66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
Good Upgrade from Old TomTom One 3rd Edition
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...
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Losing satellite, wrong destination and read the "capabilities" carefully
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...
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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:
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!
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
This Garmin nuvi 1200 model is very easy to use. Just enter the destination address and push the go button and you are on your way. The verbal directions are clear and the map gives the names of the streets and/or intersecting highways your vehicle is passing along the way. The direction that you need to travel is clearly marked on the map by a distinct color. If you veer off course, it will get you back on track. It knows where you are at all times.
It is light weight, small and easy to carry in a purse or pocket. This model has maps of all of the states and Hawaii. They can be updated when needed.
It is the best traveling device we have ever used!
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Pros
# text to speech nice and loud and clear
# Bright screen
# Supports use of optional traffic receivers
# Good routing engine
# Upcoming turn indicator displays direction of next turn along with count down distance # to next turn that reaches zero when you are at your turn.
# Well designed map screen is easy to understand but can't change color interface. Street names are in easy to read big enough font sized letters and #s
# here Am I" feature provides one-touch access to your current location,
Cons
# No way to exclude a specific road from a planned route
# Limited Detour function
# You have to choose the State first whenever entering an address in a different State instead of entering zip
# Traffic receiver not included
# USB cable not included
# some POIs take for ever to load up and then it doesn't list the ones in my city just the next city over. These POIs were here a long time ago and are still here.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I really liike the product. The volume and color are great. it is very easy to use. However. the portable stand is a bit of a pain. I just wish it had a "built in stand that would make it easier to see in most cars.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Nuvi is a great GPS. However, I think the Magellan is better. I bought the Nuvi because it is the only GPS that I could find that also had the capability to map in Europe. If I didn't need that feature, I would have went with a Magellan. Also, a side note .. you have to buy a USB cord to connect your GPS and register it from your computer. It's silly that Garmin does not include that as an automatic accessory. One more ouch to your purchase. Also, wish the device had a compass. Warning -- be prepared for constant software updates as they are still getting the bugs out of this latest version of Nuvi. You'll find their Customer Service to be excellent.
The screen is clear and the maps are easy to follow. However, Nuvi doesn't do well in big cities. For some reason, Nuvi announces turns at streets that don't exist. Or when you make the suggested turn, it recalculates because somehow or another you went the wrong way. This is a problem I had navigating Detroit. But, I know the city well enough to get around the false directions given by the GPS.
The points of interest work well in America, but in Europe that's another story. See info below. Oh, and this is one of the models that does not include "North America," meaning you don't get maps for Canada like you do with other models.
Onto Europe -- I bought the Citi X-ploer maps for my GPS. Don't buy the entire European map, just get Citi-X-plorer if you are a casual traveler. The one for Paris was $14.99. You can download specific maps to explore the city as a pedestrian or in an auto. Also, works the subway and bus system. These maps helped immensely in Paris and made navigating easy as a pedestrian. However, the VOICE does not work in pedestrian mode. Also, a note on configuring your device. Be sure to bring those instructions on resetting for a new country or it won't automatically sense where you are. It will continue to access U.S. maps until you reset something -- so much for "global positioning system."
A note on English pronunciation of French street names. When driving, the GPS says the street name and it is pronounced so weird (in English) that you can't recognize the name of the street. You just have to follow the map. The GPS was useless in Monaco even though I bought the "French Riveria" add on.
Names of landmarks in Europe are not necessarily searchable by American terms or by the names on the map you get from the tourist office. As a silly aside, we ended up at the "Grand Arch" instead of the Arch De Triump. Who knew? We felt so silly in the middle of a corporate center with its grand arch. And, you have to lock in your position when you get in the subway as it loses its signal. But, fortunately, the steps are still on the screen so you can refer back to the directions you need to navigate.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I can understand that some people want a lot out of a GPS that costs over a hundred dollars. Fine, but for those who want to open the box, plug the unit into the car and go, this is more than just fine. My older Garmin was Black and White, small and tech-heavy, in that you had to install software on your computer and then load maps onto your unit with a USB cable that at the time was still supplied by Garmin. If you had that cable, or you bought one, you could use it to register your nuvi 1200 and maybe get some new firmware from Garmin. But if you're looking for map updates, be aware that a new CD with updated map info, or an internet download (I'd choose the CD just in case of a computer crash) costs a lot more than I expected. So much so, that I think I'll just let this unit become obsolete and then buy a new one with updated maps.
