and it doesn't lock onto the satellites as fast (or hold onto them as well).


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## bimNaround (Jun 19, 2003)

Desertnate said:


> Garmin: Wide model range, expansion memory cards, additional Map CDs (They have a USGS Topo map from when we go off road :thumbup: ), but does it dynamically reroute you when you miss a turn?
> 
> To me it looks like Garmin is the winner. Is there a big performance difference between the two? Do the displays vary that much in resolution? Am I missing something?


Garmin does automatically reroute for missed turns. I have had two Garmin's over the past 10 years and never had a problem with either of them. I'd recommend Garmin. :thumbup:


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

robg said:


> For in car use, I would go with either the Garmin Streetpilot 2610 or 2620 or Magellan Roadmate 500/700. The 2610 uses SD cards and you download maps from CDs to it. The 2620 has a built-in Hard drive w/ the US preloaded ontoit. The Magellan Roadmate 500 uses SD cards and CD based maps (just like the 2610), ad the 700 has a hard drive like the 2620. I have a Roadmate 500 and am quite pleased with it. I also tested the 2610 and the ique before I got my 500. I found that the Roadmate plots routes much faster, has a much better UI, and that the maps look better. I also like that the speaker is integrated into the unit. THe Garmin has a few more "techie" features, but overall I found it to be the worse of the 2. The iQue is nice, but its just not convenient to use in the car, and it doesn't lock onto the satellites as fast (or hold onto them as well).


I really like the Garmin 26XX range, and the new ones like the 2620 and 2660. The hard drive with the entire US street level maps pre loaded is a nice touch. Any idea how much extra memory the HD has? Looking at the corperate web site they don't mention this. I assume there is some, because there is a USB port to load additional maps. If the HD was full there would be no point.

The draw back to the Garmin 26xx line is the price. I didn't really want to go that high, but it can be used as a buisness related tax deduction... :eeps:

The Magellan is a nice unit as well, I might give them a look again as well.

Honestly I don't off-road that much right now, but I have a very good possibility of moving in next couple of years to a place I will. Being able to load Topo maps would be very nice when taking the family on a trip of the forest service roads into the mountains. The more I look at these devices, the lower that priority becomes. I can still read a map.


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## Rich_Jenkins (Jul 12, 2003)

Nate - what did you end up with, if you bought something?

We are looking at a Palm+tomtom package bundle...?


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

IF you're still looking, you might want to check out the Garmin Quest. It offers turn-by-turn directions and is much smaller than the other options (it can also be used a handheld).


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## bbkat (Oct 27, 2002)

Desertnate said:


> I really like the Garmin 26XX range, and the new ones like the 2620 and 2660. The hard drive with the entire US street level maps pre loaded is a nice touch.


Since I'm too lazy to research it....can you load maps for other countries onto these? Thinking about my next ED


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

wingspan said:


> Nate - what did you end up with, if you bought something?
> 
> We are looking at a Palm+tomtom package bundle...?


I have not bought anything yet. I still think I will go the way of the Garmin 2620, however the new Cobra 3000 I saw in a write up here was quite apealing... :eeps:


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

bbkat said:


> Since I'm too lazy to research it....can you load maps for other countries onto these? Thinking about my next ED


The Garmin will and so will the Cobra. However, those extra discs are $$$.


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## pseto (Sep 28, 2004)

*I bought the Garmin 2610 several months ago..*

and I truly love it. I purposely didn't get the 2620 b/c the HD doesn't always work well with vibration, and the 2610 is a lot cheaper. I bought a 1G FC that stores all the maps I need, and still came out ahead a few hundred bucks. You can find the 2610 online for about $700-750 so shop around (I bought mine thru Amazon).

The Garmin definitely re-routes quickly when you miss turns (happens all the time b/c most GPS units are 50-100 feet off). It has many more points-of-interests than Magellan and all the other features were comparable.


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## mecklaiz (Mar 20, 2003)

*Portable GPS unit mmm*

I too an looking into getting a GPS unit for my wife's car (cause we expect to use it a lot for long trips).

I recently rented hertz and they had a Magellan unit in the car, does anyone know how those compare to the ones you can get retail. I liked it because it basically served the function it was meant for. I didn't like it because it had a small screen and the color choices were really weird for different types of roads.

Z


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## mecklaiz (Mar 20, 2003)

*Garmin QUEST*



robg said:


> IF you're still looking, you might want to check out the Garmin Quest. It offers turn-by-turn directions and is much smaller than the other options (it can also be used a handheld).


I saw this as well on the Garmin website, has anyone tried it out? MSRP is like 600 which isn't bad, but it does seem a lot cheaper than most, I wonder why


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## pseto (Sep 28, 2004)

Based on your last 2 messages, not sure how big of a screen you're looking for. I think the Garmin Quest is a lot smaller than the 2610. The 2610 could be a little bigger, but I think its just fine; anything smaller however, and I'd have to rely of the voice to tell me where to go. 

Regarding the Garmin vs. Magellan, I thought the Garmin was a better product b/c it seemed slightly faster, more accurate, and had a LOT more points-of-interests. My uncle has the Magellan and he always tells me that he should have gotten the Garmin.


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## amerikiwi (Nov 5, 2004)

Hello.
Nobody has mentioned the Navman iCN 630. It is a dedicated unit and works in Europe, US, Australia and NZ. I have used it for two yrs mainly in Germany and the Med. and now in NZ and it does everything my BMW system did.


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