Customer Reviews

Garmin nüvi 2460LMT 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

We owned a Garmin Nuvi 760 for years and were very happy with the unit. Solid features and solid construction. Had no plans to upgrade till the unit was stolen from a rental car. I considered other manufacturers but kept coming back to Garmin. Reviewed their products, relative features, and written opinions, did my feature and cost comparisons and settled on the 2460LMT. Why?
1. I wanted the larger 5" screen. When you are driving your attention should be on the road. Larger features are easier to read and understand. Even the difference between a 4.3" and 5" unit is important and helps when you are driving in an unfamiliar city.
2. The voice command feature allows you to operate the unit hands free. The voice recognition performance of the unit is excellent and the menu structure is thoughtfully formulated. This is a great feature.
3. The routing/navigation feature-sets are the most current available since this is a new unit release. The auto zoom on the map is a nice addition. The lane assist feature that Garmin implemented is also very helpful when you are in heavy traffic in an unfamiliar city.
4. The construction of the unit seems solid. Having dropped my 760 onto the pavement on occassion I was very concerned with the vulnerability of the glass screens on the 3760 and 3790 units - an issue reported by some users. If you are going to own a GPS (or cell phone) you are going to drop it, so having a durable unit is important.
5. The Garmin touch screen has good sensitivity, good brightness and contrast, and limited glare (a bigger problem for capacitance type glass screens like the 3760 and 3790)
6. This unit has bluetooth for hands free calling - as did my 760. This is a nice feature that allows you to keep your hands on the wheel and attention on road - where they belong.
7. I chose the LMT variety because I travel often for work, and all over the country. The lifetime maps and traffic are a great deal compared to buying a unit and then paying for map updates and a travel subscription. Map updates do matter. If you are buying a GPS, buy one with the lifetime maps and save yourself some money.
8. My old unit had MSN direct for online traffic, weather and gas pricing and I had purchased the lifetime access. MSN Direct is ceasing operations on Jan 2012 and only two current production Garmin units have a comparable feature using a different service provider - called NuLink. If you buy the NuLink unit, after the first year you have to pay an annual subscription fee to continue your online access. I didnt want that hassle and so picked the LMT for the lifetime traffic. As noted elsewhere, this comes with pop-up adds that appear when the vehicle is stopped. These are small banner ads that appear at the top 20% or so of the screen. They are far less intrusive than I feared when I read the alarmist horror stories written in some reviews. I spent last weekend visiting/driving in Chicago and my travel was not impeeded by these adds. The traffic alerts are clearly presented and understandable - but note that they are limited to major Metro areas. So you should look at the coverage area map link from the Garmin web site to ensure your city is covered if this is important to you.

So to summarize, this is a well built and very functional unit that matched my needs and performs better than I'd hoped. Certainly 5 stars.

And my final thought. Be sure to register your GPS with your manufacturer and use the locking feature if available (e.g. Garmin-lock). This will prevent a thief from ever being able to use your unit if it is stolen.

I loved my old Garmin Streetpilot 2720. It is old though and I wanted to upgrade to traffic and a battery. After about 2 years, and several GPS units later, including Garmin, TomTom and Megellan brands, all the units I tried drove me crazy with all having some of the features I wanted but none having all.

The Nuvi 2460LMT has pretty much ALL the features of the old Streetpilot plus more really cool stuff, like voice activation. Now I don't even have to touch it to make it work! OK you will spend $300.00 but you will be happy I think. I spent $250 and was very disappointed with all the GPS units at that price point from 3 different manufacturers. I think the extra few bucks gives you such a big upgrade, you get so much more value at $300 than you get at $250.

Be aware, if you look online at the Garmin manual, it covers the 22xx, 23xx and 24xx series. I initially ordered the 2360LMT and was very disappointed, and returned it instantly. The features that I needed and wanted are NOT in the 22xx and 23xx series yet the manual does not tell you specifically which are in and which are not in each series. Nether does the Garmin website provide enough detail.

What I like:

Voice operation works wonderfully.
Loud clear voice, Garmin excels here.
Wonderful screen, auto zooms with speed, the faster you go the more ahead it shows.
Touch screen is excellent.
Very fast in everything it does.
Customizable main menu screen.
Advanced Avoidance feature - lets you avoid a specific road or location on a route.
Loads of useful features.
Lifetime maps and traffic.

