Thanks as always for a wonderful review.

Two questions:

(1) You say with the nuvi 680 that "you can have multiple stops on a route, but the nuvi cannot tell you the most efficient order for the stops". Is this a new feature, then, that the 660 lacks? My understanding of the 660 was that you could have one stop only on a route.

(2) About traffic: Something I read elsewhere (at gpspassion) suggested that with the new 3.20 software, the nuvi 660 was also reporting how long a delay would be due to a traffic event. Have you tested the 660 with the 3.20 upgrade? Was that other report accurate, and if so does that make the traffic reports on the 660 even better than on the 680?

But the same report said that the colors (yellow/green/red) indicating delays no longer showed up on the road map. Your screenshot on the 680 did show colors. Again, if you have tested the 660 with the 3.20 software, is the other report accurate and any idea why they removed the colors from the 660 while leaving them on the 680?

Thanks again!

Fletch

Nicely done! You are doing Garmin's work!

Fletch, I was still wondering about that issue with the 680 and multiple stops per route. Is that really the case? Garmin has been saying that the 660 and 680 are essentially identical except for the MSN receiver. Is it a case of updated firmware, perhaps, that the 660 will also get some day?

Great review, and it convinced me NOT to wait for the 680 and buy a 660, which I used over a massive 700 mile roadtrip over the last weekend!

My 660 runs 3.20 (updated it the night before I left for the trip)

I can try to answer a couple of David's questions ...
1. The 660 ALSO lacks multi-waypoint or multi-via routing. Attempting to enter a second via point makes that NEW via point your ONLY destination, blowing away the via and previous destination. Bug?
2. Indeed - the colros (G, Y, R) still show up on the 660 with FM traffic, and minutes/delay prognosis also appears (think - it was a weekend, and I doub the delays I ran into were long enough - I will double check over the next few days)

The 660 under $700 is easily the best value! For now (like he posted, until the 680 drops to 799 ... I say until it costs within $25-50 more than the 660's then-current price!)

Fletch,

Unfortunately you again missed the mark with your review of the newest Nuvi! As stated above, you ARE doing Garmin's work for them, but they haven't earned the assistance yet.

I have mentioned in a few other places on your site the woefully poor routing engine that the Nuvi 660 (and apparently now the 680) possess by comparison to an old standard that you yourself once considered the GPS by which all others were compared ... the venerable Magellan Roadmate 700.

You do readers a major disservice when you recommend a product that has a lousy routing engine. It is clear to me that you are biased toward the Nuvi series by the fact that you don't post routing comparisons with previous "Best of the best" standards, but rather use other lesser products like the TomTom and Yahoo routing products.

Now, readers might assume that I am pro-Magellan and anti Garmin, but the fact is that I own(ed) products by both companies that I was/am very pleased with, so there is no bias ... just an honest assessment of capability.

In this case, as I mentioned elsewhere, the Nuvi routing engine not only constantly chose routes that were far from the best, but in some cases attempted to send me back to it's "chosen" route up to FORTY MILES past the point of no return (where another route was obviously better and faster).

Even several unknown GPS brands I'd tried did a superior job routing over the Nuvi. Combine that with the fact that the Nuvi 660 (and presumably it's near twin, the 680) consistently FAILED to find many long established truckstops and other major POI's along several interstate routes I tested it on, and you quickly arrive at the conclusion that Garmin has some serious homework to do before the Nuvi's are "ready for primetime."

For those and other reasons, I am going back to the undisputed leader in car GPS's ... Magellan. Their routing system on the old Roadmates simply blow away Garmins current system, and assuming Magellan hasn't screwed up and abandoned it there's no reason to expect that their new line is significantly different, although I will admit I have not yet had the chance to evaluate one of the newer models.

If Garmin could get their routing and POI system up to par, I'd re-buy a 660 in a heartbeat, as I loved the bright wide screen, the bluetooth operation in conjunction with the FM transmitter, and the overall design of the unit.

However, I must reiterate that THE most important reason to purchase a GPS is for navigation, and the Nuvi's just don't navigate very well...

Regards,

Well, The Nuvi 680's are now available and I brought mine home today.
The extra cost hurt a little but I'll give the MSN a year and see how it serves me. I plugged the unit in at the store and was amazed as it mapped me home. I can see I'll get a lot of use out of this device. I just want to say Thank You! for the great information I gained from your website, It was the most complete I could find on the web.

Thank you, Schumann! I had just decided last week that I couldn't wait, so I did get the 660. We shall see if I like it or not. If the Magellan 4050 were already available I would have had to check how it compared, but I've got a big roadtrip coming up and wanted one sooner than May.

I purchased my 680 on Saturday and have been very pleased with it. It is very quick to re-calculate my trip if I pass up a highway exit it told me to use. I can't wait to take my big road trip this summer, this will make it extremely easy to visit California and not be afraid of getting lost.

I just received my 680 but the AC Charger did not come with the US plug adapter for it. Is this a mistake or does Garmin actually ship this without it?

Keith - this must be a mistake. The US version ships with the correct AC adapter. You should exchange it.
--FLETCH

Fletch,

I note that you appear to use the Garmin devices in NYC. Do you ever have problems with connecting to the satellite on Manhattan streets? I am having a tough time getting a signal in some areas of the city near midtown especially. Just bought the 680 but if I cannot get a signal then the traffic avoidance feature is not much help!

