Garmin or Magellan?

[XC70 fan]

We originally ordered our XC70 with the navigation system, but the dealer we were dealing with were a bunch of crooks, took our deposit and never placed the order. But that's another story. At least we got our deposit back.

So my wife and I went out and purchased one as close to all the options we wanted except for the navigation system. Now it's time to buy a portable one. I'm torn between the Garmin Streetpilot 2620 and the Magellan Roadmate 700. Researched alot on the internet and they are comparable to each other. Both with pros and cons that had mixed reviews from the users. Any recommendations from anyone with experience with both of these units?

[babalu87]

Garmin
I have an XL12 that the wife bought me when they first came out, still works flawlessly.

[Jorge-789995]

Check out the DeLorme Blue Logger. It works with both a bluetooth enabled laptop or PDA. I have one on order, so I don't have too many specifics. Sorry, I don't know much about the Streetpilot or the Roadmate.

[William]

I have the Garmin iQue 3600 and enjoy it. It is a versatile unit that I easily transfer from one vehicle to another. Since it is Palm based I can quickly route a trip to address in my contacts. There is a newer version out that is Pocket PC based called the M5. The M5 has more memory and is bluetooth enabled.

One of my co-workers has a Magellan. We keep telling each other that we need to go for a ride with both units in the car and do a side by side comparison.

You should be ok with either the Magellan or the Garmin. You may also want to check out the Tom Tom brand. My co-worker has read some good things about it also.

William

[MLPVT]

XC70 fan,

I purchased the Magellan roadmate 500 over the 700 one year ago this month, and I love mine. If you're not aware of it, the difference between the 700 and the 500 is that the 700 uses a miniature hard drive (moving parts) and has all of the maps preloaded. The 500 (and the Garmin) uses Compact Flash cards (no moving parts), and you will need to load the desired map sectors from your PC. I personally opted for the 500 for one reason, no moving parts.

I use two (1) gigabyte CF cards and they contain all the map data for the entire United States and Canada.

The one feature you might want to think about that the Garmin has and Magellan does not is the multiple destination feature. That is, the ability to program multiple destination points at one time and letting the GPS unit plot the most efficient route for all of them. If you're on vacation in a strange city or just have lots of errands in your own city, you would be amazed how useful that function can be.

Lars



We originally ordered our XC70 with the navigation system, but the dealer we were dealing with were a bunch of crooks, took our deposit and never placed the order. But that's another story. At least we got our deposit back.

So my wife and I went out and purchased one as close to all the options we wanted except for the navigation system. Now it's time to buy a portable one. I'm torn between the Garmin Streetpilot 2620 and the Magellan Roadmate 700. Researched alot on the internet and they are comparable to each other. Both with pros and cons that had mixed reviews from the users. Any recommendations from anyone with experience with both of these units?

[Wodengolfer]

I have had experience with the BMW and the VW(Touareg) and the 'o2 BMW was far better. We also rent from Hertz when we fly to a strange city. We always request the Never Lost GPS system and it is the best that I've ever used, I'm not sure which one that is , the Garmen or the Magellon, but that one is what I would buy. :)

[littlewaywelt]

We originally ordered our XC70 with the navigation system, but the dealer we were dealing with were a bunch of crooks, took our deposit and never placed the order. But that's another story. At least we got our deposit back.

So my wife and I went out and purchased one as close to all the options we wanted except for the navigation system. Now it's time to buy a portable one. I'm torn between the Garmin Streetpilot 2620 and the Magellan Roadmate 700. Researched alot on the internet and they are comparable to each other. Both with pros and cons that had mixed reviews from the users. Any recommendations from anyone with experience with both of these units?
Garmin. Absolutely no contest when considering Garmin & Magellan for the car. Magellan makes great handheld units, but their auto units are way behind the curve in ease of use (hardware and software) and features.
FWIW, I have a Garmin street pilot color that served me well for four years before I gave it my mother-in-law. The utility Garmin offers, imo, is far better than factory NAV. I also have Magellan handhelds and a garmin wrist mounted gps for running.

