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Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services

Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services

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Brand: Garmin
Category: CE

List Price: $449.99
Buy New: $285.00
as of 7/30/2010 12:11 CDT details
You Save: $164.99 (37%)



New (46) Used (6) Refurbished (2) from $249.99

Seller: Outlet
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 82 reviews
Sales Rank: 227

Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: Yes
Display Size: 4.30
Battery: 1 Lithium-Ion
Size: 4.3 inch
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 2.1 x 2.1 x 1
nv: Connectivity Technology: Not Applicable
Dimensions: 3.1" Height x 4.9" Width x 0.75" Depth
Display Screen: 4.3" WQVGA Active Matrix TFT Color LCD Touch Scree
Form Factor: Mountable
Green Compliance: Yes
Green Compliance Certificate/A: RoHS
Interfaces/Ports: 1 x USB
Manufacturer: Garmin, Ltd
Manufacturer Part Number: 010-00822-00
Manufacturer Website Address: www.garmin.com
Marketing Information: Get real-time content on the go with nüvi 1690. Fr
Memory Card Support: microSD Card
Legal Disclaimer: We do not in any way represent that any part we sell is legal to possess in your jurisdiction. Check with you local authorities to ensure it is legal for you to possess before buying!

MPN: 010-00822-00
Model: 010-00822-00
UPC: 753759097004
EAN: 0053759097005
ASIN: B002LVUQYQ

Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Features:
  • Widescreen ultra-slim GPS design with 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display and EDGE network connectivity
  • Pre-loaded with City Navigtor NT maps for North America, including more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest
  • Bluetooth wireless technology enables hands-free calling with a compatible phone; included traffic receiver provides North America traffic information
  • Pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps
  • Enjoy 2 years of free access to Garmin's nüLink! Services like weather forecasts, flight status, white pages, and more

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com Product Description
The Garmin 1690 GPS navigator--with Bluetooth and included Traffic Receiver--features an enhanced user interface, ecoRoute, public transit mode, and text-to-speech. Plus, pedestrian navigation capability is enabled through optional CityXplorer maps, which are available for select tourist destinations in North America and Europe and can be downloaded easily directly to the nüvi. The device's enhanced user interface features improved graphics and a slide control for menu operation, while ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel. Also, Garmin's public transit mode allows you to navigate using buses, tramway, metro, and suburban rail systems. Pre-loaded with City Navigator North America NT.

An ultra-thin GPS navigator with great Garmin features like CityXplorer and ecoRoute. Click here for an interactive demo

Bluetooth Wireless Technology
The 1690 enables calling with a compatible phone, giving you a completely hands-free mobile phone experience by broadcasting navigation and phone calls through your car stereo.

See More
With nüvi 1690's widescreen display, you'll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3-inch display is easy to read--from any direction.

Easy-to-Use Touchscreen Interface
One of Garmin's core beliefs is to continually enhance the simplicity of the user experience. The nüvi on-screen menus are logically arranged, with clearly labeled, colorful icons, making it easy to enter data and get to the information you need quickly.

Navigate with Ease
nüvi 1690 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator North America NT street maps and millions of points of interest (POIs) such as hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, ATMs and more, with map data provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping. Enter a destination on the touch screen, and nüvi takes you there with 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. Text to speech enhances standard sat-nav voice guidance by speaking the names of places and roads. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. In addition, nüvi 1690 accepts custom points of interest, such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.

Announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Click to enlarge.

Lane assist guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. Click to enlarge.

Junction View gives you a photo-realistic screen that shows you both the road detail as well as the signs as you will see them on the road. Click to enlarge.

Enjoy access to Garmin's nüLink! services like weather forecasts, flight status, white pages, and more. Click to enlarge.

Travel North America
With nearly 6 million points of interest and detailed road coverage for the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, City Navigator North America NT delivers all the data you need to navigate North America.

  • Displays nearly 6 million points of interest--hotels, restaurants, parking, entertainment, fuel, shopping and more.
  • Includes highways, interstates, business and residential roads in metropolitan and rural areas.
  • Includes detailed information such as turn restrictions, roundabout guidance, speed categories and other navigation features.
  • Gives turn-by-turn directions on your compatible Garmin device.
  • Includes postal code support for Canada.
  • Enhances pronunciation data for compatible Garmin devices that speak street names (example: "Turn right on Main Street").

Know the Lane Before It's Too Late
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation.

Junction View takes it a step further, giving you a photo-realistic screen that shows you both the road detail as well as the signs as you will see them on the road.

Multi-Point Routing
The 1690 automatically sorts multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for errands or deliveries.

