Navigon 7100 4 3 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
In the U.S., German-based Navigon may be the biggest name in gps you’ve never heard. Navigon has long been a major provider of navigation software to automotive manufacturers for in-dash gps navigation devices, but only recently did they introduce portable navigation devices under their own name. What they offer up, however, demonstrates immediately that this is a company that knows navigation inside and out.
Navigon…James Navigon
The first thing you notice about the Navigon 7100 GPS Navigator is, well, the Navigon 7100 GPS Navigator. It’s beautiful. It’s the kind of device you’d expect an international spy to have in their rocket car. It’s less than an inch thick, and its shiny black casing will go well with just about any car interior. Paying the same attention to every detail, Navigon’s included car mount raises the bar even higher, with a design that is not only easy to use, but echoes the 7100’s in a way that makes device and accessory become one, adding a touch of style and elegance to any vehicle’s interior.
The Navigon 7100 offers a premium navigation experience in a sleek package. View larger. |
Intuitive, animated menus offer predictive text input, helping you select your destination quickly. View larger. |
The lane assistant provides guidance to the optimal lane for your route. View larger. |
The reality view guides you with photo-realistic 3D images of junctions. View larger. |
Packed with Features
When you stop ogling the outside and really start using the 7100, what you notice is that Navigon has decided to avoid media support and instead has focused on navigation-based features. This means the 7100 is packed, offering an array of features that are, at the time of this writing, unmatched at this price point. It provides you with turn-by-turn directions, including actual road names via text-to-speech. It includes built-in Bluetooth technology that enables hands-free mobile phone integration, which not only increases driver safety, but is fast becoming a necessity as states pass laws against talking on a cell phone hand set while driving. It warns you when you are exceeding the speed limit. It offers 2D and 3D map views with incredibly precise road visualizations (more on that below). Its Navteq data contains millions Points of Interest (POIs) such as restaurants, hotels, golf courses, gas stations, banks, etc.
Reality View and Lane Assistant
The 7100 has two features that are a great help in negotiating unfamiliar or complicated road systems. Lane Assistant recommends the best lane for you to be in relative to the proposed route, so you won’t find yourself trying to move over three lanes when the freeway splits.
Reality view guides you with photo-realistic 3D images of junctions, complete with actual sign text and exit ramp guidance. This makes translating what the navigator is telling you to what you see on the road instantaneous.
Free Traffic for Life
This is a biggie. The Navigon 7100 comes is the first GPS device to offer subscription-free, real-time traffic information via the integrated traffic receiver with no additional fees or setup for the life of the product. Be advised on traffic flow and incidents, as well as the best alternate routes. The traffic info starts working as soon as you get the 7100 out of the box.
Zagat Ratings and Branded Icons for POIs
All of Navigon’s gps navigators offer Zagat ratings and reviews for their POIs, so while this device may not get you a beer, it can tell you where to find the best one. Branded icons displayed on your map make it easier to navigate to a familiar location of your choice.
Superior Software and Hardware
The features and functions of the Navigon 7100 are controlled via intuitive, easy-to-use animated menus that use predictive text input to quickly and easily select your city, state and address. Maps and menus appear on its extra-large and elegant, high-contrast 4.3-inch, full-color touch-screen display with an easy-to-read 16:9 aspect ratio for an exceptional view of the road. The Navigon 7100 includes a powerful Samsung 400 MHz processor, a fully integrated SiRF Star III GPS chip, 64 MBs of both RAM and ROM built in, and a rechargeable 1,200 mAh lithium ion battery that is rated for 4.5 hours of continuous use. All this is housed in an ultra-thin, sleek piano black housing that weighs only seven ounces, and measures just 5.1 x 3.5 x 0.9 inches (W x H x D). The Navigon 7100 even comes pre-loaded with complete maps of the U.S. and Canada, providing you with superbly accurate, seamless door-to-door directions wherever your vehicular travels might take you.
Note that the 7100 runs on the Microsoft Windows CD Net 5.0 operating system. A PC is required to use additional map data, and in such cases users require Windows 2000, ME, XP or higher, as well as a CD ROM drive and a USB port. An SD/MMC card reader is recommended as the 7100 not only uses SD cards, but also comes with a 2 GB SD card in the package.
What’s in the Box
The Navigon 7100 preloaded with North American maps, 2 GB SD card, car charger, wall charger, car mount, USB cable, CD and user manual on DVD, quick installation guide, and warranty information.