I purchased the 680 at Best Buy becuase they had it mis marked at $899 instead of $999 and I had a 12% off coupon as well so it cost me $791.00. I purchased as 4 year extended warranty for $90... If anyone has an opinion on this I still have time to cancel it.

The 680 has worked very well. However as someone above has pointed out, the navigation sometimes wanted to take me home in a most ridiculous manner. I wish there was a command that would allow the system to take the highway until the point of no return. I had to cinually pass exits and the unit had to recaculate many times becuase it wanted to take me home a differnt way which would have taken me longr to get home. The MSN in my area is little weak. I sopke with MSN and they said they are trying to add additional radio frequencies to we'll see.

I still have one week to return the 680 and get the 660 but I'll loose the great price I paid for it.

It still gets you where you need to be and then back home. The MSN is really nice, but they need better coverage. I still don't know how it will do with traffic (which is very important to me) verses the 660. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Question is do i need the warranty for $90.00? Would you return it and get the 660 and loose the $100.00 savings?

Ira - that's a good price for the 680. I'd keep the 680, but skip on the in-store warranty. Those are generally not worth it.
--Fletch

I just picked up my 680 and I have been very impressed with it. I'm not sure how it compares to other GPS' since it is my first but it has been shaving precious minutes off my regular routes already.
One feature I am having a problem with is the FM transmitter, I can't get my stereo either at home or in the car to pick up the 680 on any of the frequencies I have tried, I am about ready to get it replaced if support can't help.

Great review by the way, it sealed my decision to purchase it. I have a feeling the MSN direct service is the next big thing for GPS devices and if they do things right it will just keep expanding with both service and features.

I think the photo viewer may actually be useful if you have something like a schedule or metro map. I would find it helpful at times to have a map showing non traffic detail and being able to easily call it up and pan and zoom to my area of interest, E.G. finding trail heads in a park or discussing the ski runs of various resorts.

I am curious about the book player. Can it play MP3 books as well as audible books? This may seem like a minor point but the audible players ability to place a bookmark is very nice! There is an enormous quantity of MP3 audiobooks available and it would be a shame if there were no way to play them other than as music and then lose your place every time you turn off the GPS. The ability to bookmark my MP3 books would truly sell me on the 680.
Thanks and I loved your review.
Lauren

The Saversguide to me has some value. To anyone who has ever bought one of those big coupon books from Entertainment Inc, this is the electronic equivalent. Three or four half off or free meals will pay for the Saversguide.

The saversguide solves the biggest problem of the coupon book - you are out and about and want to find a place to eat that is in the coupon book. What a pain to leaf through a 2" book trying to find a restaurant near your location! With the saversguide, you know what is near you.

One problem with the MSN Direct fuel prices is that they do not list prices for Diesel. Some of us do drive diesel vehicles. :(

In response to Ira's post a page ago, that was me who posted about the Nuvi's very poor routing engine and POI database. Despite the fact that many other brands use the exact same database (and in some cases even older versions) with no major problems, Garmin seems unable to route well. Fletch even admits that the Nuvi series consistently projects "time to arrival" much sooner than the time it will actually take. How much these shortcomings will affect you seems to be tied at least partially to where you do most of your navigation. Where I am (Chicago and midwest area) Garmin's routing engine falls way short of acceptable. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- it doesn't matter how many great features a GPS has if it doesn't navigate well ... that's what we're buying these devices for, primarily ... right?

Regarding extended warranties, I've found that they are worthwhile when purchased for devices with many intricate moving parts, such as videocameras. For solid state devices like GPS's there's generally little that will go wrong, so I would discount the need for an extended warranty.

Regards,

I've just ordered my Nuvi 680 from Metro Power Tools for $780 + shipping/taxes. ($862 total) I'm looking forward to trying it out. The question I have is does the routing engine issues appear to be a software issue that Garmin can update/improve via a software release or is it a hardware issue within the unit. Someone had stated the data was the same on this and other GPS units, but this unit reacted to the data differently. Also, if the routing engine was sped up to respond faster and as accurately as the nearest competitor, Steve/RBB would you recommend this GPS?

Bruce,

It's true that Garmin could (and should) update its routing engine software, and that IF it did you could benefit from a downloadable software update. However, I am rather skeptical that they actually WILL do this anytime soon. You would think that they would have already corrected things like the inaccurate "time to destination" problem ... the Nuvi series has been out for some time now, yet no fixes out for these problems. As for the POI (point of interest) database, It escapes me how the Nuvis could fail to bring up even some very major POI's on the interstate I tested it on (I94 between Chicago and Minneapolis) ... these POIs have been there for many many years and my old Magellan Roadmate 700 found them easily using the databases available over five years ago. Garmin uses the same company's files, yet CHOOSES not to make them available in their products -- why?

Keep in mind that the Nuvi I tested was the top-of-the-line 660, so it wasn't a question of limited database space for either the POI's or routing info. For me, the biggest frustration was the fact that the routing engine tried waaaay beyond what was appropriate to route me back to its chosen path instead of accepting that I was going a different way.

