319 of 325 people found the following review helpful:
Garmin's best nuvi model yet!
EDIT - 12/15/09: Upon further use of the unit and it's nuLink traffic feature, I've run into numerous occasions where the traffic data simply wasn't too accurate. There were times that I'd be driving and the 1690 would indicate that I was in yellow level traffic, however, there really wasn't any traffic on the road at the time. There were other instances of where there'd...
84 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
Slightly disappointing.
I wrote a very heated review a few weeks ago... after playing around with the GPS for a full 24 hours. After a lot of hemming and hawing, I decided to keep the GPS because it served its purpose: provide directions for me while I drove around in LA/OC. I'm sure there's probably a better one out there but I paid $360 for this unit from CarToys.
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
EDIT - 12/15/09: Upon further use of the unit and it's nuLink traffic feature, I've run into numerous occasions where the traffic data simply wasn't too accurate. There were times that I'd be driving and the 1690 would indicate that I was in yellow level traffic, however, there really wasn't any traffic on the road at the time. There were other instances of where there'd be highway road construction going on with bumper to bumper traffic, but the nuvi didn't acknowlegde any traffic existed. With that said, overall there have been more times than not that the 1690 has nailed the traffic data and has been accurate, but it's been more like a 70-30 ratio which is just ok in my opinion. While I still believe the 1690 has the most accurate traffic compared to other nuvi models (explained in my review), it still leaves alot to be desired at times. I've come to the conclusion that the radio is simply the best source for the most up to the minute traffic info.
I purchase alot of navigation devices, so I was excited about the 1690 as there was much hype with this unit. The nuvi 1690 is Garmin's current top of the line model. It features the new Garmin nuLink service which includes things like traffic, weather, gas prices, movie times, etc. It's really good if you like that kind of stuff. It's basically a much better version of MSN Direct if you've ever used that service.
I have a nuvi 1490t and 765t as well, so I'm going to make comparisons of the units. First thing I must say is that this unit acquires a satelite signal FAST (provided you used the unit within the past couple of days prior). I'm talking less than 10 seconds fast. I remember with my old nuvi 350 I used to have to sit in my car and wait a few minutes for the unit to get a signal, not with this 1690. The same can be said with the 1490t as far as fast satelite acquisition. With the 1690 however, I can actually get a signal inside of my house without standing directly by the window, which is the first device that can do that in my experiences. I would imagine it's good in a city with tall buildings like NYC with this kind of signal strength though I haven't tested there. As far as navigation, it navigates as well as any other Garmin device so no changes there. Directions are very accurate and re-route calculations if you miss a turn are quick. Text-to-speech is excellent as well and is very accurate and clear with pronunciation of street names. Something Garmin has done with the newer software in all of their new units is increased the size of the text in the green bar when you're navigating. This is great because the text in that green bar used to be too small to make out sometimes while you were driving. The size and thickness of the font of the arrival time (which can be changed to another category) and speed indicator (which can't be changed to another category) have also been increased. The speed indicator font now turns red whenever you go above the speed limit. I've noticed that the little speed limit signs are also now on practically all roads and not just highways. They are also pretty accurate and update as soon as I pass the real speed limit sign at times. Another thing to note with the 1690 is you now have an option to change the screen layout. You can have it where the map screen itself is smaller and a list of four categories (three choosable, can't change speed indicator) are to the right of the approximately 3.5" sized map screen (ie. Arrival Time, Direction, Distance to Destination, etc.) You can now also flick your finger on the screen like an iphone to navigate the menus instead of pressing the up/down arrow which is neat. Some have complained about the responsiveness of the keyboard, however, I feel it's the same as all the previous nuvi models I've owned. When I press a key it gets immediately entered though there have been a couple rare times it has taken a second to register. Nothing serious though, it's very useable. Also, the map screen redraw rate during a route is fast, so the car on the screen moves along nice and smooth like both the 765t and 1490t (and unlike the nuvi 350, 660, etc. which hops along instead of glides).
