16 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
Good Unit but not great
Date of Review: Jul 18, 2006
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this unit because it has a great display, tons of options, and it's very user oriented
I was looking for a unit that can work with my business and for everyday use. I was looking at the Garmin C550 and Tomtom 510.
Paid $535
Dissapointing POI compared to Garmin. The TomTom lacks many shopping poi, for example it's missing costco, sams, jewel, target, or even marshalls or tj max (thats okay, you can make the poi yourself or even find them on the web and upload them.
Still it would of been nice to have, 910 has more poi. Garmin has more, plus garmin lets you preview the address & phone# before set it as the destination, while tomtom doesn't.. major major flaw.. Maybe in the next upgrade?
For example, if I type jewel-osco, it will show all the jewel oscos from my destination in terms of miles, but you would have no idea where each location is located unless you click on them, which unfortunatley makes it start calculating your route. TomTom needs a click once for preview, a click twice for go!!
Also, it only lets you scroll through 3 poi icons at a time since the keyboard keys take up 75% of the screen.. very very stupid
Visual 3d field
TomTom wins in this sense, with the 4" wide screen and great 3d perception, you get a better overall sense of where you are compared to the garmin. There is more depth on the screen and I just like the overall feel of it, maybe it's just personal preference. Also, you can make the poi pop up on the screen while driving. All of my poi are set to visible, so when im driving and I see a target, it will show the red target bulls eye.. kinda cool
You can even have it give you an audible alert, for example set it to MOOOO when you pass by a dairy queen or any icecream place. I believe audible alerts were originally created for speed traps (so it will alert you when a speed trap is coming up)
TomTom also lets you pick the color patterns for the maps, day & night.
With the 510 you can turn on.off these options on the bottom
MPH (turns red if you go over
Start time
Time to destination
Overall time
Miles
Compass (with a few options)
Directions & Accuracy
Tie, both units are very accurate (as are most newer models with updated maps) We went to a resort in the dells and it didn't show up, but thats normal since it's only 2 years old. It locks onto the satellites right away. It dropped it once, but only for 30secs. Many people have complained of lockups and it's happened to me once when the unit wouldn't turn back on (in the house) there is a reset button in the back that has to be reset with a small pin or needle (kinda annoying)
Some say garmin has better maps, but I have yet to experience this.
Voice & Guidance. TomTom wins
The voices are incredibly clear & very human like. I think Mandy has the most real voice. Garmin sounds quite robotic compared to tomtom.
The 510 does not say the street name, while the 910 does, the garmin C550 also says the street name.
Also, TomTom lets you upload new voices, comedic voices, celebrity voices, etc. It's really kinda cool. I downloaded some guy from the howard stern show and it was absolutely hilarious, my friends were dying.
Speakerphone bluetooth
Tie depending on model of phone
Garmin supports my phone so I can use the txt msg, look at my contact list, delete calls, speakerphone,etc.
TomTom does not support my specific phone, but I can use the speakerphone-bluetooth option. Not being able to look at my contact list was fine with me. I just dial from my phone and it directly transfers to the TOMTOM. I also recieve calls on the TomTom with the press of the screen.
Calling a POI is annoying because you have to access it from a different menu. It would be easier to do one click (view and/or dial) on the main screen before clicking toward a destination... Listening tomtom?
The sound is okay on the phone, it's very muffled without the supplied mic. When the mic is attached the phone is good, but not great.
The 510 has itinerary planning so you add in your whole workweek or workday. Everytime you visit a place it checks it off. I haven't played with it too much.
It has a traffic weather option through your cellular phone, but mine isn't supported.
The new traffic cable is coming out and support is estimated to be at $60 for 15 months (right now the service is free to the end of the year, cable coming out in 3rd quarter) The weather works when 510 is linked to the pc, but traffic does not
It has the option for an ipod cable, I haven't used it yet so I can't review this.
It does not have the option for mp3's. The 510 is on a 1gb sd card with only 15megs remaining, so mp3's woudln't even fit. I know there is a hack to turn on mp3's-video with the 300-700..
Side Notes..
It has many options to preview your destination and plan a trip, through a quick sped up demo, txt (miles, time, etc.), slideshow, etc.
You can bypass routes, give you alternative routes, avoid part of route, etc.
It has a browse map function, click the screen, go to destination...
Millions of options, it's crazy
You can do left-right handed keyboard, qwerty, large, small fonts.
510 does not have a great mount, sometimes it slopes down, many users have been complaining!!
So many different downloads, tips, tricks, hacks, uploads, etc.
Garmin is very solid but doesn't have the different options that make this unit more fun and enjoyable
I really love this unit and I'm hoping TomTom will just listen to what I say and update the POI and the way you click on them. The Garmin is nice but I like the TomTom better because it has a lot more options and things you can edit,customize, and play with.
