Fletch,

I don't see the folder that displays a list of recently found cities that you mention below figure 89. Does one exist? If not, I think this is another sizable oversight on Garmin's part.

Great review. Looks like it is targeted to the USA user only with connection to AT&T. What is available for users in Canada if any?

Good review.

I can't imagine why Garmin is trying to start a social network though.

I've used many Garmins and Magellans. Currently have a 755T and 680.

But have switched over my navigating needs to the Navigon app for the iPhone. Amazing app. Works just as good as any stand alone I have or used. And it looks UI wise just as the Garmin. Navigon is instituting live traffic this mont I think too. $20 bucks extra though.

I was wondering if you had any plans for comparisons of any iPhone nav apps?

So for Traffic alerts is Nulink! wireless more accurate than FM Traffic and MSN Direct Traffic??

Witch one is more accurate ???

It doesn't look like they have text messages on the Bluetooth like my now ancient C550 does. It is really handy having it show you on screen whenever anyone sends you a SMS.

Looks like Garmin still leaves out tons of map detail (like road names) compared to previous models and still lacks in configurability. If we could only get Garmin to take a few pages from TomTom's book and combine it with what they already have, then this unit would be progress. Also not thrilled to see Garmin select AT&T as a provider. Sad. I was hoping for some forward progress in portable GPS units.

There's no reason the traffic data on the 1690 shouldn't be more timely and thus more dependable. Comparing TT's live traffic on the 740 and MSNDirect on the nuvis will often list most of the same traffic events. But because the 740's data is delivered faster and updated more often, it's more reliable. Same should be expected on the 1690. In addition, Navteq's traffic is soon slated for a big improvement, and already offers more local/secondary road coverage than TomTom's live, at least in my area.

I don't see a weather radar option. Hopefully this could be part of an update in the future.

Also no audio output jack. I have my current Nuvi located low and on the center dash. I use and external speaker so I can hear the Nuvi. The speaker has a 1/8" plug.

AT&T? Kind of wished it used the better coverage of Verizon Wireless.

The review states that the unit lacks "...the ability to browse the planned route and exclude a specific road or highway from the route -- a very useful feature found on most competing GPS devices." What is the best device that offers that very nifty feature?

Your comments about the loudness is not quite correct. A 1 Bel (or 10 decibel) increase is considered to be approximately twice not three times as loud.

Fletch do you prefer 1690 over 765t?

Didn't see it explained - does the NuLink system upload info from other NuLink devices for use in traffic status? e.g. If someone 15 miles ahead is going 0mph and has a 1690, does that info get uploaded via Edge and then sent to my 1690 as I'm approaching the area?

Anyone else have problems with screen flicker?

So, I recently (2 days ago) purchased the 1690, and here's two points so far...
1. Personally, i find the ads **very** annoying and objectionable. I don't see why my GPS should be a billboard that Garmin rents out, particularly since nuLink is ultimately a subscription service. I might be alone in my hatred of unwelcome ads, but it's enough that (a) I wouldn't have purchased the 1690 if I'd known about it in advance and (b) after exclusively owning Garmin GPSs for many years now, I'm jumping ship next time if Garmin continues down this godawful path.

2. The traffic data accuracy (commute between DC and Baltimore) seems identical to what I had with my prior FM-based Garmin--makes sense, as review puts it as the same data source. But, it does come through faster (takes just a minute or two to get traffic on the system).

Does this device allow you to find the number of a particular business? Not all businesses are in the preloaded POIs and the white pages only find numbers of people.

Thank you all the great reviews. I purchased a 205 on black friday last year and never looked back. after getting a 660 that crapped out on me and getting it replaced with a 760, i am sold on garmin and their customer service. Even if they have long wait times - they CARE about trying to help and not trying to tell you that your an idiot and do not know how to run their units.

ok my questions..
1) Will the 1200 thru the 1600 series support Extra_POI_Editor403 edited files? i use Extra_POI_Editor403 to update and maintain over 400 customer locations and phone numbers i have in my excel file. My excel file has too much information for the garmin to take it directly i have found.

