TomTom vs. Navman:  Which GPS System Would Ferdinand Magellan Choose?

Not to confuse the man with the brand, Ferdinand Magellan is one of the world's most famous explorers, the man who discovered the appropriately-titled Straight of Magellan and was the captain on the first trip around the globe.  If you plopped him down in modern times and asked him which GPS system was better, TomTom or Navman, what would he say?

Well, we really don't know.  But we can have a better idea of we try to figure out the answer for ourselves.  Looking at each brand, of course, means looking at a range of their different products – and there are plenty – but let’s try to see how each brand measures up against each other overall.

TomTom

Example Devices:  TomTom ONE, TomTom GO 730, TomTom GO 930

TomTom is one of the best-known names when it comes to the world of personal navigation, and for good reason.  Devices like the relatively-inexpensive TomTom ONE are considered standard fare for GPS, not to mention great for beginners.  When it comes to the more expensive models, TomTom's prices generally run higher than Navman's, but for the novice navigator, TomTom is still considered the best option.  The TomTom ONE and the Navman S100 both run at around $349.

TomTom's premium devices like the GO 930 aren't limited to navigation, but include an FM transmitter and text-to-speech features for SMS.

Navman

Example devices:  Navman S100, Navman S150, Navman S300T

In the head-to-head Navman S100 vs. TomTom ONE matchup, two-equally priced devices show that TomTom is the standard bearer, at least for the inexpensive GPS systems.  But Navman does try to distinguish itself, including a lane guidance feature that you can't find on the ONE.

Navman's more expensive devices make improvements on the S100 without totally breaking the bank: price is one advantage you can find with Navman.  The S150's touch-screen features make it easy-to-use, but the real quality comes with the Navman S300T, which has integrated live traffic updates for much less cost than the TomTom GO 930.

Overall, it can be hard to compare two different brands that offer different features and prices at different levels of product pricing.  Ultimately, you can't go wrong with many of the products for either of these two brands.  For the purposes of this article, TomTom is the better brand, offering higher quality for the first-time GPS user.