Mio C220 VS Magellan Maestro? 3100 --- POLL!!!

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sniperruff

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
11,644
2
0
So I'm thinking of buying a GPS this week... making a trip to six flags and don't really want to get lost esp around the city. Anyway, I'm looking to buy something basic, so that leaves me with:

1) Mio C220 for $180
2) Magellan Maestro? 3100 for $200

Well that's all I can think of right now. I know Dell had the tomtom one for $240 shipped, or frys has the refurb garmin C330/i3 for $200/$150 shipped respectively... but I don't think I can get it delivered by the end of the week.

So that leaves me to buy from Staples, Office Depot, CompUSA, Bestbuy or Circuit City.

The Mio is hackable to run video/mp3 programs but I thought it doesn't have a headphone jack? It also uses TeleAtlus which I've read is inferior to the Magellan's NAVTEQ. Also the Magellan is the newer product and supposedly has a brighter screen but its battery life is subpar (rated at 3hrs).

So... help?
 
ultimatebob

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,450
126
This is probably in the wrong forum now, but I'd recommend spending the extra $50 on a Garmin C330.
 
S

sniperruff

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
11,644
2
0
Originally posted by: dartworth
nobody uses maps anymore...:(
Click to expand...

1) Maps are huge and takes time to read

2) I plan to go on some road trips... probably around the north east (live in NYC), so I'd need to buy like 4,5 sets of maps... aren't those like $18 or whatever each anyway?
 
DanTMWTMP

DanTMWTMP

Lifer
Oct 7, 2001
15,908
19
81
i have the mio, and I dislike it. For the price, I guess it can't be beat, but the software blows, the navigation around the menus are retarded and takes time w/ a slight learning curve, the volume of the voice is really small (can't hear crap, even @ the highest setting). The only thing that this thing is better for is that you can view your overall route and navigate around the surrounding areas and select places via coordinates instead of using specific addresses (which came in really handy since the friggn map doesn't know where my own house is..it lists the streets where I live as "unnamed street" :disgust: ) It even takes forever sometimes to get the signal from the satellite. Entering the address is a headache, and searching through its directory is like using the anandtech search: it sucks.

I'd spend an extra $50, save the headache and get the Garmin. Garmin hands down is the BEST GPS brand out there. My friend has the C330 and it stomps over the mio. The mio can be hacked though...so if you're into that, get that i suppose. C330 is very loud, takes less time to get the signal from the satelite, the mapping software is superior, the navigation around the menus is 100000000x superior, recalculations are superior (unlike the retarded mio where it keeps telling you turn the hell around 3 times when you know there's a better way).. etc.

although..the garmin makes me feel stupid at times since it's too easy to use, heh. And the Garmin doesn't allow you to view the entire route map. You can view the entire route itself (direction to direction), but not the geographical map. The mio lets you do that..and that's the only feature on the mio that's worth getting. oh, and you can hack the mio and install tomtom software, play mp3's, watch divx (both of which are utterly useless..and as for mp3's, the device only recognizes up to 2 gig for its slot, and 1 gig of it needs to be used for the map itself. ya, it doesn't have much internal memory, and grabs the maps from the SD card. at least there's an audio-out plug (headphone jack) on the mio..so if your car has an audio-in jack, then you can hear the directions through your speakers.

oh and the mio has a stupid male voice for both british english and american english. BOOO.... most times, i set it to flemmish since that female voice sounds the most soothing, and I have no idea what it's saying. I just glance over really quick when it says something so I know what I have to do next.
 
The Stigenator

The Stigenator

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,216
3
81
garmin or tomtom or alpine.. forget magellen

Anyway the garmin c330 is good, my parents have the c340 and it reads out street names (good for them to use not for me)...personally i have the alpine blackbird.

May i suggest use brains when using these units, the alpine blackbird got me lost on my way back from NYC to Albany, NY.. it went into a loop due to a programming error, i had to ask someone how to get back to albany.
 
K

krunchykrome

Lifer
Dec 28, 2003
13,413
1
0
I bought the Magellan Maestro 3100 and I am completely satisfied with it. It has always gotten me to my destinations and I've never got lost with it. It's very accurate and very easy to use.

A couple things to consider though with this model:

1. It only has 750K POI, where as most other units have at least 1 million.
2. It doesnt have a text to speech feature, but thats not really that necessary.

I would definetly recommend this model.
 
L

laketrout

Senior member
Mar 1, 2005
672
0
0
Too bad you can't get the TomTom ONE, I've been using one for a while and its worked great for me on roadtrips. Also it uses the new TeleAtlas maps which are in no way inferior to the NAVTEQ - and in fact they're actually newer than the NAVTEQ. The ONE XL also just came out which I can't wait to try out.
 
M

mrEvil

Golden Member
Nov 2, 1999
1,029
0
0
Originally posted by: laketrout
Too bad you can't get the TomTom ONE, I've been using one for a while and its worked great for me on roadtrips. Also it uses the new TeleAtlas maps which are in now way inferior to the NAVTEQ - and in fact they're actually newer than the NAVTEQ. The ONE XL also just came out which I can't wait to try out.
Click to expand...

Um....either you meant "superior" or "way inferior" has a whole new meaning since I am certain you mean better. I am in the same boat, but have a few days. Was thinking about the Mio, but may opt for the TTO or c330/340. I like the Nuvi's but they are way too much for my simple needs. I'm leaning towards the 340 because my wife gets lost making 4 right/left turns around the block.
 
foghorn67

foghorn67

Lifer
Jan 3, 2006
11,883
63
91
I love my MIO, but I admit it's safer to recommend a Garmin over it. It took a while to get used the menus, but I can fly through them with ease. You can also hack the MIO, and have a nice female prompt with a sexy British accent.
The one thing I can't stand is it's initial location lock, it can take a few minutes, or it could take a minute. I found myself holding it up near the window to get it lock faster.
 
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