Tom Tom for Europe/Africa?

[ElizabethS]

I'm deciding between Garmin or Tom Tom for a travel GPS (car has built in for NA travel) - I think Tom Tom is better for Europe (and Africa?) but am troubled by the 340 problems I've read about - are they fixed? (i.e. the map downloads wiping the unit)

 

[dhn]

The most recent map download for the 340 was sufficiently 'squished' to fit the internal 2-gig storage on the unit. There is no external (sd slot) storage.

So, if you do plan to use a 340 in Europe and Africa, know that you'll have to remove the NA map to get the Europe map to fit and then you may have to remove the Europe map to get the Africa map to fit.

While the Western Europe map seems pretty comprehensive in coverage, the Africa map is not. See the information in this link

 

[ElizabethS]

I need the GPS for South Africa and Namibia so the coverage is probably alright.

Is there a different model I should consider that has more memory?

Thx - also in Toronto

 

[dhn]

My feeling is that a 930 which already has both NA and Western Europe maps installed, 4 -gigs internal storage AND a sd slot for a sdhc card. The smaller Africa map (80 megs, I think) could probably fit in the available space in internal or certainly on a sdhc card.

 

[ElizabethS]

Thanks - will look into that model - one more question. Is my original assumption that Tom Tom is better for Europe accurate? I had read that it handles European addresses (particularly abbreviations) better than Garmin - is that true?

 

[tukatz]

I have a 920 and used it in Euurope and was quite pleased with it. I have a 4GB SDHC card in the slot. I have North America maps on internal storage, Europe maps on the SDHC card, and about 1GB of MP3s on the combination of internal storage and the SDHC card. If the car you rent has a line-in jack on the front of the radio, you can play your MP3s through the car's stereo system.

 

[dhn]

Thanks - will look into that model - one more question. Is my original assumption that Tom Tom is better for Europe accurate? I had read that it handles European addresses (particularly abbreviations) better than Garmin - is that true?

I don't know about Garmin mapping accuracy but the TomTom is the most common brand used in Europe.