I'll address what was
my biggest apprehension in going for an ad based, free
traffic program. No issue! The ads are small and not at
all intrusive. My eyes never were pulled in a way that
was a distraction. I can even envision the few occasions
that it might even benefit both the advertiser and the
user. If you think about it ... newspaper, radio,
internet, TV ... advertising is very much a part of our
culture and in this case very tastefully done.
Before further review, good grief ... now I sound like a
sports caster; I should say that I've owned GPS units
forever. Started with laptop programs then I started
buying all of my vehicles with factory GPS. Acura,
Toyota's (two of them) over the years have all been GPS
equipped. I travel a lot for work and it was just more
convenient to own stand alone portable units when I rent
auto's. Magellan and Garmin were my last two portable
units. I'm not a nerd or engineer so I'll give this my
best shot and hope the average Jill and Joe will get
something out of this.
Next, I'll talk about routing and traffic. Garmin (in my
opinion) has always been rock solid in terms of routing.
With this unit they have taken the art to a new level. I
looked at the new TomTom with its smart routing and
almost pulled the trigger on that unit but, with what
happened today I am not one bit sorry with my choice.
This morning I had to make deliveries to a number of
Lowe's Home Improvement stores in the Metro Phoenix, AZ
market. I went to the "Points of interest" icon typed in
Lowe's and after a short wait was rewarded with all of
the Lowe's stores in the area. I touch on each one and
saved it to a sub category I made (Lowe's Metro
Phoenix), gave each their appropriate store number (the
search came complete with address and phone) and then
scheduled my day. From home to the factory first, then
to four stores, then back to the factory. During the day
I had to insert another unscheduled stop. Fantastic! If
I could have asked for any improvement here it would
have been that each way point was somehow shown as I
progressed. It did announce my arrival at each location
complete with what side of the street it would be on; in
the long run I am so happy with the result that I
couldn't bring myself to diminish the 5 star rating.
Also, at each stop when I turned the car off the unit
powered down. When I got back in the car I needed to go
to the "custom routes" icon, where I built my route, and
touch the button to activate my named route. Garmin, if
that could be automatic I would love it ... and maybe
down the road I'll learn something that I don't yet know
and this unit is capable. Honestly, it was so quick and
easy and the routing picked up right where it left off
so not a big deal to me. Traffic probably should have
its own paragraph except it ties into the routing. I
understand that this is dependent on how your town is
covered. Even here in Phoenix only the major highways
are covered. I submit that if you need to travel inner
belts and outer belts as well as the highways in and out
of your towns you will be very pleased. I watched the
traffic icon turn from green to yellow to red and back
again as road conditions changed. The icon showed how
long the delay would be and if you touch it, it shows
where and how far away! Garmin gave me the option to
bypass each delay but when I answered yes with the touch
of the button it reminded me that my route had been
optimized including all other options ... with the delay
it still had me on the quickest route. Because I had
multiple destinations it kept me posted to the delays
even in the opposite directions when my routing would
require back tracking.
There was slow downs along the way and one accident and
I was notified well in advance. With the accident, I
passed the location about 15 minutes after notification.
It was minor and had already been moved to the side of
the highway yet I could see the remnants of broken
head-lights in the lane it happened. I was prepared to
be disappointed with the traffic because not all the
traffic reviews are complimentary. Again, I tend to feel
where you live and the roads you travel could affect
your opinion. For me, I would add extra stars here if I
could. It amazed me when it routed me a different way
from the factory to my house (different from the one I
took in the morning) because the road conditions were
different. It was right on based on years of living and
driving these roads.
The Voice and the timeliness of prompts were strong. I
tried all the voices and ended up with Australian Karen.
She is very understandable in "text to speech" and very
pleasant. Even my wife likes her ... I'd like to meet
Australian Karen someday but she wouldn't give me her
phone number ... like my wife would like her if she did!
With my Magellan I liked the way it would ding just
before the turn. This Garmin announces the turn and the
timing was very comparable to the Magellan and that is a
good thing. Some of the previous Garmin models had
problems in this area if you read the posts. Also,
loudness with the unit on external speaker was OK to
Good, I'd like to see it a touch louder for times when
road noise or blasting AC is an issue. I have not tried
piping it with FM to my radio and probably won't.
On my wish list to Garmin (you think they read these?),
I'd like to see a little more information around the
edges of the screen. You can program the "arrival time"
button for things like altitude, time of day, direction
of travel and many more, but you can't program the
"speed button" for anything. I'd like to see my altitude
... just for giggles, and my ETA. Who needs the time
with clocks in the car & on every cell phone? Who needs
to know how fast you are going with a speedometer in
every car? I would also like to know the street I'm
currently on. Sometimes you can see it depending on how
you are zoomed to the map but sometimes not. I'd also
like to know what direction I'm traveling in without
hitting another button or giving up my ETA or 3d view.
The speed limit of each street is a fantastic thing to
have especially when your in areas you don't know or
rural roads that go for miles without a sign. I can tell
you that when the speed limit changed as I entered
different zones the changes were very accurate in their
timing.
The last thing for today's review is lane guidance. I
went thru some pretty major interchanges today and not
once did I see the Navagon style or Garmin advertised
type of full screen preview. Again, I'll see if there is
a setting I missed or I will just have to live with what
I've got for awhile. I understand that Garmin will be
adding to their data base as they go along. What I did
see though was plenty good. The "distance to turn"
indicator in the upper left corner of the screen listed
with arrows how many lanes to the interchange and which
lanes you should be in. It also listed the lanes not to
be in as you transitioned from one highway ramp onto
another highway. It was good to have advance notice that
the right lane would not continue and you needed to move
left before it got crowded.
I'd say buy this unit and help me find Karen!
I have had no reset issues and use the unit 6 to 8 hours
per day. This is not to say it hasn't been an issue with
others though.
