Garmin nuvi 660 for in car

[Beachasaurus]

Im about to purchase Garmins nuvi 660 for in car use. Do any owners have anything to say that might be benificial to a "likely" buyer? Any information is appreciated. I plan on getting it online from compUplus.com for $686 after shipping and a 3 yr extended warranty ($26 which is included in $686), and no tax. Thanks!

[strumble]

UK versions can only insert one via point.

This is restrictive.

[+LeonW]

Got my Nuvi 660 now for 4 months and I can highly recommend it. Just remember that it is a Street navigator and excell in doing that. It is not a Garmin GPS60CSX, as a sportcar is not a Land Rover pickup.

 

Although it can only handle one via-point is does not matter after a while of using, you start to tweak the route using "brainpower"; and always consult a map if you can't afford to be wrong about an intended route.

 

Navigate to the www.Garmap.co.za site for an interesting forum on Street Map navigation and the potential problems.

 

LeonW

[+daiichi]

I own a Nuvi 670, a Tomtom and a Fujitsu Eclipse for in-car navigation... I personally think that the Nuvi is probably the one I like least--although the Nuvi is a fine car navigation system. Tomtom's interface is a lot easier to use and the voices (for calling out directions) are much better. The nuvi has pretty nice applications--but many of those cost extra money to use.

 

you cannot download maps from the Nuvi into Mapsource (so planning trips and creating routes on a PC are more difficulat). This in itself isn't a big deal since tomtom doesn't have an equivalent to Mapsource. But it IS a big deal if you're trying to pre-plan a trip, say, for a vacation. Nuvi can do this (if you keep saying "where to?" and insert the new point into the route), but you've got to finagle it if you're trying to preplan (i.e., the starting point isn't the point where you currently are). I know this sounds like piddly stuff, but you can't imagine how inconvenient it is if you're planning a cross country trip, or worse, a cross country trip on another continent.

 

The things I like about the Nuvi is the hardware. Garmin really got it right: it's small enough, and well-designed enough that it works very well as a hand held after you've arrived at your first stop. If this were the only GPS you were going to buy, this might be enough to overcome the interface advantages of Tomtom. In my case, I just use the Nuvi to drive me there, then use a Rhino or 60csx to get me to a cache. If I'm on travel, I use my phone GPS.

 

But if I had to choose only one in-car navigation system, it'd be the Eclipse... even though it has the WORST interface of the three, and the least number of features. It's just plain sexy (for those who've never seen one, it has a retractible screen that disappears into the dash when you're not using it). It also plays DVD's, CD's and MP3's. However, it isn't something that can ever be used for geocaching. And it cost me over $2500 without installation.

 

If I had to choose between Tomtom and Nuvi, I'd choose the Tomtom. Lucky for me I can have both.

[jonners]

I 'test drove' a Nuvi 350, a Snooper Indago, and a Tom Tom One, and my partner runs Tom Tom on a PDA. Whilst the Nuvi and the Indago might look 'sexier' (obviously a very subjective thing) the Tom Tom is far better at providing the in-car sat nav facility that I'm after.

 

What the Tom Tom allows is very easy armchair route planning (to me the most useful feature). The others are either very poor at this or can't do it. Tom Tom is also very much more customiseable, which I really like. The speaker quality was also much better on the Tom Tom. Re-calculates after changing route were quicker with Tom Tom.

 

People will talk about the increased accuracy of Navteq maps (Nuvi/Indago) over Tele Atlas maps (Tom Tom) but each mapset contains errors and each is more accurate than the other in different places. I think this is a minor issue.

 

In the end I bought a 60CSx because it does both outdoor GPS (excellently) and autorouting (adequately), and I wanted both functions. If I were getting a unit for car use only, it would be the Tom Tom (and I get to borrow that if I really need it!).

[Beachasaurus]

Thank you all for your responses. I have steered away from the more expensive nuvi 660 and am seriously considering the tomtom one or possibly a nuvi 350. I am thinking that the text to speech is less important than i had originally thought, and i have decided that the extra features of the nuvi 660 are not so important either. I have heard that the tomtom maps arent as up to date as they could be and some say they are even inferior (to navteq). Does anyone have any input on this subject? Any other in car gps suggestions? Thanks!

