Garmin nüvi 260

The Nuvi 260 is a Nuvi 250 on the addition of text-to-Speech (speaks the actual names). Other than the text-to-speech (TTS) function, the units are in appearance and operation.

Why did I buy?
1) Many GPS models have features that are not necessary for the navigation (such as an MP3 player or Bluetooth). The 260 has only what I really think it is necessary, a portable GPS. It is brilliant (to fit comfortably in your pocket), easy to transport, maps, laden with a huge database and a fast processor, calculates routes and again in seconds. The elimination of unnecessary functions reduces costs, plus makes it easier to use.

2) The touch-screen interface in the Nuvi 260 is so intuitive, many people may skip the short guide book a whole. Ten minutes just "playing with the device after taking it out of the box is everything you need to navigate. That is the mark of a great design.

3) Unlike the flip-up antenna found in Garmin's 300-series, the 200-series has an internal antenna ... a big plus. (One thing calmed down.) Moreover, the screen in the 200-series units is significantly lighter and sharper than the older Garmin 300 series.

4) Speaking of road is a huge advantage. Units that do not have TTS only say, "In the 500 meters turn right". This forces us to look at the screen to see what the street / output / etc you have to navigate. A device with TTS says: "In the 500 meters, take exit 52, right, to Route 80 West." You keep your eyes on the road with this function. So in addition to the convenience, TTS is a security measure, which is worth the extra dollars.

What I hate about the Nuvi 260?
1) I am not a fan of the windscreen Suction Mount. In many reviews people have said that the mount is not reliable in the long term. It is randomly (this happened to me a few times). On a hot day can alleviate the suction cup and has not come off at all, or leave a tale ring on the windscreen. This is not good. (Incidentally, there is a significant increase in thefts of portable GPS devices in cars ... even if the devices were not in clear view. Police has stated that the thieves were on a GPS device hidden in the car if there is a remnant of The suction ring was seen on the windshield.) save itself from the inevitable and buy the beanbag dashboard mounted.
2) The information in the database and maps may take a few years old. This problem is reflected in all brands of GPS units, and not just Garmin. There are millions of points of interest and the streets. The changes by the day. By the time the final product makes it onto the market, sometimes already obsolete. But for more than 99% of the time, it's true, and he finds what I'm looking for. The manufacturers figure A way to their databases and maps in real time, that is what we have.

If you think about what the really important functions in a portable GPS device, you will understand that the Garmin NUVI 260 is a sensible choice.

Garmin nüvi 200

After you use the TomTom One People's Party for six months (and not entirely happy with him), I decided, the latest in a try Garmin technology. The Garmin Nuvi new line of (200, 250 and 270) seems such a way that the fight against basic (and extremely popular) TomTom One, because they are with the utmost simplicity in mind. Garmin has finally deleted the bells and whistles of their past models of GPS and skinned their last spending to the necessarily decisive. But let not the simplicity of the 200 Nuvi deceive you, it is still packs a fist blow.

The first thing I noticed when buying this product is its greatness ... very, very small. The unit of resources, only 0.33 pounds (5.2 ounces), I found very practical. The Garmin Nuvi 200, portfolio size size 3.8 x 2.8 x .8 inches (WxHxD) to be done to the transport of car so when you have reached your destination. . Since the Garmin Nuvi 200 is not a transport bag, I found the unity of the rectangular design basis of very practical when you are looking for a case to the unit when not in use. Really all small bag to all shops, the GPS is very good. I found one for $ 7.00, a more unusual, taking into account the development of the TomTom One, and it is carrying a personal $ 30.00 mounting, the consumer (of course) should buy separately.

The Garmin Nuvi 200 no text-to-speech function from its big brother, the Nuvi 350 and not the technology, MP3 (remember it is a uniform basis). But the unit could throw the little flip-radio antenna Garmin owners accustomed to see in the older models, like the 350th Nuvi Everything is now well and packed away the internal Nuvi 200, a look even brilliant.

Enough about what the Nuvi not mean you a. Although the device is inserted into the development of Garmin has succeeded, packaged in a few extras for its customers. The Nuvi 200 is a viewer for JPEG image, a calculator, currency converter, a converter of unity and a World Clock, if you ask how late it is in Tokyo. Some users use these functions in May more than others, while others find it redundant May level, but well ... It is always gratifying that extras.

The battery life is excellent compared to the TomTom One little hope of 2 hours. The manual with instructions to boast, it can take up to 5 hours, "so you do not disturb to the vehicle power cable frequently with other units. The Nuvi 200 from the 3.5-inch screen (320x240 pixels) is beautiful, bright and very detailed practice for such a small unit.

