Survey says: Garmin GPS No. 1 in consumers' hearts and minds

You heart Garmin

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

When you think of GPS, what brand name comes to mind? Would it happen to be Garmin? Because according to a new study by marketing research firm BrandIntel, Garmin is the most discussed portable navigation system and holds the best overall sentiment score with consumers. But it shouldn't get too comfortable or complacent, because TomTom, Magellan, Mio, and Lowrance are hot on its heels.

Based on an analysis of search results from "online consumer communities" (i.e., blogs, forums, and so forth) across the Web during July 2006 to August 2007, BrandIntel's GPS Navigation Systems Report found that Garmin made up 42 percent of the 7,000 consumer mentions, while TomTom was a distant second with 15 percent. Magellan garnered 13 percent of the results; Mio had 10 percent; Lowrance scored 5 percent; and 12 percent went to other vendors. However, the competition gets fierce when it comes to customer sentiment scores. Once again, Garmin took top honors with a 3.9, while Magellan, Mio, Lowrance, and TomTom were all close with scores of 3.7, 3.6, 3.6, and 3.5, respectively.

Garmin lead the pack for its functionality, features, ease of use, and appeal, but price seemed to be a sticking point, which I can understand. I find that even its entry-level models, such as the Garmin Nuvi 200, are overpriced for what they offer, especially when you compare them to the competition like the Mio DigiWalker C230. Speaking of which, Mio as well as Lowrance got kudos for their displays and touchscreen functionality. Other findings of the study reveal that map software, Bluetooth, and MP3 compatibility are all key features consumers consider when buying portable navigation systems.

I found several points of this report interesting. First, it really doesn't surprise me that Garmin and TomTom are the two most discussed GPS companies. They have the brand recognition, offer some of the broadest range of in-car GPS, and are the most aggressive in terms of advertising. Meanwhile, Magellan and Lowrance have a loyal following of customers but seem to rely more on word of mouth for advertising and discussion. And I've said this before, but in my opinion, Mio is an up-and-comer that could give the big boys a run for their money. Yes, Mio's presence and reputation for customer service in the States isn't the strongest, but it's ramping up those efforts. More than anything, though, the company offers solid products with a good set of features at an affordable price--yeah, it's that simple.

TomTom

(Credit: TomTom)

What I found particularly surprising is that TomTom was at the bottom of the list for consumer sentiment. I've always found TomTom's GPS easy to use, sleek, fairly priced, and capable navigators. Plus, I like that the company concentrates on bettering the navigation functions, rather than adding superfluous features. And while we're on the topic, MP3 compatibility? Really? You want this on your GPS device? I just don't see the need.

So with all that said, I'd love to hear from you. Who is your favorite GPS manufacturer and why? Which features are on your ultimate wish list? Why is TomTom not feeling the love? Let me know!

[emil serban]

I owned a TomTom and the touch screen shifted so I would press on a letter and the one to it's left would register. It became impossible to use it after that. TomTom's customer support was inexistent. After it got stoled, I was again out of luck as TomTom couldn't help with that either (Garmin seems to have a theft protection feature). Ended up paying $700 and being happi when ot got stolen so I could buy a new one.
TomTom's 920 current features are better and more usefull than Garmin's but in my oppinion it's customer support that's crippling TomTom.

[dingueben]

learn how to spill...haha, jk how to spell

[supermjr]

Are you serious? You want a manufacturer to pay for something that got stolen from you? Give us a break.

Take out an insurance policy if you're that paranoid ... or feel that someone should reimburse you for losing something.

[kceesar]

I have the TomTom One 3rd edition and I couldn't be happier. Customer support was excellent. Initially, when I bought it, the software on the disk had to be updated from the TomTom website. Customer support stayed on the line while I completed the download. Also, I bought the TomTom for navigation purposes only. Not to play songs. I have a radio that does that function. I had no problems with the touch screen. Also, you can't beat the price.