On my way back from Minneapolis, for example, I could have taken either I94 or I90 to get back home with a trip difference of about 4 miles or so but a chance to avoid many additional tolls on I90. My old Magellan used to quickly accept that I was taking the slightly longer route, and would almost immediately re-route my trip to include that choice (on the fly). The Nuvi 660 tried for almost 40 MILES to force me off the interstate and back to the other interstate. If the routing engine gave me the ability to choose "Most use of freeways" (which Magellan systems do) this wouldn't have been a problem, but even without that option the Nuvi should have given up within 5 to 10 miles ... it didn't.

Bottom line: If Garmin corrected these major flaws the Nuvi would have no rival ... it's feature set, screen, and form factor are second to none, but all that is worthless if it doesn't navigate and find POI's well.

I hope this is helpful to you. I am currently waiting for the newest Magellans (Maestro series) to be released. If they somehow fail to deliver on Magellan's fine reputation I will break down and buy another older Roadmate and live without all the newer features I'd like to have. I'm cautiously optimistic that the Maestro series will be a winner!

Regards,

GPS Magazine's review of the nuvi 680 was very informative, but left me confused over traffic data coverage. The review says that the nuvi 660 has greater coverage than the nuvi 680, but Garmin's website indicates the opposite is true. I called Garmin and they told me that the nuvi 680 with MSN Direct has greater coverage than the nuvi 660 with ClearChannel TMC. Because of this, I think I'm going to buy the 680.

Steve,

I also ordered a Nuvi 680 from Metro Power Tools for $780 + shipping/taxes $862 total, but since I live close to them, I was going to pick it up in person. No shipping.

I talked to customer service and he said they would have it in 3 or 4 days. Well, when I called on the 4th day, a different person in customer service answered, and she said that all of the orders had been canceled because of "supplier problems." They couldn't reliably give them a delivery date. Hmmm..... Nice of Metro NOT to give me a call to tell me this. She told me to go to PriceGrabber.com and see what I could find there. (Lot's of time had been spent prior doing research on this. I almost got a 660, 4 months ago, but decided to wait for the release of the 680.)

After searching all over the Internet, plus eBay, (too much of a risk of getting a "good deal" on one that may have been reported stolen.... Garmin will not support one of these units. I checked...) I finally decided to Hell with it all, and went to Best Buy and paid the full $999.00 plus tax, and also bought the large weighted mount for it and external antenna. I just got tired of waiting and looking for the best deal. I've needed one of these for a long time....

This is all deductible thankfully, and I'm happy that I've taken the plunge. Living in Los Angeles, traffic nightmare central, I'm enjoying the "rerouting around accidents" feature, and it's working well for me.

So far I've been very pleased, and looking forward to a one way trip from Kansas City, back home to Los Angeles in April. I hope you have the same experience that I've had.

Denny

I upgraded from my Nuvi 660 to the 680,

The MSN service has live telephone support! one great advantage over Total Traffic Network from Clear Channel. Who never respond to my email questions or suggestions.

The issues with MSN service that I have noted in the 24 hours that I have been using the 680 in Los Angeles are, 1. The Movie listings seem to think that I am in another City, so I cant see the local movie listings. #2 The fuel prices mostly say unknown for the name of the service station and they do not list DIESEL prices!

I have found good reception with MSN for traffic information along PCH and no reception with Clear Channel.

THe 660 union with MSN has just begun so I will give them some time to see how well they do at corecting the glitches, Overall I have been very pleased with my 660 and I hope that the 680 with MSN will be even better.

Doug

Fletch-
I just purchased the 680 over Amazon (DigitechDeals) for $769 plus $11 shipping. I haven't received it yet, but I'm certain that I'll love it after reading your review and everyone's posts.

Brad

I just purchased the Garmin Nuvi 680 for 699.99 from a Garmin Authorized Dealer.
This review was very good. Almost as good as the manual!!
Thank you for much and Kudos on a Job well done!

"Thank you very much and Kudos on a job well done!", is what I meant in my post above.

Sorry for making your brains hurt.

Can the 680 use Total Traffic Network as well or in addition to MSN's Traffic?

This is a great review, thank you so much!

I just got the Garmin nuvi 680 after my magellan 760 stopped working. Maggie (my name for the magellan) just couldn't hear the satellite anymore.

We had the 4-year warranty from Best buy, and since we were less than 2 years in, I just got the most expensive model that Best Buy had for sale that day. I didn't have to pay for it, since the Magellan 760 was no longer made.

I haven't actually tried the Nuvi yet. i've been working to get it set up before I install it in the company van.

Here's my question:
how can I organize my favorites? I have a set of about 100 addresses that i need to visit as my job here, and I want to store them alphabetically.

The Magellan alphabetized them for me. But this Nuvi merely accepts them as entered. Does this mean I must enter them all alphabetically? Is there some software that could do this for me?

I suspect the POI software is not meant for this application.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

-Murphy

I have been doing a lot of research on which GPS to buy and have just about settled on the Garman 680. I found a price of $695 at Best Buy pcs.com but have never used this source to purchase anything. Does anyone have here have any experience with purchasing online from them?

Thanks for the great info on the Garman.

David

I just purchased the 680 from Abe's of Maine.com for $674.99/ free shipping and $69 3 years extended warranty through RepairTech. I dont usually trust those online stores that you would get from Nextag or shopzilla, etc. Furthermore, these extreme low prices makes me wonder if they are refurbs or something. However, these guys assured me that it is brand new. Also, i always look for telephone numbers and call them up to see how the cust. service is. If the cust. service is terrible, I wont even waste my time and pay a bit more with a piece of mind. Plus, Abe's of Maine offer a 14 day refund or exchange with no questions asked and no restocking fee as far as i know. So i'll see how the Nuvi 680 works out. Thanks for the great review. Sev T.

