I have a dilemma... Tomtom or Garmin?

OK. I'm wanting to get a Satnav for my bike as my sense of direction is utter $hite (Birthday is on Friday )

Got a budget of around £260, so I've narrowed it down to the Tomtom Rider V2 from here (which comes with a free Scala Rider bluetooth headset for your helmet) and either the Garmin Zumo 400 (cheapest option at ~£215, no bluetooth, although nowhere seems to have these in stock) or the Zumo 500 which I can get for around £250ish, although that doesn't come with any headset, but has a headphone line in (whereas the rider doesn't)


Has anyone used both the Tomtom Rider V2 and the Garmin range?
How do they compare? Ease of use, routing times, getting a signal etc...

Is it easy to hear the instructions with the bluetooth Scala headset if you're wearing earplugs or travelling at motorway speeds?

I quite like the idea of being able to plan my own route on my laptop and then send it to the Satnav. All the above units seem to have this as a feature.
Also they all appear to come with RAM mounts, which from what I've read, are the dog's nads and won't come off like when I used a satnav mounted to the rev counter with the suction pad (I did manage to catch it with my left hand though )

The Tomtom seems better VFM with the headset included (would have to use headphones with the Zumos), but it'd be no good if I could hear it

I have considered using a normal satnav with a plastic bag over it, but mounting it safely would be a problem (RAM don't make mounts for it, and I don't wanna use the suction pad on the rev counter ever again!)


Opinions please and could I ask for no smart 'rse comments like "use a map" as I have tried that and it didn't work

MODS please move if this is in the wrong section.

Get a normal car one and a ram mount cost you £140 in total.

Originally Posted by Girth

Get a normal car one and a ram mount cost you £140 in total.

what happens if it rain's and are car sat nav's shock proof like bike one's only thing's that's bother me about doing that.

[TEC]

Originally Posted by joshmac

Got a budget of around £260, .... Zumo 500 which I can get for around £250ish,

Find an extra fiver and get a much better unit, 550 (handlebar) or (clutch) mounted

Going on what others have said this one really is the dogs dangely bits. Have heard that the Tom Tom is supposed to be a better unit but their aftersales is utter rubbish where as Garmin will do all they can to help out, even after warranties have expired

Originally Posted by TEC

Find an extra fiver and get a much better unit, 550 (handlebar) or (clutch) mounted

Going on what others have said this one really is the dogs dangely bits. Have heard that the Tom Tom is supposed to be a better unit but their aftersales is utter rubbish where as Garmin will do all they can to help out, even after warranties have expired

£265 for the 550? Where did you see that?
You sure it wasn't £365? Otherwise I would...

[DarrenSV650S]

What I was told was that Garmin are better quality but I haven't tried a tomtom so I don't know which is better.
I just put my garmin in the tankbag to keep it dry and use headphones. I don't think it's a good idea trying to look at a satnav while your riding. I tried it in the clear section of the tankbag but found it a bit dangerous looking down all the time. Besides, if you have your route programed in, then the audio descriptions are all you need.

TomTom's are **** on.

[Viney]

The Zumo has a built in speaker which is handy if you use it in the car, where as the rider doesnt.

Verna has a TomTom and it does the job. However the hacked map i had has decided to stop working

Originally Posted by zsv650

what happens if it rain's and are car sat nav's shock proof like bike one's only thing's that's bother me about doing that.

Sandwich bag.

Originally Posted by DarrenSV650S

What I was told was that Garmin are better quality but I haven't tried a tomtom so I don't know which is better.
I just put my garmin in the tankbag to keep it dry and use headphones. I don't think it's a good idea trying to look at a satnav while your riding. I tried it in the clear section of the tankbag but found it a bit dangerous looking down all the time. Besides, if you have your route programed in, then the audio descriptions are all you need.

It'd be more dangerous having it in the clear part of a tankbag that by the clocks as you'd have to look further from the road. I'd only look if I couldn't work it out from what was said