[samsingha]

I have a Garmin Nuvi 350 which I bought in early 2007. I bought it because of the great review here on Cnet. At that time, the price was still in the low $500 range but then I found it on-line for $450. I bought it and it's been a delight to have. I love the quick response time when the unit needs to recalculate new routes. The map is also quite accurate. I used it on a couple of trips to the beach and back and I must say that it was extremely useful since I was not familiar with the way back at all and this was at night. The Nuvi allowed me to concentrate on the road and not having to worry about looking for street signs making it safer for the driver/passengers. I have never contacted customer support so I don't know what they're like. Overall, I feel that this is money well spent. I will probably get another unit for my wife in the future. By the way, at first I was tempted for the bigger screen unit like the 660 but then I found that this Nuvi 350's screen is plenty. Also, since I don't like to leave it in my car due to fear of theft, I often carry it with me. I found that the Nuvi 350 is a good size to carry around. If it is bigger, then it will probably be more hassle for me.

[rfrancia]

I purchased the Magellan Roadmate 2000 a few months after it came out. I wanted a no-frills gps with the newest SIRF Star III. At that time, only the Roadmate 2000 was in the $400 range and the reviews on it was great. I did feel that the interface on the Garmin was a little easier to use but price was also important to me. At the time, the Garmin with the SIRF Star III was above $500 mark. I did find the Magellan's suction holder easy to install. If you want a no frills GPS, the Roadmate 2000 certainly did the job well. Consumer Reports has it as one of their best buys.

[Alba-tross]

Right on Bonnie!

[cldmello]

I have a Garmin 650 that I got for $330 and it is indeed the best travel companion to have. It has a feature where in you can specify whether you are driving a car/truck or simply walking to your destination. The one I got came pre-loaded with the latest map. Never had the need to call support yet. Knock on wood!

But looking back I would prefer buying the 350 to the 650. Thanks to TTS, I've never had to look at the screen of my GPS except to set the destination. So a smaller GPS would have worked out just fine. MP3 and Bluetooth are features that I really think are unwanted on a GPS. I have an MP3/WMA player in my car and never take calls when on the road!

[mjadamci]

Having first owned Navman for my Pocket PC, I have then since bought TomTom G0 300 (not a very bright screen), Lowarance iway 350 (returned - unhappy with it), Pioneer AVIC S1 (gave to a friend), Nuvi 350 and now just bought the Nuvi 660 for only $399 at Amazon. TomTom's update was a good one, it now includes addresses when looking for a point of interest where before you just didn't know where the nearest "Wendy's" was. The Pioneer is good but touch screen can't touch TomTom or Garmin. Then I got the Nuvi 350 which until I got the 660, was the greatest. The 660 is basically the 350 with larger, BRIGHTER screen, FM radio with traffic and very good bluetooth integration that synced with my iphone beautifully. The TomTom will not still sync with it. So in my choice of GPS after having owned a bunch is GARMIN, the simplicity couldn't be easier to operate.

[jcsmithmachine]

Garmin really is the best portable you can get (in my experiences). I have not had good luck with Magellan. I had to go to Richmond (VA) for a business meeting, and when i was down there i had some time to kill. I went to Best Buy, and figured "what the heck" and bought a Magellan Maestro 4250. Got to my meeting.....fine, then set it up for the trip back. I pulled off at a rest station, got back in the car, turned it on AND..............frozen. It wouldn't come off the start up screen (where you hit OK about following the rules of the road and stuff). I drove all the way to northern virginia, with it locked on that screen. I unplugged it, plugged it back in, left it unplugged, reset it (tried to) and nothing. Finally i said screw it, and went to a best buy in Reston. I walked up and said i wanted an exchange. The guy told me to get another one of the same model, and come back. When i got over there, all of the sales associates said "Magellans are not good, get a Garmin." I looked around, decided to give the Magellan another shot. When i got back to the counter, the guy said "we got it fixed for you". I thought that was great and turned it on, went past the safety screen, and then tried to enter an address. Once again, frozen. I looked at the guy, he looked at me, I walked back to the GPS section and got a Garmin 760 (might as well go for it right?!). I have never once had any sort of problem with it (except the FM transmitter is WEAK!!!!). It is quick, has an easy interface, looks great, bluetooth is phenomenal, is light, easy and yes Ms Cha, I have MP3s on it since my new Touareg has no other means (no aux input, and no tape slot), and I mean, its right there so I dont have to fish around for my Ipod to change stuff. It is easy and intuitive.