Pedestrian Navigation
New to the nüvi series is Public Transit--navigate using buses, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems with optional CityXplorer content. Downloadable CityXplorer data and city guides are available for purchase and download from garmin.com for many cities.

Where Am I?
Keep track of yourself and your car with nüvi 1690. Just tap "Where Am I?" to find the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. Also see your exact latitude and longitude coordinates. nüvi 1690 even remembers where you parked. It automatically marks your position when you remove it from the windshield mount, so you can navigate with nüvi on foot and find your way back to your vehicle. Perfect for unfamiliar spots and crowded lots such as amusement parks, stadiums and malls.

HotFix Satellite Prediciton
Garmin's HotFix capability automatically calculates and stores satellite locations, greatly reducing satellite acquisition time so that you can turn the unit on and get going. With HotFix, your nüvi remembers the position of all satellites it is tracking when you turn it off, and calculates their movements in order to predict where they should be the next time you turn it on. HotFix can predict satellite positions for up to 3 days after the device was last turned off.

Garmin nüLink!

With Garmin nüLink! Services you know the local area, even if you’re from out of town. Accurate real-time information about the area you’re traveling in is delivered directly to nüvi 1690 via a built-in wireless module. The 1690 currently comes with a free 2-year Garmin nüLink! Subscription, which include services that can make every day more enjoyable.

Google™Local Search Access up-to-date information for the local area using the power of Internet-enabled local search and navigate directly from the search results.

Real-time Traffic Garmin nüLink! services provide current traffic data for your route so your nüvi 1690 can automatically optimize a route for the shortest time. Just drive and let nüvi 1690 do all the work.

Gas Prices Is your fuel tank getting a little low? Garmin nüLink! services show you where you can find the best prices for any grade of fuel in your area. Just tap the screen and go to your chosen station.

Ciao!™ What are your friends up to? Ciao! integrates multiple third party location-centric social network applications, such as GyPSii, with more networks expected to be added in the future.

Local Events What’s going on in town? Search for local events, concerts, theater performances, sports, art and navigate there with ease.
myGarmin™ Your nüvi 1690 will receive alerts for available updates automatically.
Converter Quickly and conveniently convert up-to-date currency evaluations, measurements, distances, speed and temperature.
Flight Status Quick access to flight departure/arrival times and gate information from airports around the world with the closest major airports displayed first.
White Pages Forget someone's address? Find it using White Pages and navigate there. Search by name or phone number — faster and more convenient than a phone book.
Send to GPS Build a list of destinations online then send them wirelessly to your nüvi 1690.
Movie Times Wanna catch a flick? Just tap Movie Times and you can find an area movie theater quickly and easily.

Weather What’s the weather forecast? Tap the Weather icon to get current and 5-day forecasts tailored for major cities around the world.

Navigate by Photo with Garmin Connect Photos.

ecoRoute
With this feature, drivers can view suggestions for fuel-efficient navigation, conserving both money and fuel:

  • Save Gas and Money
    Now more than ever, we're all looking for ways to conserve both money and fuel. Whether we're taking fewer trips or carpooling with family and friends, saving resources is a top priority. It was that thinking that led to the creation of ecoRoute--our free software update for compatible nüvi products that allows users to find more fuel efficient routes when navigating and even track their fuel usage. With ecoRoute, you may be able to save gas and money by adopting smarter driving habits and finding more fuel-efficient routes.

  • Select Fuel-efficient Routes
    With ecoRoute, users will have a "less fuel" option as a routing preference. When selected, nüvi will determine if more fuel efficient routes exist based upon road speed data and vehicle acceleration data for a given route.

  • Get Fuel and Mileage Reports
    Through ecoRoute's Fuel Report and Mileage Report, drivers can focus on their habits even when they're not behind the wheel. Fuel Report tracks fuel usage over time, and Mileage Report monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis. In addition, Mileage Report makes it easy for business travelers to keep track of distance traveled for company reimbursements. You'll have a detailed report for each trip and the miles driven. You can also customize your nüvi by entering your car's fuel economy and the current price of gas.

Search for locations on Google Maps or Mapquest, then transfer the addresses directly to your Garmin GPS navigator.

Navigate by Photo with Garmin Connect Photos
Using Garmin's Connect Photos Web site, you can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google's Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide.

  • Choose from Panoramio's collection of photos from around the world.
  • Easy to use interface displays photos on Google Maps.
  • Search for photos by location name or map area boundary.
  • Transfer photos directly from Garmin Connect to device with the Garmin Communicator.
  • View photos in Google Earth.
  • Supports Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ on Windows and Mac.

Take It With You
The nüvi 1690 sports a sleek, slim design and fits comfortably in your pocket or purse. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot.

