anyone changed their mind in the garmin v. smartphone debate?

Tastes great vs Less filling... PC vs Mac... Smartphone vs dedicated GPS...

It's a personal choice. And all the discussions in all the forums on the internet are not going to change minds.

Mighty broad brush being painted with... NOBODY? Really??

There are so many factors to consider when comparing a dedicated GPS vs. a multi-functional smartphone, it comes down to a personal choice. When I didn't have an up to date Garmin, I felt the smartphone was superior. I could find a contact and tap on the address and go there with Maps Navigation. One device, might as well use its functionality. However, my wife had difficulty jumping through all the hoops to get Navigator to work, and I purchased a Garmin for her for Christmas. When I discovered it had warnings for "safety cameras" on it, I was intrigued. I had tried Waze and other programs to warn about speed traps and red light cams, and found them unfriendly (too many warnings, a bit difficult to enter information). The Garmins were still on sale after Christmas and I grabbed a $150 unit for under $100.
Then another consideration came up. I found that if I switched my cellphone plan to Share Everything, I could save substantially on my phone bill, but only if I kept my data usage low. I don't stream videos and don't play online games, and using my phone as a GPS, either navigation or just watching a map, used a considerable hunk of my total data consumption.
The final impetus for sticking with the Garmin was the ease of setting it up compared to the smartphone. I take the Garmin out of the glove box, put it in the clip already mounted, plug it in, and in a few seconds it is ready to go. With the smartphone, it was more trouble to plug it in to the charger, set it up on a clamping style holder, turn it on, find the mapping app, enable that, enter a location on the small keyboard, take the phone off the holder and try again to enter some data, put it back, etc... somewhat frustrating.
I prefer the horizontal view of the Garmin over the vertical view of the smartphone. There are occasions when I feel comfortable leaving the Garmin mounted when I leave the vehicle for a short time. I wouldn't dare leave my phone out of my sight for a minute.
So for me, the $100 for a dedicated GPS with lifetime map updates (and POI Factory camera updates) is well worth the money to free up my smartphone and minimize its data consumption.

I have one. I loved it a couple years back when the power went down and the cell towers went down and my phone kept working just fine.

It won't be "super fast" when out of cell tower reception (e.g., in the mountains, out on the ocean, rural areas, etc.)

You don't seriously think that this is actually true, do you? A bit of hyperbole perhaps??

I would not rely on my smartphone when out on my kayak. My Garmin Motana is waterproof, has a very large screen, is bright and viewable in extreme sunlight, has a long lasting battery, and is rugged. None of those things apply to my smartphone.

I also would not rely on my smartphone on my motorcycle. My Zumo connects to my motorcycle helmet's headset providing me navigation instructions, music, and phone connectivity while riding.

My nuvi 3760 in my car has a much larger screen and provides much better and much easier navigation than my smartphone.

For geocaching, I can easily load caches to my Garmin Oregon to get all the details for the caches as well as very accurate location of the caches. It is possible to load caches to a smartphone, but it's much easier on the Garmin.

So to answer the question in your title, "No. I haven't changed my mind."

I would guess millions still have a phone line if you include homes and businesses. With the advent of cell phones and internet sure less probably each year but to say NOBODY, hmmmmmm
Cell phone apps are great till you have to answer the phone but for last minute directions or you're on your feet a cell phone can be a great asset to get somewhere.
If I'm on the road in most cases I'll take the Garmin.

That would be a significant consideration for me. I leave my TomTom in the car if it's daytime and I'm running errands, but I need to have my phone with me while I'm in the store.

I have used the phone as GPS and it works fine for me, but I don't currently have a mount for it so if I am driving alone it makes it not practical. GPS also holds all my favorites that I use regularly and I guess I am just used to my GPS overall! lol

Phone is okay in a pinch if I am a passenger in someone else's car and we need to go to an unfamilar place.

Enjoyed your post MM (as always) and I am curious why you use the Oregon instead of the Montana for geocaching. I have considered replacing both my nuvi and Oregon with a single Montana with the powered cradle option and CN maps. What would I be giving up by doing this?

