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Glad to hear you love it, that's all that matters! Congrats. :shades:
First impression is a simple "WOW!", that screen really is gigantic. :surprise:
I was impressed that it's actually thinner than the Nuvi 200 series, by 25% according to Garmin's web site. Also, it's not a lot heavier. We compared them side-by-side and it took a while for me to conclude it's only very slightly heavier than my 260w. Good packaging.
We played with them side-by-side, and I basically concluded that everything my 260w did well, the 1490T does slightly better. Not just the size but the display quality and sharpness. The icons and text are bigger, more clear. They really made good use of the real estate. Plus the transitions between screens seem smoother. Touch the map and it zooms out, moves to the place you touched, and zooms back in, all seamlessly. Smoooth.
Bob set up the Bluetooth to his phone, and he never even had to take his phone out of his pocket. We completed several test calls, and sound quality was very good, probably a little better than the speaker phone on my BlackBerry Curve 8900.
We also tried the voice dialing. Press a button, say "Call Home", and sure enough, it nailed it in the first try. My BlackBerry works the same way.
If you have your phone in your pocket, I can actually see some value here, which I didn't really see before. The buttons on the Nuvi are much bigger and right in front of you, already mounted. I don't have a car mount for my BlackBerry, and the buttons are small. I guess I could use voice dialing and my speakerphone, but that's still 2 small buttons I'd have to find and press, and I wonder if the mount would block some of those.
Score one for Bluetooth.
Since the phone worked well, we added some phone numbers to the Favorites. Only the Favorites with phone numbers show up in the phone book, which makes sense I guess. At first it only showed Home, but we realized we had to add phone numbers for them to appear.
Then we added photos. The 1490T has a Micro-SD slot, which was convenient because my BlackBerry 8900 uses the same media. So we took photos with my BlackBerry, inserted the card, and Edited the Favorites to add our photos to those entries.
Pretty cool - instead of just a name you can actually put a photo of the person.
I was also curious to try out the FM Traffic feature, since none of my 3 GPS devices have that.
It will warn you of traffic or construction along the route you take, but you can also manually preview what jams are ahead before you leave. We didn't take any trips so I wasn't able to see if it actually accounts for those delays before you leave, and sends you on an alternate route in the first place. I don't want to have to take a detour - I'd like to avoid it entirely if possible.
Dislikes?
When we removed the card, we lost the photo images. The Nuvi should be smart enough to copy it to the local storage if the photo is saved as a Favorite. I guess you have to copy that manually, or just buy a Micro SD card specifically for your GPS. They're cheap, so no big deal.
The FM Traffic should be accounted for when calculated the route, even before you leave, if the jam is close by. In other words, I don't want to have to take a detour on that same route after I left, I'd like for it to choose a different route entirely.
Thing is, I'm not sure about how the 1490T does that, so that remains to be seen. Perhaps someone with FM Traffic experience can share their experience.
List price is $500 but you can get them for about $430, so it's high-end for sure, though it's the biggest screen I've ever seen and very near some OE GPS sizes.
To be honest, my biggest dislike was that I didn't get to keep it. :shades:
GPS Causing Truckers to Crash Into Bridges (Fox)
I sold it for $90. A single map update would have cost me $65. The new 265wt cost $190 at Costco. So the way I look at it, I paid $35 extra to get the upgrade.
The 265wt model basically adds:
* maps for Canada (200w was US only)
* bluetooth wireless
* text-to-speech
* optional MSN Direct (if you want to look up gas prices)
* Where Am I? feature (shows POIs close by)
* photo navigation
* liftetime free traffic via clear channel's FM service
They pay for it with pop ups that are so small I can't read them without glasses, and they never appear when the vehicle is moving, nor when you're operating the GPS, so my concerns about intrusive pop-ups were put to rest.
Bluetooth worked like a charm for me. My BlackBerry 8900 paired up right away and sounds pretty good. The speaker is a little tinny (better than the 8900's speaker phone, though), but the microphone is excellent, or so people who I've called have told me. Best thing is that now it pairs up automatically every time I walk back in the car and the GPS turns on.
Very cool.
I tried the voice commands - "Call [First] [Lastname]", and it worked on the first try.
The address book looks just as it does on my BlackBerry, better in fact because the screen is much bigger. It can search my phone's address book, or you can call any POI's number from your GPS.
Text-to-speech is nothing new because we own 2 other Garmins that have it. I chose the Australian English voice, Karen. Don't tell my wife but I have a crush on her.
The accent is so cool, "Turn left on BAT-tree Lane".
Have not played with the Who Am I feature yet.
Photo Navigation lets you upload photos to an SD card, and then have an icon for each of your Favorites. For instance, it could be a thumbnail photo of the person who lives there.
Neat, I guess, for the die-hards who will invest the time. I may do a few for the ones I use most often.
FM traffic - so far so good. I'm actually impressed with the accuracy and timeliness of the traffic info - it seems more current than what you get from Google Maps, for instance.
I didn't have faith in it, and ignored a command to exit and avoid traffic, and then hit a small traffic jam. Rats. Should have listened to Karen.
It only reports on major roads, of course, highways and such. For some odd reason the Whitehurst Freeway is included, but the Clara Barton Parkway is not.
I think the traffic will come in handy, though.
So far, so good. I'd do it again if I had the chance.