The screen on the 1690 in terms of quality is exactly like the screen on the 765t. This is a bit of a disappointment for me because the screen on the 1490t is far superior to every other nuvi model. The 1490t's screen is of course larger (5" instead of 4.3" like on the 1690). The 1490t's screen is a much better screen because not only are colors more vivid, but viewing angles are MUCH better. I was hoping the 1690 would have the same screen, but in a 4.3" version. Not the case. I uploaded a couple of screen shots of a 1490t and 1690 side-by-side so you can see the comparison in screen size.
The speaker in the 1690 is the same as the one in the 1490t which is a big plus because that speaker is LOUD. The 1690 and 1490t models have better speakers than any other previous nuvi model. If you have the volume turned up to 100% it's actually TOO loud. Highway driving with windows down would be the only probable scenario for 100%. You can hear some static however during turn by turn instructions with it turned up to the max 100%, but not a deal breaker and the voice can still be understood. So much credit to Garmin for including a loud speaker.
The nuLink services are good if you're into that kind of stuff. Traffic is one of the big features included. Garmin includes a 2-year subscription to the service which is $5 a month thereafter I believe. Now WHY they still have the little popup ads present like in all their other "free lifetime traffic" models I have no idea. These ads for varoius companies that pay Garmin will pop up on your screen from time to time, like if your vehicle is stopped at a traffic light or you're searching for a POI (they won't actually pop up if your vehicle is moving on an active route, only when stopped). Problem is there's really no way to permanently get rid of the ads (which annoy me greatly, but some others don't seem to have an issue with them). Weather is nice as you can view the forecast in your current location or another location you can manually choose. The White Pages feature is great as well as you can look up a person by first and last name and drive directly to their address on file. It uses the data connection of the unit to get the info, so it'll be up to date since it's accessing the Internet. Google Local Search is an excellent nuLink feature. It basically makes your POI database 10 times larger and always up to date since it accesses the Internet for it's data. It's separate from the internal POI database, so you would have to choose one or the other to search for a POI. It would've been nice if both POI searches were integrated, but I can understand why they aren't. The Google Local Search relies on an Internet connection being present whereas the internal POI database is already stored into the unit's memory. You would constantly have duplicates of the same POI if they were integrated since they may be named slightly different since they come from completely different sources. The Gas Prices search is good as well as you can search whatever area you're in for the lowest gas prices. In my experiences it's been very accurate (gets the data from customers' credit card receipts) and will show you under the price it displays the last time it was updated... ie. Today, Yesterday, 3 Days ago, etc. It usually says Today or Yesterday the times I've used it.
Traffic on this unit is GREAT. I say great because all the other units with free traffic are horrible because they're constantly feeding inaccurate traffic data to the unit via the integrated FM receiver. With the 1690 it uses at&t's data network for nuLink, so traffic data is MUCH more accurate and can be delivered to the unit much faster making it more up to the minute. I did a real-time side by side comparison of the 1690's traffic data and the 1490t's free traffic. Think they'd be identical because they both use Navteq traffic? Think again. I searched for all traffic incidents nearby my current location. I'm not exhaggerating when I say the 1690 brought up double the amount of incidents that the 1490t brought up. Just to test it out I drove to the closest traffic incident nearby and sure enough it was there. The 1490t didn't even acknowledge it existed. Also, there were times where they'd both have the same traffic incident, but different data (ie. 3 min delay as opposed to 10 min delay). I drove to a common incident as well to see which one was more accurate. Again, the 1690 was more accurate. I assume it's because the 1490t still had older data that hadn't yet been updated. That gives you an idea of how much better traffic on the 1690 is compared to all other Garmin models. AT&T's EDGE data network seems to be everywhere as well, so chances are if your at&t cell phone has reception, so will the internal receiver of the 1690. I have MSN Direct on my 765t which I believe works good... when it wants to work. Problem is... it never works. It takes forever to download data and reception is horrible in alot of places with MSN Direct. Not at all the case with the 1690 and at&t's network. In addition to having great coverage, it downloads data fast which is great. Once the device is powered on (and has cellular network reception), you'll have all the updated traffic info in no more than a few minutes. I really like the whole "connected" idea when it comes to traffic.