My pet peeves about the Nuvi 680, which I've had for about 2 weeks:

Their map information is terribly incorrect. When on the Interstate and in View Map mode, it brings up the exit information (on the top of the screen) about 2 miles after I've already passed the exit. Also, here in Texas, we have different names for roads, like Farm-to-Market, and Ranch Roads. The Nuvi shows all these as "Highways", which creates duplicates when searching (Farm-to-Market 75 is NOT the same as Highway 75).

No POIs on the screen as you drive. I like this feature on the Magellans. If I see something interesting as I drive, I like to have the capability to click on it and find out about it. Additionally, the POIs on the Magellans give you more information (county, state and zip). Also while panning the map, you could click on a spot (not necessarily a POI but like a river or street) and get this advanced information.

The map size keeps changing. If I set the map to 800 feet or 0.2 miles, next time I look up it might be at 0.8 miles or 2.0 miles. Then I have to touch the map and change it back to my desired view. This is annoying!

MSN Direct does not give you any detail with regards to traffic incidents. A one-lane incident is much different that a complete freeway blockage - however MSN direct treats these the same. I would like a bit more info on these traffic incidents.

All that being said, the Nuvi has many good points. Great customer service, design, and portability to name a few. However, for $1000 I expect much more from Garmin. Magellan's mapping is FAR superior to Garmin's. I will probably return to Magellan just on this opinion alone.

I recently replaced my Street Pilot III with a Nuvi 680. Even though streetnames and addresses are available on their maps, neither will accept their input. It is necessary to "zoom" and "drag" to find these addresses and then enter them into the "waypoints" or "favorites". Some of the most traveled members of our society are military active duty, reserve, guard and retired members.
Bob

Nuvi 680 is selling now for about $650. search google for nuvi 680... at these prices it's a great deal...

http://www.tristatecamera.com/lookat.php?refid=7&sku=GARN680

Am I correct that if you have the Nuvi 680 set up to use its FM transmitter to broadcast through your FM radio using an FM station that is one with just static that you are then unable to use your radio (FM or AM) or CD player to listen to anything and the only thing you can listen to is what you may have stored on the 680 itself such as MP3s or books you've downloaded? Wow, that sentence was long!

If I'm correct then isn't that particular feature sort of useless for most of us who like to listen to all kinds of stuff as we drive? If you could listen to whatever you wanted on the radio or CD and then when there was a phone call coming in or the unit needed to give you instructions on your route it would still be able to mute your radio and automatically have the message come in via the car speakers that would be great. Otherwise, it's sort of got you restricted to using the speakers only if using the MP3, etc, right? However, am I missing something? Thanks. Great review BTW!

Rob

I have used a NUVI 350 now for about 2 years. I am about to upgrade to a 680.

Here are a few things Garmin could address:

1. Provide a coiled connector instead of a long and "always in the way" straight cable for the cigarette lighter adaptor.

2. Provide a carrying case for the mount and the gps unit. (I fly a lot and have actually damaged my adapter in a bulging bag. (My mistake, but thanks to Garmin, they replaced it for free.)

3. Once the unit located my vehicle about 500 feet off the highway I was on and repeatedly re calculating to get back to the highway! Turning it off and on did not help. (I also recalibrated, went back to default set up, etc.) It corrected itsel in the evening on my return from the location I had to be. (I had to find the place the old fashion way and I was TERRIFIED in an unknown city) Garmin never replied with an explanation.

I got nuvi 680 about a month ago. It works very nice and the details mentioned by in this page were extremely useful.

However after one month of usage, I see some lcd liquid (colored) in the middle of the screen below the lcd. Is this normal? Can some of you guys put your GPS off and see it in extra white fluorescent tube light at an angle to figure it out if you also experience the same. This liquid keeps on displacing as I touch some other part of screen. I just want to make sure if this is normal or if mine is a defective unit. Its tough to see it in a typical light bulb. You need white fluorescent light

Thanks,

I too would like to know the answer to Rob's questions below. If I use the FM transmitter for the Nuvi so that it transmits to an FM station that is inactive or with a weak signal so that I can hear the Nuvi through my car's stereo speakers, does that mean that I can not listen to an AM sports or news station at the same time during my commute?

Rob:
Am I correct that if you have the Nuvi 680 set up to use its FM transmitter to broadcast through your FM radio using an FM station that is one with just static that you are then unable to use your radio (FM or AM) or CD player to listen to anything and the only thing you can listen to is what you may have stored on the 680 itself such as MP3s or books you've downloaded? Wow, that sentence was long!

If I'm correct then isn't that particular feature sort of useless for most of us who like to listen to all kinds of stuff as we drive? If you could listen to whatever you wanted on the radio or CD and then when there was a phone call coming in or the unit needed to give you instructions on your route it would still be able to mute your radio and automatically have the message come in via the car speakers that would be great. Otherwise, it's sort of got you restricted to using the speakers only if using the MP3, etc, right? However, am I missing something? Thanks. Great review BTW!