About Navigon
NAVIGON has been a leader of GPS navigation since 1991, and has a long history of industry innovations. NAVIGON created the world’s first dynamic personal GPS product in 1996, launched the industry’s first navigation software for the Pocket PC in 2000, and unveiled the first Traffic Message Channel-based (TMC) avoidance feature on mobile navigation product in 2002.
NAVIGON has helped revolutionize how consumers get from place to place with software products for practically any navigation-ready hardware. Personal navigation devices (PND), smartphones, and in-dash navigation systems directed by NAVIGON’s award-winning MobileNavigator (MN) software delivers reliable information on millions of destinations in an intuitive, easy to use format. NAVIGON is a valued partner to the automotive industry, and in 2006 strengthened its category competency by acquiring NAVTEQ’s navigation software business.
NAVIGON is a privately-held software company based in Hamburg, Germany, with NAVIGON USA headquarters in Chicago, IL.
4 Stars Navigon 7100
Good GPS unit with nicer features than Garmin or Tom Tom. So far has operated without issues. 2 complaints: first, the speed limit only appears when on the freeway, and I do a lot of 2 lane road driving; and second, the description I looked at indicated it came with map updates for 3 years…mine did not, so if you want that feature, make sure it is specified by the Amazon seller.
1 Star Usless navigation
Turned off the highway about 2 blocks from the motel we were trying to find and the 7100 told us to go in every direction but towards the motel. Even when we were in the parking lot of the motel it told us to turn around and go back on the highway. If we had depended on it’s directions we would still be looking for the motel
3 Stars Navigon 7100 GPS
I purchased this GPS to use when driving across country and through the maze of exits and interchanges that you run into in larger cities. The feature that caught my eye was the ‘reality view’, and I hoped it would take the surprises out of being in the wrong lane at the right time.
That feature has worked tremendously! I can navigate relaxed through 4-5 lanes of traffic anywhere on the interstate system and it will pop up a 3-D view of the upcoming intersections and show me which lane to stay in as well as showing me the correct names on the exit signs. Very, very impressive, I couldn’t have hoped for more.
Now for the bad. If you leave the interstate system at all even for a mile in places, you might as well ignore the trip time estimates it gives. I don’t know what the problem is with the data base but this GPS couldn’t calculated a correct trip time if you threatened it with a hammer.
When I leave the interstate system and turn on to the access road that leads 1.5 miles to my house it says it will take 12 minutes to get there. As I drive closer you can watch it revise it’s estimates in minute increments until I finally pull into the driveway.
This also means that most of the time it doesn’t do very well calculating the fastest route once it gets into a surburban area. It will eventually get you there, and if I’m going someplace that I’m unfamiliar with I will trust it, but when I’ve tested it locally it sometimes comes up with a bewildering route, all because it must have the speed data for certain types of streets way off in the data base.
Finally – the windshield mount is stylish but not functionally friendly. There is no dash mount option that does not use this huge support column. They need to offer something like all the other mfg’s do that will sit on the dash and can be moved around. Most of the generic mounts I looked out would block the speaker so I still use the windshield mount which is not illegal in MO.
Surprisingly, I gave it a good rating because I got this GPS for one primary purpose – getting me across country and through the city interstate system quickly and easily and it does that in flying colors. If you are wanting more than that out of a system, like accurate trip time calculations for instance, you might want to compare it with other models on the market as well. But make sure they have the ‘reality view’ feature!
The ‘reality view’ feature alone is enough to make me not worry about calculating trip times and just keep on using this GPS no matter what other problems it may have!
4 Stars Great detail.
This is a great GPS. Menus are easy to read and access. Not as many Points of interest as I would like….
1 Star Couldn’t be more disappointed
I read and read all about the Navigon 7100 along with several other models by various manufacturers. I also watched the demo video. I was convinced I would love this one. Trying to find restaurants was next to impossible. You could not type in the name of a restaurant unless you had the name of the city you would be in and even when I did know the name of the city and the name of the restaurant that was no guarantee that the Navigon could find it. Also, the distances would not update while driving around trying to scroll down to find a place to eat. It is not user friendly. I am accustomed to an old Garmin and it is far superior to the Navigon.