Cons
Lots on menus that can see you searching for a feature you want to change but once you get it set up you will be ok.
Traffic is free but uses ads to pay for the service. The ads are a little bigger than I would like to have seen but are done in such a way that they are not overly intrusive. They are not there when you are moving or using the menus, and well I'm not paying for the traffic service so I'm happy!

My recommendation is this - if you're a GPS junky, sales rep, professional driver, or like to speak to your GPS, spend the extra on the 2460LMT, it's a great upgrade over the units a few bucks less.

I just ordered a second unit. My wife insisted on the upgrade after playing with my 2460LMT when we went out to dinner tonight.

I have owned many Garmin products from the old Street Pilots to this 2460LMT. I comes in a nice sturdy body and t won't fall apart if you drop it. The customizable Main Menu is great. Up to 15 icons if you wish. I put the Voice Command there as I think it is one of the greatest strengths of this unit. Only in certain circumstances do you have to type except for particular addresses.

One of the tings I really like is the lack of the word "re-calculating" if you decide to go a different route. That used to drive me nuts. Now the unit looks and quickly moves to change the route. If you dislike the route you are taking, just press the "Detour" icon and it will re-route the entire trip. However, it may take you a way, you would not want to go, just out-of-the-way roads.

Voice Command works perfectly and is very helpful very quickly.. Best feature.

I will keep this unit and highly recommend it.

EDIT: Please note that for a couple of weeks, the second unit showed no evidence of the Voice Command flaw, and I believed that all was well - that perhaps the system had learned my voice and was thus working around the flaw. Today, however, it is back with a vengeance, rebooting three times in as many hours. Garmin's support has consisted of: a) update the software (had already been done); b) restore the system (already been done, not that I can figure out how this would resolve the issue); c) send it back to them at my expense and have them replace the unit (as opposed to Amazon, who will let me return this defective product at their cost).

While the 2460LMT is an extremely capable device, it suffers from an Achilles heel in its Voice Command feature that Garmin support is tiptoeing around.

Overall, the unit is well built. Most of the features are well designed, if sometimes buried withing layers of menus. However, the easily customizable main menu means that the features that matter most can be easily accessed. The ecoroute system is a blessing, even without the HD accessory - with enough fillups, I have noticed that its estimates have been pretty close to accurate

I don't care for the design of the traffic receiver, which is just far enough down the car charger cord, that it is hard to keep unobtrusive - higher up and it could stay on the dash or lower and it could rest with the plug; instead we have it hanging in front of the console. Nevertheless, this isn't a major problem.

The major problem is the Voice Command feature. While it generally works well enough, it will sporadically reboot itself when the user states Recently Found or Favorites. This unacceptable failure in the software has yet to be addressed or acknowledged by Garmin in their software updates. Please note that the failure in this case has been personally observed across two units, and by two drivers - this reducing the possibility that this is limited to an individual unit or driver.

As an aside, Amazon customer service has been, as always, great.

I have read all the negative things about Garmin having ads on the screen when you stop at a light etc... Lets just says PEOPLE you can turn that off and WHAT no more ads on the GPS wow I guess the Tom Tom people could not figure that one out.

Navigation> Ok I use this device every day and for multiple stops > You just have to add the places you want to go at the beginning of the day and then Garmin will let you select which place comes first or second or third etc... Very nice feature here for sure.

The Dashboard> Holy moly man you can customize the dashboard and have everything you use the most in one place. 12 total if you have that many functions you use on a day to day basis.

5" display> Very nice to see all the roads as the are coming up on the display. One of the setting you can use will make the display into a 4.3 display with buttons on the right side like elevation, speed etc... but personally I don't like that and find the bigger screen with the normal layout much more friendly.

The gas mileage feature is nice and easy to see what your car is getting for miles per gallon.

Traffic notifications have saved me so many time already it has paid for its self in gas savings alone.

Map updates 4 times a year for free.. nuff said.

The on off button could be better as I have turned the unit off a couple of times when entering in an address. ooops.

all in all the best GPS I have ever owned.
I would recommend it for anyone but really needed for a courier driver who does not want to be stressed out in traffic.