2) is there a replacement for the 765 (which seems to have a few issues) in the works? I use Auido books while driving and found personally i like them on the GPS rather them MP# player. Or has the 765 been patched enough to be considered as an upgrade to the 760? ( which will go to the wife)

Thank you very much for the Reviews, and ignore the naysayers, as all they do to your reviews is complain, but not contribute. At least your doing clean reviews we can use to help to decide what units will work for us.

**note** as to not being able to delete a certain road from the route.. just tap the map and select a point on another road and use it as a via point :) i am sure you will be rerouted, and if you prefer that way alot - save it in your fav's.

First-thank you Fletch for review
Second- personally i dont like the nuvi 1690!why?because of the crappy nuLink subscribtion for Europe!

I just bought a Garmin 1690 from Best Buy two weeks ago, but I returned it back for replacement. The Bluetooth seems not functioning well...the phone book and call history do not appear in the screen. And if it does...everytime I dial a number from the phonebook, the power shuts down. The latest 1690 I got is worst, aside from that defect, everytime I touch the screen of the location ( whether from POI or favorites ), it shuts off. Is there anyway I can correct that? or do I need to return it again?

Thanks.

Peter

With my newly acquired Garmin 1690, the latest among their units, has a lot of problems which I encountered:
1. It cannot be registered & be updated...after the downloading and updating of the software, it doesn't restart itself after being disconnected from the computer as per instruction. What I did, I manually restart it and upon checking if it was updated, it did not nor registered.

2. Another defect has something to do with the icon of the phonebook that must appear when connected to the phone thru the bluetooth. Sometimes it is there, but oftentimes not. If it happens to be there, the moment you touch the icon, the power shut off or it restart if the unit is connected to cigarette lighter in the car.

3. Sometimes, when I also touch the place of destination...it shut off.

What is the best thing to do? anyone? Fletch?

Petrus

You give great reviews and at the end of the 1490t review you said you were gonna get rid of your 765t for a 1490t now that the 1690 is out would you get rid of your 1490t for a 1690 if money wasn't an issue?

thanks
John

Fletch - Excellent reviews as always. I'm torn between the 1690 and the 1490T, could you comment on audio volume comparison between these two devices?

I'm on my fourth 1690 the first three wouldn't hold more than 150 addresses. All had screen flicker. We'll see how this one does.

The limitation on displaying all your favorites (more than 150) was fixed with a FW update over the weekend. The latest software also makes significant changes to EcoRoute, and now lets you pull up points of interest by name from the internal data base and Google simultaneously to compare.

One glitch still remains: gas prices report being as many days old as I have had the unit registered (currently 7 days). Not sure yet if the prices are actually updating but reporting they are not (every entry is marked "7 days ago" or older), or if they really are not updating at all. My 885T still updates daily, but that uses MSN instead of Google.

Garmin has no solution other than returning or replacing the unit. For now I am going to hold out a couple days / weeks to see if they or Google come up with a fix.

Anyone else having issue with the 1690 reporting gas prices as not being updated since you first registered the unit? Thanks!

I really wanted to buy the 1690 since I saw the ad for this unit on Garmin's website about 4 months ago. After reading the screen flicker issues and all the other comments on the inability to exclude a specific highway from a route, I am not sure if I still want to. I have a 2 year old Nuvi 365 and no traffic updates. How important is the traffic update? How much better is 1690 compared to the 365?
I am on the road 4 days a week mostly to different sites within 50 miles of my home in Jersey.
Thanks for helping me out.

I am on my 3rd 1690. Bought at Best Buy, shut itself off after about 30 seconds. Returned it and the second one did the same. Called Garmin and they replaced it with a new unit that most of the time shuts itself off within a minute. Several times it has stayed on for an hour or more. Very frustrating for an expensive unit. Running latest software (version 3). It seems to be a software problem but Garmin assured me they had no idea about the problem but I keep reading about others with the same defect. Any suggestions?