[Maximus XX!V]

Thank you all for your responses. I have steered away from the more expensive nuvi 660 and am seriously considering the tomtom one or possibly a nuvi 350. I am thinking that the text to speech is less important than i had originally thought, and i have decided that the extra features of the nuvi 660 are not so important either. I have heard that the tomtom maps arent as up to date as they could be and some say they are even inferior (to navteq). Does anyone have any input on this subject? Any other in car gps suggestions? Thanks!

 

I own a 60 CSx with Navigator and am considering a GPS for in car travel. when in a new city, it gets tough to watch the screen at every prompt and found your post as I am looking for a GPS with a voice. I am thinking Nuvi 650.

[+geo climber]

Thank you all for your responses. I have steered away from the more expensive nuvi 660 and am seriously considering the tomtom one or possibly a nuvi 350.

 

I just got a Nuvi 350 refurb from an eBay reseller for $308, with 1yr warranty and ver 9 of the mapset. I was considering the 660 also but wanted something less expensive initially to experiment with and determine what features were important. I didn't need the FM transmitter or Bluetooth, but the wider screen might be nice. I'd say buy cheap for your first unit unless you already know with some certainty what your requirements are.

[imaroon]

The Nuvi 660 is an excellent choice, it is rated 3rd on this list of top gps systems

[Maximus XX!V]

The Nuvi 660 is an excellent choice, it is rated 3rd on this list of top gps systems

 

Interesting how the Nuvi dominates that list.

[+Jenischmeni]

I have a Nuvi 200 and it suffices quite adequately for caching (and navigation). No, I'm not planning cross country trips, but it serves my purpose and can be had for $250 (or even cheaper).

 

I use my 60CSX out of the car and the Nuvi in the car. You can download (for free) POI Loader from Garmin and load your waypoints into the Nuvi (I recommend loading them on a card - read the topics about this). I export a .loc file of my GSAK database onto the SD card in the Nuvi and I'm ready to go. You can even set proximity alerts based upon your own preference. The Nuvi will ding if you're within that distance of a cache.

 

Basically, I load the PQ into GSAK, export the database to cachemate - Load on the Palm. Send the database to my 60CSX. Export the database as a gpx/loc file and then use POI Loader to upload it to the Nuvi. It's a bit of an overkill probably, but frequently I'm caching by myself and don't have the luxury of a co-pilot helping to navigate.

 

I totally agree with the poster who said "Buy cheap and decide what you want". That's what I did and I'm not even anxious to spend more for something I'm not missing!

 

Don't you wish there was a way that we could test drive these expensive electronics before we spend our hard earned money for them????

[+kd7ctv]

I have a Garmin IqueM3 that was having issues, so while it went to be fixed or replaced by Garmin I bought a TomTom 510, I am a truck driver and a friend had a TomTom one so I played with his. I liked the 510 though it didn't find a few address to the Walmarts I deliver to. The only thing I didn't like is the routing abilities since you have only a few to chose from. I took it back after a few weeks and picked up the Garmin Nuvi 350. So far I really like this little unit, I have used it for Caching a few times and was successful with it(I was to lazy to get my Etrex out). The function I like the most is that I can tell it what city to look, then instead of going through the catagories I can just spell the name of the place. The unit then offers me anything with that name within about a 150 mile radious of the place I told it to look. So to me thata a huge bonus. Now I just tell it the city and walmart and I am on my way.. Plus you have more control over routing, since you can chose what type of vehicle you are routing for. Ohh and its very slim and fits in my pocket.

[canuck travellers]

Depends upon what you want out of your GPS & price you wish to pay.

If I was starting out again, knowing what I know now I would get a Garmin 2720 (refurbished) or a refurbished 2610. These are the earlier Garmin models prior to Garmin trying to be everything to everyone especially the folks who never read anything on GPS units & want to just plug in the unit & go.

These units can do multi waypoint routing and desktop routing.

They are reasonably priced at $370 for the 2720 & much cheaper for the refurbished 2610.

When we pull our 37 foot Fifth Wheel we put in the Diesel stops, the Campgrounds, the restaurant stops, etc, etc. We do all this on the Computer, check on Google Earth for any uncertainties, google the campgrounds and once satisfied with the complete route save it, name it & download it to the unit & you are all set....takes out most of the uncertainties that you might encounter.

BTW we (sometimes) also use Microsoft Streets & Trips to verify the route if in doubt.

[Maximus XX!V]

Check out the new 7xx series. I was going to buy the 660 but I think I will wait since the 7xx series can store up to 10 routes.