I bought this unit as an upgrade for my nuvi 250W. All I can say is WOW. Let me start with the Lane Assist.

In the upper left corner you will be treated to a small display alerting you to what lanes are available, the direction they turn, and which ones you should be in. No more guessing which lane is considered "keep right" when multiple right lanes are available. I'm not sure how I lived without this feature. There is also an additional Junction View I've yet to see pop-up, but so far I love being able to see the lanes for the current road I am on.

In the lower right corner, the 2460 will display your current speed (which even my 250W did), and it also displays the speed limit for the road you are currently on! How many times have you turned onto a road, but strategic placement of the speed limit signs prevented you from knowing the speed limit until it was too late? Speaking of which, if you go over the speed limit, your current speed will turn red indicating flashing lights in your rear-view mirror may be imminent. I haven't had much experience with this feature, but I assume the speed limit for every road is not available. However, it seems to work with all the major roads thus far.

The voice command is the biggest reason I decided to upgrade from my 250W. So far I'm quite impressed with it. I am able to completely control the GPS unit with my voice. This includes inputting an address, finding the nearest Taco Bell, or stopping the directions mid-route and finding the nearest McDonalds instead. The voice command works very well, and I rarely need to repeat my commands. As the other reviewers have noted, the ambient noise level in the car will affect the 2460's abilities to understand your voice commands. So please turn down the latest Britney Spears album when issuing voice commands.

My only complaint is that the unit did not come with the dashboard mounting disc like my 250W. I prefer to have my GPS unit mounted to the dashboard rather than the window. However, Garmin placed a little note in the box directing you to a website if you want to order one. I'm not sure if this is true for every state (apparently certain states won't allow you to mount it in the windshield), but Garmin offered to ship the dashboard disc to me free of charge.

I have had a Garmin 265WT and a Garmin 1490T prior to buying this GPS unit. The 265WT has a 4.3 inch diagonal screen, while the 1490T has a 5 inch screen, like this unit. The screen surface area is 50% larger compared to the 4.3 inch device - but the experience is much, much better. It is much easier to see the screen and push buttons, if needed. However, the reason I purchased this unit is that I wanted a voice command unit so that I would not be distracted pushing buttons while driving. Overall, the voice command works well.

The unit activates voice command using a customizable phrase uttered by the user...the default command is "Voice Command." Users can also greatly diminish the "wait time" for the unit to respond to voice commands by deactivating the verbal instructions given by the unit during the voice commands. Instead, the user can just say the commands in Green type on the screen. These are the commands accepted by the unit using voice command. The radio needs to be off or very low in volume for the voice command to function. But that is an understandable (pun intended!) requirement for using voice command.

Two shortcomings and suggestions for Garmin:

1) Favorites cannot be searched using voice command. Instead, they are listed in order of proximity, from closest to farthest, from the current location of the unit. And there are only three Favorites listed on the screen at a time. To search Favorites using Voice Command, the user has to continually say "down" to scroll to the next three Favorites. This is both tedious and time consuming. The unit has a general voice command function called "Find by Name" to find a Subway, or McDonalds, etc. from the Main Voice Command Menu. But this command does not work to search Favorites. Garmin should make a software update to allow users to search Favorites by name, or create a new verbal command phrase "Search Favorites by Name".

2) The Traffic Map cannot be accessed using Voice Command functions either. This should also be fixed by Garmin. They should add the command "Traffic Map" to the updates for the unit.


A pleasant surprise: Map updates from Garmin were easily 2-3 times as fast for this unit than for the 1490T, perhaps because this unit has much greater memory. (7GB vs 2GB for the 1490T.) Map downloads took about 45 minutes compared to 1.5-2 hours for the 1490T and 265WT units. Overall I am very pleased with this unit, and hope that Garmin will seriously consider adding the suggestions above. That would make it ideal to use.

The Garmin works exactly as advertised. It acquires satellites very quickly when compared to my 2007 era Garmin. The display is excellent - very bright and crisp. Navigation functions work well. recalculations when changing routes are relatively rapid.