Rob

Posted by Rob | June 16, 2007 10:23 AM

Posted on June 16, 2007 10:23

If you use the nuvi 660's FM transmitter to broadcast the GPS' audio to your car's stereo system, you CANNOT listen to another radio station/CD/MP3/AM at the same time. The reason? How would this work? As far as the car's stereo knows, you're listening to an FM radio station.

The thing to do is use an SD memory card, fill it with music/audiobooks and use the nuvi like an iPod. If you're playing music via the Nuvi's music player and using the FM transmitter, the nuvi will pause the music when it announces maneuvers and then resume after the instruction.

It looks like only the TomTom got you to the correct address. Is that right? The Garmins took you to a close address, but NOT the right one. My Nuvi 350 did that a lot. Thanks!

There's no doubt the Nuvi 680 is a fantastic system in just about every respect. I love mine. But there are two issues with Garmin units that I don't hear anyone addressing, and both these things drive me crazy. Surely I'm not the only one...

First, how many more years are we going to have wait before the fine folks at Garmin wake up and realize that we use QWERTY keyboards every day of our lives, not ABC keyboards?! I find it absolutely unbelievable that even the stellar new 680 with all its advanced features still does not off the choice of a QWERTY keyboard! Try as I may, I cannot get used to typing on that dang ABC keyboard. If PC manufacturers only offered ABC keyboards with their PC's, I wonder how many they'd sell. Come on, Garmin, get a clue!

Secondly, in all the reviews I've read about the 660/680 units, I haven't read one word about how the text-to-speech voices even on these great models still sound like the robot from Lost in Space. Why is it that my old TomTom 910 has the most amazingly realistic TTS speech I've ever heard on any GPS unit, but Garmin hasn't improved theirs at all? I almost returned my 680 just for this reason! It is so inferior to the 910 in this one category alone.

If these two issues were things we rarely had to deal with in using the device, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But using the on-screen keyboard and listening to the voice instructions are the two MAIN ways we interact with a GPS device, so they really are glaring issues for me.

If Garmin would improve these two things, the 680 would be so much better!

Why are there no reviews for the Mio DigiWalker C220 or any Mio reviews here?

I'm very interested in the FM transmitter and how it uses the car speakers for bluetooth functions. My question is, how does it work? How do you hook it up so that it uses the car stereo? I'm confused on that point and didn't find anything in the online manual. I'd like to buy a GPS soon and have narrowed it down the the Magellan 1340, the Garmin c550 and the 680. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/nuvi680_OwnersManual.pdf

Page 29

There is no physical hookup between the nuvi and the car radio.

It doesn't matter if the audio output is the nuvi giving you directions, or if you are using your cell phone via Bluetooth - if you select "FM Transmitter" for your audio output, it will broadcast directions or your phone call audio to your car radio on the selected frequency.

There is an interesting warning in the manual - if close vehicles are tuned to the same frequency, your nuvi audio output *may* be heard by them as well... So, be careful who you are talking to and what you are talking about while using your cell phone via Bluetooth!!!

The "FMS Transmitter" function is useless around any major city. Unless you can find an FM frequency that is completely clear, the feature will not work. FM congestion in all large cities and I would guess even medium/small ones renders this feature unusable. I talked to Garmin support and they admitted this is true.

All the discussions may be true regarding the FM transmitter, but the unit does have a headphone jack that can be used for a direct connection to your car stereo through several ways. Most newer car radios have a direct jack (usually called an iPod jack, MP3 jack, or an auxilliary jack) that can be connected straight to the headphone jack on the Nuvi using one very inexpensive wire. Some vehicles (especially those with a DVD entertainment system) have red/white/yellow input jacks that will accept a headphone jack to RCA jack cable connection. And many older vehicles have a cassette player that can be used with a headphone jack to cassette adapter.

This allows for crystal clear audio of the navigation system, MP3 player, and BlueTooth functions to come through your entire car stereo. This is how I have it set up, and it works great.

I can be driving along jamming to some MP3s, and the unit will pause the music to announce upcoming directions. In the event that a call is made or comes in, the unit will pause the music and silence the guide voice during the call. As soon as I hang up, it's back to cruising with tunes. And all without any static or interference.

I took my 680 on a 4000 mi trip from Minneapolis to Jasper Canada and back in August. Its my first GPS so once I got over how much fun it is to use these things I have a couple of complaints about this unit. First of all it is frequently impossible to get an open frequency on fm. Even if you find one you have to turn up the radio volume and get lots of constant static and electrical buzzing, etc etc. Around big cities like Calgary there aren't even any open frequencies. Secondly, the inability to input multi waypoints is a huge huge drawback on a long trip. If you want to take a different route because its more scenic lets say, or in our case to avoid several forest fires and related smoke you have to have lots of paper maps along and set one waypoint, wait till you get there then set the next one, etc etc. A total pain in the as* when you have to constantly study the map and find the next waypoint so the unit doesn't automatically send you to a freeway or some other nonpreferred route. Also, if you haven't put in a new waypoint the unit will constantly try to bring you back to the route it wants to take. It will do this for a hundred miles if you let it. I wouldn't buy this unit again. I would wait for the new 700 series with multi point destination input. That's how important I think this feature is.