TomTom GO 730T 4 3 Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Receiver
TomTom’s 2008 730T brings their newest community-based navigation advancements together with their plug and play ease of use, rock-solid navigation, and sleek designs we’ve come to expect from them, along with a a TMC traffic receiver with a 1-year free subscription (that’s the “T” part in “730T”)
For a couple of year’s now, TomTom’s been building a foundation for some powerful community-driven navigation features, and this is the year they really start to harness that power. They began by introducing with Map Share, which lets you instantly modify street names, street direction, and custom locations called points of interest (POIs) on your own device, then upload them to TomTom’s HOME network and download changes made by all of the other users. When you do this, TomTom gets to find out what routes your device has been taking. The data is anonymous, but it’s given TomTom an enormous pile of route and speed data, which they’ve used to tie community data to routing with their new IQ Routes™ feature, which calculates routes using the actual recorded average speeds of travel to calculate your trip rather than posted speed limits, giving you an extremely accurate prediction of how long any given route will actually take at any given time. There are a host of other interesting features, and you can read about them here.
As last year, the difference between the 730 and the 930 models is the “Enhanced Positioning Technology”. The 930 contains some onboard accelerometers and gravity sensors that help it figure out where it’s going even if you lose satellite signal for a few minutes, which can be incredibly useful in cities with a lot of tunnels or “urban canyons” of tall buildings, so if you live in an area where that is an issue, you may want to consider bumping up to the 930. Otherwise, this is a superb navigator that will give you everything you need and expect, and then surprise you a bit.
Step Up Features
 Clear and easy widescreen interface
 Enhanced POI information |
Buy a TomTom device and it works straight out of the box: Just plug it in and a few taps of the touchscreen later, you’re on your way. TomTom’s easy-to-use interface has been extensively tested by by independent assessors in the field and at TomTom’s unique User Experience Labs. Worldwide Maps Remote control Help When You Need It |
 Icon-driven menu system |
 Did You Know? IQ Routes technology gives you a faster route in over 50% of all your journeys. |
 TomTom provides the fastest and most efficient routing possible. IQ Routes uses historical road-speed data from millions of TomTom users to calculate your optimal route for that specific time and day. Giving you local knowledge on a global scale..
We all know traffic is different during a Monday morning rush hour from a lazy Sunday afternoon. And we all want the best shortcuts to bring us to our destination in the fastest way possible. But heavy traffic, speed bumps, traffic lights, rotaries and even pedestrians or shopping crowds can slow you down. That handy shortcut you’re looking for changes depending on the time and day so the shortest route isn’t necessarily going to be the fastest all the time!
As you can see, in this case your route is now about 15 miles longer, but will save you 12 minutes (and a ton of stress!). Now that’s a shortcut! Twelve minutes may not sound much, but it’s over 20% off your journey time. Just consider for a moment how much time that will save you over a whole year… Exactly! And it’s not just urban driving. Whether its roundabouts, crossroads, schoolchildren or just good old-fashioned congestion. Anywhere the traffic flow can vary, IQ Routes can make a real difference. How it works
This data enhances the quality of TomTom navigation across the board, but is particularly helpful in improving the quality of detailed routing we give you for the specific time of day and day of the week of your chosen trip. Drive like local |
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 Extra clarity when you navigate difficult junctions. See clearly the lane you must follow at junctions, so you don’t miss your turn. At complex intersections, you also get a clear 3D image showing your route through the junction. Leaving you relaxed and safe.
When you approach complex motorway intersections, you also get a still 3D image on your screen that clearly indicates the lane(s) you need to take. Advanced lane guidance keeps you relaxed and safe through even the most complex intersections and in even the heaviest traffic.
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 With TomTom Map Share you can update your map directly on your device as and when you spot road changes, and download daily updates from millions of Map Share users worldwide via your computer.Enabling Map Share gives you:
Map Share changes you can make instantly:
When joining the Map Share community you can select various ‘levels of trust’. |
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In more and more places, it is becoming illegal to use cell phones while driving without a hands-free kit. Your TomTom’s Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker lets you match it to any bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls.
Plus, you can automatically answer your phone calls, for improved safety and comfort. |
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Due to Amazon’s high volume of sales and frequency of inventory turnover, just about every portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version.
TomTom however, goes one better. Because TomTom regularly releases new maps, there’s always a small chance that a newer map has been released since the production of your TomTom. With TomTom’s latest map guarantee, if the map preloaded on your device is not the latest version, you can download it FREE at TomTom HOME. This no longer requires the map check code. Checking in TomTom HOME is easy:
You can check as many times as you like within 30 days from the date you first use your TomTom device. |
| Simply speak the city, street name and address number you would like to travel to, and the device will automatically calculate the route. |
Search for the location you want.