One minor annoyance relates to the zoom function. When zoomed out the unit no longer shows backroads, not even the road I am traveling on, requiring me to zoom in to see the roads. While it is useful when the unit automaticallynzooms in when approaching intersections, it is annoying when it zooms out again and I can no longer see the backroads and I have to manually zoom in again.

Voice command works surprisingly well, but performance degrades rapidly as interior noise increases. This is not unexpected, however. So plan om rolling up your windows when using voice command and turning down the radio.

Bluetooth connection to my phone, a Palm Pre, was totally painless and almost entirely automatic. It gives pretty good hands free control of the phone. Can make and receive calls hands free. Even gives access to my contacts list, although only by voice, it will not actually display the list. But speaking the name of the contact generally works.

Because we travel frequently all over the country I got the free map upgrade option. Getting new map was straightforward. Register the device, download a program from Garmin and do the update. Be prepared to wait, though. The map file is HUGE. It was several Gig in size.

After I get 5" 2460lmt Garmin gps. I was very happy until after I "customized" the main menu screen. You can create up to 15 small screens shortcut instead of the "default" which only give you 6 short cuts display on your main menu screen. You can minimize the "View Map" and "Where To?" icons which give you 6 additional small screens short cuts.

Here is how to go to and customized your main menu screen (create the short cuts you want...favorite, traffic, go home icons, etc)
Select TOOLS>SETTINGS>MAIN MENU>CUSTOMIZE

After that you will see the "+" green sign on each of the small square doted line, touch the "+" and you will browse to the short cut icon you want and then touch the CHECK sign mark...touch "save" at the end. You can also switch the icons around by dragging it and that icon will get switch to different location of the menu.

After you customize your screen, you have to go back into Tools>Settings>Main Menu>and select "Use Customized" then you will see all the short cuts you created appear on the main menu display.

This is when I get upset and suspicious after I select customize my main menu. 1/3 top of my whole screen background display have many small lines (light grey and pink lines - POSTED PICTURES HERE) running across...it's NOT the same as the bottom screen which is white background for day. Background for NIGHT is Black and still have some lines of top of screen.

I call Garmin (good service and don't need to wait long) and give them the serial# and they run a test and told me to return to Amazon. It's DEFECTIVE item. IF YOU USE "DEFAULT" main menu display you do NOT see it.

Update:

After I talk with many tech supports at GARMIN about the main menu display when "Use Customized" main menu (the pictures that I posted on amazon). Most of them say that's the way it set up that's way (they called "gradient color" to separate from "Defaut and our customization main menu) unless many people don't like it "complaint" ...like me to Garmin, they might change it through NEXT software up date or so. They also saying "text speech" not available.
MAGELLAN GPS has "text speech" feature which help a lot so we know we type wrong letter right a way when we have big fingers. I have sent back to Amazon twice already and still thinking should I purchase again for good and think really hard about the PROs and CONs.


PROs:

Clear voice, good speaker, most accurate gps position, "Trip Planners" (you could SWITCH your routes orders on your "TRIP PLANNERS" by touching and DRAGGING the name/route YOU WANT (UP or DOWN)IN THE ORDER YOU WANT), unit converter (except currency converter - DUMB BECAUSE IS NOT REAL TIME UPDATE. It suppose to act like traffic update), bluetooth address book will link up with your phone address book ONLY when you pair with them or connected, voice command (good but LIMITED - you can ONLY say what is PRE-SET on the gps device - you can NOT use your OWN WORDS), picture viewer (if you get bore or miss some one on the road), high way JUNCTION assistance (VERY HELPFUL), auto re-route (if miss an exit or decide go different route), fuel cost "ecoRoute" (you have profile your vehicle first - price of gas/gallon, mileage/high way and local...this way you can estimate the cost to get to this location one way - then you transfer the spreadsheet to your computer if you a driver delivery using your own car), your DRIVING speed if you pass speed limit then it turn RED, international languages (estimated over 20 different languages BOTH IN VOICE AND TEXT)

MOST HELPFUL OF ALL beside navigation - THIS GPS HAS BUILD IN PHOTO TRAFFIC CAMERA DETECTION. IF YOU GET CLOSE TO THE TRAFFIC LIGHT THAT HAS "PHOTO ENFORCED" CAMERA, IT WILL BEEP 2 BEEPS AND SHOW UP A LITTLE CAMERA ICON DISPLAY AT THE INTERSECTION. At first, I was wondering why certain traffic lights as I approach it, it beeps while order don't. Then I pay attention and realized it beeps only when traffic lights has a sign posted "photo enforced" and the tiny camera picture show up on screen at the intersection.


