Garmin nuvi 3790T GPS : Crisp Display, Super Thin, Wonderful GPS!

I just got my Nuvi 3790 today and I must say it is by far the best GPS I have owned. I have owned Garmins, TomToms, Navigon, and Magellans.

The display is super crisp and bright. Even in bright sunlight. I had my Nuvi 1690 up next to it. The 1690 was washed out, the 3790 was very, very bright.

I transferred my favorites (waypoints) from the 1690 without a hitch. Also installed traffic cameras... no problem. I tried the voice command and it worked surprisingly well. I had used a TomTom with voice control and this was far superior. You get a list of commands on the screen and I had no problem activating the feature simply by saying, "Voice Command.' Picked me up without a hitch. Only once it seemed to freeze on me and for a minute I thought I would have to do a reset, but I said another command and it cleared.

The unit is super thin. In fact, I almost lost my grip on it a few times it is so thin. I bought the Garmin case for it and it fits very well. Easily fits in my shirt pocket.

I did a backup on the hard drive, which by the way is a whopping 8 GB, using a little over 4 GB -- room for expansion indeed. I couldn't select all on my mac and get them all to copy over, but I burned a DVD and pretty much everything was copied from what I could tell. It took about 25 minutes or so.

The unit did get pretty warm in use, perhaps because of the black back and the sun. I haven't used it at night to tell if that is it.

I live in northern Virginia and was not able to pick up traffic. My 1690 was showing traffic in the same areas. The 1690 is cell-connected, the 3790 is FM.

In comparison with the 1690 with most detail selected, the 3790 is pretty much about the same in many areas, perhaps a bit more in others. No complaints about that at all so far.

I do like the ability to rotate the screen. I didn't think I would but I like the portrait view. It gives me more of where I am going rather off to the sides. i will need to experiment with it.

Routing is a bit different than my 1690. I will see how it evolves in its learning my routes. Calculation seems quick. It did take a while to lock in after being powered off, but nothing appreciable.

I can easily pack this, or put it in my shirt pocket and take it most places.

A great GPS. Pricey, but wonderful. This is the iPhone 4 of the GPS world. Nothing comes close to the beauty of the 3790.

Garmin nuvi 1450 5-Inch Portable GPS : For the money, this is sweet!

Wonderful GPS. I have owned $600 Lowrance units and $200 Tom Tom's. But for the money, this 1450 Garmin is wonderful. The support online for updating the unit and adding some custom touches to the gps are really nice. BUT there are only two items that I don't like about this gps. First, is the "lane viewer" or what ever they call it sucks. (The feature that shows a picture of the signs that you will be seeing) I travel 6 states for business and drive through major cities; Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Cinci, Indianapolis, etc... I had it only show me the picture of the signs that show what lane to be in twice after visiting all these cities. This was a bonus feature for me, not a selling point. That's why I didn't have it affect the way I rated it. Second, is when trying to find a hotel or gas station, it shows them surrounding you. That is great, but I wish there was an option to see what is on the way to your destination. I want to see what is in front of me, not behind. This just makes it harder and longer to find what you are looking for. So once again, not a huge problem for me. Now, if you care about bluetooth or voice navagation, I don't so can't give you a review on that. I mute mine and just glance at it from time to time. But what I can tell you is the ease of finding your destination, the continued updating online, the fact you can rate a hotel or destination, the size of the screen, easy to use, and how you can add a destination or correct a current destination, are things I love about the 1450 Garmin. Great price and very happy with it. I recommend this product!


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/garmin.gps.navigator.cheap-20/detail/B002RL8H1Y

GolfLogix Garmin GPS : Highly recommend this product

I've had my Garmin for a couple of weeks now and it's fabulous knowing accurate yardages (even when you need to play up an adjacent hole!)

I was undecided on the Garmin Golf Logix vs Sky Caddy choice, but went with the Garmin for their ease of use, customer support (I've heard it's very poor with Sky Caddy), and price.

I like that it's powered by 2 AA batteries (easy replacement of battery mid round (though I've played 4 rounds and the originals are still going strong)

It would be nice if you could track your last shot yardage and still toggle to the green/hazard yardage info to help your buddies (right now, it's one or the other option, not both), but for the price, I really feel I made the right choice.


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/cheap.golf.gps-20/detail/B0015IV1Q8

Garmin Nuvi 885T : LOVE IT!!

I recently purchased the Garmin 885t after having owned the Streetpilot C340. I felt that I wanted an upgrade for a couple of reasons. First, I liked the idea of being able to be more "hands-free" if I needed to make changes to my routes while driving and second I was hoping that the blueooth was good enough that I could also use my phone through the Garmin. The purpose would be to streamline what I need to hook up in my car.

I own an iPhone original and have tried a couple of FM transmitters for hands free calling in the car. Though they worked partially with my phone, none were completely compatible. I was so pleased to see how the Garmin immediately recognized my contacts and they are all up on the Garmin screen. Second, even though the iPhone does not support voice dial, I am able to verbally navigate through the Garmin to make calls. This for me is important so I don't have to fiddle with the phone in my car.

After having used the Garmin for a couple of weeks, I can say that I so far am very satisfied. The Garmin's navigation works as expected and as I was accustomed to with my older Garmin. There are many POIs and I am amazed at to what you can find just by saying the place by name (the more popular places). I do appreciate the lane assist feature, which works well in my area. It gives you arrows in the upper left corner telling you the direction of your next turn. Very handy. Be aware, however, that the Junction View does not work with Lane Assist in every area. This is not a problem for me as this is only an "extra whistle" from my perspective.

