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March 3, 2009

Garmin Announces New nuvi 1200 and 1300 Series. Thinner, Cheaper, & Pedestrian-Friendly

Garmin nuvi 1300 - Enhanced Pedestrian Mode

How do you keep selling GPS devices in a the midst of a crumbling global economy? You take a great product, make it thinner, cheaper, and pack it with full of features. Meet the Garmin nuvi 1200 and 1300 series.

The nuvi 1200 (3.5" touchscreen) and 1300 series (4.3" touchscreen) feature a new, thinner design (approximately 25% thinner than previous nuvis), and offer advanced features like text-to-speech, free lifetime traffic and lane assist at an affordable price. All the 1200 and 1300 models also feature a new "Enhanced Pedestrian Mode", and something called "Public Transit Mode". Read on for all the details and pricing information.

Garmin nuvi 1300 - Enhanced Pedestrian Mode

Announced at CeBIT in Germany this morning, the new nuvi 1200 and 1300 series are the first nuvi devices to offer enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities. Enabled through Garmin's new CityXplorer, an optional download that provides location and destination information for select tourist destinations in North America and Europe, CityXplorer varies in cost ($9.99 - $14.99 depending on the city) and provides bus, train and/or metro train routing options and times, as well as distances associated with them.

There are a total of 8 new models. Here's how the features and pricing breaks down:

  1300 1350 1350T 1370T 1390T 1200 1250 1260T
Screen 4.3" 4.3" 4.3" 4.3" 4.3" 3.5" 3.5" 3.5"
Maps Lower 48 States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico North America North America North America + Europe North America Lower 48 States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico North America North America
Free Lifetime Traffic No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Lane Assist No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Junction View No No No No Yes No No No
Text-To-Speech Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Enhanced Pedestrian Mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Public Transit Mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ecoRoute Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bluetooth No No No Yes Yes No No Yes
Price $249 $299 $349 $449 $399 $199 $249 $299

Garmin nuvi 1390 - Map Screen

All 8 new models are expected to be available in the second half of 2009. GPSmagazine.com will be posting in-depth reviews soon.