Compare Garmin Car GPS Vs Tom Tom

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Is the Garmin car GPS the best model to buy? Or should you go with Tom Tom? Opinion seems divided between the two makers, even though Garmin out sells Tom Tom over 2 to 1.

To help you decide between the two, I'm going to compare the Garmin car GPS with Tom Tom. Hopefully, this will give you a little help on deciding which company and which of their models is right for you.

Garmin Car GPS

Garmin sells 50% of the GPS devices sold in the United States. (To be fair, in Europe Tom Tom is the industry leader.)

There's a reason for Garmin's dominance of the U. S. market. They simply have more models to choose from at more price points.

I'm not going to discuss every single Garmin model in this article. But I will mention a few that I like at various prices.

In the entry-level market, you have the Garmin nuvi 200 and the nuvi 350. The nuvi 200 is a true entry-level device. It can do everything a GPS is supposed to (tell you where you are and show you how to get to where you're going), but it doesn't have many features beyond that.

The nuvi 200 currently runs about $150.

The nuvi 350, on the other hand, has a few great features like maps of the whole United States and Canada. It also can receive traffic and weather alerts (with subscription). At only $200, that's a lot of GPS for the money!

In the middle of the market, Garmin has the incredible nuvi 760, which sells for just under $350. The 760 has a wider screen than either the nuvi 200 or the nuvi 350. It also has Bluetooth capability, traffic and weather alerts, and it can route it's sound through your car's stereo system. It also does multiple point routing, which means you can enter more than one destination in at a time.

Consumer Reports called the nuvi 760 the best overall GPS on the market, recently. I happen to agree.

At the high end of the market, there's the nuvi 880. It can do everything the nuvi 760 can and also has several impressive cutting-edge features that no one else has. The nuvi 880 will set you back a cool $900, but if you're looking for state-of-the-art, look no further!

Tom Tom

Tom Tom doesn't really compete with Garmin at the high end of the market. Actually, no one does.

Where Tom Tom is most competitive is the low end.

Their Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition can do much more than the nuvi 200, but sells for essentially the same! If I were going to buy and entry-level unit, I would probably spring for the One, 3rd Edition.

In the middle of the market there's the Tom Tom GO 920T, which sells for about the same as the nuvi 760 ($350). The GO 920T has Bluetooth and the wider screen. It also has Tom Tom's own Map Share technology, which let's users actually correct Tom Tom's map database.

Personally, I would go with the Garmin nuvi 760, if I wanted a middle range product.

So, my comparison ends up like this: Tom Tom One, 3rd Edition for $150, the Garmin nuvi 760 for around $350, and the Garmin nuvi 880 for $900.

There's certainly more to know about GPS devices than just this. For one, there's the company Magellan and their fine products.

But this at least will give you a start.

What you need to do now is get on an informative website where you can browse individual models and check out current prices.

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