Additional Features

  • Speed limit indicator--unit displays speed limits for most major roads
  • DEM maps show you shaded terrain contours at zoom levels of five miles and above
  • Auto time zone--nüvi will automatically adjust your time zone while navigating
  • Trip computer records mileage, max speed, total time and more
  • Built-in travel kit includes features such as picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and calculator
  • microSD memory card expansion slot for optional mapping and data storage
  • Includes Garmin Lock anti-theft feature
  • Configurable vehicle icons--allows users to select fun, customized car-shaped icons; download additional choices from www.garmingarage.com
  • Offers a 3-D mapping perspective, or 2-D overhead view
  • Built-in lithium-ion battery--lasts up to three hours depending on usage
  • Includes sturdy suction cup mount that allows for easy adjustment and quick release
  • Simplified PC connectivity, using USB mass storage, access either the microSD card slot or the unit's internal memory directly from your PC desktop
  • POI loader program--set up proximity alerts for school zones, create custom POIs and more

What's in the Box
nüvi 1690 preloaded with City Navigator North America NT, Vehicle suction cup mount, FM traffic receiver/vehicle power cable, Dashboard disc, Quick start manual

Which nüvi is Best for You?

Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

Device
Screen Size inches (W x H)
Included Maps
Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)
Traffic
Bluetooth
Media
FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)
Multi-Point Routing
Battery life (hours)
Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico
AK and Canada
Europe
nüvi 205 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 205w 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 255 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 255w 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 260w 3.81 x 2.25
Photos
up to 5
nüvi 265T 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 265WT 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 275T 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 285WT 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free);
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 465T 3.81 x 2.25
FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 755T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 760 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos, MP3s
up to 5
nüvi 765T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 775T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 780 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos, MP3s
up to 5
nüvi 785T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 850 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 855 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 885T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos, MP3s
up to 4
nüvi 1200 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1250 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1260T 2.8 x 2.1
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1300 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1350 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1350T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1370T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1390T 3.81 x 2.25
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1490T 4.4 x 2.5
MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)
Photos
up to 4
nüvi 1690 3.81 x 2.25
NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service)
Photos
up to 3




Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 82
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5 out of 5 stars I love it. It works for me.   July 29, 2010
Gepet0
I drive everyday in the DMV area. For me haveing a smart phone is not an option because I am hard on phones. I am on the floor under things in and out of tight places. I had the gps about 60 days. about 3000 miles. The touchscreen has been fine for me and I have big hands. Also seeing it while on the dash in the friction mount is not a problem for me. Ads pop up not a problem. The initial setup was a little cumbersome but once we got going all was fine.

This thing has so many options I really believe I have only touch the surface. Out of all the gps's I have owned this one is the best. The flow of the interface to the pulling up of info and a go button if you want to go there.

The eco thing is sweet it lets me know the mileage driven vs the cost. I charge by the mile and It eliminates loopholes. One of the biggest things I have notice is you have to trust the gps. When I first started using the gps it was like turn here and I was like what! I was mentally fighting because I was heading in an unfamilar place and not going.

In the bottom corner is a arrival time display. I started following the route to to see if I would arrive on time. At the start I mark the initial arrival time because it can change in route I have arrived within 5-6 minutes of the initial posted time give or take 74% of the time and about 6-10 minutes 26% (DISCLAIMER As always use discretion when using a gps).


Now in the morning before I leave the house I enter in my first destination to see transit time so I know what I am dealing with.

It has gotten me across dc in the morning rush hours in unbelievable time. I have gone routes and side streets I never knew exsisted and I cover about 22,000 miles a year. I am not sure how well the traffic works away from metro areas but where I live it has been excellent.

Sorry if I didn't post a lot of poi's info I wasn't too impressed on the events. The fuel prices and stores are nices but I look at this thing as a gps first everything else is the extra gravy. It does for me exactly what I bought it to do and worth every penny. I will post if something changes.

I had a tom tom before and I loved it but nothing is like a traffic gps.



4 out of 5 stars hard to see   July 23, 2010
mini coop
fine unit sometimes voice is a little hard to understand {incomplete words} software issues with ecoroute hd see review on this item. does not get address right for home location, screen hard to see in sunlight especially when using with ecoroute hd in gauges mode.


4 out of 5 stars A pretty good product   July 19, 2010
Adrian Piergallini (Pinehurst, NC)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I've been using this since January 29, 2010. This is my first GPS, though I've used an older Garmin in the past (StreetPilot C330). These are my thoughts on it, in no particular order.

**********************************************************************************************
Pros:
It works pretty well, and generally doesn't give me too many problems (most of the below are what I'd consider annoyances).

