Round 1: Industrial Design
Winner: TomTom GO 910

The initial impression of the 3 most popular GPS PND is the extreme similarity of the hardware. It appears either Garmin imitated TomTom’s hardware format, or TomTom replicated Garmin’s format. They are very similar in size and shape, except the TomTom GO 910 has a slightly larger, 4” display compared to the Garmin StreetPilot c550's 3.5” display (measured diagonally). Both the TomTom and Garmin have an appealing form factor.

Garmin's StreetPilot c550

TomTom's GO 910

Magellan's Roadmate 6000T has a very different design than the GO 910 or c550. The RoadMate 6000T is the 5th generation hardware format from Magellan (the 1st generation was the boxy Magellan PathMaster, which was originally known as the Rockwell PathMaster. 2nd generation was the Magellan 750NAV, which was the same system used in the Hertz rental vehicles known as the Hertz NeverLost. The 3rd generation was the extremely successful Magellan RoadMate 500 and 700/760 series. 4th generation was the Magellan 300/360 along with Magellan's RoadMate 800/860T format. And now the 5th and latest generation is the Magellan RoadMate 3000T/3050T/6000T).

Magellan's RoadMate 6000T

We found the design of Magellan’s input buttons surrounding the case somewhat awkward. It is almost impossible to hold or handle the unit without accidentally selecting a command button via the manual input buttons surrounding the case. On the plus side, the manual buttons can be used in the event the touch screen fails (or if you just don’t want to leave fingerprints on the display). It does cost Magellan more money to include manual buttons as well as touch screen interface, so it’s nice to have both options available. We just wish the buttons were less prone to accidental pressing.

TomTom's GO 910 and Garmin's c550 are strictly touch screen controlled. The only manual input button is the power on/off button and the volume control wheel on the StreetPilot C550. This design makes the TomTom and Garmin units streamlined and more visually appealing. Between the Garmin and the TomTom, we found the TomTom GO 910 overall had the nicest visual appearance.

Round 2: A Word About Mapping Data: Tele Atlas vs. NAVTEQ
Winner: NAVTEQ (Garmin c550 & Magellan 6000T)

Each GPS of the three systems in this comparison routed us successfully to our final destinations. However, there were notable differences in the selected route each system chose. One explanation for this routing variation is the mapping software. TomTom GO 910 utilizes Tele Atlas mapping software, while Garmin and Magellan use NAVTEQ. NAVTEQ is more popular in North America, and with good reason: it's database is more complete and more accurate (in North America) than Tele Atlas. NAVTEQ boasts that all automotive manufacturers in North America use their mapping software for the factory in-vehicle OEM GPS systems. I have heard that Tele Atlas, on the other hand, is more accurate/complete in Europe, although I have not been able to personally test this.

We found certain limitations using the TomTom 910 unit when routing to addresses that are easily routable with the Garmin or Magellan systems. For example, some addresses were simply not found on the TomTom 910, but were easily located on the Garmin and Magellan. We believe this is the result of TomTom using Tele Atlas mapping data, while Garmin and Magellan both use NAVTEQ. This can be very frustrating at times. The c550 and Magellan 6000T clearly win this test over the TomTom GO 910, due to the superiority of NAVTEQ’s mapping software.

Over the years Tele Atlas' mapping software has been improving. Updates are made yearly to improve the mapping information quality. The TomTom Go 910 with the latest Tele Atlas mapping software is the closest in quality to the NAVTEQ database we have tested recently. Still, if you live in North America you're better off with NAVTEQ today.

Someday we may get a lot closer to the goal of having the most up-to-date mapping and POI information available by having a centralized, server-based mapping provider. This type of service is coming, and will allow users to download the latest mapping and POI information from a server directly onto your GPS system via WiFi or GPRS for a monthly fee of probably somewhere between $39.95 and $69.95. Until then, GPS mapping software will always be one to two years out-of-date before reaching end users.

Round 3: The Mighty SiRF Star III Chipset
Winner: Tie

All 3 models utilize the latest SiRF Star III GPS chipset. SiRF’s technology boosts GPS sensitivity more than any other GPS receiver currently available on the market today. We have tested the performance for all three of the GPS units utilizing the SiRF Star III GPS receiver, and were pleasantly surprised how sensitive and accurate they were, even in marginal GPS signal locations, such as under bridges and in dense urban environments. Thanks to SiRF, GPS reception is no longer as extreme an issue as it was only a few short years ago. Prior to SiRF’s Star III chipset, it was not uncommon for it to take as much as 10 minutes for a GPS unit to acquire a signal. And that signal would be lost as soon as line-of-sight to the sky was unavailable.