I've been using the 680 for about 5 months now. MSN Direct is a major problem for these units. It barely works in the NY area, to the point that Garmin sent me a GTM 20 to replace my MSN Direct plug. The TTN traffic works fine now, but there is still no information out there about the horrible non-performance of MSN in several supposedly covered cities. It is discussed on some message boards, but Garmin should really start posting disclaimers about MSN service.

Also, the NUVI is a fine piece of equipments, but do keep in mind what it does NOT have. Namely: saving routes, custom avoidances (telling it which roads/areas to avoid), multiple waypoints.

With MSN Direct switching to Inrix, which is the same traffic provider as TTN, there is every reason to purchase the 660 over the 680.

Is this review available in printable format?

One of the many features that stand out with this GPS unit is that it is capable of MSN Direct. In covered areas, the service includes weather, traffic information and movie times for the user. In matter of time I predict these features will be standard and expected in all units.

Garmin Nuvi 680 Review: http://www.bestnewreview.com/polls.aspx?poll=179&partner=0&Desc=Garmin-Nuvi-680-Review

Nice unit, just got one...but the MSN Direct NEVER shows more than one bar and when I press it it says that it doesn't have a signal...well, I've never seen it have a signal...yet evidently it IS getting one, because there will be info on traffic and weather...so what's the deal? Am I getting info and its just not up to date? Or is it getting more info than I think, and just not telling me that it actually has a signal?

Does the 680 have the auto map scaling feature?

Hi Fletch,
Great review. I love all of your reviews and your pictures. I was just wondering which Garmin is better: the nuvi 660 or the nuvi 680? I like the text-to-speech and Bluetooth and the MSN Direct on the 680 but I want to know which one is more useful and more reliable. I live in a small town so I don't know if the MSN Direct will be helpful but it says that my area is covered by MSN Direct. What do you think? By the way, I don't do a lot of traveling, maybe once in a while.

I recently purchased both the 660 (for $399 at BB) and the 680 (for $499 at Staples) during Blk Frday sales (with the intent of returning one). Since I live in the NY Metro area, the comment by Gregg convinced me to keep the 660 and save the $100.
Thanks.

I purchased the megellan 4250 from Cost Co for $399 and took it back when they lowered the price to $349 a week later. I then noticed the Garmin 680 for $479 so I bought that instead. The Megellan routed and found POIs much better than the Garmin. Just today I was in the parking lot of my local post office (10 year old) and asked it to find the nearest post office and it gave me one 2.2 miles away. No matter what I tried it would nto give me the one I was in front of. I also got off the freeway to my office to take an alternative route my office due to traffic (it didn't warn me of the traffic). It kept directing me back to the freeway even though the route I was on was much closer and quicker. Even when I arrived at my destination it was still tryin to direct me back to the freeway about 1/2 mile away.

The jury is still out on whether or not I will keep the Garmin or return it for the Megellan. So far the mapping of the the Megellan appears to be superior and after all isn't that why you buy a GPS?

Great review.

I have done 2, the last was done with photos of the Garmin in action on our trip this fall to Hawaii.

We will not vacation again without it!!!!! It was like having a tour guide the whole trip.

You can check out the photos here:

http://realworldsa.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/garminnuvi670680withmsndirectreviewii.htm

how do you charge the battery?

I just purchased the 680 at Costco for $399, marked down from $479. This unit is a steal for this price.

I also picked up Nuvi 680 from Costco this saturday for $399. I was going to get 760, but at that price, I could not passup 680. Everything works well. Had Magellan 4250, had to return it due to software bugs.

I just purchased the 680 at Costco for $399 on 03-01-08 Total With Tax $430 I recomended is amazing GPS

I have the Nvi 680 and cannot get the bluetooth to work with my blackberry for longer than 2 minutes. Also, MSN adapter does not charge the 680, is that right? Do I have to buy a separate adapter charger for the car?

All the information above is very informative. I just purchased my 680 from Costco yesterday for $399.99 plus tax. Seems like they have the lowest price.Can't wait to start using it.

I purchased Garmin nuvi 680 gps from online retailer and have been using for two days. The big screen looks so good. The nice thing about Garmin Nuvi 680 is that one can read the information from a distance. Before this I had Magellan 4250 and Navigon 7100 which I had to return it back. I wished Garmin gives POI on the screen. The bluetooth telephone took all the addresses from the telephone. Thats a nice feature.

Garmin 660 to 680 Scam

What the hell is going on ? When Garmin decided to not offer the update free on my 660, doing the math I figured that I should take the restocking hit of $59, buy a 680 for the listed $300. I needed to pay the (worthless) traffic subscription of $60 – but with the 680 I would have better coverage here in the Philly area and break even – or so I thought…

While I admit that the real-time traffic has been totally worthless, I travel for a living and hoped that it could save me eventually. With the 680 it relies on sensors and (hopefully) takes the hour lag time out, excluding human involvement.

I bought one online last week from 86th Street Photo & Video, a few days later they send me an email saying that there is a problem with my order. The sales person alerted me to the fact that I did not add any necessary accessories. Trying to interrupt him, I already have a 1 gig simm, but did not even need or use it. He told blatant lies – that you could not upgrade the maps or firmware or even store poi’s with the 680. WOW. He then mentioned that without their simm card, you would need to send your unit to Garmin to update and it would take months to get back. I could not believe what I was hearing. Finally I just said just the unit – he then went on and on about the extended warranty. No – just the dam unit. He then was going to hook me up with an awesome deal – a 2 gig simm for only $99. WOW I told him that I only wanted the unit – he said OK – a minute later I check my email and they backordered the unit… Too late – I check their reviews and of course mostly bad…. Stupid me….