This is my very first GPS, so far it has no issues I read about. I bought my 1690 on Ebay cheaper. Pluged it in, registered it, updated software about 3 times already V4, Gas prices always seems accurate and gives updates daily, oldest gas prices usally around 3 days and lots of "today". It saved me noney finding the cheapest gas prices. The review said there was no memory slot but there is, I have a 4G for mine and use it to store pics and custom POI's of interstate rest areas that I gave a 3 mile warning, works great. I grab the garmin while at home to find movies, it's quick and accurate.
I use my work laptop outside of work sometimes, once I found a location on Google maps I needed to go to, I used the send to GPS, when I got home it was there when I truned on my 1690.
I used Microsoft's streets and maps on a laptop before I got my 1690, sure is a lot better, that's what I compare with. I can go on but I ain't got all day. I do realy like my Garmin.

I got the garmin nuvi about 3 days ago from Dell and from the moment i opened the box i was amazed at the style of it, i wanted the best GPS i could fine because im a Big electronics nutt! I have been reading reviews and doing my homework and was torn between the 765 and the 1690, so i pulled the plug and went ahead and purchased the 1690! First thing i did after taken it out of the box is register it, update the map and firmware like it advised me to, one thing i will say is if you have slow internet connection it is going to take you forever because it took hours for me at work with DSL 1.5 and didnt do right so i waited till i got home where i had 10g cable internet and it only took me 20 minutes at that point, everything loaded up very smoothly! After everything was done i couldnt wait to play with my new Garmin 1690, so i went to my truck and got everything setup and drove around town for a little while and all i can say is WOW, this is handsdown the best gps on the market, i dont care what other reviews have said, im sure there has been a few bad apples in the bunch witch there always is when something new hits the market! I like the nulink service that it is offered with it now, everything was very accurate in my (Natchez, mississippi) If you are looking at this GPS and are thinking about getting it DO IT, you will not regret it, it is awesome, i cant say enough good about it!!

I purchased my 1690 about two weeks ago. I was concerned after reading a lot of the negative reviews. I charged it up, registered it, updated the firmware and maps. Works perfectly. It is truely an amazing device. I got a very good price on Amazon. It is light years ahesd of my Nuvi 660 and was about 40% of the 660's price.

Fletch - Great, detailed review. You do a great service to people like me trying t make the right GPS choices for their needs.

Suggested correction - Page 15 of the review about MapSource makes references to the 1490T which you might want to update to the 1690. For example:

Once you've gathered the waypoints or routes in MapSource, you can connect the nuvi 1490T to your PC or Mac and click on the Send to Device icon, shown above.

Cheers!
Wired

Hey, I just got my Nuvi 1690 a few days agao from Best Buy yeah I know I could of gotten it cheaper but while hiding my 765t from the car wash guys I cracked my screen and needed it for business. Mom is going to kill me but thats ok.

Anyway my experiences with this unit. Over all I like it. I've learned to accept that Navteq maps have faults and no GPS is perfect. Do I agree with myself if I was a manufactor I'd build a more fine tune the unit yes. But thats me.

I love the NU-link But there is one thing if I plug in resturant or somthing in a catagory the results do not come back in an order which is good for me. in other words in Garmi's poi results is in distance, I haven't figured out what order they come back in google. How this affects me is I have to stop the car to look up google. On the positve note google listings are not outdated like garmin's poi so there is a trade off. So Far traffic isn't bad I do notice the icon going from yellow to read more frequienly than on MSN Direct so that to me idicates it's working. When I have time I'll look for traffic jams and report back. About looking up businesses and reverse phone numbers that is real cool. I haven't tried Ciro yet it's another thing to learn in my business.

Routing this is my opinion This unit routes the same as any other Nuvi. The routes are ok. They take you along the main roads and highways. Does it at times take you in circles? yes. Does it at times take you in a route that you yourself knows is faster? yes. thats what is irking me about Garmin's and magellans. I had the 740 and the routes were better, but that kept on rebooting, and I didn't like the traffic interface, or the navgation on the unit as a whole. For the Balance of being productive, and your bells and whistles Garmin is the way to go. When I'm in a business I don't have time for 5 min's to program a tom tom go 740. I just need to program and go.