The "Google Local" feature is great for finding POIs that aren't in the GPS itself. It shows star ratings for many restaurants, and if there's a phone number listed with it, you can call right from there with your phone, via Bluetooth.

A recent update added the ability to give "Feedback" on POIs; either a star rating or report an error, which will remove the POI from future searches. There doesn't seem to be any way to remove the star rating once applied (you can change it, but there's no way to clear it so there are no stars, like initially), and I don't know if it only shows in your unit, or somehow gets shared with others. Same goes for the error reporting; it doesn't say whether errors get shared with other users/some central database, or if the POI just gets removed from *your* GPS. It is easy to reinstate something that you accidentally remove, though. The feedback only works on places you find in the Garmin, not on places found through Google Local, Fuel Prices, etc. Not even in your favorites. The star ratings don't seem to be accessible any way except finding the POI again, clicking on it, then clicking on the little popup bubble that shows its location on the map. It would be nice to be able to search for local restaurants that I gave five stars to, but that doesn't appear possible.

The "Movie Times" feature is great, and can display movies either by theater, or by movie title, and then you can select the theater once you figure out which movie you want to see. It shows results up to four days in the future, which is nice for planning, and you can use the "Near" function to see which movies are playing somewhere else, or will be playing there in the next few days. For a particular movie, it shows the rating, as well as all showtimes for whichever day.

The "White Pages" section is convenient, and lets you search either by name or phone number.

The "myGarmin" folder in the settings menu is nice, as it will notify you when there's new firmware available, or updated maps.

The "ecoRoute" feature is pretty neat. If you enter your sticker city and highway miles per gallon (MPG), it will show you how much gas it will take to get to a destination. If you use the "At The Pump" option when you fill up, entering how many miles you drove since the last fill up, how many gallons you put in, and the price per gallon, it will tell you how many MPG you averaged on that tank, and will also show the cost to drive to your destinations, since it now knows the price of gas. It also tracks your Fuel Economy (estimating, unless you get the ecoRoute HD), and how "green" you're driving with the "ecoChallenge," which tracks your overall "greenness" at that moment, as well as your overall score, braking, accelerating, and travel speed scores for the day. When it's connected to your computer, you can download a few reports off of it and import them into a spreadsheet, which makes it easy to track gas usage, driving times, when you went where, etc.

**********************************************************************************************
Cons:
It has rebooted on me a few times, including while driving. It's even frozen a couple times, so I had to power cycle it to continue using it.

The "Garmin Lock" feature is good. It requires either your PIN or to be in a specified location to be able to do anything with the GPS. The downside is this won't stop someone from stealing it; it will just make it useless to them. It should have a disclaimer on the back saying that it can't be used if stolen.

The ads that can pop up when you're stopped can be a little annoying, but they disappear when you start moving again.

It frequently has problems accessing the server for movie times, gas prices, weather, etc. This can often be fixed by power cycling it, but it shouldn't need that.

It has, once, directed me the wrong way down a one way street.

Sometimes, if you miss a turn, it will recalculate, but won't complete it until you've already passed the new place it wanted you to turn, so it has to recalculate again.

The Bluetooth isn't that great. Caller ID doesn't show up on the screen (may be an issue with my phone, since it's not a super-recent phone). Callers complain that they can't hear me, that it echoes a lot, or that they can hear a lot of road noise. There's a serious lag between when I tell it to answer a call and when it actually connects to the call. It seems to randomly decide to adjust the speaker-phone volume, so that I can't hear the caller at all (not during a call, but I'll have it set one day, and then make or receive a call another day, and the volume is way down again). Again, not sure if this is an issue with my phone, or with the GPS.

It can take a while to turn on when it isn't in the windshield mount.

Since getting the ecoRoute HD, if I turn the GPS on while not in the car, it says it can't connect to the wireless device (the ecoRoute HD unit), and so doesn't bother trying to connect to my phone for some reason. I can manually tell either the phone to connect to the GPS, or vice versa, but it won't connect automatically. Once connected manually, it disconnects after less than a minute or two if I'm not in the car (with it on) so that it can communicate with the ecoRoute HD.

The "Where am I?" feature often lists a not-very-close intersection as the "nearest intersection." Granted, it may be the nearest major intersection, but I think the point is to help you give directions to emergency personnel, so the actual nearest intersection would be more useful. Also, there is a closer intersection that's nearly as major as the one it shows (relative to my house).

