GPS for my A4 - Garmin, TomTom or Magellan?

[80sGuy]

I didn't get the factory NAV because:

01. It occupied too much space in the console.
02. Have to access the glove compartment for my radio/CD and lost of space area.
03. Too expensive.

Also with the portable, I can use it in any car

I am currently debating against the big three; Garmin, TomTom or Magellan. So far I've been receiving many pluses and have actually demo'ed the 'Garmin nuvi 360' w/ Bluetooth ($219.99) and by far it is most intuitive and easiest to use - right out of the box. It is straight forward, calculates and navigates real fast. Since I don't have bluetooth on my other car (new CA law in July) I don't have to worry about violating the law and get cited for not being hands-free.

But before that, I just wanted everyone's thoughts and input to see what are the major pros and cons between the three (or four), or what prompted you to select your choice of brand

[vtracer20]

i chose the garmin line of navs....i believe it was aslo the 360 wide screen. seem like it's the cheapest and have the best reviews out of most companies

[Entropy333]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 350, which in my opinion is a pretty good unit. I have logged over 4500 miles on mine and it has been awesome every step of the way.

Really what it comes down to for out of car GPS units is the ease of use. You can get larger screens, flashy cases, and retarded battery times, but if its not easy to use, its not worth it. Mine is quick and easy, lasts about 5 hours on battery (with full power settings) and is relatively quick to navigate. It has text to speech (which I highly recommend...it reads the street names for you) and is updatable through the internet. You can find local places to eat, bars, hotels and whatever. Make sure you get one that comes with the mounting and charging accesories. My buddy got a Magellan that looked really nice, but you had to purchase the mounting stuff separately.

My complainants for it are...
-Sometimes it does total distance from point to point "As the Crow Flies" and not via a roadway. This threw us off bigtime when we were travelling from Nice, CA to Monterrey, CA...in between which was a hefty set of curves that ended up taking 40 minutes to travel 15 miles.

-It doesn't bring up a sepearate "window" on the screen for turning. It shows you the turn via a purple line, but it doesn't flash up a new window to show you the turn exclusively and count it down via distance. The only GPS unit I have ever seen do this is the Honda In-Car units...It's pretty awesome and makes it hard to miss an upcoming turn.

Thats my 2 cents on the subject... I highly recommend checking out cnet.com, as their information and reviews generally seem spot on.

Hope this helps...

~James

[rayiish]

I have had both a TomTom One LE (Limited Edition) and a Garmin 360 w/ Bluetooth. The Tomtom was a cheap alternative which I thought would have sufficed but I was WRONG. my TomTom had a 2 sec delayed response when giving me directions such as "turn now" and the mounting piece was HORRIBLE. The Nuvi 360 was pretty good though. A little more expensive but its just as easy to use as the Nuvi and accurate directions and bluetooth is always a plus. 1 thing that the TomTom was better than the Nuvi was the customer service department. I have not heard anyone say that the Garmin customer service was easy to deal with but I never had first hand experience with it. The TOMTOM, on the other hand, had great customer service. The Rep stayed on the phone with me an extra 30 mins even though it was 9 already and she was suppose to go home but she wasn't even bitter about it either. Overall, I would definitely say Garmin. Just my 2cent.

-Ray

[l.ray49]

I vote for garmin too

[72mako]

I have an older Garmin...Street Pilot, I've always liked it and it took me cross country beautifully. If I needed another Nav (I put an AVIC in my A4) I'd get a Garmin without question.

[4RingRook]

I have an older Garmin...Street Pilot, I've always liked it and it took me cross country beautifully. If I needed another Nav (I put an AVIC in my A4) I'd get a Garmin without question.

Have the same one - 340c I think - hardwired by the A pillar between the wheel and pillar. I definitely recommend it.

[RedS-line]

I am in the same boat for a portable nav for my rides. I had an ancient Garmin but i gave it away with my truck because it was so bad. Years have passed and technology has improved, but my Streetpilot scared me from Garmin. My gf has a TomTom and it works pretty well although its not perfect. I wanted an alpine blackbird but the reviews are pretty bad on it. If you dont have factory bluetooth then definitely get a unit with bluetooth. I love the factory bluetooth and couldnt live without it. let us know what you get and how you like it....

[bigga24]

Garmin all the way. I have used the nuvi 350 for the last 2 1/2 years and I think it was off only twice. I have used it in 6 states now including Hawaii and it is very accurate. Aside from all the good info everyone above has posted I would like to add that the re-calculation time is very quick. Can't go wrong with Garmin.

[Raistlin]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 660 and love it. Magellan sucks, I know someone that got the 4250 (or something like that) and bluetooth sucked and device would nto turn on sometimes. Where can you get the 360 for $219 from? I know someone who is looking for that one. You can get the Nuvi 680 from costco for $349, widescreen and comes with MSN direct service.

[ekaufman]

I want to see some more pics of where you guys have mounted these things. Im in the same situation, needing an aftermarket nav system.

I have 2 friends who each have a Garmin and TomTom respectively and both swear by their brand of choice.

Anyhow, lets see some images.

[ecks618]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 660 and love it. Magellan sucks, I know someone that got the 4250 (or something like that) and bluetooth sucked and device would nto turn on sometimes. Where can you get the 360 for $219 from? I know someone who is looking for that one. You can get the Nuvi 680 from costco for $349, widescreen and comes with MSN direct service.

Please tell me where you got that mount, I plan on getting a similar gps because the RNS-E is expensive and cant have 6 disc changer with it and your mount just looks beautiful.

[INTEGRATION]

TOMTOM = Dutch

Garmin = owned by Chinese, made in China (no different from Shinco branded products)

Oh yeah, TOM TOM's are coming with speech recognition software in the very near future, as a matter of fact TOMTOM is using technology that a fellow Audizine member (RS4SPKS) developed.

Support Audizine, Support TOMTOM!

[RedS-line]

^cool. btw, i dunno where you guys are from, but around here, you best hide your gps unit once you park your car. too many people get their windows smashed to lose them.

[xX|05:A4|Xx]

go with the garmin for sure.

[INTEGRATION]

go with the garmin for sure.

TOMTOM > Garmin

Support your fellow Audi enthusiasts!

[Raistlin]

Please tell me where you got that mount, I plan on getting a similar gps because the RNS-E is expensive and cant have 6 disc changer with it and your mount just looks beautiful.

It is the Pro-Clip center vent mount, they also have a mount for the vent to the left of the steering wheel.
http://www.proclipusa.com/

And the GPS comes with when we leave the car. As for TomTom's I have never used one, I hear they are ok but I definately love my Nuvi. And Garmin already has Nuvi's out that take voice commands, they are just uber expensive right now

Here is a pic with just the garmin mount showing

Here is a pic of the ball and joint adapter from pro-clip

[zajac]

I have the LG740 (LG) with the 4in screen and it matches perfectly because it lights up red. It also holds a charge pretty long so no exposed wires. I also made a custom bracket right above the vents so I can easily slide it on and off.