So Garmin (Again, for me) Garmin is the best, Magellan is rubbish.

[GPSuser74]

I am surprised that Magellan and Mio are getting so many comments, I have talked with several people who have used many GPS systems and they have told me to stick to TOM TOM and Garmin, hands down. My parents have a Magellan and they love it, but it doesn't offer text-to-speech. That may not mean much to them, since one of them will be able to read the screen while the other drives since they usually are together when they travel, but I need my text-to-speech! As far as Mio, I have heard several owners tell me that the gps connection is terrible, and that their units weren't very reliable. As for me I have a Garmin Nuvi 350 and I absolutely love it.

[seiboshen]

That's funny that someone said that Magellen doesn't have text to speech because that just shows their ignorance to the complete line ups of GPS that all the companies offer. Spend an extra $100 bucks and you get text to speech. I personally own a Garmin and Magellen, both are great and extremely easy to use. I will say that the Garmin gets the edge because of a ever so slightly better routing engine, but all in all, they are pretty much on par with each other with the Magellen getting a slight edge in the value department. Costco has a lot of Garmins and Magellans on sale right now.

[dwp30]

I know LG is not on the fore-front of GPS supremacy, but I've borrowed my father-in laws LG 740 GPS(He's an LG consumer electronics dealer) and it's been a rock-solid performer. It's delivered me to my destinations and I haven't even had to peer into the instruction manual. I just unboxed it, installed it, and went driving. While I never used any GPS other than this LG unit, it should get some "face" time too! My wife even enjoys it!

[mmmarkiep]

I have a Garmin C330 that is basic but awesome at knowing when and how to give me directions. I also won a Magellan Roadmate 2000. I really don't like the way it just dings at your turn or direction change. And that prompt always seems to be too late. The Garmin reminds me of what my direction change is supposed to be, and reminds me in time to actually make the change.

I will say, though, that the Magellan's feature of asking how I want to get to my destination (i.e. quickest, shortest, most freeways, etc.) every time after I input a destination is a nice touch. But, sadly, that's the only thing I like about it compared to my Garmin.

[mcd0234]

I wasn't surprised to see Garmin coming out tops on this list. I started with Garmin products which I liked a lot and now use TomTom which I also like. I would add though, that I think in general Garmin has better US maps/features and now that I'm in the UK for a while, I think TomTom has better Europe maps, or at least here in the UK which makes sense as I think TomTom is based in Europe and Garmin is based in the US. The only thing that annoys me about Garmin is the confusing mess of map options they have when you want to upgrade or add extra maps, there are too many choices all offering seemingly the same coverage - plus their maps are often more expensive than TomTom's. Their website also has far too many & too similar GPS products listed as well, they need to trim the fat or at least get rid of the old models to make it easier to find what you need/want.

That being said, I did have to return my first TomTom product after a month as it stopped working, but I've had the replacement 910 now for over a year and its still working very well. I also like the TomTom desktop software on my iMac, it works great and I love the frequency of the speed camera updates which are free and easy to update on the unit. Bluetooth phone connections are good too with all 3 phones I've tried working straight away including iPhone, however mp3 player is totally useless though as it doesn't recognize playlists despite claims, but that doesn't bother me as I didn't buy it for that anyway. Can't comment on the other companies as I've never used them.