Pick “Send to GPS”. |
Itching to try out a new restaurant, or setting off on a road trip to locate the best donuts on the west coast? Now, it’s easy to search for locations on Google Maps or Mapquest, then transfer the addresses directly to your TomTom.
The address will instantly transfer to your TomTom device, The point will be saved as one of your favorites, and you can navigate to it or view it on a map just like with any other favorite. |
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HOME is TomTom’s free software program that gives you access to a huge array of services as well as the global community of TomTom users. It is the only tool you need to manage, update and personalize your TomTom to enjoy a premium navigation experience: buy and install maps, make back-ups, download free software updates, shop and much more.
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Starting up can seem like a slow business, particularly if you’re in a hurry, because the GPS receiver needs to know exactly where each GPS satellite is to calculate your location. But satellites only broadcast their positions once every 30 seconds. So if any of their signals are interrupted, for example by passing high buildings, the whole position-fixing process has to repeat itself again and again until the perfect fix is achieved. QuickGPSfix takes a smarter approach.
QuickGPSfix can speed up the time it takes to fix your GPS position by downloading the latest satellite data via an Internet connection. Just connect your TomTom device to your computer and TomTom HOME automatically downloads `QuickGPSfix’ – a special GPS data file that helps your TomTom fix your position quicker, even when the GPS signal is weak or partially blocked.
This unique free service helps you fix your position and get navigating faster than ever.
On the road or no access to TomTom HOME?
Get the same `QuickGPSfix’ data by simply connecting to any TomTom PLUS service, using a wireless data connection. As soon as a connection is established, the `QuickGPSfix’ data is automatically updated.
Note: QuickGPSfix data has limited validity. So to keep on getting a faster position-fix, re-connect your device at least once a week.
To minimise the amount of data sent over your wireless data connection, this automatic update is only carried out if the data on your device is over 5 days old. The associated data usage of this service is less than 10 Kb per connection. Please contact your mobile service provider to determine the exact costs. To disable this automatic update, just select `Disable Auto QuickGPSfix’ on your TomTom device.
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New smart & fun extras to personalize users’ devices
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TomTom offers two distinctive ways of providing traffic information, the TomTom PLUS Traffic service and the TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver accessory. With both options, traffic information is fully integrated into the TomTom navigation experience. Both services are subscription based. The RDS-TMC receiver accessory comes with a 1-year free subscription to the TMC traffic service . Key features for both Traffic information options
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| TomTom Traffic Specifics With TomTom Traffic, you can avoid problems and check the road conditions and weather ahead at the same time. TomTom Traffic is delivered via GPRS signal and requires a compatible mobile phone with Bluetooth and a wireless data connection, such as GPRS, UMTS or CDMA, enable you to use PLUS Traffic information on any TomTom device. The advantages of TomTom Traffic are that it delivers information on road and weather conditions, and GPRS signals may be available for areas in which there is no FM radio signal to transmit TMC traffic information (although if there’s no radio, it’s questionable how much traffic there’s going to be). Important notes about TomTom Traffic:
TMC Traffic Specifics The RDS-TMC receiver accessory comes with a 1-year free subscription to the TMC traffic service With some TomTom models, an RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver is included in the box. This is indicated by the addition of “T” or “Traffic” to the model name. An example is “GO 930T”. |
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TomTom NV is the world’s largest navigation solution provider, developing products with an emphasis on innovation, quality, ease of use and value. TomTom’s products include all-in-one navigation devices which enable customers to navigate right out of the box; including the award-winning TomTom GO family, the TomTom ONE range and the TomTom RIDER (for motorcycles). TomTom also provides navigation software products which integrate with third party devices; the TomTom NAVIGATOR software for PDA’s and smartphones. TomTom WORK combines industry leading communication and smart navigation technology with leading edge tracking and tracing expertise. TomTom’s products are sold through a network of leading retailers in 25 countries and online. TomTom was founded in 1991 in Amsterdam and has offices in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
4 Stars My TomTom Go 730T
I bought my TomTom GO 730T about 2 weeks ago. It works very well and it’s easy to work with. The TomTom Go 730T has alot of features and they are very useful for me. But I have been living in my neighborhood for 3 years, and when I apply my address in, it doesn’t have it in the map.(And that time I have already upgraded my maps on the computer.) So, I don’t know why it doesn’t have my address, but it has all the other new neighborhoods addresses. Yet, the TomTom Go 730T works extremely well and very useful.
