Garmin nüvi 680 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin nüvi 680 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Digital camera Review: Garmin Nuvi 680 GPS
Summary: 5 Stars
I have three hand-held GPSs and two cars with factory installed GPS. The Nuvi 680 beats them all.
Once you get hooked on using a GPS, it becomes indispensible.
I like the 3D cartoon-like display on the Nuvi 680. It is much easier to read at a glance. The 2D displays on the other GPS units cannot display the names of all of the cross roads because there is not enough room on the display and they are written along the road at odd angles. The Nuvi 680 gets around the problem by showing the name of every road as you approach it on the banner bar at the top. That way it does not need to show every minor road, only the major ones. This is a great improvement.
The other features on the Nuvi 680 are: Bluetooth hands-free cell phone (my factory-installed GPS units have this also - a great feature), MP3 ( I have over 300 hours of music recorded on the SD card), JPEG ( I have not used this, and I am not sure this is a safe feature anyway), POI ( These are easier to access on the Nuvi than on other units and are very helpful), and MSN Direct( It displays storm warnings automatically- this was helpful in Chicago while I was there), Sound output on the car's speakers (this is good, but you must select an unused frequency and it is is very hard to find one in large cities. I would like to see Garmin extend the frequency range below the FM band like my car is capable of to get highway messages).
If it was not for the fact that GPS is bundled with many other good features in factory-installed cars, I would opt for the Nuvi 680 as the preferred GPS unit.
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: Garmin Nuvi 680 Personal Review
Summary: 4 Stars
The Nuvi 680 is a great device, surprisingly useful features on the Nuvi 660 platform with the inclusion of the MSN Direct service. Garmin has incorporated these additional features in an easy to use way that does not detract from the overall aesthetics of the operating system.
I have issues with the Bluetooth feature, were it doesn't always notice my cell phone. The MSN direct traffic feature is nice to have, but after the free year is not worth the cost for a membership. Additionally, the MSN function only work when the cable is plugged into the cigarette lighter, why...I have no idea.
Digital camera Review: Garmin Nuvi 680 ROCKS!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros - and lots of them:
Set-up a snap. Tried a TomTom 1st but it froze up from the start. The Nuvi is so easy to use a 'cave-man' could do it! Great display - even in sun. Huge database of points of interest, too! And the MSN Direct for local traffic & weather is great (but only when you're in a major metro area). Updating by computer is also a snap.
Cons:
Only one I've found is that the 'add-on' Entertainment Guide (x-d card) froze the unit. I had to copy the card contents from my computer card-reader to the Nuvi to use it - but that solved the problem. (However, the Savers Guide saved nothing on our 1st two trips).
Digital camera Review: Garmin Nuvi 680 is the best!
Summary: 5 Stars
We researched before we bought and weren't disappointed when we spent the extra money to buy the 680. It is the best. We are dog show people and travel up and down the coast of California, and elsewhere, and are therefore always going to new places. The Garmin tells us where to go, how to get there, how to avoid traffic and where to eat, anything we need to know. It is truly amazing and we don't know how we did without it. We know that we have only begun the learning process as there is so much more. We learn something new everytime we take a trip. I would recommend this product highly.