I then order from Techon good reviews – SAME Thing – well not as bad but very close.

86th just lowered their price to $285 and they claim to have the unit in stock – I guess that they hook some unknowledgeable buyers and rape em. Very sad…

Now I am not sure what I can get a 680 for ?

My third attempt went fine.
Bought from Buydig for $360, ordered on Monday - shipped on Tues and received on Wed. awesome.
Now I just wait for my credit card bill and I am sure that these scam co's will forget not to bill me...

Thanks for the great review!
I bought the 680 from Costco (Canada) for 349.99.
Took it on a road trip through Seattle/Olympia/Victoria and the unit worked great for the most part. The only part that was questionable was when I travel from Safeco field to Bellevue square, the 680 took me on I-5 through downtown seattle's traffic (wasn't too big of an issue since it was Saturday night) then onto US-520 for approximately 12 miles. On the other hand, one could simply get on I-90 right next to Safeco field then use US-405 or local Bellevue Way to avoid downtown's traffic (about 10 miles). Any Seattle locals care to add some suggestions here?
Also, Costco Canada is running a $130 price reduction on the nuvi 760 which makes it $389.99. Is it worth the upgrade?

I have had my 680 since March 08. I love the Audible book and MP3 player.

The traffic reports for SoCal are good. The maps have been very reliable, even in the Sequoia and King's Canyon National forests!

Thank you so much for your extensive review, it helped me make an informed decision and I was up to speed on how to use it when the GPS arrived.

Vaya con Dios, Bob

680 is garbage it will give u the longest way

Purchased from Costco and am very happy with this unit.

Very happy with my Nuvi. The issue with the FM transmitter was easy for me to fix. Most new cars have an aux outlet to let you listen to your MP3 player. Plug the same cable into the aux outlet and the headphone port on the Nuvi and no more static. All Garmin' units seem to be optimistic about arrival times while my Tom Tom overstated as much as 20 minutes in a 45 minute trip. They all have issues but for the money ($300 on e-bay), the Nuvi 680 has been great.

I have owned the 680 for a year now and I love it, love it, love it. I use it to death -- for gas prices, movies, weather, points of interest, and mostly.......BLUETOOTH. I am so spoiled using my 680 as my phone I will sit in the car longer to talk just so I don't have to hold the cell phone in my hand.

I even used it while flying from Phila to Atlanta. My son got a kick out of seeing 565 miles per hour register on the Garmin, plus monitoring our location in the air. Pretty impressive.

I also use it in the PEDESTRIAN mode when I am in an unfamiliar place or city.

For frequently used phone numbers I plug in my most important people starting with A1name, A2name, A3name, etc. That way I don't have to scroll through the phone book or spell the name, its right at the beginning of my phone book.

I also like the "book" feature. Your Garmin comes with an offer to purchase & download books. Very nice.

The only feature I haven't used yet is the Tour Guide....but trust me....if I go to Europe I will be buying the tour guides. The sample Tour built into the Garmin gives you an example of what it does.

I originally borrowed a friend's 360 a few years ago and was smitten with Garmin. I did months of research to determine which Garmin would suit my needs.

It's like a microwave.....if you only use it to reheat your coffee you don't need all the bells and whistles. Same with a GPS......buy the features you need. I would never buy one without the MSN feature. Any GPS will get you from point A to point B.....I think the real value in the 680 is the Bluetooth and MSN features.

One other neat feature is when I'm driving on the NJ Turnpike headed to New England....it will tell me to keep right (toward the truck lane) or keep left (toward the car lane) -- seems like it will tell me which lanes to stay in that are moving faster. I actually didn't notice this until my 5 or 6th trip up the turnpike.

My 680 wants to take me across the George Washington Bridge but I prefer to go over the Tappan Zee and I have to override it trying to take my back to the GW. Not a biggee, I just keep driving until it picks up my route.

OH!! ANOTHER great feature.......looking for a restaurant? Either search by food type, or type in name....click the phone icon....call them up - "are you still open?" "do I need a reservation?" then click GO.....and you're on your way. Doesn't matter if you're in Philly, Boston, or Atlanta. Gotta love that!

I let a friend borrow my 680 and she gave it back to me with the plug broken. Garmin replaced the $130 plug under warranty......AND, I now have an additional year of MSN. Nice little unexpected bonus. While I was waiting for the plug to arrive I bought a standard plug (no MSN) from Best Buy. I hated it. It was only a destination device. I couldn't wait for my new plug to arrive. Tip: when you first purchase your 680 and activate the features, the Garmin web site gives you the choice of buying an additional MSN year (after your first year free) for a greatly discounted price. I wasn't sure if it was worth it so I skipped the additional year. I'm now sorry I didn't. But the annual cost is minimal, and well worth it. Just would have been nice if I knew then what I know now, I certainly would have taken advantage of the additional discount. But since I have another free year, I guess I can't complain.

Some of my own tips:
Settings! pick the service area that serves your needs best. Example, there is no specific service area in South Jersey. My choices are Wilmington, Delaware or Philadelphia. I set my Garmin for Philadelphia. When I was in Atlanta I set the Garmin for that service area. If your Garmin isn't giving you good directions check your settings and service area. If one service area doesn't suit you, try another one.