The voice commands work wonderfully. I am amazed at how well it understands me. This function makes entering information so much easier. I also love how you can use Google Maps to directly send favorite places to the Nuvi, as well.

In regards to the Bluetooth, I find that the Garmin's speakers are better than the nuvi 360 that I tried a year ago. I sent it back because the speaker and sound were awful on it. On the Nuvi 885t, I am able to hear the people speaking well but was told that there was an echo on their end when I spoke. I purchased Garmin's external microphone and people I talk to now say that it sounds much better. I've talked several times on it with no problems.

The FM transmitter works just fine for me, especially if I am just tooling around town. As a matter of fact, I found a station in my area where the music that I downloaded to my Garmin sounds just like I'm listening to the FM radio. No static at all. I like using the FM option because I like having the ability to listen to my callers and Garmin commands through my car stereo. I will admit that when I travel distances, I will probably opt to use my aux. cable with my iPod due to the fact that the FM stations would change frequently on longer trips (which would be a pain).

The suction cup has been great. It hasn't fallen once and I've taken it down a couple of times. If you do have problems, though, put a little moisture on the suction cup and it should stay put!

I haven't had the chance to experience the MSN direct or the picture viewer (doubt I will ever use that) so I can't comment on those features. I would like to add that customer support at Garmin is wonderful. I had to call a few times with questions and they were extremely helpful, kind, and supportive. (My Garmin was originally shipped in the Russian language).

I have been experimenting with this unit and learning how to use the Garmin in the house while I don't have to concentrate on the road. Though it is user friendly, there is still a lot to learn. I also took it with me even if I knew where I was going to "practice" the features. I'd rather get a handle on how to use it when I know my route. As silly as it sounds, it does help!

Kudos to this unit! NO regrets, even though I felt it was more than what I wanted to pay for a GPS.


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/garmin.nuvi.765t.gps.cheap-20/detail/B001N2MUD4

Garmin Portable Friction Mount : Works great, looks a bit strange at first but well worth buying

I knew I didn't want to install anything permanent in my car (like adhesive mounts) because it would look strange and be a pain to deal with when I sell it. And I live in California where it is illegal to attach a GPS unit to the windsheild, plus my windsheild is very slanted so it would be a bit too far away there anyway, unless I mount it way up high on the windshield.

This friction mount works well. It allows me to put the GPS on my dash or on my center console and I don't have to mount anything permanently in to my car. And if I'm going on a trip with someone else in their car, it's super easy to bring it along and put it in their car.

It's also good for if you have a passenger that wants to play with and use the GPS, they can just move the mount over to their side of the dashboard.

I recommend this friction mount although have to admit, it looks a bit strange at first (especially with no GPS mounted on it), but you get used to it.


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/garmin.gps.navigator.cheap-20/detail/B000LRMS66

Garmin GPS 60CSx : Top of the line!

The first reviewer didn't really do his research before he purchased this or else he would know that it only comes with basemaps. The other fact he would know is that that's how all GPS vendors work. They want you to buy their maps separately and only their maps will work on their hardware.

Now, I previously owned a 60CS which I loved after trading in my Vista. With the newly upgraded 60CSx you get a couple of additional functions that make it much better than the 60CS. First, there's the SiRF III chipset. It is by far the best chipset out there right now. It's super sensitive and super fast. You can lock onto satellites even in your house in many cases! No longer will you loose reception in tricky situations. Most of the time you can even keep the 60CSx in your backpack and it will still track your movements.

The other highly requested function for many years is the expansion memory, now in the form of a microSD. Now you can load almost half of the U.S. into 512mb of microSD. Later, larger capacity microSD cards will be released that will allow you to loan the entire US! That's awesome!

Two things that you will loose by going to the 60CSx from the 60CS, the alarm clock, and the passive barometric tracking. Apparently, the new 60CSx no longer has a sleep mode so that these two things will not continue to work if you turn OFF the unit. The 60CS had a sleep mode so that the altimeter would still record your barometric after the unit was turned off and wake up to sound the alarm clock but not with the new 60CSx.

Most people don't use these functions anyway so I don't think you'll miss them. Also, the SiRF III and microSD more than make up for those two shortfalls.


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/garmin.handheld.gps.cheap-20/detail/B000CSOXTO

Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor : An Improvement

This is a definite improvement over the 301. I had several complaints with the 301:
(1) The heart rate monitor did not track well, and would often jump up to 240, which was a problem when looking at average heart rate later;
(2) The tracking was bad sometimes in the woods, where I run (it could vary half a mile on a four-mile course, and even worse, the elevation could spike 1,200 feet at times and completely change the profile of the run);
(3) The unit was not ergonomic, the buttons were difficult to push, and the screen was hard to see; and
(4) It took forever to acquire the satellites.

The heart rate monitor comes with a new sensor that is more flexible, comfortable, and offers more reliable data. The tracking is much better and more consistent. The unit is much more like a watch, the display is great, and the buttons are much easier to push while on the go. However, it still takes a while to acquire the satellite signal. It is a bit improved, and is not dissimilar from other Garmin products, so I'd have to say that it's OK.

The BIGGEST improvement is that this model is more like a typical GPS in that it offers many different modes and screens to track various types of information (one can toggle between three different screens). For example, on one screen, I have the current time, sunrise, sunset, and running time. On another screen I have the grade, altitude, average pace, and current pace. On yet another screen I have heart rate, calories, distance traveled, and heading. It is totally cool.

I use this Forerunner 305 for running, biking, rollerblading, mountaineering, skiing, and just about everything else outside. I am really happy that I spent the money for the upgraded version.


Thanks:
http://astore.amazon.com/garmin.handheld.gps.cheap-20