Fred Burn Co.

Article by Kevin Jiang

The ultimate question – Which of these GPS brands reign supreme?

Garmin Nuvi

Garmin Nuvi’s sole purpose is “to create navigation and communication devices that can enrich [their] customer’s lives”. I would like to say that the majority of the millions of everyday shoppers and travel-fanatics can vouch for this. Focused on emulating a Steve Jobs kind of feel to the company spirit of innovation, the management has surrounded themselves with creative minds and passionate spirits. No doubt, this has led to a number of successes, which won’t cease to end anytime soon in their book. “At Garmin, you never know how the next great idea will be born. But you know it’s coming soon.”

Magellan Navigation

Founded in 1986, Magellan is the elder in the observed rivalry. With over 200 key patents, such as the first ever handheld GPS created in 1989, Magellan continues to play a key role in the navigation world. For the past several years, however, the company has been under a little turmoil due to new ownerships and is currently stabilizing. Yet, this doesn’t affect the quality of their products as they continue to produce numerous satisfied customers yearly.

TomTom

“TomTom has a viable, cost-effective solution here and now to reduce traffic congestion on a very large scale. This doesn’t involve building roads or introducing congestion schemes, but simply making our road flow more efficient. Millions of people driving as a collective will reduce traffic congestion for all.” – Harold Goddijn, CEO of TomTom.

That is their mission – to reduce traffic congestion for all. Dedicated and persevering, this aspect is TomTom’s golden attribute. They are growing fast and coming on strong with a specific vision. TomTom maybe newer but what they boldy state, even bolder than Garmin nuvi and Magellan, is their mission statements and manifesto. While Garmin’s and Magellan’s buyer base is primarily focused on North America, TomTom has a higher reputation in the rest of the world.

The Discussion – The Battle

To get straight to the facts, we went and brought in some tested experimental trials conducted by Fletch from GPSmagazine.com. What was factored in? Many necessary components and features here and there need to be observed so we can clearly define why one is better than the other. I mean, we all know already that they tell you how to get somewhere, but some of us may not know about all the mathematical calculations and algorithms needed to compose these routes. Because we don’t want to bore you with the theoretical and factual details, the below data tables show simply which brand could get somewhere faster. While selecting individual products to represent an entire brand may not be the best possible method, these products – the Magellan Maestro 4050, Garmin nuvi 680, and TomTom ONE XL – were the top of the line and newest of the new products back in 2007.

The winner this time around is Garmin nuvi… But WAIT! Judging an entire brand by rank is not that great of an indicator in reality. You aren’t buying the brand. You are buying the PRODUCT. So the best way to determine who your winner is is by researching into reviews like the ones we have displayed here. Look into what other people say about particular products because everyone and everything has their strengths and weaknesses.

Moral of the story – Look into each product from each brand by itself and the reviews from other people like yourself. When many people say that something is good, perhaps even great, then there’s most likely some merit behind those words. The five reviewed GPS systems on this site are all relatively well-received by the population and thus have made it here for us to proudly display them. At the very least, take a look through the reviews – the prices here are really extraordinary. And even though none of these may catch your eye, through them you may stumble upon another navigation system that may appeal to you and take you where you want to go safely and quickly.