The border around the unit is about the same width as the 1490t, despite being a smaller unit. It's also thicker than the 1490t. I suppose that's because they had to fit the cellular radio module with sim card inside the unit. The black border is a piano black finish and a fingerprint magnet. The rear of the unit has a rubberized finish. The cradle mount is good because it's powered... meaning you plug the power directly into the cradle and simply insert/remove the device. The 1490t doesn't have this kind of dock... it requires you to plug the cable directly into the unit for power.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the 1690. I just hope they make a 5" version soon because I love the screen size of my 1490t so much. If I had to choose, however, it'd be the 1690 because of the Garmin nuLink service which is without a doubt a great and useful feature. Perhaps everyone won't have the same great experience that I've had thus far with this unit, but it's worth the risk in my opinion.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
I wrote a very heated review a few weeks ago... after playing around with the GPS for a full 24 hours. After a lot of hemming and hawing, I decided to keep the GPS because it served its purpose: provide directions for me while I drove around in LA/OC. I'm sure there's probably a better one out there but I paid $360 for this unit from CarToys.
The following review is my original one including more opinions on this unit: I'm officially a GPS newbie. I never owned a unit before so fellow newbies - this is for you too. So far, I've had this unit for up to 3 weeks now and here are some pros & cons. Also, this is a matter of my opinion, if you have any tips - PLEASE let me know.
PROS:
1) The GPS made my drive very convenient... it gave accurate information even though their traffic data wasn't precise. In one instance they wanted us to hop off the 5 freeway, drive down a regular street, and do it again.
2) Garmin's NuLink service is very helpful as there were several occasions where I needed to find some information and I was able to look through Google Local for it.
3) There are a lot of handy features. I like their points of interest. I never knew there were so many events in the area. It's handy when you want to see an art exhibit (doesn't list all), comedy show, or something. Looking for food has never been so easy for me. I don't have to drive around in circles to look for it.
4) The bluetooth is very handy. I found it very easy to use. Too bad I can't have an "address book" on there. Favorites seem to be sufficient, however when I look under call history -- the number that I entered as a favorite registers as UNKNOWN CALLER. This might be problematic because... what if you don't want to pick up? :)
CONS:
1) Traffic data stopped working and it's slightly unreliable. The first week it worked for me. However, for some UNKNOWN reason, it stopped working when I tried to look up traffic data a week after I got the unit. I was getting incomplete data. Some freeways showed up as black (which the route used to show up green for good traffic) and it'll show yellow and red. However, these colors didn't align to the freeway (when it used to).
2) The Google search helped a lot BUT it's slightly slow and the response isn't perfect. I live in Orange County and drove to Los Angeles w/ the device so it should be able to retrieve data well enough. However, I kept running to the "server is busy" messages.
3) THIS DEVICE RESTARTS AT VERY RANDOM TIMES (even though it's fully charged or plugged into the car). I used this device all day and it restarted on me while I was driving, using it in pedestrian mode, and just entering data. I noticed that it happens quite a bit when it can't connect to the satellites EVEN THOUGH I'm in an open area. That led to manually restarting the device several times. If I clicked too fast, it restarts too! This is getting slightly irritating. Also, in a place like LA, you can't have this thing randomly restart!
4) There have been a few times when the device registered incorrect dates. Earlier, I was looking for comedy events that were playing TODAY. However, when I click on TODAY, it gave me the times/events for TOMORROW'S DATE versus TODAY. When I click on TOMORROW'S date, I get the next day's events. What happened to TODAY and not tomorrow? That is buggy.
5) Marking your car's parking spot is slightly unreliable. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Maybe this is due to user error but I got it to work the first time... however, afterwards, it didn't work.
6) ADVERTISEMENTS ARE ANNOYING - It obstructs your route. So far, the only way I can get around this is by clicking on it. Then it brings to a list of where all the stores are in the area, and I have to click back. This is a problem because it's a distraction that's frustrating and problematic when you're trying to pay attention to the road. In California, you can't mount your GPS on the center of the windshield. As a test of the law, I had it mounted on far right side of the passenger's side and realized how hard it is to get out of the screen. I had to pull over, pull it off, and place it on the passenger seat just to have it next to me so I can click on the ads to make them go away.
