Spoiled With Traffic Implementation vs. Garmin

[adidas1124]

I found a Garmin Nuvi 265WT (Free lifetime traffic) for $100 and decided to give it a try since it was lifetime and I like to try new things out.

The traffic feature, when compared to TomTom, is SAD.

The system only puts an icon on the screen that changes from green to yellow to red with a "delay" time next to it... does not warn you audibly or draw your attention to the fact that something has come up. TomTom traffic tells you verbally that the situation on the route has changed, your new arrival time and whether you are on the fastest route currently.

TomTom also puts a bar on the right side of the screen and outlines all incidences in one view in relation to you and the destination with time delays next to each incidents icon.

Next is the re-routing... Garmin does not automatically find you the best route around the traffic... you have to touch the icon then select "avoid"... you have to do this for each of the multiple incidents.

I gave the Garmin a try this morning on my way to work and left the TT at home (big mistake)... I was 12 minutes late due to the Garmin.

I am going back to the TT and will buy a newer model with lifetime traffic once my subscription on this 720 is up again.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

When I first got my TomTom Go 920 the first thing I did was compare traffic to my Garmin StreetPilot c550.

As purchased, the Garmin used a TMC FM receiver, which rarely received anything in my area (about 30 miles south of NYC). Only when I traveled further north, and got MUCH closer to the city did I get anything resembling a reliable traffic feed. The quality of the data was questionable. I even bought an MSN Direct receiver, which included fuel prices. Reliability of the feed was at best slightly better than the original receiver, but laughably, in a new area, fuel prices would take well over 24 hours to download.

On the other hand, my Go 920 used GPRS traffic - a very reliable feed, and traffic data more closely resembled actual conditions.

I switched to a Go 740 LIVE because I changed cell phone carriers and could no longer tether (necessary for GPRS) for free. The nature of traffic combined with IQ Routes makes it difficult to judge the accuracy of the traffic data, because traffic is only reported when congestion is worse than is typical for a specific location. I have noticed before, and again yesterday, that LIVE traffic reported severe congestion (red, a 12 minute delay) in an area I was driving through, when in fact there was no congestion at all. There wasn't even any construction in the area that would result in an anticipation of traffic. At the same time, another system I'm testing reported normally flowing traffic in that same area.

 

[adidas1124]

I get the same thing with TT RDS-TMC on my 720... says 18 minute delay, when in reality it's more like 5 minutes... I know that is the IQ Routes getting mixed in... I may try a live enabled device and see how that fares...