Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services

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Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services

Widescreen ultra-slim GPS design with 4.3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display and EDGE network connectivity
Pre-loaded with City Navigtor NT maps for North America, including more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest
Bluetooth wireless technology enables hands-free calling with a compatible phone; included traffic receiver provides North America traffic information
Pedestrian navigation capability enabled through optional CityXplorer maps
Enjoy 2 years of free access to Garmin’s nüLink! Services like weather forecasts, flight status, white pages, and more

Amazon.com Product Description
The Garmin 1690 GPS navigator–with Bluetooth and included Traffic Receiver–features an enhanced user interface, ecoRoute, public transit mode, and text-to-speech. Plus, pedestrian navigation capability is enabled through optional CityXplorer maps, which are available for select tourist destinations in North America and Europe and can be downloaded easily directly to the nüvi. The device’s enhanced user interface features improved graphics and a slide control for menu operation, while ecoRoute suggests fuel-efficient routes to save drivers money and fuel. Also, Garmin’s public transit mode allows you to navigate using buses, tramway, metro, and suburban rail systems. Pre-loaded with City Navigator North America NT.

An ultra-thin GPS navigator with great Garmin features like CityXplorer and ecoRoute. Click here for an interactive demo

Bluetooth Wireless Technology
The 1690 enables calling with a compatible phone, giving you a completely hands-free mobile phone experience by broadcasting navigation and phone calls through your car stereo.

See More
With nüvi 1690′s widescreen display, you’ll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3-inch display is easy to read–from any direction.

Easy-to-Use Touchscreen Interface
One of Garmin’s core beliefs is to continually enhance the simplicity of the user experience. The nüvi on-screen menus are logically arranged, with clearly labeled, colorful icons, making it easy to enter data and get to the information you need quickly.

Navigate with Ease
nüvi 1690 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator North America NT street maps and millions of points of interest (POIs) such as hotels, restaurants, fuel stations, ATMs and more, with map data provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping. Enter a destination on the touch screen, and nüvi takes you there with 2-D or 3-D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. Text to speech enhances standard sat-nav voice guidance by speaking the names of places and roads. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. In addition, nüvi 1690 accepts custom points of interest, such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs.

Announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. Click to enlarge.

Lane assist guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. Click to enlarge.

Junction View gives you a photo-realistic screen that shows you both the road detail as well as the signs as you will see them on the road. Click to enlarge.

Enjoy access to Garmin’s nüLink! services like weather forecasts, flight status, white pages, and more. Click to enlarge.

Travel North America
With nearly 6 million points of interest and detailed road coverage for the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, City Navigator North America NT delivers all the data you need to navigate North America.

Displays nearly 6 million points of interest–hotels, restaurants, parking, entertainment, fuel, shopping and more.
Includes highways, interstates, business and residential roads in metropolitan and rural areas.
Includes detailed information such as turn restrictions, roundabout guidance, speed categories and other navigation features.
Gives turn-by-turn directions on your compatible Garmin device.
Includes postal code support for Canada.
Enhances pronunciation data for compatible Garmin devices that speak street names (example: “Turn right on Main Street”).

Know the Lane Before It’s Too Late
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation.

Junction View takes it a step further, giving you a photo-realistic screen that shows you both the road detail as well as the signs as you will see them on the road.

Multi-Point Routing
The 1690 automatically sorts multiple destinations to provide an efficient route for errands or deliveries.

Pedestrian Navigation
New to the nüvi series is Public Transit–navigate using buses, tramway, metro and suburban rail systems with optional CityXplorer content. Downloadable CityXplorer data and city guides are available for purchase and download from garmin.com for many cities.

Where Am I?
Keep track of yourself and your car with nüvi 1690. Just tap “Where Am I?” to find the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. Also see your exact latitude and longitude coordinates. nüvi 1690 even remembers where you parked. It automatically marks your position when you remove it from the windshield mount, so you can navigate with nüvi on foot and find your way back to your vehicle. Perfect for unfamiliar spots and crowded lots such as amusement parks, stadiums and malls.

HotFix Satellite Prediciton
Garmin’s HotFix capability automatically calculates and stores satellite locations, greatly reducing satellite acquisition time so that you can turn the unit on and get going. With HotFix, your nüvi remembers the position of all satellites it is tracking when you turn it off, and calculates their movements in order to predict where they should be the next time you turn it on. HotFix can predict satellite positions for up to 3 days after the device was last turned off.

Garmin nüLink!

With Garmin nüLink! Services you know the local area, even if you’re from out of town. Accurate real-time information about the area you’re traveling in is delivered directly to nüvi 1690 via a built-in wireless module. The 1690 currently comes with a free 2-year Garmin nüLink! Subscription, which include services that can make every day more enjoyable.

