TOMTOM defector - quick question?

wacjac · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 27, 2007 Posts: 10

Hi folks,

Having owned three TomTom GPS units since they first came out, I feel it's time to change brand loyalty - driven by the dismally low brightness of their offerings and their customer service and map update rip-off charges!!

I'm considering the Garmin Nuvi 255W, but just before I make my final decision, can anyone answer these points..?

1) I was on a coach trip recently and a guy in front of me had what I *think* was a Garmin unit - what I did notice was that there was a sort of flip-out rectangular aerial which had to be opened up from the back to get a signal - rather clumsy I thought when you consider every other GPS I've seen have them internally? Is this the case with the 255W?

2) Here's the real sticking point for me - I think I've read this elsewhere before, but need absolute clarification... on the Garmin, does the main (mapping/route) screen show the remaining distance - or can it be personalised to do so? I'm sure that to see this information you have to go into other screens. This is a real deal-breaker for me.

3) Are they built quite robustly like the TOMTOMs ??

Many thanks

philpugh · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 1:48 pm Post subject:

I went the other way!

1/ There was a flip out aerial on my nuvi 660. It's no big deal - as you have it on it's mount for most of the time. However the 25x series don't have this arrangement I believe.

2/ I suspect that this may be the deal breaker for you then. GARMIN try to keep the navigation screen uncluttered - so most of this sort of information is on a second screen- easily got to with a single touch. You may be able to configure the main screen to show Dist to Go - go in one of the boxes. Have a play with one in your nearest Halfords to try it out.

Coming back to a TT device (now a 720 and I had TT Navigator from it's earliest inception up to TTN6) I had forgotten how much screen they used up displaying generally irrelevant info - by that I mean info that you only need to look at a couple of times in any journey. At least you can get rid of quite a bit of it.

3/ IMHO - they are built much better than TT devices - very solid feel. However these sort of devices are not meant for rough handling/harsh environments (e.g. outside in the pouring rain). Dropping any device like these onto a hard surface is asking for trouble. They are designed to work in a vehicle, plugged into power, locked into their cradle. That they (most of the nuvis) do work outside (and the GARMIN units tend to have an "off-road" setting to allow for this) is a bonus.
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Phil

MaFt · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 2:23 pm Post subject:

the 2x5 nuvi's use the 'new' screen layout - i THINK it may show different stuff on there? i know it certainly always shows the current speed?

anyone post some screen shots?!

MaFt

wacjac · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 27, 2007 Posts: 10

Thanks guys - very informative replies.

It strikes me as crazy that they should out a current speed box on the front screen on these things, when a speedometer is no more than a foot away!!

I think I'll take a look in Halfords as suggested.

What are the prices of map updates like? Also - do they have a mapshare-correction/fix facility like TomTom?

gatorguy6996 · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject:

The 7x5 nuvi can be toggled to show Arrival Time, Distance to Destination, Remaining Drive Time, Direction of Travel, Elevation, or Time of Day on the left data field (default is time of arrival). The same data field on the 2x5's cannot be customized. Tapping that field on the 2x5 will give you a list of turns, time to each and a total travel time, but certainly much more info can be customized/displayed, and much easier, on the 7x5's.
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Garmin 1695 / 255 / 760 w/MSN - Droid w/Google nav + Navigon - Navigon 8100T - Dakota10 - GPSMap76C - GeoMate Jr.

MaFt · Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 4:17 pm Post subject:

thanks for the confirmation gatorguy6996!

wacjac: remember that the 2xx ranges are the entry level devices so are the equivalent of a tomtom one. while they may be ok for basic users there will be certain things that you need a higher model in order to get those features!

MaFt

scotty76 · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 4:59 pm Post subject:

dales · Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 5:25 pm Post subject:

Confirmation. My 255WT does not have a fold out aerial - it's internal. (There is also a string aerial for the traffic info, which I can plug in if I want to receive this).

The Remaining Distance is one tap away (on the Speed box).

Dales.

StuartStrangeboy · Regular Visitor Joined: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 84

The 255 is the 250 upgrade and a great little device but also wait until early next month and you can get the 1200 and 1300 if you walk alot as well.

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