Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

by Garmin

Product Features

• High-sensitivity GPS receiver for fast satellite lock; sleek, ultra-slim design fits in a pocket
• Pre-loaded with City Navigator 48 States NT maps, including millions of name-searchable points of interest
• Pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps; ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel
• Public transit mode allows you to navigate using buses, tramway, metro, and suburban rail systems
• Turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names (text-to-speech)

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Product Description

Edition: 1200 - Lower 48 Maps

Amazon.com

nüvi 1200 easily fits in a pocket and won’t stretch your wallet either, thanks to regional mapping and its slim design. This thin GPS announces streets by name, offers pedestrian navigation options and calculates a more fuel-efficient route with ecoRoute™.

Just over a half-inch thick.

Garmin greets you with two simple questions: "Where to?" and "View Map." This screen is central to every navigation function and route-planning tool. Simply plug and play.

The device announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road.

An ultra-thin GPS navigator with great Garmin features like CityXplorer and ecoRoute. Click to enlarge.

Navigate City Transit
With its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 1200 is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. Download optional cityXplorer content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation and how long it will take to get there. It easily fits in your pocket or purse. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you'll have money left over to spend in the big city.

Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
nüvi 1200's intuitive interface greets you with two simple questions: "Where To?" and "View Map." Touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with City Navigator® NT street maps for the continental U.S., Hawaii and Puerto Rico or one European region or country (click versions tab to view all), millions of points of interest (POIs) and 2-D or 3-D maps. Its digital elevation maps show you shaded contours at higher zoom levels, giving you a big picture of the surrounding terrain. With the 1200's enhanced user interface, you can slide your finger to conveniently scroll between screens. You also can upload custom points of interest (POIs). And with HotFix® satellite prediction, nüvi calculates your position faster to get you there quicker.

Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 1200 saves you gas and money with ecoRoute — a green feature that calculates the most fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more. The 1200 includes many travel tools, including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. With photo navigation, you can download pictures from Garmin Connect™ Photos and navigate to them. It's also compatible with lifetime traffic alerts (receiver purchase required). With its "Where Am I?" emergency locator, you always know your location. Simply tap the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. The 1200 features Garmin Lock™, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with our free Garmin Garage™ where you can download custom voices and vehicles. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in microSD™ cards.

What's in the Box
nüvi 1200, Preloaded City Navigator® NT data for the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico (no Alaska or Canada detail), Vehicle suction cup mount, Vehicle power cable, Dashboard disc, and Quick start manual

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Visit Garmin.com at https://www8.garmin.com/support/download.jsp to get the latest firmware updates for your nüvi to keep it current and performing at its best.

Product Description

With its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 1200 is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. Download optional cityXplorer content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation and how long it will take to get there. It easily fits in your pocket or purse. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you'll have money left over to spend in the big city.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 120 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Upgrade from Old TomTom One 3rd Edition June 27, 2009

By B. Franklin

Edition:1200 - Lower 48 Maps

Pros: Small size, good text-to-speech, SD mapcard, ease-of-use, bright display, great suction cup mount, great satellite performance, decent maps (so far), clear and loud speaker

Cons: No prepare route, limited alternative route options, no USB-to-miniUSB cable for computer hookup

I bought this GPS for a planned trip to France, the smaller size (fits better in my pocket) and text-to-speech feature, along with SD mapcard capability were my reasons. I have had the Nuvi 1200 for 3 days and the adjustment from Tomtom think to Nuvi think has been relatively painless.
The suction cup mount (with its lever application) is a definite upgrade from the Tomtom. Also the auto detection for day/night mode is nice. Satellite performance seems even better than the Tomtom, and Tomtom has great reception. The map screen is bright and uncluttered, my wife says it is noticeably sharper. So far the maps seem to be comprehensive, won't really know until I use the Nuvi more.
The only things I miss (and/or could not find) was the ability to plan a trip when you were not at that location (Tomtom has a "Prepare Route" option that allows you to specify the departure point)and the ability to easily avoid a road when you start out (Tomtom has a "Find Alternative" option which allow 6 options such as "Avoid Roadblock", "Travel Via", "Calculate Alternative", etc.). Nuvi does have a "Detour" option that shows its alternatives to a selected route but they can only be selected, not tweeked by the user.
While it is not a big deal is seems like for the current price ($200) that the Nuvi could include a USB-to-miniUSB cable. After all this is not a $69 no-name GPS.... And it is clear that Garmin/Nuvi expects you to hook up to a computer, there is software on the Nuvi so you can register your Nuvi at their website, also this is how you get your one free map update.
My wife and I were also both puzzled by one small Nuvi human factor mistake. We were trying to enter a numerical address (i.e 20th St) and after entering "20th" the Nuvi presented a two item list:

20th (Ave NE, Ave NW, Ave SE, Ave SW
20th Ave Ln NW

We were stumped for a while, where is 20th Street!! It turns out that you need to select "20th (Ave NE, Ave NW, Ave SE, Ave SW". After you do, you will be presented with all the "20th" options, including 20th Street.
Note that specifying "20th St" resulted on a "No matches found": error message! Read more ›

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An Upgrade From Nuvi 350 July 4, 2009

By R. M. Mayhew

Edition:1260 - N American Maps, Lifetime Traffic|Amazon Verified Purchase

My wife is the world's biggest Garmin fan. Her Nuvi 350 was stolen recently and we replaced it with the 1260T. This looked like it was the top of the line for the smaller 3.5 inch units, which is the same size as the stolen unit.