CONs:

Beside the defective display screen when use "customize" main menu, DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) can NOT be found anywhere in POI (point of interest) or by SEARCH, government places are very limited (POPULAR SEARCH (WELL KNOWN)OF POI IS LACKING DEPENDING WHAT YOU WANT TO SEARCH, ie, colleges (SCHOOLS), restaurants, movies theaters, groceries, government agency, etc.), main post office location only (small one won't listed), out dated business name and phone numbers, lack of "text speech", some outdated "speed limit" because it's NOT match while I am driving and compare them when I see speed limit posting sign, "SEARCH" is slow, CURRENCY converter is GREAT IF IT "REAL TIME" OTHERWISE IS A WASTE "DUMB FEATURE" (YOU GET THE 2010 DATE AND EVEN THROUGH AFTER UPDATES MAP AND SOFTWARE, STILL THE SAME)

UPDATES:

Gamrin say that DMV or governments agency can be found UNDER "Community" in POI, then go to "Governments" and it will show. I don't have Garmin no more so I would NOT know for sure. In my OPINION, if it under POI or COMMUNITY, we should ABLE to "SEARCH" when we use the "SEARCH" feature for POI. When I did the search, DMV COULD NOT BE FOUND. Currency converter they could NOT do NOTHING about it because it will NEVER BE "REAL TIME" UPDATEs LIKE WE GET IN "IPHONE" or "ANDROID" PHONE. They said it need the internet to get real time update and GPS is well...JUST A GPS AND NOTHING MORE. So the GPS currency converter is just give you some ideas of all the countries from the PAST/YEAR OLD or more if you don't updates your software REGULARLY.


TIPS AND TRICKS:

Hold the "Back" for 2 seconds and you will get back to main menu right a way instead of keep touch it to go back to previous all the ways back to main menu.

If you want to delete all of your data at once (like master reset and NOT master default restore), hold your THUMB of the BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER OF THE SCREEN AND TURN ON THE POWER AND KEEP YOUR THUMB ON THE SCREEN, after it boot up, it will ask you if you want to "Erase All Data"...EXCEPT your lock pin password. After you erase it turn it on again, it will still ask you for your password if you enable your "LOCK" feature.

If you decide to use the "Garmin LOCK" feature, make sure you SET for "Security Location" also in case you forgot your pin. If you forgot the pin, go back to the location you decide to set your "Security Location" in the beginning, ie. your home, mall, or airport, etc. Once you at this location, the gps will auto unlock for you A FEW SECONDS AFTER IT COMPLETELY BOOT UP and you can go back in to enter new pin, disable your lock feature, or RE-SET YOUR "SECURITY LOCATION" feature. If NOT, got to send it back to GARMIN to reset pin and that will take time and money$$$.

Do NOT LOST your Garmin car charger unit because that's is ALSO YOUR TRAFFIC UPDATE (Receiver) ANTENNA BUILD INTO YOUR CAR CHARGER. Home or regular car charger with the right plug WILL NOT give you LIVE TRAFFIC UPDATE.

When buying any brand name or model GPS, always spend extra money and get the "LMT" after the model number because LM="FREE" Life time map updates, LT="FREE" LIFEIME TRAFFIC, LMTx="FREE" Life time Map and Traffic updates. 4 Map updates per calendar year and traffic updates is in your car charger it uses FM frequency. Each map update or upgrade will cost you $49.99 if you do NOT buy the model with the "LM" at the end of model numbers...xxxLM or xxxxLM.

All of these "TIPS AND TRICKS" YOU WILL NOT FIND IN THE "USER MANUEL" (EVEN DOWNLOADED A PDF FILE MANUEL FOR THIS MODEL). It take a person with TECH SAVVY, PLAY WITH THE DEVICE and TESTED, and making calls to find out.