The "Ciao" feature is pretty useless, interesting as it may sound. You can only use it to find friends who have either the Nuvi 1690 (since it requires nuLink), or friends who have the Nuvifone. I don't know anyone who has either. It uses some service I've never heard of (Gypsii), rather than something better-known like Google Latitude (they already have some kind of deal with Google for the Google Local...), Loopt, etc.

The "Route" feature is nice, and you can add via points on the fly, but if you decide you want to delete a via point, there's no easy way to do so without either hitting stop and then having it recalculate to your destination again, or going into the route function, removing the via point(s) you don't want, having it calculate, then saving the route. It shows "active route" in the menu, but requires you to save any changes and name the route before you can use it.

The "Favorites" icon isn't on the first page in the "Where To?" menu; you have to scroll to get to it.

The "Fuel Prices" thing is a little quirky. Gas stations can't be sorted by price. It says when the price is from (anywhere from "today" to as far back ago as maybe six days in the past, I think). Prices show up either in green or red, but there's no information about what the colors mean. Green ones seem to be cheaper, with red being more expensive, but that's all I can figure out. The cutoff price between green and red seems to be arbitrary.

The "Near" function is a bit annoying, at times. You can find POIs near your current location, a different city, a recent destination, a favorite destination (it doesn't display your categories in this view, however; all favorites are just sorted by distance), your destination, or near your current route, which is the one I have a problem with. If you're, say, looking for a gas station along your route, you would think it would only list ones you hadn't passed already, but you would be wrong. That might make sense if you were running low on gas, and there weren't any gas stations ahead for quite a distance, but it's annoying when you're just trying to plan ahead a little, and have to sift through places that would require backtracking to get to. Besides, you could always switch back to "near your current location" mode in that case. When I look for POIs along my current route, I only expect to see ones between where I am now and my destination. It would also be nice if it could tell you how much of a detour a place would be (do you really want to drive 2 miles off the interstate to get to a particular restaurant?).

Despite having wireless connectivity (AT&T, I believe) for Google Local, etc., there's no way to do anything online that isn't built in. You also have to download firmware via a computer; no wireless updates, patches, or maps. It could download those in the background, and then install them when you turn it off.

It was advertised, and worked for a while, the ability to find POIs, addresses, etc., on Google Maps, and then send them to your GPS, either via USB cable or over the nuLink service (it was almost instant if your GPS was on, or it would get downloaded the next time you turned it on), but neither method has worked recently. The option doesn't show up on Google Maps anymore, so it could be a problem with Google, or their agreement with Garmin. It was really nice when it worked, though.

The subcategories within the POI and Google Local menus don't match. And sometimes businesses are hard to find, as they aren't in the category you'd expect them to be in.

If you're looking at the map (perhaps you've searched for a POI, or are looking at a favorite), if you scroll in another direction, and then zoom in/out, it re-centers the map back on the original POI you were looking at.

**********************************************************************************************
All in all, I'm pretty happy with it, though I wish I had waited, since the price has dropped significantly since I bought it. I'm also disappointed that it looks like this is the first, last, and only model to have the nuLink services, which makes me wonder if those will stop working at some point in the future. Despite the fact that my cons list is much longer than the pros, again, most of those are just minor annoyances (like having to scroll to get to Favorites), and some issues, like that one, could probably be fixed with an update.



3 out of 5 stars Garmin Nuvi 1690   July 19, 2010
RT
I'd purchased and extensively used this product for over a month now and I think the advertising from Garmin is over-rated. First, the device kept reset/reboot itself sometime in the mist of driving/guidance. Second, the traffic report is absolutely inaccurate. The traffic report is inaccurate kept showing a traffic delay where traffic is flowing at or above street sign speed limit, and then when there is a traffic slow-down or backup Nuvi shows traffic flow is cleared:( Lastly, alot of time this device doesn't recognized between highway and service road. For example, Nuvi instructed me to stay on highway, however, I decided to exit to the service road. But Nuvi indicated that I am still on highway until about .75-1 mile while on service road then Nuvi finally recognized that I am off course then begins to recalculate. Anyway, the product is about average.



4 out of 5 stars Great Product!   July 16, 2010
JLG84
I bought the Garmin for my fiance as a birthday present and upgrade to his previous Garmin model. We both really like the new one a lot and it has a lot of added features from the old one that make it easier to use. The best new feature is the Google local search. It is so easy to use and always finds what I am looking for with out a problem.

The connectivity is also greatly improved from the old version. The old Garmin would take forever to find a connection, and this one is almost instant!

I was a little nervous about buying this Garmin because it was more than I was intending to pay, and some of the reviews talked about these pop-up ads that were annoying. But the pop-up ads are very small and I never notice them. Also, having the 2 years subscription of NuLink included was a $100 value that made my purchase very much worth while!


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