You might also consider Tom Tom and other PDA bluetooth gps options.

[XC70 fan]

Thanks for everyone's replies. After careful consideration, I opted to go with the Magellan Roadmate 700 for 1 main reason. Maybe the reason is negative to some, but I think it is positive in my case. This is my wife's car, so I wanted to get something she could use easily. And the Magellan is supposed to be easier to use because it actually has less features than the Garmin (which has other great GPS features that my wife will never use nor is interested in learning). So I'll report back once I install it and get to try it out a bit.

[SYS]

Now that XC70 fan has resolved this issue, if I may throw a couple more questions out to those experienced with these gadgets (these questions are from someone with ABSOLUTELY no prior experience or knowledge with the GPS system, mind you :o ):

1) How does a GPS unit differ significantly from a factory installed navigation system?? (Except for the obvious cost difference and the fact that you can carry these things around when hiking and so on, whereas the factory installed navigation system is simply not a GPS nor is it portable...)

2) I just ordered a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen2 with practically everything upgraded except for a built in bluetooth. I'm planning on using this Dell unit whenever I'm travelling in my XC70 -- to entertain my kids, to download digital photo images, etc. Given my situation, what sort of GPS system would be the best? Do I need to have a built-in bluetooth in order to use one of these things?

3) Obviously I don't need to have my laptop in my car in order to use a GPS unit, right? I'd imagine, however, that these GPS units would work better if the car is equipped with a powerful laptop, and if my assumption is correct, are there certain types of GPS units that go better with a laptop than others?

Lastly, it's not even near X-mas time, and I'm getting dizzy with too many toys at once... :D

Thanks in advance for those of you who are kind enough to map the chart out for me...

[XC70Geo]

Sys, if you start with GPS take care, and make your own tests before any decision. The GPS theory and NAV systems are great, but the actual usability of the GPS tools may differ.

Q1: The background is the same for standalone and factory GPS systems. The quality may differ: The accuracy, the signal strength etc. (GPS) and the functionality (software). The built in antennas, displays are better, but not a greate diff.

Q2: If you go with the notebook, you don't need bluetooth GPS, a GPS mouse will suit you. The Bluetooth GPS is great, cause you don't bother with the cables if you use PocketPC solutions. If you use the notebook you can build a suitable system with cables. And the serial GPS will allways work, the BT can loose connection, can't pair etc.

Q3: You can have standalone GPS Nav (Streetpilot etc.) where everything is built in the tool (GPS, software, data, maps) - in this case the notebook does not count. You can have a Palm or PocketPC solution, where you can use serial GPS, Bluetooth GPS, or some handhelds have built in GPS (iQue, Yakumo), and the software runs on the handheld - no need for a notebook.
But: you can connect these systems or GPS tools to your notebook, and use a PC version GPS software.
The usability counts. The PC version is not suitable for an in-car use, the display is far from your sight of view, and often happens something MS related, and you have to solve it to use the NAV system brrr.
I like the handheld way, and we are writing GPS softwares for data gathering etc. The display is not the best, and the controls are designed for other purposes. But you can choose the best program for your needs, you are not locked to one tool.
The spec GPS tools are great, if you like the way they implemented the system. You cannot change or can rarely update the sw, the database can be renewed.

Overall: IMHO you won't like the PC way in-car. If you fall in love with one special GPS out of the box solution - great. If you like gadgets, and multi purpose handhelds, there's no limit to get the suitable software, and new sw will appear every month.

I could not test the Volvo Nav system - we don't have map data here (MB, Audi, Lexus neither - small market for Navteq), but I examined the Volvo manual, and it looks fine. You have to try it, and compare to others, and(despite the sw functions) it seems to have a well placed display and controls. Worth a try.

