[Touch CDMA General] cruzincat:
After using the VZ Navigator for a little while, I still prefer Garmin XT.

I will try to list the reasons and keep it updated as I find more comparisons

Sound: Garmin XT much better. I can hear and understand it. The VZ Nav is quieter and the Garmin has a more distinctive and easier to understand voice. Both could still be louder, though. This is the only thing I liked about my Tom Tom One.

Display: Garmin has much more information on the display. ie: speed, which I believe to be paramount at least once per vehicle you drive to ensure accuracy of the speedometer.

Garmin is much easier to program your favorite destinations. This could be due to more time being spent with it, but I seem to remember that it was easy from the time I first got it.

From the start Garmin gives you bars to see the Satellite status. VZNav - Nothing! You have to actually request directions with VZ Nav and even then you only get "Getting GPS...", which will either succeed or not. The first time it seems to take a while. If I try the Garmin first, it will time out and error before I get lock, VZ Nav keeps the same status, seemingly forever. Occasionally I have to soft reset the phone and try again to get any lock. Fortunately I have SPB Mobile Shell, which allows me to soft reset from the touch screen. It seems like I have to achieve lock in VZNav before I can get it in Garmin.

Garmin's maps are all on board the phone. VZ Nav has to download and update via data connection. This can be very slow at times, especially when scrolling the map. The one advantage this does give to VZ Nav is constant updating of current information (road changes, restaurants, etc) . For those on a budget, it does provide gas prices in the area, which seems to be fairly accurate.

The VZ Nav makes an announcement when you are heading into an area with traffic congestion. As far as I know, the Garmin checks traffic only when you set up the initial route. Not sure at this time if either one routes you around traffic or detours you after the fact. Around DC, there's heavy traffic everywhere at rush hour. Usually you are better off sticking to the highway and waiting it out.

Avoiding parts of route: Garmin lets you detour the next x miles of the route and it recalculates the route for you. That's it! VZ Nav gives you more options. From the main menu press Get Detour, then you have a choice between Congestion, Distance, Road(names), and Entire route. Distance lets you select the next 1,2 or 5 miles. Road presents you with a list of the roads you will be travelling on. The rest are pretty much what they say, although I haven't tried them.

Unfortunately, with either option, you have to have a data connection with Verizon to get GPS to work. Fortunately I live on the east coast, so that is not an issue. I will be on Vacation out west toward the end of May. If I get to an area without cell coverage I will find out how bad this arrangement might be.

What if someone were stuck in a blizzard in Northern Maine, and couldn't get their GPS to work to let them know there was a restaurant around the next bend that they could easily walk to for warmth. They stick it out in their car, because they don't know what is out there. They end up freezing to death. They had Garmin XT on their phone, but couldn't get a GPS signal because of Verizon's greed. I could see a large lawsuit if this happened.