7) The battery life is very short. It states that it lasts for 4 hours but it seems to last only a couple hours for me while I'm using it in pedestrian mode.
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Depending on things go with this device, I might even consider returning it. Luckily Car Toys has a wonderful return policy on Garmin products. I may call Garmin's customer support to find how I can get around these problems. If not... I'm going to put it back in the box and do a return!
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
This is just a typical Garmin unit, I like Garmin better than most of the other companies primarily for how they handle points of interest. I was disappointed the Google option is a separate search not integrated into the primary search but the Google search was useful and I could have seen using this as the default POI search tool, if I was going to keep the unit. Tom Tom did this same which I don't get, it would have made more sense to combine the integrated items with the Google search, but I an not a programmer and don't know the challenges with accomplishing this.
The reason I really do not like this item and I am returning it, is because of the pop ups for advertisements. This item was over $400 which is a premium to pay for a GPS, I don't mind paying for a yearly service agreement and becuase this is only a two year subscription that comes with the unit I am paying for it. I just don't expect to get pop ups for local businesses , not only is it unaceptable but it is a distraction and it is unsafe. For example: I chose the option to show the closest hospitals, now you would assume if I am looking for a hospital it would be an urgent issue. I got a little blue pop up banner Target - Check out this week's deal on-the-go. This same pop up showed up on a few other occasions while I had the regular navigation map up as well. This is the reason I am giving it such a low rating and returning it.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
I have a good history with Garmin units. I've owned the Garmin 2720, 2820, 60CSx, 76CS, Oregon, Colorado, Nuvi 885T, Nuvi 1490T and bought this one, the Nuvi 1690.
But now, if there was something better from another company, I would buy it. Garmin is suffering from putting out too many products at once. Which keeps them from concentrating on getting one right before introducing the next one.
Now, the 1690.
The good:
Weather - You can view up to 4 different cities (one of them being your current one) and see a 6 day forecast for each.
Traffic - Acquisition is very fast. But see the bad.
Menus - I guess this is good. If you've used any other Nuvi, you can jump right in.
The bad:
Volume/Clarity - The volume is very low. At 80% volume, I think it is borderline acceptable. At 90%, the voices are distorted and unbearable.
Ads - Ads appear on several screens, including the Fuel screen. They seem to popup only when stopped, but it is very annoying to me. I'd rather pay for a subscription than get ads.
Interference - It interferes with electronic devices near it (like speakers, monitors, and phones). The screen itself will shutter and shake during this time. Supposedly they fixed this in later units.
Traffic - I am not sure of the source of their data, but it is really bad. It warns me that I am entering an area that is red (major traffic) but yet I am driving through it at 55 MPH. Other times I sit for an hour without moving, and the unit says there is no issue.
At one point, it said the slow traffic continued on for 24000 miles!
Favorites - It has the same bug the previous units had where you have to perform a complete reset of the user settings in order to see any new favorites that were added since the last complete reset.
Street Details - These are the same as the other newer Nuvi's, where they choose to show the minimal amount of details for the upcoming roads.
Reboots - This thing reboots at the drop of a hat. Changing menus, routing around traffic, searching for destinations and going off course.
I used it for a week, and then sent it back to Amazon. The bad is just too bad for me to enjoy using this.
And now that Garmin has released a new phone (with 4 year old technology), I suspect that they are stretched even thinner than before.
Good luck if you buy it. Maybe they will fix these issues at some point.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
The Garmin product line is old enough at this point that this GPS has most of the features you need and works. But:
First there is quality control. My first unit went back because it would continuously drop wireless data communications. The first and second unit have screen flicker. Turns out (per Garmin on 10/28) '[screen flicker] is part of an issue we've seen with some of the earlier devices that were manufactured. This has been fixed in the devices that have left us since then. The only way to fix that is to get that in for an RMA.' So the second unit is going back too; we'll see what the third unit brings... (Update: Unit #3 had a pixel stuck on green - we'll see what unit #4 will bring....) In addition, there are bugs that should have been caught with rudimentary testing (the wireless signal strength meter shows 5 bars whatever the signal strength; device reboots when routing around traffic) or proofreading (documentation confuses GPS and wireless signal). Oh and the 1690 hasn't even been entered as a line item in the support database.