[MGC]

If you do a google search on GPS Forums you will find several forums listed that might answer alot of your questions about after market GPS units. The following link is to a forum that I have visited and have found informative.

http://www.gpspassion.com

Good luck with your search and let us know which unit you get.
MGC

[F0RWARD]

If you do a google search on GPS Forums you will find several forums listed that might answer alot of your questions about after market GPS units. The following link is to a forum that I have visited and have found informative.

http://www.gpspassion.com

Good luck with your search and let us know which unit you get.
MGC

Used to live in Edmonds area,nice place :)

[XC70 fan]

I'm not entirely knowledgeable on the technical aspect of GPS, but I'll try to answer your question based on what I've learned through my research. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a system of satellites. A GPS unit, whether it be handheld or a Navigation System in a car uses the GPS to locate where you are. Basically, features differ from unit to unit, but they all essentially use the same system of satellite for tracking where you are. They are all called GPS for short. I think that when used in a car, the auto industry gave it a different name of Navigation System, because that's what you would use it for, to navigate. I think.

As for your laptop questions, I know even less, but I do know that there are software and hardware avaiable that will allow your laptop to be a GPS unit and would have all the essential functions for you to use as a Navigation System in your car. I hope this all makes sense.



Now that XC70 fan has resolved this issue, if I may throw a couple more questions out to those experienced with these gadgets (these questions are from someone with ABSOLUTELY no prior experience or knowledge with the GPS system, mind you :o ):

1) How does a GPS unit differ significantly from a factory installed navigation system?? (Except for the obvious cost difference and the fact that you can carry these things around when hiking and so on, whereas the factory installed navigation system is simply not a GPS nor is it portable...)

2) I just ordered a Dell Inspiron XPS Gen2 with practically everything upgraded except for a built in bluetooth. I'm planning on using this Dell unit whenever I'm travelling in my XC70 -- to entertain my kids, to download digital photo images, etc. Given my situation, what sort of GPS system would be the best? Do I need to have a built-in bluetooth in order to use one of these things?

3) Obviously I don't need to have my laptop in my car in order to use a GPS unit, right? I'd imagine, however, that these GPS units would work better if the car is equipped with a powerful laptop, and if my assumption is correct, are there certain types of GPS units that go better with a laptop than others?

Lastly, it's not even near X-mas time, and I'm getting dizzy with too many toys at once... :D

Thanks in advance for those of you who are kind enough to map the chart out for me...

[littlewaywelt]

If you have a copilot a laptop with bluetooth, gps software, and a bluetooth antenna, you'll be fine. Probably about $200 for the antenna and software.

You can do the same thing for any pda, pocket pc or palm based. If you don't have a pda and want an all in one, the garmin ique gets pretty good reviews. If you want a better pda, you need to go the bluetooth route.

sidenote the PalmOne Lifedrive was released today 4 gig hd, Bluetooth, wifi, some complaints already, but wow.

As to the factory NAV vs aftermarket...
I used factory aftermarket (Garmin) for four years (gave it to mother in law who loves it) and prior to that magellan handhelds since 98 . We now have the factory NAV in our xc and it is in use 95 % of the time we are driving. Much to my great surprise my wife uses it all the time and she never used our Garmin. That says something about the ease of use of the factory nav. Simpler inputs and much fewer useful options.

AFtermarket:
better (larger) POI database since Volvo limits what gets input
much better software
portability

NAV
cleaner look
much better screen- I was surprised how much a difference this made
software has lots of room for improvement
works w or w/o gps signal since it's tied into other sensors (some aftermarkets offer this as well).
inputs are pretty good, though hierarchy and POI input needs a lot of work. having to reinput city state etc is pretty lame if you live in an area like DC w/ two states and lots of cities close by.
It's also missing a ton of features found on most GPS units.


If I have to choose I'd go with NAV, but Volvo has a long way to go before it's competitve w/ the market.

[SYS]

This is an entirely new area for me, so it's a whole lot of fun researching and learning about the topic!! I'll definitely consider different options. If I were to purchase a Garmin, looks like the following seems to the winner: "Garmin GPSMap 60CS 56 MB GPS with Color Display, Digital Compass, and Altimeter." Pretty good reviews in Amazon.com. Wish it had a better storage capacity, though.

I'll let you all know what I eventually end up with.