Of course, I must mention the high sensitivity allows WAAS GPS receiver, which was in a position in the position of less than 30 seconds on his first start. I even managed to signals from the satellites during the Interior, fairly impressive.

The only bug I could find, with the unit was (surprisingly) by the map. Although Garmin NAVTEQ cards, I thought it was great when compared TomTom (Tele Atlas) cards, I am used to it. The cliché 'argument is that because Garmin is a U.S. company with their maps of the United States should more accurately then the European Community, on the maps from Tele Atlas, the TomTom. It was quickly refuted by a simple player around the city. There were some streets of my hometown, which have been closed since more than 5 years of age who have not listed the cards from NAVTEQ Nuvi 200 is with the delivery. I never had the problem with my TomTom One.

The Garmin Nuvi 200 is a well-deserved 4 stars. Although the cards are sometimes not, they are always precise and I could safely home. Garmin is a name on the quality of the GPS and those who have a simple but powerful unit, should the Garmin Nuvi 200 a coincidence.

Here is what in a Box:

-- The Nuvi 200 units, with the advance tickets from the lower part of 48 states (more Hawaii and Puerto Rico)
-- Vehicle mega-Mont (rather than on the medium of the windshield, I break tradition and mounting support with suction cup for the driver, on the side window near the rear-view mirror, just to me. I think that 'It's much easier to use and there is no failure in my opinion.)
-- Vehicle power cable
-- Scoreboard disc
-- Develop and leadership GB (not in great detail)

Garmin Nüvi 360

Previous to this, I had the Nuvi 350, which is also an excellent device. Since the function is identical in nearly every regard to the 350, there is little point in covering the basics in much depth, but it's worth re-stating some of them. I will go into great detail on the Bluetooth functionality below.


This is such a handy device, and is so well executed, that you would be hard-pressed not to love it. The first thing I noticed about the Nuvi was its incredibly small size and weight. I could not believe how light it was. I literally expected it to have at least twice the heft when I went to pick it up the first time - it was like picking up a deck of cards, but lighter.

The antenna is a flap that is raised from the back, maybe about the size of a matchbook. When raised the Nuvi immediately starts locking in on satellites, when lowered, the unit knows you are through navigating for a while. Intuitive and effective.

Navigation on the Nuvi is very good, fast, and intuitive. It's no different from many of Garmin's other offerings in that regard. Some buildings and businesses that you would expect to be shown as POIs are not there, but most are. One thing I would suggest: when a route is less than ideal, Garmin should allow you to correct it permanently so that it does not re-suggest the non-preferred route each time.

I had a problem with my old Nuvi 350 that I have not observed on the new 360. Sometimes the 350 would not lock onto the satellite signal. Once it went into this mode of searching for, but not locking in, for over a minute it just never found anything. The only way I found to correct this was to push the small reset button under the antenna. I notice that another reviewer found that his new 360 had the same problem. This must be a bug in some Nuvi units that would be worth following up with Garmin on. I can tell you that my 360 NEVER has required a reboot, and I've been using it continuously.

I did not test the MP3 functionality beyond verifying that it plays back the songs that are pre-loaded for demo purposes. I didn't care about this feature; I'm very happy with my iPod for song management and playback. I can verify that you would not want to use the Nuvi's internal speaker for song playback, though. It's good enough to use as a speakerphone and for voice prompts, but it's not a hi-fi.

Now, for the fun part: Bluetooth functionality. I have been using it with my BlackBerry 8700c with excellent results so far. I had no problems with the initial discovery and mating process. The interface is robust. What happens is that once your phone has made the connection with the 360, a phone icon appears on the Nuvi. You can now use the 360 to call ANY POI directly from the screen! This is truly amazing; you are now walking around with the yellow pages in the palm of your hand, sortable by your current location, or any other location you choose. I just find the Point of Interest, and touch the phone number of that POI, and the phone starts dialing it. The sound comes out through the speaker of the Nuvi, and conversations have been natural so far. It's working like an absolute charm, and this single feature moves the device beyond anything else available right now.

When you select the phone icon from the main screen, several phone-related icons appear. From the phone screen, you can make a call manually, access your address book, call a POI, etceteras. The manual dial function works fine from the touchscreen. The really cool news: Nuvi automatically downloads your phone's address book to its database when it makes the initial Bluetooth link. So, if your phone supports this functionality, you can use it for all dialing functions, since the display is so much nicer than most phones, and the touchscreen works really well. You can always break the BT connection once you get the number dialed if you want a private, non-speakerphoned conversation. I have done that many times already. Once your call ends, the connection to the Nuvi is reestablished automatically. One word of warning: BlackBerry does not support sending its addresses to the Nuvi, so I was unable to test the download feature, but this does not surprise me given BlackBerry's security obsession. I am confident that it would work fine with other supported phones.