What would I improve on the garmin line- I'd like to see routes that take backroads to avoid traffic. I'd also like to see some better rational routes. For example in my area I can take the Flroida TPK to 595 to 95. In my opinion thats the fastest way to go to north miami from my area. What Garmin does is it tells me to take a main road (that has traffic on it) to 95 and take 95 straight down. If we have settings for fastist routes why doesn't it know that a highway even if it's 1-2 miles longer in distance faster than a main road to the 3rd highway.

The back roads would be awsum to have hopefully one day they will do that.

Over all this unit is an improvment (I've never had a shutdown or reboot) and I'm using it all day going from job to job. Maybe I got a unit that was manufactured after a certain date. With the google nulink I think I can enjoy my out of town trips more. The standard Garmin poi's were bad. So I'm looking forward to this.

One last note I'd like to make I don't know if it was because I lived in New York or what but In 1999 I had a GPS that took a DVD or cd I forget it was built in Dash and it was an Alpine That was the best in accuracy I've ever seen. That think dropped me off right in front of the address, it was able to desifer if you were on a service road or a main highway. I sold that car and left the unit in there. I wish I'd had taken that unit out. Does anyone know about the old units? I wish I had that one (even without the touch screen) u used a remote. To be honest Magallan makes almost the same mistakes as garmin which tends to lead me to think that Navteq is over rated But that is my opinion.

i am testing the 1690 all is good except for some ridiclous decision to leave out the attention tone is mind boggling. how can you see a street sign at night if its dark and hidden. at least the attention tone alerts you of the upcoming turn. if Garmin does not do a soft wear upgrade or advising that one will given in the near future i will return my 1690 .

Update Today is Jan 13th and I flashed the unit and I didn't get another reboot. The audio seems a tad clearer also so maybe!!!! I still like the NULink however I have found when you plug in address manually or get it from the POI the directions are different than if you get it from Google.

I do have some bad news the traffic is not as good as I thought it would be But I'm hoping this will be worked out in the future

Well Well Well. I've had so many Garmin and other GPSes. In Flroida. None of them including the 1690 is that good with traffic. I am beginning to wonder if a GPS with RDS and one with Celular radio are basicly in accurate could it be that the agency (the provider for Navteq) in Flroida might be the problem? Anyone commenets

Is there a way to use the 1690 without the cradle? Plugging in the USB port (whether to a computer or an AC/USB adapter) simply puts the unit into "computer" mode, with the initial Garmin screen and a computer icon at the bottom. In this mode, I can't seem to even figure out a way to turn off the screen, so that it just charges the battery without having the screen on. This would be really helpful when temporarily using the GPS in another car, so I can just take the unit without also unplugging and taking the cradle off the mount.

Hi Fletch - thanks! Is it the voltage difference that makes it switch modes? The supplied car adapater has a mini USB cable end, which plugs into either the cradle or the USB port on the unit. Using the same cable in the car, if I plug it into the cradle and dock the unit, it runs normally. If I plug it into the USB port directly without the cradle, it turns on "computer" mode. If I dock the unit, but plug the cable into the USB port, it also runs normally. Seems to me that there's a connection that's made in the cardle itself that tell the unit whether it's docked or not, and that controls whether it goes into "computer mode." If you look at the diagnostics screen, it also has an indicator of whether it's docked, and the indicator works even if you have it docked but not plugged it. Maybe the dock simply closes the circuit between two of the contacts on the bottom of the unit.

Sorry to be so long winded... I guess I'm trying to do a couple things: 1) It's a new toy, so I'm playing with it a lot. When the battery ran down and I plugged it into USB to recharge, I can't use it. That also precludes setting routes, etc. unless you're sitting in the car, or you've taken the cradle out of the car and kept the unit docked (meaning you have to unplug/replug the cradle, which partly defeats the purpose of having a powered cradle vs. the 1490T.) That also sort of defeats the purpose of having the extra USB port built in. 2) I would like the option of just taking the unit with me for the occassionaly trip in the other car, rather than taking the unit *and* the cradle all the time. The way it stands now, the unit is useless on a continued basis beyond the 3 hour battery life, unless you also have taken the cradle with you. In my second car, I already have a standard USB cable that's used to charge the cell phone. It seems I can't simply plug it in to the USB port and expect it to run, contratry to what I have read elsewhere. Interestingly, your review is actually more accurate in saying that the USB cable allows you to *charge* the unit away from the car, not actually *use* the unit away from the car.