4 Stars Great GPS but a tad technical
I bought this unit a few months ago as an upgrade from an older Garmin GPS that was 3-years ago.
Pros:
- IQ Routes – it’s amazing that it can reroute you depending on time of day and historical traffic data. the Arri vial Time is gives me is usually dead on.
- Great reception – I turned on the unit inside my house, and it still picked up 3 satellites almost instantly.
- Nice customization and able to hookup to your computer to download extras
Cons:
- Not as user friendly as Garmin’s – while I was able to figure it out, I wouldn’t suggest this product for those get easily confused or frustrated by technology.
- Bluetooth phone support – the GPS supports very few models of phones so you can use it as a hands free device. It didn’t matter much to me, but if it’s important to you, check the website for list of compatable phones.
-Traffic Receiver – the traffic receiver works well, and this isn’t TomTom’s fault, but there is very little coverage of accidents in my area. It looks like only main interstates are supported by ClearChannel traffic. Looking back, I would have saved my money and went from the 730 without the traffic reciever.
Overall it’s a very solid device and I’m very satisfied with my purchase.
4 Stars Superior POI adaptability trumps Garmin’s nice interface
Pros
Superior POI handling, especially in comparison to Garmin
Almost perfect self adjusting arrival time estimates
Neutral
It gives directions. I saw no difference between the TomTom and the Garmin I tested. Both sometimes gave perfect directions, both sometimes gave slightly bad. It’s a wash.
Have still not been able to test the traffic function (nor was I ever able to on the Garmin 7×5 series)
Cons
Interface not as nice as Garmin
Very slow to lock with satellite compared to Garmin
Lacks a fully integrated system for dash mounting which the Garmins have
I started with the Garmin 755T and quickly switched to the TomTom 730T because the Garmin didn’t do what it should have been able to right out of the box. The TomTom might not be as elegant as the Garmin, but it does the job and it didn’t require me to jump through hoops to customize the Points of Interest (POIs).
I first bought the Garmin 755T because of all the great reviews and because the interface looked pretty nice. And truthfully, Garmin’s are very nice. Their interface is generally easier and the screen colors just better to look at. But if you need the GPS to go beyond the basic – give you directions from point A to point B – and want to fully utilize the pre-installed POIs you are looking at a steep learning curve. To put it bluntly, Garmins do not work right out of the box in this regard. TomToms do.
I drive 30,000 miles a year, mostly for work, and decided it was time to get a GPS. Source after source pointed to the Garmin and specifically the new Garmin 7×5 series.
Another person who’s in the same line of business as me told me how he receives proximity alerts for specific POIs. He didn’t say which brand he used and I assumed that was a basic feature. It’s not.
These POIs are already programmed in the TomTom and the Garmin. Everything I need is right there. However, I could not program the Garmin to link proximity alerts with those preexisting POIs. I received this from Garmin customer service:
“This can only be done with Custom POI’s. You can set
a distance for the POI within the CSV file. You would just need to find
a database of xxxxx in a CSV format. I am sorry it is not possible
to do this with the POI’s currently in the unit.”
I could not find the custom POIs I needed and that was that. And why should I have to find them when Garmin already had the POIs I wanted already installed?!
So I ditched the Garmin and bought the TomTom 730T. I have used it for several months now without a problem. It has generally given me great directions. It’s POI alert system has been a stupendous addition to my work capability. I wish the TomTom had the Garmin’s interface and would connect with satellites faster. It takes up to 2 mins versus only about 30 seconds for the Garmin. But these are annoyances compared to the central task – give me directions and tell me where the POIs are. The TomTom 730T does this and does it far better than Garmin.
3 Stars Not bad…
Not a bad GPS, has alot of features. However if I had to pay full price I’d look for something else. Since I got it for a very good deal with Amazon Christmas sale it was a good choice but with all things being equal I would think you’d be better off with a Garmin. I bought an SD card to give me more space to store MP3’s and it doesn’t work correctly. It won’t play and it lists the songs as being there twice (which they are not), so who knows what’s up with that… Support line closes too early.
