I'm about to purchase a GPS for my 2006 MCS Convertible, and would like to hear from members about their experience with Tom-Tom's or Garmins. Is the 5" Tom-Tom really worth the price?

 

I think most people around here like the Garmin Nuvis. But I really think it's a matter of how much you'll use it, and which one you like the interface/controls of the most. I personally have a 2-year old Garmin Nuvi 680 and it works great for me.

 

Tradeoffs for both Garmin and TomTom. I have a Nuvi 755 and have been very pleased with it.

 

My recommendation would be to try and find a store that has a whole bunch of the units on dispaly with next to each other and play with the menus and displays a little bit; the market is constantly turning of entire lines of replacement products so it's truly hitting a moving target when you make your purchase.

The way I went about it really was I'd had the smaller hand held hiking versions of Garmins before, walked into the store, grabbed the brochure, looked at the features list and the ones that check marks next to what I wanted narrowed it down to two, looked at the price and weighed the one or two differences and made my selection walked out of the store in under 15min.

Things you'll probably want to keep an eye out for are:

Bluetooth Capability (if you don't have hands free options already more and more states are adding new laws requiring it)

Update-able Maps included (could save you an easy $70 per year)

Voice reading of the Maps

Ability to pre-load routes from your computer; and/or record trips to find those fun drives again.

Also keep in mind, MINI released a special Garmin Nuvi and the files to make your car on the map a MINI are circulating for the Garmins; Tom tom tends to have more options for specialty voices.

 

Thank you for your inputs. I research the Garmin site and looked at the various models; there are so many. Making a decision just from the Garmin site was impossible to I went to Best Buy, looked at everything on display, chatted with other GPS lookers as well as the Blue Coated helper. Decided on and bought the Garmin Nuvi 1490t because it was Blue Tooth capable and the price included lifetime map updates. Normal retail $499 on sale for $399. So far I am very pleased with with it; no complaints.

 

Personally I prefer the Nuvi's, they have alot of accessories avail.

 

I have a nuvi 660 attached to the dash with a Kuda mount that I've been very happy with.

The lifetime map updates on your 1490t sound like a good deal. I've already spent $180 on map updates for my 660, and that's with only updating the maps every other year, not every year.

 

I got a Garmin Nuvi 265WT for Christmas this year, its mounted to my dash using a Go Mini Go bracket and I couldn't be happier