Second there are customer support policies. If you've received two units that are defective; both because of manufacturing/QC issues, Garmin expects *YOU* to pay for the return, and then 'The turn around time should be between 10-14 days from the time we receive the device.' Come on! Ever heard of "sorry, we screwed up, the recall is on us"? Or failing that, how about advance replacement?
Third there is Garmin's product support. It used to be the best in the GPS world. It has turned into a diabolical shambles of people that barely understand the product walking you through level 1 scripts (reboot, reinstall, reset) ... and when they're done with that they start again at the beginning.
This is a particular issue with this device because, as a connected device, you will suffer from bugs and performance problems, some of them real-time, introduced by Garmin, Google, Navteq (traffic services), Navteqs (maps) and the AT&T wireless network. Let me give you an example. There is construction two miles from where I am. It shows up on the traffic site operated by Navteq. It doesn't show up on the unit. This could be a problem with the network, a problem with the Navteq traffic service, a problem with the firmware (what is it supposed to display?), perhaps a map problem, a contractual problem (is traffic data throttled to conserve bandwidth?), or interactions between all of the above. Having tried unsuccessfully to resolve a similar issue with Garmin on the 775 (when my GPS failed to indicate that the entire city of Pittsurgh was closed down due to the G20 gathering) I know there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of getting this resolved. It does seem that there is a little more traffic information on this device than on the FM services, but that isn't saying much.
In fact, while the quantity of traffic information may be better than with FM-based Garmins, the quality of the Navteq-provided data is very poor. The unit regularly indicates delays of two or three minutes when there is absolutely no traffic problem: this appears to be based solely on the fact that construction is reported for that area, not on any data relating to traffic flow. At the same time, particular incidents that are reported on the radio (with the data also being provided by Navteq) don't show upon the unit.
Fourth, the battery is not user replaceable. The claim of "4 hours battery life" on this page turns to "up to 3 hours" in the manual, and under normal use will quickly turn to "30 minutes maximum". This is a problem because it makes the unit's pedestrian mode useless.
Finally, if you opt out of receiving advertisements, traffic services won't work any more. As you will be paying for those in two year's time (assuming the battery hasn't died by then), that's unreasonable. And unless you give Garmin wholesale rights to your location data, none of the location based stuff will work. This is about as unreasonable as Facebook claiming ownership rights to anything posted on their site.
Having said all that, I do find the 1690 a pretty cool gadget. The implementation has some rough edges but that will likely improve over time. If you want something that just works, you're better off waiting for a few months; as a non-essential early adopter's toy it would be great - if Garmin got its act together.
Update, 4 months later: Despite a software update in December, this unit is still ridiculously buggy and reboots or hangs on numerous occasions (also a reasonable description of Garmin tech support). The internet integration now looks primitive, compared to the Google Nexus One - although that is only a smartphone and not a dedicated GPS, in many ways it runs rings around the 1690.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
I've had this unit for a week. While driving the NE corridor approaching NYC, I noticed some inaccurate info: the screen will say to stay in the right lane to continue on I-95N, while the voice prompts will say to stay in the left lane. This is horribly confusing when you do not know the area (I did not) and are relying on the GPS unit for directions. This happened multiple times - I had to eventually just turn the unit off.
It also was interesting that it described our nations capital as "District of Company."
When returning home on the train, the screen went blank after about 20 minutes on battery power. I am praying that it is just a faulty battery. However, another reviewer described the battery as only lasting 30 minutes. This makes the pedestrian or bicycle mode useless.
Yes, it is a cool unit. But it should work as advertised. My first Garmin unit, based on the Palm Pilot V platform, worked much better than this more advanced unit.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
Bought this unit to use for a combination of on & off-road driving.
