Garmin nuvi 680 Car GPS Receiver

Garmin has been around since the late 1980's and are credited for creating the first portable GPS system. So it s no surprise that one of the best, portable GPS systems on the market today would come from this innovative company.

The Nuvi 660 is just such a system. Coming off the heels of the successful Nuvi 350/360 line, Garmin has created a gorgeous landscape-widescreen GPS that rivals many in-dash systems.

As this was to be my first venture into the GPS rodeo, I was careful to review, analyze and test many available offerings from such companies as TomTom and Magellan. Each company, along with Garmin, offers GPS products that have many merits but, in the end, based on the best bang for the buck, I went with the Nuvi 660.

The first thing that sets the Nuvi 660 apart from the competition is its display. Sporting a gorgeous 4.3 inch diagonal QVGA TFT screen with 480 x 272 pixels, the images the 660 puts forth are crystal clear, sharp and very visible even in direct sunlight. As the entire unit measures a mere 4.9" x 2.9" x 0.9", the footprint is almost entirely made up of its touch-screen. There are no external controls like you might find on Magellan units. All functions, save for the power button, are controlled via the touch-sensitive screen. This works exceptionally well as Garmin's very intuitive menus are a breeze to work through.

I found myself only consulting the cd-based manual once or twice as a reference. Other than that, I was able to quickly and efficiently navigate through the Nuvi 660's menu system and get the unit up and running in a matter of minutes.

The Nuvi 660 also comes with some nice add-on features that other GPS systems lack. First, the unit has integrated real-time traffic feeds which come in via TMC traffic channel; available in most major cities across the US. This subscription based service may be a Godsend for some, but I ve found little use for it at this point (even in New Jersey). Second, the 660 is BlueTooth compatible which allows for handsfree calling through the unit (with a compatible wireless phone). While I haven t tested this feature, I had read many reviews which suggest this feature works acceptably well. Next up is an FM transmitter which allows you to listen to the Nuvi through your car stereo. While this is an added bonus, the signal strength coming from the unit seems to be weak at best. Those of you with radio antennas in the rear of your car may have trouble picking up the signal. However I ve found little use for this feature as the built-in speaker on the Nuvi produces sufficient volume even while I m blasting some Rush on my stereo.

And speaking of Rush, the Nuvi 660 is also an MP3 player and photo-slide viewer. Are these requirements for a GPS system? No, of course not but neither is a camera a requirement on a cell phone. We re in an age where units must multitask to get our attention. These added bonuses on the Nuvi 660 accomplish that and they do so without jeopardizing the GPS functionalities of the unit.

And it is the GPS functionality that has made Garmin famous. The Nuvi 660 uses a SiRF star III chipset which allows you to easily lock onto satellites, even in tough situations like city streets masked by skyscrapers or even indoors. The unit employs a flip up antenna which is acceptable but can also be easily blocked depending on where you mount the unit. The unit also comes pre-loaded with millions of POI's (Points of Interest) so you'll always be able to find 'something' when traveling with the Nuvi 660.

The preloaded maps on the Nuvi come from NAVTEQ which is renowned for having the best maps available for GPS units and online mapping sites. The logic employed by the unit for calculation directions and travel times seems to be on par with other units as well as mapping sites such as Google Maps and Yahoo Maps. My only concern here is that, while in use, the unit doesn t respond quickly enough when I bypass a suggested route. This can be an issue if you re traveling at highway speeds, miss an exit and need to know what to do next. You could find yourself past the next exit before the unit recalculates the new directions. I found this delay to be the case with the other units in the Nuvi series, and only really noticed the delay when I had the chance to road-test a Magellan Roadmate unit. The Magellan would re-calculate a route within seconds of missing a turn. But this is a somewhat minor quibble and shouldn t really impact its real functionality.

Another aspect of the Nuvi 660 which I found very useful were the audio naming of streets. Most other units will announce something like Make your next right turn in 100 yards . The Nuvi, however, will announce "Make your next right turn on Main Street in 100 yards". Night and day difference in functionality with that feature. Unfortunately, the digitized speech is a little too electronic for my tastes. While you have a selection of different voices to choose from, none are quite as natural sounding as I would have expected from Garmin (especially at this price point).

The overly digitized voice is one slight downside to the unit, as is the fact that there isn t an external volume control button (its available through a menu screen). Another quirk that I found annoying is the fact that the on-screen 'keyboard' used for entering in search criteria or addresses isn't laid out in the common "QWERTY" format, but the non-standard "ABCDEF" format. How difficult could it be to offer both options?

But the biggest hurdle facing this unit is its price. With an MSRP in excess of $1,000 (though you ll pay around $735 online) it s double the price of many comparable units (though none of the screen and multitude of features that the 660 offers).

In the end, if the screen size isn t that important to you, nor the live traffic feeds or the FM transmitter, then the lower-priced, but equally powerful Nuvi 360 may be a better choice. For me, it s all about the screen but spending an additional $250 for a ? inch of screen is a bit much.

I suspect that the Nuvi 660 s price will drop over the next 5-6 months as we exit the holiday season potentially reaching the $600 range. Still expensive, but unquestionably a fantastic unit at that price.

Below is a list of specifications for the unit.

Thanks, as always, for reading and Happy Holidays.

-John

Nuvi 660 Specifications
Receiver: high-sensitivity WAAS-capable GPS receiver by SiRF
Display: 4.3 diagonal, 480 x 272 pixels; WQVGA TFT landscape display, with white
back-light and touch screen
Unit dimensions: 4.9 W x 2.9 H x 0.9 D (12.4 x 7.4 x 2.3 cm)
Weight: 6.2 oz. (190 g)
Battery life: 3 to 7 hours
Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling
FM transmitter (U.S., Australia and New Zealand only)
Alerts for traffic, road construction and weather-related tie-ups. nuvi 660 uses data to suggest alternate routes before problems are encountered
Includes Garmin Lock , an anti-theft feature
Voice announces streets by name
Preloaded maps for all of North America or Europe
Fingertip touch-screen interface
Look up addresses and points of interest
Choose 2D or 3D map perspective
Upload custom POIs, including alerts for speed zones and safety cams
Built in Travel Kit includes MP3 player with sample MPs, audio books, picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters, calculator and more
Add optional software such as Travel and Language Guides to personalize nuvi
SD memory card expansion slot
USB interface for loading data