Anyone pulled the trigger on one of these yet? I'm contemplating as an Xmas gift for myself.

 

i'd wait a couple of months for either the US maps updates or for
the new tomtom go one, which is less expensive than the 300
and uses the SIRF III gps chipset.

tomtom's current US mapset for the DC is lacking,
but if the teleatlas maps which mapquest is currently using
is an indicator, the next map update (supposedly in the jan
2006 timeframe) ought to have corrected a lot of missing roads.

(the current tomtom maps don't show the continuation of
md rt 28 to md 198 which was done about 4 years ago.
mapquest now shows this change. also, the teleatlas copyright
is now showing up on the mapquest maps, which i'm guessing
means they've gone to the teleatlas maps instead of navtek)

my garmin nuvi which uses the SIRF III gps chipset
can lock up satellites while attached to my speedo
in my garage w/ the door open. the antenna is well below
the level of the dash. that's really amazing antenna performance.

the form factor of the one looks pretty similar to the nuvi.
it's small enough to stick in your pocket.
i'm currently on TDY and i never have to worry about leaving
the gps unattended in my rental car since it's so easy to
detach and drop in my pocket. i'd expect the same from the one

 

I bought the Garmin c330, and am quite satisfied. This is the 4th Garmin unit I've owned, and would recommend them to anyone....great units, with better feature set, and the support from Garmin is fantastic. Give them a look, if you are considering the TomTom....(I wouldn't doubt that Garmin actually makes their unit (OEM's for them).

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp330/#

I use it all around the country when I travel for business, and am considering a permanent mount in the Mini for when I am at home.

 

Is it true that you have to purchase a subscription to use a TomTom? If so, I'd go with a Garmin (but I am partial to Garmin anyway since I have been using their units since 1994)

 

BTW....the unit has the entire US in it's database, so there is no uploading of databases necessary.

Yucca: I have been aloyal Garmin guy since 94 also....I still have a Garmin GPS V That I use on my motorcycle and bicycle.

 

I have done some checking and AFAIK, there is no subscription for the regular GPS/Mapping stuff. I think one of the higher end models has an option for a subscription for live traffic updates over a cell phone or something similar, like the XM Navtraffic Pioneer stuff.

 

I bought the TomTom GO 700 a couple weeks ago from Best Buy, and am VERY happy with it! No problem with the maps so far (this might be because I live in a highly populated city)... the POI database is sufficient but by no means complete, but you can download more POI's on the net, or even add your own if you'd like.

I was also considering the Garmin c330, however decided on the TomTom for 2 main reasons:
- the GO 700 (not 300) doubles as a hands-free calling deal for blutooth cell phones.
- TomTom offers a car kit that connects the GO to your car's battery (instead of the cig lighter cable), stereo, and headlights (headlights can be set to automatically toggle the GO's night mode, which has darker colors and dimmer screen), and also comes with an external antenna.

Much less important but noteworthy reasons are that I liked TomTom's website much more than Garmin's (I'm a web designer so that matters to me) and TomTom uses the MINI as the GO's model car in all its photos.


As far as the TomTom ONE goes, apparently it has a much better GPS chip in it, and it's a little sleeker, but no bluetooth or car kit. I imagine that eventually the GO's will receive the new chip as well, at which point my TomTom might have to accidentally fall and break and be replaced with my Best Buy service plan... (actually recommended by the sales guy there!! gotta love Best Buy!)

EDIT: I also should mention that the GO 700 stores the maps on a little internal hard disk drive, making it MUCH faster than DVD or Flash-based systems

 

from the comments at the tomtom forums at mytomtomgo.com,
it looks like the current teleatlas maps loaded on the
tomtoms are pretty good for the west coast,
unfortunately, the original poster is located here in the
dc area, where the maps need a major update.

if the next map update is as good as the current teleatlas
maps used by mapquest, they should be a major improvement.
right now, lots of details aren't quite right.

i'll probably get a one for my other vehicle if/when the map
updates are available.

fwiw, the forums at gpspassion.com and mytomtomgo.com have
been fantastic on providing info on the latest map and firmware
updates for all of these gps units.

 

mike the mini now has the proper adapters for the tomtom car kit
to tie into the stock radio. (from what i gather, the mini radio
doesn't quite use the stock DIN connections that the kit assumes)

 

Interesting, I didn't know that. Funny that the picture for that option has it mounted in a MINI (along with all other photos).... shouldn't be a problem for me though, since I'll be installing an Alpine HU at the same time as the car kit.

 

Chai has hers out and has been playing with it. I'm sure if you ask nicely (or buy her breakfast), she'd let you borrow.

 

I'm very interested in the one.. do you know when it is expected to release in the US?

 

Someone at work asked me if it works well when i talked to it. I asked them WTH they're talking about, and they said on the commercial, the driver operating TomTom is talking to the unit, and it is responding to voice command.

Anyone know anything about this?

 

bluetoof functionality maybe?

 

Ian over at www.gbmini.net just purchased one and I'd say he's "moderately" happy w/ it.

A bud of mine works there and Teleatlas' updating lags behind others, hence the DC problem. Forget trying to keep up w/ the Big Dig here in Boston, noone can do that

 

I think it works pretty well in DC so far. My only issue with it, is it seems to easily lose signal between the big buildings downtown.

 

time to spring for the external antenna and put it up in the sunroof.

the nice thing about the external antenna is that the connection
is integrated into the mount, so pulling the tomtom on/off
doesn't add any more wires.

have you added the speedcam and redlight cam POI (points of interests) yet??

i'm quite surprised by how many are deployed in DC!!

 

Using Tom Tom on a palm T/X.The only real complaint is that you cannot just leave it mounted in the car. Thieves
For less than half the price of the MINI one and more constant updates it is great
D

 

I had been considering the TOMTOMs against the Garmin C3x0 for some time now, and decided on the Garmin C320.
Price was the final deciding factor. $369 at Costco.com. Uses flash memory and only comes with 128MB (enough for ~3 states)
Added 1GB card for $50. (Which gets me about half of the US)

I had read that the cards access faster than the HD (Don't know if this is true or not) and that the Garmin maps are more up to date (They use Navteq... same as BMW I beleive)
-sidenote: No map data is going to be 100% accurate.

The only thing that the TomTom has that I wish the Garmin had is Custom Voices (John Cleese giving directions would be hilarious)
Though the British woman on the Garmin is loud and clear.

I wasn't interested in the Bluetooth or Traffic features, so $420 total was the ticket for me.

 

I got the Go 300 about a month and a half ago and love it. Right now i have it mounted to the windshield with the parts that come with it and have had no problems. It could use an update for the maps. A new bypass that opened here about six months ago is still not on it, but overall i am very pleased.