Which choice Tomtom or Garmin

Harry Nicholson

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Good afternoon .
I've just taken delivery of a KTM 390 Adventure and wish to add a Gps unit. I've only used Garmin in the past ; my last being the Zumo 660 .
I'm happy to use either but before I buy I would appreciate any comments / advice.
Cheers
Harry
 
Before you decide i would seriously suggest you have a look at Beeline

Unless of course you want a full mapping unit
I agree, I think the Beeline might be a great option on the KTM 390..... I have a fixed mount on my Tiger and just use the bands on my Interceptor.... and it all works very well, mines lasts about 3 days riding before needing a charge and it does not drain my phone .... dead simple to use and adjust your routes etc on the Beeline app.
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I'm pretty sure that supporters of each of the major brands of satnav will advocate their preferred choice but the fact is they are both good. I've used both and couldn't choose between them

One thing that may impact your decision is if you ride with pals who already have satnavs, it may be more convenient to buy the same as them for ease of planning etc. That said, sharing of routes is pretty straightforward regardless of the make of equipment

One further point - have you thought about not buying a dedicated satnav, but using a smart phone. There are loads of apps which you can use, and Google Maps itself is pretty damn good
 
My wife has tomtom I have the garmin, for me I dont really like either, both sets of software are fancy but a poor relation to the older stuff. The units are depending on your use and desire both crap compared to previous years.

Tomtom is all sliders on the screen and that for me dont work on a bike, I prefer the stab at screen with finger approach.
I had the 660 (still have) the new xt has a way better screen, way bigger screen, however it is missing the headphone socket, and additional headphone, usb lead connectors which if you don't use them is no loss but if you did a PIA I used to like the compass + information display of the 660 xt dont seem to have that at least not easily accessible from the map screen.

It will come down to which software you like, the actual units are both waterproof, the mounting system on the tomtom is way better, if I were doing anything really adventure then I would want a proper lock on mount for the garmin, I will get one as soon as I can in any case as I really dont trust the new mounting system, it feels flimsy and things are only held with tiny bits of plastic.

apart from the screen being bigger and brighter the new xt is a really disappointment, it could be so much better, FFS they are still using a micro usb connector which has been out of date for over 10 years, no powered mount for car use any more and not just not supplied but they don't even make one, its possible to cobble one together but given the 660 had one in the box it stings a bit.

Having had a good look at both, I would say they are both built to a price rather than any thought to quality of manufacture or quality of design be that hardware or software.
 
Why settle for one, I use both a Garmin Nav VI and a TomTom 550, the TomTom mounted above the Garmin.

I'm a Garmin aficionado whilst my riding mate prefers TomTom, and they NEVER agree!
 
Thanks for the replies guys .

The Beeline looks like the way to go

Cheers

Harry
 


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