By Earl E. A.

Garmin nüvi 760

I think both sides nuvi 660 and 760, I am writing this review of the people who encountered difficulties, a decision between the two countries due to price differences, the two products at the time of this review is about 100 U.S. dollars. I do not intend to focus on the characteristics of the differences, such as information can easily get the specifications and online reviews. 660 is a good product back over the period 2005-2006, but the new 760 outdoes 660 almost all, but there are also some of the basic availability of repair, so that 760 of the best markets for regular use.


1. 760 fonts have been much better roads, from 660. This may be as trivial information, for some, but 760 fonts and greatly improve visibility. 660 of the use of all capital text in the name of the road map, and fonts are incredibly cartoonish and unaligned, as graffiti comic Sans font for the PC. 760 relating to the use of standards, such as green fonts, street name, in the capital and lowercase letters. Font for the 760 smaller, cleaner and more surprisingly easy to read and drive. The resulting map is seeking professional, rather than some cartoony children's video games.

2. 760 has better three-dimensional map of the mode of production, from 660. In 660, when enlarged to 3 D map mode, the car near the road there will be an incredible high, big enough to run on other roads so that the zoom function is basically useless for the kind of intensive road network. The 760 is not your roads, just because you are extended to smaller streets to see more details. This repair procedure is very good for the driver who is in place, the line-intensive, such as the new New York City.

3. No antenna for the 760, so that you connect to the cradle of the nuvi, a step more easily. 660 you need to flip the antenna installed before the cradle. For the people who park their cars on the road overnight, the GPS signal from the cradle to eliminate stored on the console or a glove compartment, which is much easier, the link from the cradle of 660 to 760. It is very difficult targets to 660 the cradle, in the dark, you have to the Non-Aligned According to the leg and burdens, according to the antenna port. In 760, the port is directly responsible for the bottom of shares you can attach importance to the cradle with one hand very easily in the dark on 760.

4. Made a good 45 seconds of the average 660 (sometimes more than two minutes), until a satellite into a cold start. If you have 2,6 firmware for the 760, satellite time, after the acquisition, is being launched between October 20 seconds. After the firmware update, my 760 also has a strong lock satellite from 660 to me, I can lock in satellite my house and 760, although I can not be locked, my 660 (adjustment of the antenna is very little).

5. The ability to have multiple ad hoc viapoints 760 for the means, it is much easier to create alternate routes (very convenient to avoid a special state-to-state or high-traffic). This allows you to just 660 a viapoint.

Garmin nüvi 660

I recently purchased the nuvi 660 for a trip from the Midwest to New England. I am now in my daily commute. The product has a large whole. Most of the functions worked well, and the display capabilities are fairly represented. I would recommend this product, subject to the reservations below.


I think also to buy nuvi 360, but ultimately decided to 660, because it reduces the traffic receiver and the ability through sound stero car with an FM transmitter.

Now to the question I have encountered:

1 - FM transmitter works well in rural areas and small towns, but not so well in the large urban areas like Chicago or New York. There are simply too many radio stations in the major metros to the nuvi to find a place in the radio Dial calm enough to avoid interference.

2 - Auto-Tune feature of the FM station is essentially useless. This feature will find a place on the radio dial is calm enough for nuvi to operate. But I have noticed that there is a very bad job with this. I had almost always manually tune the nuvi to an empty area on the radio dial. It is not difficult, but a bit of problems.

3 - nuvi is blocked when the FM transmitter and you go through an electronic toll gates. I ran only on this issue in Pittsburgh. I-Pass/EZ-Pass not have this effect. The manual does mention that this can be done.

Note - if you have a line in jack on your car stero, you will not have anything to do with the above problems such as the nuvi has a LINE OUT connector.

4 - navigational instructions in several areas of merging roads are often spoken too late, and sometimes inaccacurate. I have run into this problem in 4 different areas so far. Every place has several highways with different merges and exits, and nuvi was hard-pressed to keep.

5 - travel around traffic is not very good. The traffic data is clear and precise, but the properties found that the tracks around the marketing suggests that most routes will not save time. I think it is more reasonable, traffic display and find my own way around the traffic (of course, you need to know the area can to do this