The first test was a drive from the Bay Area to Las Vegas & back.
Four major problems I found:
1. Locked up on me 5 times (the screen/map updating just locks up while it continues to display speeds, etc) Had to restart & then re-enter destination data each time. (This is about a 6 hour trip, mostly major highways, each way.)
2. It displays advertisements on the screen at random times, sometimes overlaying the driving information. I would not expect a $500 device to be ad-supported.
3. Traffic information is completely inaccurate. It displays the traffic symbols almost everywhere. I would be on a remote two lane road and it would show me a traffic delay without a car in sight? It showed me delays in the middle of Hwy 5 while the traffic was non-existent and moving at well over the speed limit.
4. I attempted to load the Garmin TOPO US 24K West maps. The tiny amount of available memory in the gps would only allow me to add about a county's worth of maps. That's pretty useless if you plan on driving the Forest Service or BLM roads.
I'm pretty tech-literate, so I was looking forward to the features in this unit.
(I did update it to the latest firmware, etc. when I received it.#
I have another older Garmin GPS and one of the Forerunner 405cx's for running.
The performance of the latest & greatest 1690 was a disappointment.
Hoping maybe the next model will have the bugs worked out, so I returned it.
Oh, the speed limit display #for the road you're on) seemed great also, but I found a number of roads where it was displaying 65mph and the road signs said 55mph. Don't know where they're getting the info, but not worth risking a ticket on it.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
Avoid this for that exact reason...
This Garmin 1690 comes with POP-UP advertising that you cannot disable either on the unit itself or via a online connection (however, you can disable the traffic service that you paid the premium for on this unit and that will stop the POP-UPS). I simply can't believe that a $500.00 unit that one would pay for would incorporate forced on-screen advertising whether you liked it or not.
The ads end up partially BLOCKING the screen for several minutes or I am reading stay until you reach a certain speed. You have no choice but to see them, read them and wait for them to drop-off. I'd have to assume that those ads consume both memory and battery.
Typicals include a car charger, USB cable and mounts. It takes a mini-USB plug for a in-home charger and better than Garmin's own home charger and at half the price is a Rocket Fish unit selling for approx; $15.00; available at Best Buy.
I'm not going to review the unit here in detail because it was returned for forcing my purchase to include POP-UP ADS.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
Well I brought this Gps and I like it. As I said in another review you can't expect perfection in any of these units. remember America sold out to china. But I find this to be a nice improvement over the older Nuvi's I had the 350, 660, 755t, 765t, and now the 1690. I also had a Tom Tom 740 live that went back, and I had Magellan that went into the garbage. So I pretty much know what I'm talking about with the Nuvi's.
Before we start let me just say all of the nuvi's models route exactly the same. They either make the same errors, or work well at different times. The Tom Tom had better routes but its interface, and functionality and the fact there was always a problem when updating made me return it. Magellan's Froze up. Garmin in my opinion is balanced. It has decent routes (not great not terrible) and an easy interface to work with, It gives you loads of information and the easiest to navigate and it works!!!! This unit least for me has great Bells and Whistles, which I'm going to talk about.
I've heard complaints about the Ad's and the unit rebooting, and the flickering. Mine does not do that. I use it all day for business. I guess I also upgraded the firmware to its fullest and I brought it after some manufacture date when they had the flicker problem. The Ad's are annoying but guess what for 2 years you are getting free internet data service. If you hate the ad's that much call Garmin and pay the $60.00 and you won't have Ad's but will have nu-link. When Garmin sells you a product you are paying for a Gps to navigate from point A to point B this other stuff like Google, the weather Nu-link even RDS on older models is an extra service provided by a 3rd party which gives this unit it's bells and whistles. (free of charge to you for a period of time.) if you don't want the ads go out and buy a GPS that has no traffic, Or pay Garmin the $60.00 for the bells and whistles or you may opt to pay $129.00 for MSN Direct on another unit but be aware your traffic won't be accurate, but you will get weather and movies. (Just what I wanted a GPS for LOL) For me I appreciate the fast delivery of data since I use this for a business I also keep my eye on the road when I drive not on the Gps. The ad's only pop up when the car is stopped anyway. Ok enough with this let's talk about the unit it's self.
