I did look at a list of features for the TomTom Rider, but TBH I still prefer the 2610 from Garmin.
The only features the TomTom offered above the 2610 and which I liked were the
3D / 2D graphics, the
5 hour life of the internal battery and the
Postcode Navigation. Ok the 3D graphic may be a gimick, I liked it
but I can easily live with the 2D graphics. The battery isn't much of an issue to me - I plug it in the socket if I'm in a car or on a bike, and if I'm in a hotel room I will just use the adaptor. If camping - I'll just sit on the stationary bike with it plugged in. The Postcode navigation was very tempting, but from reading other threads there may be postcode searches available on the Garmin unit soon.
The disadvantages to me were
the lack of PC mapping, you have to pay
extra for European maps and the TomTom
doesn't "float my boat". I love planning routes, waypoints etc for trips on the PC, then downloading them and when I realised you can't do this on the Rider it killed it stone dead for me. Perhaps it's a British mentality, but to me the TomTom just doesn't look tough enough, whereas the Garmin feels solid and capable of taking everything thrown at it. Finally, and it may sound daft, but I feel some loyalty to Garmin - music to their ears I'm sure. My first GPS was a Garmin and it gave me faultless service; very few have a bad word to say about their after sales service and you get the general impression that nothing is too much bother for them. So my gut feeling is to stick with a company you like.
I have dealt with GPS warehouse before and found them helpful. If the price quoted above is correct, I will be ordering a 2610 with them tomorrow.