The software that comes with it which says you can send map info from Google maps doesn’t work and many of the advanced features just plain don’t work from my Mac, that’s a bit disappointing. All and all it seems to do a pretty good job although it doesn’t get anywhere near the supposed 5 hours battery life… more like 2.5 hours at best… but that’s generally good for around town… The pluses are it is very customizable so you can put your own car on there as your icon if you like and it has the traffic feature and you can talk hands-free w/ your cell although people tell me it’s hard to hear me…
all in all it’s ok but not great but from what I read almost none of these different GPS’s are perfect…
so I’m giving it 3 stars…
enjoy it if you get one.
1 Star Disappointed
First thing that went wrong was the language that came up was not English. Finally, through lots of trial an error, we were able to change the language to English. Then through more trial an error, and lots of challenges, we discovered that our unit was defective. We returned it and then purchased the Garmin nuvi 880 and have been so please with it.
Magellan Maestro 4040 4 3 Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Elegance, simplicity and advanced features designed to save you time and effort on the road. Magellan Maestro 4040 makes driving more pleasurable and less stressful. Enter virtually any address on the freshly-designed graphical touch screen, or select from 4.5 million preprogrammed points of interest to get turn-by-turn voice guidance to anywhere in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SayWhere text-to-speech tells you the street name for each maneuver, so you can focus on driving. Smart buttons and Magellan’s unique QuickSpell function enables error free spelling to minimize steps so you get a customized route to your destination with just a few touches of the screen. It offers several AAA features especially suited for members. Bluetooth wireless technology enables hands-free phone calls with your Bluetooth-enabled phone. Store or sync numbers and contact information for clear communication through the integrated microphone and speakers. Easily add LIVE traffic incident reports and Voice Command control. Voice Command-enabled – Add Voice Command control for hand’s-free operation with a simple upgrade from www.MagellanGPS.com (Activation fee applies). Expected availability in Summer 2007 Birds eye 3D view – Clearly see your surroundings in 2D or 3D Rechargeable battery – Navigate when you don’t have access to power Select up to 20 destinations and choose order that best fits your needs Prompts you to route around sudden slow freeway traffic (no fee or subscription required) Auto Re-route Auto NightView Slot for SD memory Size 5. 0 (l) x 3.75 (w) x 0.88 (h); Weighs 8.5oz
2 Stars NO updates available
I really like magellan GPS units – bought a tom tom but wanted to go back to magellan but after buying this one found out there are no updates for this unit and it is outdated by a couple years and when I travel a lot i need the latest updates on roads. suggest buying a model with updated files.
5 Stars Happy With My Purchase
I bought this product in March of 2008 and just recently called customer service for the second time since I purchased the product and had no problem with understanding the customer service rep or getting a reasonable response for my reasoning behind calling. I am very pleased with my product purchase and the Magellan company.
4 Stars gps works great!
The unit worked great right out of the box. The Magellan customer service was great as well, I was able to get the latest map up-grade free of charge. It’s very easy to use and accurate as well. Much better than any other gps I’ve had in the past. The widescreen really is a great feature also. Two thumbs way up. thanks
3 Stars Good Hardware, But Beware of Buggy Map Updates
We have had this product 2 years and it provides an impressive number of features for the price. We travel a lot between N. Calif. and Phoenix and “Ingrid” (that’s what we call the unit’s female voice) has proved invaluable.
Recently, we paid Magellan $80 to upgrade the maps to the 2009 version. On a recent trip to Phoenix, the updated maps were full of errors and Ingrid got completely befuddled in the Southeast portion of Maricopa County. Also, we have a AAA enabled version of this unit, and it was unable to find the nearest AAA office with the new map update.
We wrote Megellan and their response was that the maps were provided by a third party vendor (and were done in 2007 for the 2009 update!!);So Sorry. So be aware that the maps may not be as up to date as expected and may have some flat out errors. Oh, and the hardware performance seems to have deteriorated with the map update as well. It takes longer to find the satellites and seems to have more trouble finding the route at times, even if the map is correct.
5 Stars First time GPS Owner
This is my first GPS owned so I have no other system to compare it to. I read a lot of reviews about this product before I pulled the trigger. I always read the negative reviews first to see if they can scare me away from the product, but the two most reoccuring issues were the cradle and the customer service, in which neither one have anything to do with the actual product. I have not had to call customer service so I cannot comment on that. My GPS cradle fits like a glove though.
