I believe any model will use your cell phone for a connection for the traffic and that would likely be the larger cost. TomTom does charge monthly as mentioned, but only a few bucks. you may also want to make sure traffic updates are available in your area for either device ... I'm not sure what areas are covered.

 

I like my garmin a lot but a buddy of mine has a Tom Tom with a stripper voice and Steve Irwin the crocadile hunter........may he rest in piece.


and it's really histerical.

 

haha.. Irwin 4 the WIN!

~Chug

 

I own both a Garmin Nuvi 350 and a TomTom One and here's my take on these standalone Handeheld GPS's.

Overall, I like the Garmin much more. The 350 has a built-in MP3 Player that I play through an FM modulator to the factory speakers. It pauses the music when it's telling you directions. If you don't want a built-in MP3 player, the Nuvi 270 is basically the same GPS, without it and a few other features. The Garmin software is pretty intuitive and easy to use. All the features that you want are already installed, it's plug and play.

TomTom is a european company and there's some things with it that i find annoying. They use Navteq mapping software (US company), but i've found some of the maps inferior to the Garmin. My 14 year old neighborhood only shows half of the streets on it, my street is not shown or listed. Retail store POI (department stores, pharmacies, etc) file is not installed from the factory, but is a free download online. It's not as complete or good as the Garmin POI's however. The TomTom interface seems clunkier and less intuitive than the Garmin.

I say go garmin if you're looking at a handheld GPS.