Best Car GPS Devices 2010 : Magellan Vs Garmin Vs TomTom
By Lou1842
Choosing the Best GPS Devices
There are 3 main brands of the best gps car devices which are Magellan, Garmin and Tomtom.
Each brand has several different gps devices to choose from and it can get quite complicated to decide which is the best car gps device for you.
In the article below there are comparisons of some of the best car gps devices from each of the brands. The features between each one are quite varied to give an idea of what there available.
Before choosing the best car gps device for you think about what features are important. Large screens, long battery life and preloaded maps are all standard features now. Other highly useful features include lane assist technology, fast connection to satellites, voice control, fastest route technology and lots more. Also think about the amount of features you need in terms of the price you want to pay.
Read on to find the best car gps device 2010 and to compare magellan vs tomtom vs garmin.
Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
You'll find it hard to get better value for money with a gps as the Garmin Nuvi 255 W is currently selling at $119 on Amazon (reduced from $219). It has all the key features you require with the best car gps devices and more.
Screen : Its wide 4.3 inch screen means you get a clear view of whats around you as you travel. The screen is antiglare and with bright colors. There are day and night time colored screen so you can see easier in the dark.
Battery life: 4 hours.
Preloaded Maps : with Navteq data of North America + Hawaii + Puerto Rico, including 6.5 million searchable points of interest
Other Key Features :
-HotFix (Long Term Ephemeris Prediction) finds satellites faster
-JPEG Picture Viewer, World Travel Clock, Currency Converter, Calculator and More
- It has a text to speech function which gives you street names when it tells you directions.
TomTom XXL 540TM (Lifetime Traffic & Maps Edition) 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Screen : This Tomtom screen is extra large, at 5 inches wide you'll have no problems seeing with this gps car device. Definitely the best car gps if you need a large screen. Again there are day and night time colored screens.
Battery Life: 3 hours
Preloaded Maps: Preloaded maps of U.S., Canada & Mexico with TomTom Map Share, Advanced Lane Guidance and 7 Million Points of Interest.
More Key Features: This Tom Tom has some useful key features including
- IQ routes means that it will always find you the fastest route as it uses average speeds of travel to find the fastest route rather than posted speed limits. This is based on over 800 billion road speed profiles that they have collated.
- Advanced Lane Guidance - uses photorealistic images to bring even more clarity to complex multi-lane exits so you can be more confident on the road
- There's TomTom Map Share technology, you can instantly modify street names, street direction, POIs, road speeds, and turn restrictions on your own device
-
Magellan Maestro 4700 4.7-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Screen : Another wide screen at 4.7 inches.
Battery Life: 3 hours
Preloaded Maps: Preloaded NAVTEQ maps and six million points of interest for the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico
More Key Features: Again there are a lot of nice extra features.
- One touch menu. You can save your favorite destinations so you only have to have one touch to get to where you need to go
- AA guide book - includes ratings and descriptions on AAA approved places to stay, play and dine.
- Highway lane assist, predictive traffic, spoken street name guidance and Bluetooth compatibility for hands-free calling
- Voice command. Navigate hands-free by speaking a variety of commands to control the Maestro 4700. You can "Go Home" or find the "Nearest Gas"
- Find your car. If you don't remember where you parked the Meastro 4700 can guide you back to your car.
Comments on Best Car GPS Devices 2010
The newest model from Garmin - Nuvi 3790T is a league above the rest. With multitouch display, voice command and nuRoute technology this is one GPS you will want!
Really great hub! I wrote one similar to this on my hubpage, not as detailed. If you are interested, my company is running a contest to win a Garmin Nuvi 1350T with Lifetime Traffic. Go here to apply: http://www.carfinance.com/contests.
I'm following you now, and look forward to your future hubs.
Good reviews!
Nice job
I could only recommend Garmen, but for an easy quality check of any brand all one has to do is check what gps devises have signal while still in the store.
Have used several units from all three manufacturers, the Garmin 3790T is miles ahead of any competition from any of the other mentioned brands.
HTC
HTC are leaders in the android phone market.
As a smart phone the HTC Hero is one of the markey leaders, as a platform for turn by turn navigation, voice recognition and touchscreen ease-of-use, it has to be a device to give some thought to.
Nokia N97 Unlocked Phone, Touchscreen, 3G, 5 MP Camera, A-GPS, 32 GB, MicroSD Slot, and Integrated Ovi Applications--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black)
Amazon Price: $420.00
List Price: $699.99
CPH-Brodit Nokia N97 Brodit Passive Holder Tilt Swivel Fits All Countries - #511008
Amazon Price:
Nokia Smart Phones with Free Ovi Maps
Any of the following smart phones from Nokia can use the free Ovi maps.
X6, N97, N97mini, N96, N95 8GB,N95, N900,N86 8MP,N85,N82.
Soon all of the above phones will have Ovi maps pre-loaded. Right now you can download the navigation software and maps here:
http://maps.nokia.com/explore-services/ovi-maps/do/default/
The N97 is one of the most popular smart phones on the market. It is well set up to compete as as a GPS navigator. Car mounts are available.
D: That Garmin nuvi 2790T goes for about $400 (on sale already) though..... I think I will wait a bit! D:
Garmin's upgrade maps and systems are extremely slow. You must first download them, unpack them and then install. The install is slow even on the fastest computer. My car charger stops working and I have to frequently install a new system in order for it to work. Also, the car charger has a fuse that needs to be replaced. Help is in a foreign country and when I complained, they told me to charge the machine on a USB instead. That won't work for a car-based GPS for long. Prepare to spend a Saturday now and then doing upgrades on your Garmin.
I have used Tom Tom .. I would say it is the best ...bit slow in intial connectivity ..but after that it works all good..
I have a TomTom and I think it is great.
Useful information in light of the many choices out there. I personally love Garmin GPS devices in my car and the text to speech feature is awesome.



earnestshub 22 months ago
Very useful hub, thank you for all the information, it does help a lot to know a bit about what we are buying.