As noted by another reviewer, the keyboard is not QWERTY. We purchased an iPod Touch recently and using that keyboard is easy and familiar. The Garmin though, with a straight across A, B, C, D, E, etc. layout takes more time and makes us look like it is our first day of typing class. There must be a reason Garmin did this but we're not happy about it.

Our Nuvi 350 came with a nice case. The 1260T does not. We are in the market for a case and plan to spend $10 to $20 for one, which then increases the price of this replacement purchase.

Overall the unit is the same as the Nuvi 350 but after three years we expected more of a "WOW" factor from the upgrade.

PUBLIC SERVICE NOTICE: We don't use the suction cup windshield mount and the old Nuvi 350 was hidden in the glovebox so the thieves got randomly lucky. We'll be taking it out of the car more often now (the 1260T is a little thinner so this is easier to do). A police friend told us thieves check the windshield for the "suction cup circle" and that's an indication the car uses a GPS. Just a word to the wise.

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another solid nuvi GPS but in many ways nothing new July 2, 2009

By JerryWithaJ

Edition:1260 - N American Maps, Lifetime Traffic

I got my 1260T from an authorized dealer on June 19 and used it along side of my 255 with MSN traffic. Because my MSN subscription would have to be renewed and maps upgraded soon, I thought buying a new GPS wouldn't cost much more and would give me a chance to get the latest bells and whistles. However, there aren't that many new bells and whistles to be had. I recommend reading the product description carefully. Unless the 1260T has what you consider a "can't-do-without"
feature not available on the 265T, I'd recommend taking advantage of the low prices for the 265T that can now had with the arrival the 1260T. In fact, that's what I did. I returned the 1260T and purchased the 265T saving more than 1/3 of the cost of the 1260T.

** On trips of 30 minutes or more, the 1260T initially reported arrival times that were 4 to 5 minutes earlier than the 255 over the same route. The 255's estimates were more appropriate. Someone on another forum told me that this would change as the 1260T learned my driving habits. It didn't happen in the 10 days I used the unit continuously.

** The 1260T's voices sound very thin compared to 2xx units, but it makes them easier to hear over road noise.

** Even though the GPS is now a mature product, the 1260T continues Garmin's practice of not having a QWERTY keyboard in 3.5" units.

** Even though the GPS is now a mature product, the 1260T does not allow for zip code entry.

** The speed indicator turns to magenta in the afternoon and red at night when speed exceeds the posted limit. Magenta is a terrible color for text.

** To erase favorites, one now goes to Settings / My Data

** The unit IS thinner than the 2xx series, but not "Oh, wow!" thin....

** The instructions from the 1260T and 255 are nearly identical. The estimates of distances to next turn are the same. The 1260T sometimes gives voice alerts 0.1 mile before the 255, say at 0.3 mile rather than 0.2 mile, but for the most part using both units is like listening in stereo.

** Emily now refers to "slip roads" rather than "ramps".

I did not experiment with the new pedestrian features. In terms of how it works in auto mode, I find nothing compelling over the 265T. Read more ›

65 of 71 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Losing satellite, wrong destination and read the "capabilities" carefully January 17, 2010

By The Chick & The Cook

Edition:1200 - Lower 48 Maps

Got my Garmin 1200 from my husband for Xmas. We figured it was long past time for us to get with the technology and perhaps clear the glove box of it's assorted paper maps. After 2 weeks of using this thing around Central NJ and Philadelphia, I've rekindled my love of (reliable) paper maps and online maps.

Days after Xmas we drove down to Philly. Seemed to work fine and we were amused by being "told" where to turn. Once we got into Philly proper, we were told to turn onto streets going the wrong way and regularly lost satellite signal. Being in an unfamiliar area, we were not happy and out came the paper maps...

Next trip to Maple Shade, NJ left me at 124 Old Kings Hwy (warehouse area), not the 124 EAST Kings Hwy that I'd chosen. Having scoped out the trip the night before on mapquest, I had a little idea where I needed to go and drove off fuming and thankful it was daylight. Just as I see my target destination down the road...yep, lost the ole satellite signal again. Once at my destination, I ended up meeting another guy with the same Garmin. His cannot even find his home address!

Finally, my husband chose this particular model for the Pedestrian applications, thinking we'd get great use of it on vacations. Not so fast. If you read the manufacturers babble carefully you'll notice the word OPTIONAL late in the sentence bragging about pedestrian maps and such. They don't mention it's FOR ADDED COST at 10 bucks per city with a limited list of cities. Oh, and even if I decided to spend it and download the map - you need a cable they didn't actually provide. Another $12 or so. You'd also need this cable to REGISTER your product and get map upgrades. Discovered all this tonight when trying to register and look for upgrades....

If I can find the receipt, this is going back. Read more ›