Bob may be disapointed that I didn't get the 1490T ($350 at Costco right now, and you get the big 5" screen), but I guess I was trying to justify the upgrade saying it wouldn't cost me anything.
During setup I updated to v2010.20 maps, and that highlights perhaps Garmin's best advantage - very frequent map updates. I think for this GPS I will pay the $99 for lifetime map updates.
Are you over your love of Becky from the Tribeca??
I've found it to be hit-or-miss in terms of voice commands. It's really a problem if your car transmits a lot of road and tire noise, as my WRX does. I suspect the "quieter" the car, the less this will be a problem.
Worse still, if the GPS has trouble with your voice command, you end up repeating it several times, which means your concentration is on the phone—and not on driving. This will surely become a hot-button issue with safety advocates, as this is an accident waiting to happen.
I have since learned to pick my driving spots very carefully (low traffic, straight and flat roads, etc.) when trying to use the voice prompt feature. One can only hope and pray other users will do likewise.
Bob
I'm pretty sure the GPS is just forwarding the audio to the phone, and the phone processes the request.
There were several occasions in which it asked me if I wanted to call other people in my cell's phonebook, as it couldn't understand what I was saying. I bet if I had asked it to call—while the vehicle was stopped—it wouldn't have had that problem.
Bob
The phone asks you to call a name, so it must be an open mic that picks up any noise, be it your command or otherwise.
Bob
What's a great buy on one for the beginner who does want one that massages my back while I'm driving or talks to me in soothing tones, but is now marked way down and will serve great?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Amazon had the Nuvi 205w for $99, no Canada maps and no text-to-speech but it's a light, simple wide screen and may be a good starter GPS. I saw some deals on the Tom Tom One XLS 130 (I think, not sure?) for the same price that does have text-to-speech, but I prefer Garmin's interface.
If you want more features the 265wt was $169 IIRC. That adds text-to-speech, Canada maps, bluetooth, and FM traffic. Costco had it for a little more if you prefer to buy in person.
Costco also had the big 5" 1490T model, but that was $350. It can do advanced routes and stuff. Overkill for you, probably.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1696824
Under $100. I saw several advertisements before Black Friday for various models at different box stores and online. But I have no idea which is 'cheap, old' and which is a real value to have one to play with.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Garmin had a 205 for $89, though I forget where. That's a 3.5" screen.
For $10 more I'd get the 205w, though. The touch screen is bigger and easier to use.
I doesn't speak street names, but instead displays them on the screen. If you want that feature, the Tom Tom 130S may be better.
"Walmart offers their exclusive TomTom XL 325SE Silver Edition GPS today for just $89.00.
Boasting a 4.3" widescreen, spoken street names, and Map Share, this is one of the hottest deals around right now for GPS."
Fatwallet
Shop through Bing and get another 15% off.
That's the price of a map update, so basically the GPS itself is free.
"Latest map guarantee lets you download one complimentary update to your map if one is available during your first 30 days of use."
Although 90 days would be ever better.
Don't ask me why it's 61 and not 60. 2 months, I guess.
I have v2010.20 but at 58 days or so I'll check what the latest version is and update mine.
Thanks.
Apparently the SE silver edition is a Walmart version. I've bought things before where Walmart's version had value added.
Used Bing.com.
Should get 15% back to my Paypal account?
I'm glad to know it's a reasonable price for a GPS.
97Cent shipping from Walmart. It wanted to do ship to store... and take off the $.97. But I finally figured out Walmart was charging the $.97 to deliver to my door step by USPS or UPS.
I'll no longer be a GPS virgin.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I paid ~$80 for a much less capable one a year or so ago (but it's still really useful though).
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/gps/navigon-2200t.aspx
Wow. And to think my first GPS cost me $404 and didn't come with an SD card (purchased seperately)!
I don't remember anyone mentioning that point here before. I have a factory navi in my 06 Accord that takes no time at all to acquire satellites. My wife has a two year old Garmin unit (can't remember the number) that takes forever. :sick:
My sailing buddy's eTrex locks them in fast, but that's out on open water with no trees and stuff.
Our c340 is quicker to get a signal than my old c320.
Also, the Nuvi 255w and 265st are quicker than my old 200w.
For what it's worth...
My 265wt actually got a signal indoors, in a room with just 2 small windows. I was very impressed.
I'm bad to turn it on in the garage, so maybe that's what hammers my acquisition time now and then.
Very neat, for Droid owners.
In addition to the 6 million POI it also has the AAA tour book which is an invaluable guide for those long distance trips.
I'm not familiar with the 600 series, but the 700s were legendary in Garmin circles.
I hope they like it...
Heads-up: the latest map update is v2010.30. Check what you have.
You also get free updates for 61 days.
I asked my wife if she wanted to sell her c340 and get one, but not yet.
Maybe next year. I may even aim for the 1490t with the 5" screen for me, and give her my 265wt.
Various Ford products take 4 of the top 10 spots.
Bob
Ford has offered a voice activated NAV system with Sirius traffic for some time. SYNC is a separate system.
IMHO, SYNC is a great value for what amounts to integration your phone and music devices with the added benefit of traffic and directions. Initial price is $395 and the service is free for 3 years - then it's $7 a month.
Bob
nuvi 285Wt.. $136.14
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If so that is a *GREAT* deal. Costco has them for $169.99 IIRC.
Also had some 700 series and 800 series for under $200...
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