Back to this unit. The thing is dead simple to operate. All you do, is use the touch screen to choose between favorites, points of interest and so on to get started to where you're going. The process is about as intuitive as it gets. Moreover, the degree of sophistication is several levels above my older one. This will find out of the way golf courses and other such destinations that you absolutely had to have an address for with my old one. As for addresses, just about all GPS units need an address that employs the actual town or city your destination is actually in. That means, for instance that if your looking for an address in Chicago for a location that's actually in a Chicago suburb, you're probably going to have trouble keying that destination into your unit.
Once you get the address in, you just go. If you come to a traffic jam, you can back your unit up one screen and choose the detour icon. For those more into the tech aspect, you can go in a couple of menu levels and choose to not travel on toll roads or even interstates in case you want to take the most scenic route. You can even choose to use the route the Garmin unit thinks will be the most "green." Good for those trying to save the environment or money or maybe both.
I'd buy it again. And I wouldn't worry much about map updates.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
It is small enough to slip into pocket. But it did not have the "announce lane changes" feature that my Nuvi 750 had. It also does not have "voice activated" menu that other more expensive Nuvi have. It gave a wrong name to the street in front of me. However, it does find my location much faster (in a few seconds) than my Nuvi 750 (which can take up to 3 mins). The menu in home page is better than the 750 as well. Does not have mp3 player like my 750 had. The free update of map became available a couple of months after I registered, but I was not notified (I found that out by accident ) and this update would have expired if I had not found it out by accident.
Tech support by email was good.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Con: I really wanted to like this device, after all garmin has a good reputation. And there are a lot of positive reviews. I was extremely hestitant about getting this device as there was nothing but bad reviews for many months (on 1200/1250.) Now I know why. The 1200 was something of a bear to setup and update, mostly it was just tedious. I'd be fine with that if the unit was a useful product after all that. It isn't.
The touchscreen on my 1200 seems to be calibrated incorrectly. If you go to enter a "n" for example sometimes it will give you a "u." Then during data entry it will freeze, I am trying to enter Paramus,NJ right now. (I set NJ manually, the unit is *fully* updated with the latest map software and firmware.) Entering the "P" and the "a" is an ordeal. I pressed the "done" button 10-15 times, waiting for it to unfreeze. "Newark" is fine... sometimes. The freezing seems random as if the processor is trying to do something else. However there is nothing for it to be doing except responding to the touchscreen and pulling a simple database lookup. Once it told me there was no match for Paramus, then it did find it on the next try.
I wonder if this thing is is junk in every aspect from design, to execution, to mapping or maybe the processor was taken from a pocket calculator. I am not being impatient, besides if I am, I would not feel comfortable being massively lost on the highway fighting with the strange quirks of this unit if that's all it is. I think not. I could go on about how bad this thing is for another 3 pages. I'm going to return it or run it over with a truck.
Pro: It would be simple and easy to use if it did work.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
I had my Garmin nuvi 1200 3.5 inch screen portable from February 10, 2010 to April 23, 2010. On that date, I was putting in a garage sale address, pushed DONE and the screen cracked! I'm so glad I was local instead of on a trip somewhere. I didn't know if I should return it to Amazon or to Garmin--Amazon never answered my email. I'm more upset about that than I am the Garmin product. I am a VERY good customer & I feel like the first problem I ever had was ignored. I went ahead and contacted Garmin and they are mailing me a refurbished one...it all still leaves me perplexed and disappointed in both the Garmin name and Amazon for not answering me.
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