For me the Google Search is great I do live in a metro area so I have not tested it outside in a rural area but I'm thinking it could be better than what I had. I'm assuming that if you don't get results either the service is not available or there is no signal. (after all the signal is from AT&T (not Verizon which would of been my choice) But AT&T is much better for this than nothing. For me the traffic is much better At least I see the symbol change I have yet run into a traffic jam with this GPS But most of the time the symbol is yellow and I'm driving at odd hours so one day I will have to hunt for traffic to give it the test. The Gas prices are accurate but sometimes they are off by 1 cent. So on 10 gallons thats only a dime difference. (that's enough for me to default on my mortgage LOL) This unit does tell you when the prices were updated. I have found all of the restaurants that I liked around my home so that works good. I have noticed that sometimes the Google searches for restaurants or gas stations don't come back in order of distance. it just comes back in random order. With this GPS you can use the Garmin's poi which does actually come back in distance order and also actually seems pretty good this time in respect to data. There is a tab on that screen that will allow you to use the Google if the Garmin poi fails. . So you don't have to make 2 entries. This thing also has Flight status that real cool though I don't need it. This unit also has ciao, which is some social networking program that reports where you are and you can give updates to your friends. (i'm too busy to figure that one out but I will one day. And it also has the eco routes which will report how much fuel you are buying and how to save fuel. That is another thing to learn. Over all I like the unit If. It's a bit pricey but I broke my 765T when I was hiding that unit from the car wash people and needed it fast. I'd say even for full retail you are getting something for it. However I do wish I brought it from Amazon because I would have saved almost $100.00 but I needed it that second. Trust me not only did I over pay, but I have to deal with a Jewish mother that I will never hear the end of it. LOL. As far as value is concerned there are other GPSes like the 1490 but all you get is an HD screen. If that's important to you go for it, for me I buy a GPS to help me not be lost. With the 1690 at least you are getting a lot newer functionality from this company which lacking before such as the Nu-link.
My feelings about Garmin or the electonic industry. Let's face it I do think for $500.00 google searches should come back in distant order, For $500.00 I'd like to see the perfect routes. For example for me to get to north miami from west broward I think the fastest way is Fla tpk to 595 to 95. The GPS would take me to a main roard with traffic on it to 95 and take that stright down. The route is not terrable. but if the unit is on fastest route why would it choose a road with traffic to 95 than 2 hwys to 95. Again it's better than Dealing with Tom Tom's interface. I'm in a business I don't have 5 min's to program and look for buttons, and the Magallens freeze up. Sometimes the garmin does take me as I would take myself. So as I said before for the balance of things I prefere the Garmin. I guess I had to accept the fact that things are not made as well as years ago. And if you get a little quality these days (accross the board just be thankful) I think the way the manufacturing indistry has set it's standards is disgusting. but I need to accept it or I'll be on anti depressents for the rest of my life. lol
My first GPS was a built in alpine that was in 1999. Before these things had touch screens. man was that thing was real accurate. I lived in NY at the time and 99% of the time I was let off right in front of the house or business. This unit was able to tell if I was on a service road or the highway. The newer ones don't do that very well. the older ones used disks and it was big but you know what there was pride back then in the quality of the product. Thats just my own feelinigs.
I have a recomendation if all you have to do is get from point A-B and don't care about the latest and greatest unit with google lookup, the weather, and social networking go out and get a $100-$200.00 GPS.remember THEY ALL ROUTE THE SAME. They even have them now if lifetime traffic. (but you will have ad's) my advice must look at the road instead of the GPS. If you are into high tech toys and have to have the latest and greatist gagits get this one you won't be happy with the $100.00 model. But you will love this until they come out with somthing better. Then us addicts can spend another $500.00 or more LOL enjoy!!!!!
the above article was made on Jan 7th the unit was brought on Jan 5th but on Jan 8th I did have 1 reboot on the highway. I love this unit so much I'm giving it the benfit of the doubt. I did call Garmin and they said it might of been a bad fimware install, so I reminstalled the firmware reset the device and recalbrated it. I also went into the diagnositc screen and I checked out the rom and did a test on it and it seem fine so I hope it works out. If it doesn't I have it already documented and told the guy if I reboot again I want another brand new one. let's hope all is well.
UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!! JAN 25TH 2010
DISAPOINTING NEWS-I JUST AOOK A 850 MILE TRIP FROM FORT LAUDERDALE FL TO MURFREEBOURGH TENNESSEE AND BACK. THE ROUTING WAS GREAT, I EVEN THINK THE ALANTA TRAFFIC WAS MORE ACCURATE THAT FLA. BUT BUT BUT SOMETIMES WHEN I TURN MY MACHINE OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON IT GET'S STUCK IN THE LOADING MAPS AREA FOR ABOUT 5 MIN'S AND I ALSO HAD PROBLEMS ACCESSING GOOGLE SERVERS I GOT SOME ERROR THAT SAYS SOMTHING LIKE CAN'T ACCESS SERVER SERVER MIGHT BE BUSY OR OUT OF NETWORK. I'D TURN IT OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON AND IT WAS WORKING AGAIN. IT WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN AND AGAIN. THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THIS THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE ON THE WEB AND I SUSPECT GARMIN WILL FIX IT. SINCE OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING BOTH OF THESE PROBLEMS I MIGHT JUST WAIT IT OUT BECAUSE I LOVE THE CONSEPT OF THIS UNIT. I JUST DID RE FLASH THE UNIT AND ALSO I PUT IN THE MAP AGAIN SO I'LL UPDATE IT AFTER THIS FIX. THERE WAS ALSO A NEW VOICE FIX THAT CAME OUT SO WE WILL SEE
1/27/2010 exchanged for the same model per garmins recomendation so far so good. one thing I will add Garmin's tech service is wonderful 98% of the time. It all depends who you get on the phone.
3/14/10 Well I didn't think I'd be back at this but I am. I exchanged it once more with Garmin, instead of best buy. I had the same problem with it freezing up on loading maps. upon getting this unit I did upgrade the firmware and downloaded the newer map and the voice was choppy. However I did reinstall the map and firmware and so far so good. It seems to me that this problem occures after lot's of useage because that seems to be the pattern. If this happens again I will firmly believe it's the software in this unit. Why is it when I reinstall the firmware in the old one it didn't reboot and I reinstalled the software in this one and voice is not chopy? What I am hoping is now I got the latest one from garmin and from it's March. Maybe (without telling me) there is a board revision. let's hope. anyway wish me luck again the google search is good so.. but it would be nice wehn the bugs are worked out
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services (Electronics)
This navigator, while I have only used it a few weeks, has been reliable and extremely user friendly. Gets me around the minefield of NYC traffic with great accuracy. Always connects to traffic and internet without a hitch, makes timely route adjustments to avoid traffic jams, the logical clear menus and ease of use, combined with the state of the art internet (Google) and traffic features make this unit the one to have for my money. No monthly subscription fees for 2 years. And I know from past experience that Garmin's support and customer care are absolutely first-rate. A welcome balm after the nightmare of owning the Tom Tom 740 Golive, which I gladly sold at a loss to be rid of it and the miserable customer service behind it. Thank you Garmin for a superior product.
UPDATE:
I hate being wrong, I hate speaking in haste but I must say that after further testing my initial review is not wholly accurate. I must amend this review to say that on the whole, the routing and traffic features of this Garmin are inferior to the Tom Tom 740 Go Live. On further testing I've found some of the routing choices strange to just plain wrong, and the traffic info seems erratic. Sorry, but my initial impression was wrong. Because of the big price drop in the 740 Go I have decided to go back to it, and have found that the exasperating process of renewing the Live services, a fiasco that that repeated calls to their customer service did not resolve before, now seems to be functioning normally through the normal software interface. So I'm using the Tom Tom because i think the device, servicres and IQ routes are superior, and just hope that I either won't need tech support from the company, or that they will make radical improvements in this area.
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