[AXG]

I have used Garmin GPS systems since 2003. My first one was StreetPilot 2610. The unit had to be sent for repairs 3 times during warranty period. Then it worked for 2 years and died. The cost of repair was $225 so I just threw it away and got a StreetPilot c550 in August 2006. This time I purchased extended warranty. Couple of days ago, I found that the on/off switch on the GPS has stopped working totally. I took the GPS back to CircuitCity and because of extended warranty, they allowed me to pick any GPS. I chose Garmin Nuvi 760. I purchased extended warranty on this one also. This clearly speaks of the Garmin quality. No doubt their GPS systems are good, but always buy 4 year extended warranty if you are going to use it extensively (it will be mounted in your car 365 days a year).

The company has a very funny pricing policy. When the c550 was introduced, it was $799.99 which is what I paid. After 14 months, it has dropped to less than half price. Now it is available for $330 or so. None of the Garmin models have a lifetime traffic subscription free. This feature is available on Navigon and some TomTom models. I read somewhere that Navigon doesn't announce street names, just the main highway/main road names. I could not get my hands on a Navigon to try it out though the 7100 looks very promising.

In comparison to c550, Nuvi 760 is totally useless, though it is a newer model with more features. The c550 had stero speakers built-in. The voice quality was very good with ample volume. The Nuvi 760 has very low volume even at 100%. The c550 had a volume control knob on the side. On 760, the only way to control volume is to use the touch screen. The touch screen keys are very small and inaccurate. The maps are a horror, though these are the latest ones. They are showing roads where none exists and have never existed. The POIs are incorrect on c550 and Nuvi 760. Address search is correct but if you do a POI search, most likely you will not reach the destination correctly. On c550, the POI search was horribly slow. It could take up to 10 minutes for POI search to complete. On Nuvi 760, it seems to be faster though I cannot exactly comment on it since I have had it for 2 days only.

The receiver sensitivity is excellent on both c550 and Nuvi 760. It works even indoors with no clear view of the sky.

The bottom line is that Garmin is not the ultimate GPS and there may be better ones available out there.

[midiexpert]

I have owned a Garmin Nuvi 660 for about a year, having upgraded after buying the Nuvi 350. I really needed the built in FM traffic receiver as I work on the road exclusively by appointment. I find the directions are generally flawless and the ease of use is good. Interestingly, I find that when it routes me to destinations where I am already familiar, it sometimes chooses a less direct, rather roundabout route to stay on major roads--but if I'm not familiar with an area, I don't care, I just want to get there on time.And yes, they are overpriced, but really, text-to-speech was a must-have for me, and so was the traffic receiver, so I bit the bullet and I'm not at all sorry. Garmin's service and support hav e been excellent. I had an issue with the cord that connects to the power adapter, and Garmin replaced it promptly, and even upgraded the dashmount, too, which is great because the orignal one was horrible, never stuckl My new one stays on tight permanently. No GPS maps are perfect, but Garmin's are very good, in my opinion. As far as the extra features like MP3--I loaded most of my favorite songs on a 2MB SD card, and because it will play through my car stereo, I can listen to my favorite tunes while driving, and the audible directions will come thru loud and clear when needed and then resume the song with no gap. The touch screen is big and bright, so if you ask me, I'd recommend a Garmin to anyone who needs a full-featured GPS device.

[jmhaynie]

I purchased a Mio c310x for around $150 this time last year and couldn't be happier. I wouldn't have been able to afford any other GPS devices at the time, so I decided on the Mio. I have never had any problems with the unit, and really, my only complaint would be battery life. I compared the c310x with other manufacturer's units, and they couldn't even come close at the time in terms of price to features. Get a Mio, and be glad you saved all that money.

[asheints]

Can't agree more with your point about superfluous features. If GPS device doesn't offer multi-destination routing capabilities but instead offers ability to view JPEG pictures - somebody in the product management doesn't quite gets what the product is about

[aravi001]

I am very surprised that Garmin has the highest level of satisfaction in the web based survey. I have always been very skeptical about web based surveys. My personal experience with Garmin GPS units including the most expensive ones use out-dated maps. Their pre loaded POI list is not accurate. The voice guidance is faulty. It tells you to turn right and then a left when a 2 lane road changes to a 4 lane road. The funny thing is you can see the road as straight as it can be and this stupid GPS is telling you to turn right and turn left!. Garmin has no fix to this problem. The tech support guy told me to turn off the voice prompts! These units are not exactly cheap. For the same money you can get a better unit that is far more accurate, Sure, the garmin units look pretty and have good display but they are unreliable for navigation!