Upgrades: I upgraded the maps via Garmin 4 months after I bought it. I've heard of other people complaining they PAID to upgrade.......I did not. I called Garmin, I got the 2008 upgrade.

Antenna: listen up folks.....I constantly see people lift the antenna all the way up. WRONG. Lift it halfway only. Face the antenna FlAT so the antenna surface has maximum exposure to the SKY. If you lift it up all the way its reading sideways and has to find its way up. It's meant to be opened half way.

Help: If you are having problems or concerns with your Garmin.....newsflash......call Garmin. They are very customer service oriented and willing to fix whatever the issue is. At one point I was having problems with MSN and they fixed the problem.....remotely. (just like your cable company can fix your cable problems from their office.)

Cost: I drove to Delaware for the tax savings, plus the Circuit City sale, plus an additional AAA discount.

I've checked out the newer Garmin's and I will tell you.....I will be buying the 680 for my son this spring when he gets his full license and car.

Is the Garmin 680 perfect? No. Is it great? YES! Can't live without it.

When you compare the Garmin 680 with the TomTom 720, as I have, it looks like a close match...that is until you realize what an embarrassing lack of information is presented on the navigation screen vs. that TomTom. I mean it is pathetic. No vehicle speed. No distance to destination. No name of next cross street. Not much, really, but a lot of wasted space.

You can make the TomTom look busy, but that is your choice since TomTom lets you choose what to show. Garmin does not. I call that a huge negative.

When you compare the Garmin 680 with the TomTom 720, as I have, it looks like a close match...that is until you realize what an embarrassing lack of information is presented on the navigation screen vs. that TomTom. I mean it is pathetic. No vehicle speed. No distance to destination. No name of next cross street. Not much, really, but a lot of wasted space.

You can make the TomTom look busy, but that is your choice since TomTom lets you choose what to show. Garmin does not. I call that a huge negative.

I just bought one of these after owning a Garmin 2720 and Tom Tom One 3rd Ed.

Mostly I wanted the wider screen, long battery life, and ability to play mp3's through an FM receiver. I like my 2720 and I like the Tom Tom One.

The 680 immediately made a bad impression because of the paucity of information on the navigation screen vs. what Tom Tom lets you see. The 680 makes you switch to another screen to check speed and distance statistics. Even my ancient 2720 lets you check your current speed. Tom Tom lets you see all of that (or less if you like). calling the Tom tom screen "cluttered" vs. the 680 is like complaining of too much information - utter nonsense.

The 680 screen is very nice. The suction cup mount is very nice (wish Tom Tom had the clamp feature). Battery life is not as good as I expected. I got about 2h on a full charge...was expecting 2X that. The sound from the internal speaker is quite poor...distorts at full volume. I was amazed to find that the 2009 maps did not show a very major street in my town that does show up with my 2720 equipped with the 2009 maps. The display had me traveling over open blue when I was on a major street. Maybe a fluke?

The very worst thing, however, is the FM broadcast capability (or lack thereof) of the 680. It is utterly pathetic. How Garmin can sell this thing with such low FM power is beyond me. It is an engineering embarrassment. This is what made me decide to send it back. I can convince myself to accept the low-information display and call the no-show of a major street as a fluke, but the horrible FM is just too much for this kind of money.

I'm getting the Tom Tom Go 720. The display will be a little worse and Tom Tom map updates cost more, but the FM is reported to work great, user-supported map updates are "free", and I really like the high-information navigation screen.

I just bought one of these after owning a Garmin 2720 and Tom Tom One 3rd Ed.

Mostly I wanted the wider screen, long battery life, and ability to play mp3's through an FM receiver. I like my 2720 and I like the Tom Tom One.

The 680 immediately made a bad impression because of the paucity of information on the navigation screen vs. what Tom Tom lets you see. The 680 makes you switch to another screen to check speed and distance statistics. Even my ancient 2720 lets you check your current speed. Tom Tom lets you see all of that (or less if you like). calling the Tom tom screen "cluttered" vs. the 680 is like complaining of too much information - utter nonsense.

The 680 screen is very nice. The suction cup mount is very nice (wish Tom Tom had the clamp feature). Battery life is not as good as I expected. I got about 2h on a full charge...was expecting 2X that. The sound from the internal speaker is quite poor...distorts at full volume. I was amazed to find that the 2009 maps did not show a very major street in my town that does show up with my 2720 equipped with the 2009 maps. The display had me traveling over open blue when I was on a major street. Maybe a fluke?

The very worst thing, however, is the FM broadcast capability (or lack thereof) of the 680. It is utterly pathetic. How Garmin can sell this thing with such low FM power is beyond me. It is an engineering embarrassment. This is what made me decide to send it back. I can convince myself to accept the low-information display and call the no-show of a major street as a fluke, but the horrible FM is just too much for this kind of money.

I'm getting the Tom Tom Go 720. The display will be a little worse and Tom Tom map updates cost more, but the FM is reported to work great, user-supported map updates are "free", and I really like the high-information navigation screen.

I have not read all 700 feedback, and since this model are not on the top of the list any more my post might be pointless !

If this 680 wouldn't be a gift and I would have the option to return it, I would do it tonight !

Will enplane later.

Csaba