Gizmodo 
Enter your username and password.
-
posts about #740 more → 
Why TomTom Sucks
Olympus Stylus 1000, 750, 740, and 730 Cameras
Tip your editors:
Editorial Director:
Brian Lam | | Twitter
Editor:
Jason Chen
| AIM | Twitter
Features Editor:
Wilson Rothman
| Twitter
Senior Contributing Editors:
Jesus Diaz
| AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan
| AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci
| Twitter
Sean Fallon
| Twitter
Jack Loftus
| Twitter
John Herrman
| Twitter
Dan Nosowitz
Chris Mascari
Danny Allen
| Twitter
Rosa Golijan
| Twitter
Chris Jacob
Columnist:
Brendan I. Koerner
Interns:
Don Nguyen
Kyle VanHemert
Comment Account Questions:
| posts about #740 more → |
Why TomTom Sucks |
Olympus Stylus 1000, 750, 740, and 730 Cameras |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
05/12/09
The basic tech of my iPhone does make the basic tech of my Garmin seem antiquated. GPS makers seem like they all need to play catch up to the smart phones out there that have better touch screens and GUI's. Dedicated devices get lazy in the GUI department.
05/12/09
05/12/09
My Garmin came with a free map update when I bought it.
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
The one complaint I do have about Garmin is that mine doesn't have a "prefer freeways" option. It has "shortest drive" and "shortest time", but if the major freeways do a bit too much of a zigzag it'll try to bypass them in favor of the lesser highways and regular roads.
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
My Garmin only tells you when to avoide exits when there are options on alternating sides of the freeway that you want to avoid. Like how all the regular exits are generally on the right side, but you sometimes get a freeway interchange ramp on the left side instead. In those cases it gives you a couple of "stay right" and "stay left" notices, but then it just goes silent until you get to the next problem area or the point where you actually need to exit. Since I'm a left-lane driver and I don't always pay strict attention to the freeway navigation signs, it's actually a nice feature for me. Of course, since I leave the volume low enough that I only hear an incoherent mumble over the music playing on the radio, I freaked out the last time it happened, trying to skip across the entire freeway in rush-hour traffic because I thought my exit was coming up. Then I realized the path-of-travel line didn't follow the exit.
05/12/09
I have to agree with Wilson -- I have a low-end Garmin (thanks, CostCo) in one car, the TomTom in the other (sale at Staples), and infinitely prefer the Garmin for everything *except* ease of updating maps, which was trivial for the TomTom and a song and dance for the Garmin.
p.s. "lose" not "loose". Why is this four letter word so hard for internet users?
05/13/09
It's not an intentional feature, but the most awesome thing I discovered I could do with a Garmin was download non-Garmin car icons. Some guy out there figured out how the Garmin car icons worked and how he could make his own custom icons. He's custom-crafted Luke's landspeeder, Vader's TIE Fighter, Tron lightcycles, and a handful of different Batmobiles (I've been using the Tumbler). Best Garmin offered on the geek front is the Black Pearl.
05/12/09
05/12/09
I love my TomTom OneXL. Got it last year for fall travel and it saved my ass countless times. The mount stopped suctioning well and I had to jury-rig a better one, but for functionality, I couldn't be happier.
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/13/09
05/12/09
thx
05/12/09
TomTom _is_ the best. If you live and primarily drive in Europe. Garmin's maps suck over there just like TomTom's maps suck in North America.
05/12/09
05/12/09
...it takes FOR-EV-ER to "acquire satellites."
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
05/12/09
What model do you have? I just got the 265WT a couple months ago and even though I generally store it indoors without power, it'll generally pick up satellites in the time it takes me to walk to my car.
@TemporalSword:
I just downloaded my one free update, and when doing so tried to check prices on updates. They listed "updates for life" at $120, which allows you four free update downloads every year. Dunno what a one-time update lists for, since, having just downloaded the latest map pack, it does not show any recent updates that I could purchase.
05/12/09
Another nice thing about the 265WT is that you get traffic updates and rerouting without having to subscribe to MSN. Instead you get tiny ads once in a while, which are totally not in the way or distracting. You still have the subscription option.
05/12/09
05/13/09
Yes, Garmin allows one free update for a newly-purchased GPS, but they specify that it has to be done within 60 days of when the unit is first turned on. So if you wait too long, you're SOL. If you bought it used, you're SOL. Refurbs are probably allowed the free update, if they're factory refurbs and not done by a local shop-owner, but really I'd prefer to buy a lesser model than get someone else's castoff tech at a slight discount.
05/13/09
[www.amazon.com]