UPDATE: 5/3/11

A user ask me how he/she delete single address/route on his/her "Recently Found" routes. Here is the answer.

I remembered (since I do NOT own this model any more) that you can delete any SINGLE address/route at a time manually, "Favorite", "Go Home", "Recently Found" or "Trip Planners" is touch the route/name and after Garmin show that route, touch of the UPPER LEFT CORNER (3 dash lines) and it will give you options to DELETED. I hope it help and I am right.

UPDATE: 5/9/11
In my OPINION: If I had money to spend, I would purchase "GARMIN" and keep for about 3-5 years FOR THIS MODEL or so. But IF I decided to wait for a year or so for Garmin to fix the problems WITH ALL THE CONs and WITH 7" screen (IF GARMIN DO COME OUT WITH 7" SCREEN LIKE "MAGELLAN"). NOW, the only company that has 7" screen display is "MAGELLAN". It has PROs and CONs also, but if I have to pick to have GPS right now, I will pick GARMIN despise all the CONs of Garmin. If I want bigger screen AND "TEXT-SPEECH" feature, I will choose "MAGELLAN". All NEW GPS has "auto re-route and Joint assistant" included in GPS...AND THAT'S WHAT WE WANT IN GPS basic features for NAVIGATION. If you want more, got to do research and know what are the features you really want included BESIDE NAVIGATION.

I am revising my review (my original review is below):

After having this unit for a few months, there is a serious flaw with the voice recognition. When using the voice recognition, the unit randomly shuts down and reboots. This is happening more and more regularly. I haven't contacted Garmin yet (just havent the time yet to do so, but it appears that others have and have not had any success.

On a somewhat related note, I dont understand why so many companies still dont use amazon reviews to gauge their products and feedback from their customers and use this forum to respond to issues or unhappy customers. I am getting to the point where I am going to stop purchasing produts in which the manufacturers do not repsond to customer feedback on these feedback sections. There are certain manufacturers that do read every feedback post and will respond to both good and bad feedback and when faced with negative feedback specifically ask that consumer to contact them to resolve the issue. My point being that the the garmin 2460lmt obviously has some issues and yet not one repsonse on these feedback postings from garmin. I think amazon feebdack can make or break a product and yet so many companys completely ignore these bad ratings...I dont get that business model???






Original review:

I have only had the Nuvi 2460lmt for a couple days, but so far so good. The larger screen is a nice upgrade from the smaller screen on the Nuvi 350.

I haven't had a chance to try out the traffic feature so I don't know how useful this will be, based on general knowledge of traffic features, I don't have super high expectations.

The 2460lmt does obtain a signal much faster than my old 350.

The main reason I am writing the review is to comment on the voice recognition feature....WOW!. I love it. Without my hands leaving the steering wheel, I can operate and navigate many features of the 2460. For instance, let say one is driving and getting hungry, thru voice commands, one can prompt the Nuvi to find restaurants that are near and once that list comes up, simply say up or down to scroll through the list and once you find what you want, simply tell the Nuvi to navigate to that location.

Is the voice recognition perfect, no. With the radio on and very modest levels and the Nuvi mounted close to the front of the dash near the heater/air vent next to the radio, it will still pick up most of my voice commands. However, if the radio is at a normal listening level, the Nuvi doesn't really respond all that well to voice commands.

The Nuvi does have a little trouble with certain words and syllables, but I would say it recognized about 90-95 percent of what I was saying and really only stumbled on tougher words with soft sounds, ect (one of the words it stumbled on was "Geauga" for example); this happened a couple time on a couple different words, but the words Nuvi thought I was saying were actually amusing, so I laughed and simply typed those missed words in by hand. When I first opened the Nuvi, I tried speaking in a slow extremely pronounced voice, but found out quickly that it was much better to just speak in a very normal tone.

In conclusion, I am very happy with the voice recognition, which is one of the main reasons I upgraded.

Oh, one other thing, I haven't found the traffic adds terribly obtrusive as some others have mentioned in reviews of other Nuvi's with the free traffic service.

Update:

I had the same experience as another user posted:

Today I kept asking the GPS to navigate to Target, and every time it started to navigate to Target, the unit rebooted. It only did this when navigating to Target.