Routing
I’ll get into my favorite features and call it a day. It is very simple IMO to enter an address, put in the city, street name, then building number. From there you can choose your route (fastest time, more use of freeways, less use of freeways) and can also exclude roads on the route. Sometimes I will GPS a place I’m not exactly sure where it is, but Magellan will give me the city streets route, and I’ll know the highway is much more convenient, so I can just go back to choose route, and tap most use of freeways. And to get back home, you simply tap the home button and route.
Bluetooth
The bluetooth is pretty nice. Once paired, you can dial someone’s number 1 of 2 ways: select there # from the GPS if you’ve entered the # with their address, or you can simply dial it from your phone. Pairing the two is as simple as pairing anything else bluetooth.
POI
The POI database is pretty abundant. The only thing I did not have success locating via POI is the club. Everything else from schools, to sports complex, to airports, to atms, to fast food I have had no problem. And it doesn’t just simply select the closest available so you accidentally get the wrong one. You can select POI’s by city, current position, by name, etc. Depending on the criteria you select, it gives you a list of POI’s to choose from.
En Route
When driving Magellan always gives you a heads up 2 miles in advance of your next turn. It gives you another heads up I believe half a mile from your turn. It is pretty spot on for when to make turns, whether on the highway, or in the city. When on the highway, it will tell if the exit on the left or the right, and will say the exit name, and display the exit # and name. The small problem I’ve had is once you arrive. I would say about 80% of the time it says I have arrived about 100-200 feet early (which is better than late), so finding someone’s house could take an extra 60 seconds or so, but it has not caused me any problems because it’s not like I’m driving with my eyes closed.
Hope this review was helpful, and I would definitely recommend this product. Easy to use with multiple functions including things I have not mentioned here (i.e. mutliple routes).
Garmin n vi 660 4 3 Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
With a gorgeous widescreen display, the Garmin nüvi 660 GPS Personal Travel Assistant is your answer to the call of adventure. A sleek navigator and a keen travel assistant, the nüvi 660 is preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT road maps for the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. This map database features nearly six million points of interest (POIs), including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions, and the data is provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping.This preloaded navigator brings all this fantastic map data to your fingertips with a super-bright, 4.3-inch widescreen display for improved map viewing, day or night. Use the touch screen interface to select destinations, look up POIs, and play your favorite MP3s and audio books. The display also helps you control hands-free calling, traffic alerts, and the FM transmitter, all from the screen of your personal travel assistant.
Which nüvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators
Wider screen lets you see more of what’s around. Compare these actual size views of a 3-inch (diagonal) screen and a 4.3-inch diagonal widescreen |
Widescreen — See Better, See More
The widescreen format gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.
FM Transmitter — Hear Better, Hear More
Instead of straining your ears to hear turn-by-turn directions or your favorite MP3s, you can enjoy wireless FM audio transmission via the nüvi 660’s wireless FM transmitter. Tune your car’s radio to the appropriate station and you’ll hear all the nüvi’s audio, including voice prompts, MP3s, audio books, and more, directly through your vehicle’s stereo system. The nüvi 660 includes many “must-have” entertainment and travel tools, including digital music and audio book playback, JPEG picture viewer, currency converters, and more. All these great features make the nüvi 660 a complete Personal Travel Assistant.
First Rate Map Data
The nüvi 660 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator NT street maps, including a hefty POI database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. Garmin gets its map data from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping.
In addition, the nüvi 660 accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs
Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.
Hands-Free Calling
In more and more places, it is becoming illegal to use cell phones while driving without a hands-free kit. The nüvi 660’s Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker lets match it to any bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial the phone number with the nüvi’s touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible phone. To answer an incoming call, just tap the screen and speak into the built-in microphone. Making and taking calls on the road has never been easier, or safer. In addition, Garmin makes it a breeze to look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or even tap into your cell phone’s call history log.
Integrated FM Traffic Receiver
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Steer clear of traffic with an integrated FM traffic receiver designed to receive alerts from TMC Clear Channel about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you’ll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you’re forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nüvi’s sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time. In most areas, TMC Clear Channel traffic broadcasts are continuous
Categories: Garmin Actual Size, Audio Books, City Maps, City Navigator, Diagonal Screen, Fm Transmitter, Garmin, Garmin Nuvi Gps, Gas Stations, Gps Garmin, Gps Navigator, Gps Navigators, Inch Widescreen, Personal Travel Assistant, Points Of Interest, Road Maps, Touch Screen Interface, Widescreen Display, Widescreen Format, World Leader
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