[laxvenkat]

I see that there are many Garmin fans here. While I feel that Garmin is decent, I feel that they are yet to evolve into great products as their user interface (UI) is not the greatest and they could be a lot more intuitive.
I have owned two Garmin GPS till date for a total of almost two years - first a Streetpilot C530 which was stolen which I replaced with a Streetpilot C550.
The following are the areas where Garmin can improve its UI:
a) When you key in the address of your destination, the GPS does not pre-fill your current city?s name. Hence if you are going from point A to point B within San Francisco, the GPS requires you to type in San Francisco as your destination. Why can?t it pre-fill the current city?s name just as it does the current state? This may seem like a small issue but if you drive a lot within a large city like I do it can be quite a bit of pain. (I think TomTom pre-fills it ? am not sure ? TomTom owners please comment)
b) After you have keyed in your destination the GPS does not tell you the distance to the destination. It just tells you the estimated arrival time. If you want to know the distance to your destination there is only a convoluted way to find it. You have to keep pressing the right arrow which takes you turn by turn till the destination giving you the distance to the successive turns every time you press the right arrow. When you finally get to your destination it tells you the distance.
c) If you have a sudden desire to know where you are, you cannot just press a ?where am I? button and find the address of your current spot. To be fair, I do not know if any GPS has this function.
d) Also the keyboard for keying in address is alphabetically arranged, not Qwerty ? not intuitive at all.
All the above issues are common problems across the entire Garmin line of products including its Nuvi range. They are not earth shattering faults but nagging pains. Whenever I use Garmin I always have the feeling that they can be much better than what they are if a little more thought is given to the UI.
Another nagging issue which is specific to Streetpilot C500 series is the design flaw on the suction mount interface. By design the windshield suction mount goes into a ball and socket type of joint with the socket being on the GPS. After frequent use this socket becomes loose very easily resulting in loose hanging GPS which starts facing the floor of he car every time there is a bump on the road. This happened to my Streetpilot C530 and before I could get it repaired it got stolen. This happened again to my C550 within five months of buying it. I contacted Garmin and they have agreed to replace the socket in the GPS as it is within the warranty. I noticed that this issue is quite common on C500 series. When I visited Garmin store in Michigan Ave in Chicago recently almost all C500 series units on display had very loose joints with all the GPS facing the floor at the slightest of nudge to the GPS. I am sure Garmin realizes the design flaw on this. That probably explains why the newer Nuvi units have a different design to connect the mount to the GPS.
In the interest of presenting a well rounded review of Garmin I must say that navigational technology wise Garmins are good products. My Streetpilot C550 receives signals quite quickly in cold starts and does an admirable job of navigating me in the city even with high rise buildings (that is why I replaced my stolen Garmin with a Garmin in spite of the above flaws). I like the turn by turn voice signals which speak the street names too. Hence overall they are decent products but they can be improved to be great. Perhaps there is an update to the interface in the works. Keeping my fingers crossed?.

[gldvorak]

I have a TomTom Go 910. At first it seemed to announce turns too far ahead and I would get confused, now that I am used to that it is great. I drive a Honda CR-V and I can set the TomTom in the top cubby and it is shielded from sunlight and yet it receives the satellite signals. I want to get a power receptacle installed and then I can simply close the door and have it out of view.

I have installed most all of the POI's that I have found and because it has a hard drive I still have plenty of space.

There is a nearby city that has its streets laid out at an angle compared to true North. I have always had trouble navigating in and out of this city, now I use the TomTom when I go shopping there.