I agree its a matter of choice, however, the smartphone would be my only gps, if they allowed me to make a big map available offline. The limit is too low to use the smartphone as THE gps.

Without the offline map, you will need to use your mobile data connection which eats bandwidth charges.

Google should wake up and let us store offline maps to the limit of my memory card (32gb) - thats more than gpss....

I love the Montana on my kayak because it's BIG.

But this is also the reason that I prefer the Oregon for geocaching. It's easier for me to carry.

But the Montana would be a very good replacement for the nuvi/Oregon combination.

Which Android application are you using?

I use a Montana and/or 60CSx for outdoors use, where a smartphone won't survive. Not an option for me. A dedicated GPSr such as the Montana has far more features than a smartphone nav app, at least the nav apps I have seen. So I can't be swayed to relying on a Smartphone as my primary nav device.

There are apps that will install full maps on the device... Navigon is one... Garmin StreetPilot OnBoard is another.., there are more... the "smartphone GPS sucks because you need constant data to fetch maps" is an utter load of ordure, and a meme that needs to die.

The Garmin StreetPilot app for iPhone, which covers all of North America, is 1.80 GB. This app provides a full map set and POI database contained on the iPhone, no cell system access required.

I have been impatiently awaiting an Android version of this. If it doesn't happen pretty soon, I may replace my current Android with an iPhone just to get that app!

Navigon is available for Android... it's a Garmin app too... in my opinion, it's better than StreetPilot... my guess is there won't be an Android version of StreetPilot because Navigon already exists for Android.

I very much like the Garmin StreetPilot App on the iPhone. I also have the Navigon app. I have been leaning more towards the StreetPilot app lately. Both are fine. Both apps make the iPhone a very good navigation device.

I tend to use the smart phone only because I always have it with me. One of the things that makes the Garmin superior is the ability to have custom POI sets. My Note II still doesn't find some stores that are near me. I was in the suburbs, using the Google search widget on the screen (the one with the microphone) I told it "map of wal marts near me." I knew it would pop up with complete info, I was going to call the store and order a refill in advance. Darned thing didn't know the store was 2 miles away, instead it tried to point me to the one that was 10 miles away. Kind of lame, IMHO, when I know the area better than my smart phone.

@Keith: That meme exists solely because Google Maps is included on the majority of Android smartphones and the end user is either incapable of taking or unwilling to take a look and see what else is available on the market. Until Google permits storage of an entire country at one shot that misconception will remain.

I don't have a current smartphone, but has the power drain improved to the point where you can actually plug a smartphone into a DC jack with its GPS on and use that GPS without the power supply struggling to keep up?

For those unwilling to spend a dime, there is a GPS app for you: Navfree. It doesn't have the niceties we're used to in dedicated GPS receivers such as lane assist, junction view, and the speed limit indicator. Text to speech is sporadic at best and it doesn't indicate which side of the road the destination is on, but it does work. It's biggest shortcoming is POI search, which requires a data plan, however you don't need the data plan to search by address.

Google maps navigation is only from here to one destination. I ride a motorcycle cross country and have planned routes and roads. Cellphone would be like using an awl to drive a woodscrew.

No record of tracks? Why would I bother if I can't go back historically to my previous rides for references?

Waterproof cellphone? With the Zumo, I don't even worry about driving rain messing up my navigation.

Tiny little cellphone buttons while riding at 70mph with gloves on? I might as well ride directly to the ER and tell them I'm here to donate my organs now.

If the power supply struggles to keep up, you have the wrong power supply.

The general public has no idea where the maps are or are coming from. The fact that there are still plenty of folks on this site waiting for smartphone apps with self-contained maps proves that point.

i can't imagine road trip without garmin

Don't drop your smartphone in the lake.

That may be the case, since I know the power supplies provided with smartphones tend to be, on average, 2A units. I suspect that a lot of the complaints are coming from users who are attempting to use a USB car charger, like this one: Dual USB Car Charger. I believe the people who originally made this complaint on smartphone forums honestly feel they shouldn't require a power inverter to be able to power the device while in GPS mode.

