Garmin n?vi 680 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator by Garmin
|
Our Price: $499.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $149.95 (click here) Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Garmin n?vi 680 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Digital camera Review: Garmin Nuvi 680 Gps Navigator Mp3 Player
Summary: 5 Stars
PROS 1 Good navigation with easy to read screen and virtualy no glare I personaly believe the map graphics are better in this series than the later 700 and up series.
2 Voice prompts at least with The British English voice Prompts are easy to understand and helpful when driving. UPDATES have made this thing better at warning you BEFORE you pass your turn.
3 MP3 player is able to sort music by genere, album, play all or random and sound quality is quite good. Portable so you can walk or bike to your location and use internal speaker or use of headphones. 6 hours of battery life MP3 only no GPS or about 3 1/2 to 4 with GPS on.
4 SD expansion slot will allow you up to a 4 gig HC card expanding it's memory or buying expansions such as language translation cards, Book cards or even Parks & Recreation cards for your local state. Built In POI's like major stores or major parks State or Federal (Nation Wide) able to just insert a city name with out having to pick a physical address and also has others like restraunts and local entertainment choices.
5. On top of all that you are able to use GPS Cordinates to find obscure locations with limited or no roads (you will need a reg map that has gps cordinates) and will get you there with no problems great for those hard to find hiking trails.
6 MSN Traffic cord is nice for finding the cheapest gas prices closet to your location or even checking the local movies. The traffic part is only ok but does help out slightly for picking a route (*** warning don't use the Avoid traffic option though it will re-route you for even a 1 to 5 min delay to surface streets which will usually make you take much more time than if you just stuck to the route you were on. Still will warn you visually and Audiably with that option off so if it's a long delay you can still hit the detour button.
Able to add 1 extra route on your way to your original destination but UNABLE to do multiple routes and seperate them by closet to furthest only a minor grip though.
CONS 1. Will do 4 gig Sd cards even the high capacity even though not advertised the draw back with high capacity cards is that you won't get the advertised 1000 songs you will be able to only do around 870 to 880 anything over that it won't read the songs above that number.
2 No multiple routes as mentioned above only 1 insert point.
3 FM reciever is good depending on how large of a city your in too big Denver Portland Seattle ect you might have trouble getting a clear unclutterd channel but you do have the Plug in option like Ipod or other Mp3 players have your stereo just needs the 2.5mm jack.
4. Does not allways take you the quickest route but it does allways get you there though.
5. If your not updating your maps every 2 years or so newer roads done in the past 3 years will not be on your unit but garmin is getting quicker at keeping their map upgrades more up to date.
Highly reccomend much better than TOM TOM or Megelan or a lap top in your car.
Digital camera Review: Dangerous to use on roads
Summary: 2 Stars
Garmin 680 is just dangerous to use.
1. For strange reason, Garmin decided not to give any intruction about the next turn until 0.7 mile ahead. WHY? Why not 2 or 3 miles ahead so I have enough time to get to the best lane? 0.7 is for 60mph speed. For lower speeds it is 0.2.
2. There is no large left/right turn sign on the screen like on most GPS devices. You have to look at the map and your route to figure out the next maneuver. Again, the next maneuver is not clear, you have to figure it out.
3. You can see text like "Southeast on ramp" which are totally useless becuase there is no compass/heading in the routing mode.
4. Instruction at the top switches from current street to some general directions to the next maneuver. It is confusing to find which is which. What is the purpose of it?
5. There are some errors like a) the small turn map disappears after the turn, it should show the next turn, b) map doesn't center on your car position etc.
6. Close to 0 (zero) ability to customize the unit for your preferences.
Digital camera Review: It's OK
Summary: 3 Stars
I feel it's a little too slow and also take me to the wired direction... The calculation system hang pretty often... take more than 2minutes to search the places... but I'm doing fine with it just take longer time to deal with it.
Digital camera Review: Mediocre Routing, Map Updates A Nightmare
Summary: 2 Stars
Garmin n?vi 680 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
I can't really mention any positives of this GPS over others. With my experience, routing on this unit (at least in Portland, OR,) is inferior to TomTom products. It frequently chooses routes that will get you to your destination, but they are usually the slowest way to get there. I wouldn't recommend getting the MSN Direct service for traffic. It only works on the Interstates, and if you choose to avoid the traffic, the result is usually slower than if you would've stayed in traffic. I will say, however, that the "lowest gas prices" feature works well.
This unit will need a map update. A new map update takes approximately one hour to download on a fast broadband connection. The file then takes about another hour to open. Personally, I came across a "file corrupt" error upon trying 3 different browsers and re-downloading the file. The hold for tech support was approximately 2 hours (including being transferred once.) They were not able to resolve the issue, but were able to refund the purchase price ($80) of the map update after being pressed. To me, this makes the GPS unusable.
I would highly recommend going with a TomTom unit instead, or at the very least, going with a newer Garmin unit, with the expectation that the maps will be outdated in 1-3 years.
Digital camera Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been using a Mio C220 for almost two years now and it is a piece of junk compared to the Garmin 680. My unit came with 2008 maps even though 2009 maps are avalible. Once I registered it I could download 2009's maps. You must register it within 60 days of your first sattelite acquisition. If you don't get the prompt for your free map update then just call Garmin. You can forward them your order invoice and then they will set it up for you.