Would love to get any additional thoughts you might have ont he subject. Thanks!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!! JAN 25TH 2010

DISAPOINTING NEWS-I took an 850 trip from FT Lauderdale FL Mufreesbourgh Tennessee and the unit is starting to mess up. I'm finding this on other fourms but would like to address this.

lately sometimes when it boots it get's stuck at the loading maps section of the bootup for about 3-5-min's also a lot of times after my trip up to tennessee. I went on to google to look up places I got an error that stated can't access server server might be busy or I might be out of network. If I turned off the unit and turned it back on in the same exact location 9 times out of 10 it would work again but it also happened again in time. After Retuning to Fort Lauduerdale it happened also so it has to be somthing within the software or the unit. Any ideas?

Any ideas?

1/25/10 LATE MORNING I JUST UPDATED THE UNIT I STILL HAD THE LONG DELAYS AND GARMIN SAID SINCE THE RESET'S DIDN'T FIX THE GOOGLE THING I SHOULD RETURN IT. THEY WROTE A LETTER FOR ME TO BRING INTO MY MERCHANT I THINK I WILL EXCHANGE IT HE THINKS IT'S AN ISOLATED EVENT. I'LL KEEP YOU PEOPLE UPDATED

Awaiting arrival of 1690 after returning 765T. I really liked the 765 but it had to many issues

Well I exchanged the unit so far so good

Is the NuLink service global? If I purchase the Unit in USA then a couple months down the road I move to Europe, would my subscription still work?

I'm looking at purchasing my first GPS and this model is near the top of my list. Actually, it's a choice between this one and the Motorola Motonav TN765T. It looks like the Motorola has a larger screen and some more features (better phone integration etc.) but the maps/routes/traffic seems better on the Garmin (which to me is why you would buy a GPS). Am I correct in this comparison? I could go either way on this decision. Thanks.

The unit I mentioned above finally also starting to freezes during bootup and the loading maps section. So I exhanged it for a factory one let's hope

1690 Sound / Voice only lasts a few minutes into tha trip. Put the 765t next to the 1690 and they differ as to position and time of arrival. The 765t sound/voice is great. The 1690 is garbled (at times) or sound is non-existant

Has anyone noticed that the windshield mount neck is too short when using the 1690 mounted to the dashboard using the disc? The power cable is too thick and prevents the 1690 from sitting perpendicular to the dashboard. As a result, the 1690 tilts up too high, rather than facing directly at me. I wish the windshield mount's "neck" was longer to account for this. Now, I'm stuck using it mounted to the windshield. Is there a bigger Garmin mount or other solution out there?

I found another use for Ciao ! . My device was stolen so I enabled Ciao through the mygarmin website and bought another device. Once the other unit acquires satellite and/or turned on I will find the thief. I also keep sending the a Map to the local Police Department using google maps send to GPS. Funny that Garmin says they can't track my device that has an IMEI number, and uses there own social tracking software. Guess I have to do it myself.

Just wanted to say that there's a memory card slot on the left side of the unit, so one of your cons is gone... :)

I am ready to toss over my Mio C520 for the 1690. Haven't seen any posts about glitches for a couple months. Had garmin worked out all the bugs or are there still problems?

I use my gps on my motorcycle. Can you read the 1690 screen in direct sunlight? I had a 1390 and returned it.

I went through 4 of these units. 3 of them froze upon loading maps. and this last one the Nuvi link only worked for 3 months. Please note I did not update the maps this time and it did not freeze.

I'm trying to get my money back from this company. I use to think Garmin was the best but now In my opinion there quality sucks !!

Is it possible to construct a route that has no particular starting or ending point? I want to just enter a bunch of points I want to stop at and have an optimal route based off where I am at the present point, with my ending point based strictly off of what's an optimal route, not a predetermined one that I have to designate as the end point.

do not update the free map ,the big mistake i made,after download was finish i lost canada map and the unit turn off all the time,garmin 1690 is ok only from the box.dont try to download anything.good luck if you do.