Finally got the chance to face-off between TT's XL350TM vs Garmin's 1350T LMU
Further to my 1st post, in conclusion, I definitely made the right choice w/ the TT, esp now having tested them both in real-life. On paper, I already thought that the TT made more sense: Map Share, more POIs, better customization, TT bought its own map supplier, so supposedly more cohesive...the list goes on. I just picked up the Garmin and it's so bad, I'm going to return it after just 1/2 day of testing. I seriously think that there's some conspiracy out there by Garmin fanboys giving the false impression that Garmin>* (you've heard it all: "Garmin is superior for North America"..."NAVTEQ is better than Tele Atlas"..."Garmin has better map layouts, easier interface"..."Garmin is more user-friendly"..."Garmin is faster"). Nope, all wrong! The Garmin really is *that* bad (at least in terms of this face-off between these 2 specific models). Here's my summary in point form:
PRICE
-TT costs significantly cheaper, by $60 in my area (Toronto)
SATELLITE COVERAGE
-Garmin's satellite pickup is HORRIBLE: it took almost a minute to hookup whereas the TT was almost instantaneous; even inside, there are areas where the TT could pickup while the Garmin found no signal
POIs
-TT states it has 7M POIs while Garmin says it has "nearly" 6M: this is quite telling as based on my quick searching of POIs in my area, the Garmin failed to locate some restaurants I readily found on the TT. I suspect that the gap between TT and Garmin POIs is much more than just 1M.
TTS
-one area where the Garmin is superior is the TTS: the voice was very clear and no choppiness or cutting off that I've experienced w/ the TT (I realize that this is a glitch TT is presently working to fix, still, Garmin wins here)
SEARCHES
-searching for places took ridiculously long on the Garmin and sometimes didn't even produce a result (still had that hourglass icon and I had to 'cancel' since couldn't wait any longer)
MENUS
-there is much less customization in the Garmin
KEYPAD
-Garmin's was VERY insensitive: I literally had to press 4,5 times to make an input, vs for the TT, maybe 2 times. TT clearly wins here as the Garmin almost seems to be defective!
EXTRA FEATURES
-Garmin wins since the TT is strictly a GPS unit; the Garmin has a calculator, photo viewer, metric/imperial converter, worldtime, and some other stuff (I personally don't care about all these)
MAP PRESENTATION
-before I tried either model, I read that the Garmin maps are better presented and TT's look 'cartoonish'...how ironic that to me, it is the other way around! TT's maps look very professional and the Garmin has this silly color scheme that doesn't highlight the actual itinerary as much as it should; also, I didn't like how Garmin's map layout is restricted to a smaller area because there are 3/4 boxes to the right of the screen...and those are limited to very rigid choices (direction/elevation/arrival time/?). Overall, the layout's not as good as TT's and there seems to be less customization; the lane guidance is FAR superior in the TT since it shows a drawing of the actual part of the highway w/ the various lanes and signage: in the Garmin, you just have these small arrows, that's it
WINDSHIELD ATTACHMENT
-for me, the EasyPort is far superior for my use. I personally don't get why ppl need to remove the whole suction cup part, but in this area, I suppose if you must remove and reattach the cup every time you leave the car, then the Garmin is better; however, if you leave the cup where it is and just remove and reattach the GPS unit, then TT wins: the circular clicking part is simply better to find vs that specific 'middle groove thingy' in the Garmin
CANCER?????
-Garmin 'wins'?! I guess it's because Garmin is a US company and somehow the law there compels it to make certain disclosures?, but still, it's quite comical that on its box it states that its product/pkging *contains*(!!!) chemicals known to cause cancer!! What?????? LOL.
I'd love to hear your comments on my review (albeit I admit that I'm a 1st-time GPS user and a total newbie, so maybe I don't know how to properly use this Garmin, but it really came off as a FAR inferior machine to my TT. Another caveat: I didn't bother hooking up the Garmin to the computer to see if there was a map update, while my TT had the latest one).