Needless to say, the complaint doesn't affect me. There are three GPS receivers in my house, and if push came to shove I have a power inverter for my phablet.

On longer trips I use the Garmin and locally the iPhone. Iphone is right on and usually faster.

I don't use the over priced iPhone. I used to use my HTC EVO 4G but just replaced that with a Nexus 4.

When I go on long trips I use my garmin. For local trips I use my Galaxy Note 2 and Google maps. I love the 5.5 inch screen.

I use my Garmin on long trips, my brain on short trips.

I prefer the Garmin, regardless of the length of the trip. I like maps.

I always use my Garmin even though I have a GPS in my car and my Garmin always does a better job ovrall

I don't.

I have 2 phone lines running to my house. One is used only for internet connection.

Ron

My experience is that Smartphones are just as good as GPS but I still prefer GPS over them because they distract me during driving and cannot be customized as much as I have on my Garmin.

I'll remain a dedicated GPS user for the foreseeable future.

The question asked was.. "Anyone changed their mind in the garmin v. smartphone debate?"

And the answer is.. "NO"!

Nuvi1300Wtgps

Me too.

I have VOIP and cell phones but that is a rarity in my neighborhood still.

I have a dedicated GPS for the car and rely on the smartphone for travel. The biggest issue for me is finding a good mounting option for the smartphone. In a pinch, I can lay it in a console and do what I need to do.

Yesssssssssssssssssss!

I like both my phone and Nuvi for navigation. However, I am on a limited data plan now (Verizon no longer offers unlimited data) and navigating on my phone gobbles up data so my Nuvi is the preferred method due to the cost factor.

I've owned several in-car and outdoor-oriented gps units. Also a bluetooth dongle used on a laptop, android tablet and first generation phone (Palm) loaded with Garmin software. Also used google maps on the phone using location approximation.

I've used my new android phone with google navigation for in-car navigation and google my tracks while walking. I've also played with Gaia GPS and jogtracker.

Conclusion:
1. I'll stay with my Nuvi for in-car use. It's more convenient. The Nuvi is usually mounted and ready so I just get in the car and go.
2. I'll use the phone when walking in areas I'm not familiar with. I always carry the phone anyway so I can just run the navigation app when I need it.
3. I'll use the outdoor gps when hiking. It runs much longer, uses a couple of AA batteries, is much more rugged and contains several topo maps and poi files so no cell coverage is required. I'll keep the phone protected in my pack and available for emergencies when cell coverage is available. I'll have the phone loaded with the local topo map to use as a secondary reference.

Remember that most phone GPS apps still require a cell signal to work. That is to get the mapping. A Garmin does not require that and will work anywhere in the world. Garmin is also the only automotive GPS that lets you view and use coordinates. You can't do that on Google maps app.

and before someone jumps down his throat about needing cell service note the fact he stated "most phone GPS apps still require a cell signal to work."

Can you please clarify your statement? My TomTom lets me "view and use coordinates" in a broad sense, but perhaps you mean something specific.

I think most is a stretch. More and more do not - especially those that store full maps on the device. Like Navigon on my wifi only iPad. Works every bit as good as my Nuvi 765t. And yeah, an iPad is not a phone... but Navigon will work on an iPhone too in Airplane mode with my BadElf plugged into it.

Don't let the meme about apps needing cell signals & have to use data connections for maps dissuade you from considering using alternatives to stand alone devices.

Google maps maybe not... but there are loads of other maps that allow use of coordinates... why do people believe Google is the only map app for bleep-sakes...

I have a phone line and I still like our Garmin more than using a cell phone.

I'll stick with both, cell and Garmin. I'm a big backup person, so I want to make sure I'm covered,either way.

Are the maps on smart phones updateable like the Gamins??

Apps that store full maps on devices are... terms depend on the app.

You most certainly can use coordinates in Google Maps app. Just enter the coordinates into the search bar and away you go.

Viewing coordinates is a little trickier. The only way I know of is to center the map on the location then go to Settings - About and it will give you the coordinates for the map center.

The above applies to android, not sure about iOS