All three units were able to maintain signal tracking, even when navigating behind tall buildings, driving through short tunnels, etc.

Round 4: Startup Time
Winner: Tie

TTFF (Time to First Fix) is normally less than a few seconds if the GPS system is used frequently. Cold boot, or when a unit has been unused for a few days, or moved more than a few hundred miles from the last location that the unit was used, the GPS may take longer to acquire GPS satellite signal (because the satellites have moved since the GPS was last on, and it needs to re-acquire them one at a time).

In our test, all 3 GPS systems were able to acquire GPS signal within a minute of boot-up, which is considered very fast in the industry average for cold boot.

Round 5: Realtime Traffic Data
Winner: Garmin StreetPilot c550

All three units advertise the ability to get real-time traffic data, and incorporate that data into choosing the most efficient route. Both the Garmin c550 and Magellan 6000T include an integrated FM TMC traffic receiver, as well as 3 months of free traffic service. When traffic data is available to the GPS, the unit know if traffic, construction, or weather issues exist along your given route, and will automatically suggest alternative routes based on that information. This can be an extremely valuable feature if you commute long distances on a regular bases, as the traffic-enabled GPS device could save you literally hundreds of hours of drive time each year.

The Garmin StreetPilot C550’s traffic data service is very straightforward and simple enough for first-time users to understand. The Magellan 6000T traffic feature is slightly more complex to use, however. Moreover, in our testing the Magellan traffic service was not as accurate as Garmin’s. Sometimes the Magellan indicated heavy traffic on a particular road, yet we were able to drive the speed limit, or even slightly faster, with no issue. This also occurred on the Garmin system, but not as frequently as it did on the Magellan.

The TomTom GO 910 requires that you subscribe to the TomTom Plus program, and link the 910 to a compatible Bluetooth enabled cell phone that uses GPRS. The only downside to TomTom’s traffic implementation is that you need a compatible Bluetooth phone (and the list of compatible phones isn’t that large yet). TomTom is working on releasing a traffic antenna for the 910 so you won't have to use a cell phone, although the antenna is not yet available in North America (TomTom claims the TMC RDS accessory will be available in North America soon).

Round 6: GPS Processing Speed for Routing and Rerouting
Winner: Inconclusive

For this test we first chose a destination that was about 20 miles away. Here are the results:

• TomTom GO 910 – 5 seconds
• MRM 6000T – 6 seconds
• Garmin C550 – 8 seconds

The clear winner in this test was the TomTom 910 with an average time of less than 5 seconds for the route to complete. In second place is the Magellan RoadMate 6000T with a close 6 seconds, and third place goes to the Garmin C550 with 8 seconds. All 3 units were able to route to a destination within 20 miles in under 10 seconds, which is very acceptable.

Next we chose an address that was over 1500 miles away: routing from San Jose, CA to an address in New York City. The results surprised us:

• Magellan 6000T – 10 seconds
• Garmin C550 – 30 seconds
• TomTom 910 – 89 seconds

The Garmin c550 took 30 seconds to calculate the route from San Jose, CA to an address in New York City. Surprisingly, the TomTom 910 took a whopping 1 minute and 29 seconds to process the same exact route, and the Magellan 6000T unit took less then 10 seconds to start the turn-by-turn routing process.

Routing time on a long trip is much less of an issue than for shorter trips (if you’re headed out on a 1500 mile trip, you can spare a few extra seconds on route calculation), but the results show how differently each unit handles the math involved in calculating the route to take. And while the TomTom was the “loser” on the distance routing test, it was also the winner on the short trip (20 mile) test.

Round 7: Search by Zip code feature
Winner: TomTom GO 910

The search by zip code feature can be useful when the mailing address of a destination may be in a different city than the actual physical location. Sounds confusion, I know. But take a look at this real-world example: you might have a mailing address that shows your city as “San Jose”, yet your house is actually located in the City of Campbell. If you were to search for the address in the City of Campbell, you would not be able to locate it using the address search feature. With the zip code search feature, however, simply put the zip code in and the GPS will offer you the cities that are associated with the address you are looking for. It makes finding a street name that may not be found by City search possible.

The Garmin c550 cannot search by zip code. Between the Magellan and TomTom, we found that the MRM 6000T was occasionally incomplete when searching by ZIP code. For example, when routing to the state of New York, and City of New York, street name “Main street”, the MRM 6000T did not offer the different Main St in New York by zip code range, such as 11201 Brooklyn (NY), 10044 Manhattan (NY) and 10307 Staten Island (NY). The only address available to route to was 1 Main Street in Manhattan – it did not display Main Street in Staten Island or Brooklyn.