GPS review: TomTom vs Garmin

I’m starting strong, comparing 2 of the “big boys” on the market, TomTom and Garmin.

This is it:

1. Computer graphics / Display performance

	TomTom	Garmin
In 524Mhz processor – Frames per second in routing and non routing	4 FPS	1 FPS
Support of Anti-aliasing on routing	No	Yes
Support of LandMark	No	No
3D free camera view on routing and map	No	No
In navigation get street or POI names by pick in LCD	No	Yes
Configurable map design based on templates	Yes	No
Uses real 3D aerial navigation photos	No	No

2. Search efficiency

	TomTom	Garmin
Search concepts accepted	City centre, Street name, House number, Postal codes, Crossings, coordinates, POI names, POI proximity	City centre, Street name, House number, Postal codes, Crossings, coordinates, POI names, POI proximity
Search for 10, Gran Via – Madrid – No. of clicks needed	10	23
Search for POI: Tourism: Puerta del Sol – Madrid –  No. of clicks needed	14	(20) 7 if search is performed in the same location
Search for Barcelona, Gran via de los cortes catalanes / Carrer de bac de roda – No. of clicks needed	20	41
Accepts Initials for search	No	No
Recognizes finger movements	No	No
Uses POI category and subcategories	No	Yes

3. Routing

	TomTom	Garmin
(Madrid / Toledo) – 90KM – seconds to calculate*	7	8
(Madrid / Toledo) – 90KM – No. of clicks needed*	10	24
(Barcelona / Vigo) – 1150km – seconds to calculate*	15	16
(Barcelona / Vigo) – 1150km – No. of clicks needed*	16	25
Quality of calculation	can use IC re-routes	***
Velocity of re-routing*	3	4
Routing options accepted	fast, short tolls, pedestrian	faster, shorter, pedestrial, line, tools, type of veicule
Routing block possibilities	distance, roads, alternative, and calculation	detour
Safety camera support	Yes	Yes
Info Lane assistance	Yes	Yes
Add favourite while routing	Yes	No
Multiple routing	Yes	Yes
Save, import, export routes	Yes	No, but can save and load
* In a 524mhz processor PDA

4. Favourites

	TomTom	Garmin
Number of different categories of favourites accepted	1	1
Information accepted	Name	Name
Customization possibilities	None	None
Search possibilities	Name	Name
Import / Export	None	None

5.  Reality view technology

TomTom:

On motorways artificial exits simulate lane assistance

On 50 European cities 2D city blocks

Garmin:

Not available.

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6. Conclusions:

Computer graphics / Display performance

Garmin’s and TomTom’s navigation frame rates are very poor, the navigation is far from smooth, which is extremely disappointing .

Search efficiency

The search engine efficiency has been proven to be satisfactory using any of the software, regarding the capability of search by concepts like: City center, Street name, House number, Postal codes, Crossings, Coordinates, POI names, POI proximity.

Routing

Under this section I’ve analyzed two different routes by car, a medium one: 90km and a long one: 1150km, using a 524Mhz processor. Both Garmin and TomTom support Info lane assistance and multiple routing but only TomTom can Import/Export routes. Garmin has the most complete routing options, while TomTom only has a few route options: faster, shorter, pedestrian, tolls. TomTom is the only with the IC re-routes capability.

Favourites

TomTom and Garmin are quite behind in this matter and their favourites can only store the names of favorites locations.

Reality view technology

TomTom and Garmin have very limited capability to show the real world.

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And that’s all for now…

… new review COMING SOON!

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