Garmin verses tomtom

cards · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 30, 2005 Posts: 3

I think I want to buy the Garmin Quest for in car nav in UK although the tomtoms look good. Is it worth paying extra for points of interest and/or bluetooth?

rossb · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:03 am Post subject:

Hi "cards". I would ask you, do you really need a quest? The garmin C320 has the same screen size as the tomtom, with points of interest.

The garmin does not have bluetooth support for TMC/mobile phones, but I guess you have to decide if you need these.

cards · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 30, 2005 Posts: 3

Cheers"Rossb" How light is the garmin C320? I need something fairly lightweight so that I can and carry it around (into meetings etc) and so that it doesn't get nicked

Skippy · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 4:56 pm Post subject:

It's a bit of a trade off.

The C320 is quite bulky, and awkwardly shaped like a little TV. Sad

The C320 has a touch screen. Smile

The Quest has a smallish non-touch screen. Sad

The Quest is flat like a mobile phone and slips into you pocket. Smile

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Gone fishing!

rossb · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 10:09 am Post subject:

The C320 weighs about 300grams, about 1/10 the weight of a laptop. I carry my C320 with me to work in a rucksack. I have on occasion used it for navigation while walking, on occasions where I was late for a meeting, and did not have time to print off a paper map.

It is fair to say the C320 is bulkier than a Quest, but you get the benefit of a bigger touch screen, and virtual keyboard, which is much faster for inputting street names. You also get 3d graphics, and stereo sound like the tomtom. I think the C320 is a good reliable choice.

macnoodle · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:03 pm Post subject: go for the Garmin c320

One other advantage that the c320 has over the Quest is the fact that it DOESN'T come with any memory built-in.

With the c320, if the future maps get larger than the supplied card, you just get a bigger card! It is feasible that in the future there will be a lot more data supplied per square km than at the present (more infor about restaurants, hotels, traffic restrictions, speed and red light cameras, etc.). With no expansion slot on the Quest, you will either have to download smaller areas onto the unit more often (which could become a pain), or you will have to upgrade your GPS!

Just one more thing to take into account... :-)

macnoodle · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:10 pm Post subject:

Having said that, the versatility of the Quest is certainly not to be overlooked! Smile

Ask yourself how often you will actually use it on foot or in other environments than in the car. If portability is really important to you, then the Quest is the logical choice.

Buy both, then send me the one that you don't like. :D
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Garmin StreetPilot c320; Garmin eTrex

Berisford · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 97

DAK, the screen on these 320's, is it the same type as on the Quest, i.e. does it work well in bright sunlight as the Quest does?

Thanks

macnoodle · Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:16 am Post subject:

Berisford · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 13, 2004 Posts: 97

Thanks for that macnoodle.

The reason I ask is that the Quest screen seems to shrug of any sunlight whereas the 2610's are impossible in the sun esp. on a motorcycle.

cards · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 30, 2005 Posts: 3

Thanks to all - looks like the C320 is the one for mejavascript:emoticon('

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Laughing

Jaz666 · Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:08 pm Post subject:

You might also want to consider the UK version of the new Streetpilot i3.

Full Postcode Search, Full UK and Ireland mapping out-of-the-box, with full European maps included on CD in the box; POI/Speed Camera warnings.

It does have a smaller screen than the Tom Tom, and it's not touchscreen - but it's a lot cheaper than the Tom Tom 500.

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