magellan gps accessories

garmin vs. magellan gps?

I'm looking to buy a handheld GPS, but would like to find out who makes the better system. I will be using it for hunting, hiking, fishing, and traveling in car. Any help would be appreciated.

Public Comments

1. never used the garmin, but I love my magellan. I've never had an problems with them. I've used them for a few years now. Try cnet.com they generally have great reviews on tech items
2. Either maker's GPS receiver will work fine. However, do note that Garmin has better American-based customer service. Magellan uses a call center in India, and sometimes their script readers do not understand what you need. But this only comes into play if you have some sort of problem with the unit. If you are going to use the unit in the car for turn-by-turn directions, make sure to get a color screen unit and remember to add $70-130 for the road maps. You should also know that handhelds only beep to announce turns; there are no voice prompts. Garmin definitely has an edge in autorouting (has more options like avoiding tolls, automatically reroutes when missing a turn), but a Magellan can get the job done.
3. DO NOT BUY A MAGELLAN. I own a Magellan Roadmate 700 and I have had problems with the unit, with Magellan's customer support, their deceptive marketing and more. Here is my story if you are really interested. I wrote so much, because having a Magellan has been a real pain. First I bought this unit (the North American version)because it was advertised as coming pre-loaded with maps of Europe.(I live the USA but I travel to Europe). It is pre-loaded BUT you have to unlock the maps of Europe. To get the unlock code you have to go through the horrible Magellan website. Their site is a nightmare to navigate through. I finally found out you have to buy the code. No mention of a price anywhere. I had to go through a whole process[open an account, register my unit, fill out a bunch question(where did you buy, how much, what do you use it for, etc, etc)] before going through the whole purchase procedure, before finding it cost $250 for the unlock code!!!!!!!!!! Okay, I am leaving for Europe soon, I have no choice, I pay. I unlock the map, and try to switch over to the Europe maps. According to the web site, it is easy. Go to menu, change region, unit will turn off and come back on with the new region. DIDN'T HAPPEN. I tried several times, and it did not work. I get on the phone with customer support. After a long, long wait, I get to talk with a person that barely speaks English(I don't even think the person knew what a GPS is). The person went through the same steps that I already tried(go to menu, change region, unit will turn off come back with new region). I went through it again, still did not work. Their response was "Your unit is broken you will have to send it in for repairs" No real attempt in any way to try and solve the problem. They told me I would have the unit back in about two weeks. I was leaving for Europe in two days. I did not send it back, I wanted to keep playing with it myself and see if I could fix it, and I did. All I had to do was remove the memory card from the unit for the maps to reload.(I felt like calling the idiots at Magellan to let them know about this but I did not feel like having another severly broken English conversation, plus they probably dont know what a memory card is) Next problem, three months later, ny unit starts turning off while I am driving, as if I pulled the plug. I call support. Same idiots as last time. They tell me the hard drive is probably no good. Send it back. Once again I felt they were a little too quick to say send it back. I looked on the web and other people were having the same problem. It turns out Magellan designed the cradle poorly and refuse to recall the units. So I bought a new cradle for $50 and fixed the problem. It was NOT the harddrive. The new cradle only lasted three months before I had to replace it again. The only reason that I havent thrown this thing out the window(and I have come very very close) is because I spent the extra $250 to unlock the maps. Just tonight, my unit has locked up, I turn it on and it just goes to a blue screen. Great, I get to call the idiots at customer support again. I don't know how other manufacturers are but I am willing to give anyone else a try. I now truely hate Magellan.
4. I owned a Garmin several years ago. The Garmin was a bit pricey. I like the TomTom for portability and customization. Using the unit for hiking would required setting points ahead of time, but is easy. See how the $250 TomTom allows you to also avoid tickets: http://www.a2dvoices.com/realitycheck/gps/TomTomGPS.html