	Google™Local Search Access up-to-date information for the local area using the power of Internet-enabled local search and navigate directly from the search results.
	Real-time Traffic Garmin nüLink! services provide current traffic data for your route so your nüvi 1690 can automatically optimize a route for the shortest time. Just drive and let nüvi 1690 do all the work.
	Gas Prices Is your fuel tank getting a little low? Garmin nüLink! services show you where you can find the best prices for any grade of fuel in your area. Just tap the screen and go to your chosen station.
	Ciao!™ What are your friends up to? Ciao! integrates multiple third party location-centric social network applications, such as GyPSii, with more networks expected to be added in the future.
	Local Events What’s going on in town? Search for local events, concerts, theater performances, sports, art and navigate there with ease.
	myGarmin™ Your nüvi 1690 will receive alerts for available updates automatically.
	Converter Quickly and conveniently convert up-to-date currency evaluations, measurements, distances, speed and temperature.
	Flight Status Quick access to flight departure/arrival times and gate information from airports around the world with the closest major airports displayed first.
	White Pages Forget someone’s address? Find it using White Pages and navigate there. Search by name or phone number — faster and more convenient than a phone book.
	Send to GPS Build a list of destinations online then send them wirelessly to your nüvi 1690.
	Movie Times Wanna catch a flick? Just tap Movie Times and you can find an area movie theater quickly and easily.
	Weather What’s the weather forecast? Tap the Weather icon to get current and 5-day forecasts tailored for major cities around the world.

Navigate by Photo with Garmin Connect Photos.

ecoRoute
With this feature, drivers can view suggestions for fuel-efficient navigation, conserving both money and fuel:

Save Gas and Money
Now more than ever, we’re all looking for ways to conserve both money and fuel. Whether we’re taking fewer trips or carpooling with family and friends, saving resources is a top priority. It was that thinking that led to the creation of ecoRoute–our free software update for compatible nüvi products that allows users to find more fuel efficient routes when navigating and even track their fuel usage. With ecoRoute, you may be able to save gas and money by adopting smarter driving habits and finding more fuel-efficient routes.
Select Fuel-efficient Routes
With ecoRoute, users will have a “less fuel” option as a routing preference. When selected, nüvi will determine if more fuel efficient routes exist based upon road speed data and vehicle acceleration data for a given route.
Get Fuel and Mileage Reports
Through ecoRoute’s Fuel Report and Mileage Report, drivers can focus on their habits even when they’re not behind the wheel. Fuel Report tracks fuel usage over time, and Mileage Report monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis. In addition, Mileage Report makes it easy for business travelers to keep track of distance traveled for company reimbursements. You’ll have a detailed report for each trip and the miles driven. You can also customize your nüvi by entering your car’s fuel economy and the current price of gas.

Search for locations on Google Maps or Mapquest, then transfer the addresses directly to your Garmin GPS navigator.

Navigate by Photo with Garmin Connect Photos
Using Garmin’s Connect Photos Web site, you can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community and download them to the nüvi for a richer navigation experience using pictures as a guide.

Choose from Panoramio’s collection of photos from around the world.
Easy to use interface displays photos on Google Maps.
Search for photos by location name or map area boundary.
Transfer photos directly from Garmin Connect to device with the Garmin Communicator.
View photos in Google Earth.
Supports Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ on Windows and Mac.

Take It With You
The nüvi 1690 sports a sleek, slim design and fits comfortably in your pocket or purse. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot.

Additional Features

Speed limit indicator–unit displays speed limits for most major roads
DEM maps show you shaded terrain contours at zoom levels of five miles and above
Auto time zone–nüvi will automatically adjust your time zone while navigating
Trip computer records mileage, max speed, total time and more
Built-in travel kit includes features such as picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and calculator
microSD memory card expansion slot for optional mapping and data storage
Includes Garmin Lock anti-theft feature
Configurable vehicle icons–allows users to select fun, customized car-shaped icons; download additional choices from www.garmingarage.com
Offers a 3-D mapping perspective, or 2-D overhead view
Built-in lithium-ion battery–lasts up to three hours depending on usage
Includes sturdy suction cup mount that allows for easy adjustment and quick release
Simplified PC connectivity, using USB mass storage, access either the microSD card slot or the unit’s internal memory directly from your PC desktop
POI loader program–set up proximity alerts for school zones, create custom POIs and more

What’s in the Box
nüvi 1690 preloaded with City Navigator North America NT, Vehicle suction cup mount, FM traffic receiver/vehicle power cable, Dashboard disc, Quick start manual

Which nüvi is Best for You?

Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

Device	Screen Size inches (W x H)	Included Maps			Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi-Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
Device	Screen Size inches (W x H)	Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico	AK and Canada	Europe	Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi-Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
nüvi 205	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 205w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 255w	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 260w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nüvi 265T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 265WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 275T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 285WT	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free);		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 465T	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 755T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 760	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 765T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 775T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 780	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nüvi 785T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 855	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 885T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 3 months free); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nüvi 1200	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1250	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1260T	2.8 x 2.1					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1300	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1350T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1370T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1390T	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1490T	4.4 x 2.5					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic)		Photos			up to 4
nüvi 1690	3.81 x 2.25					NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service)		Photos			up to 3

Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services

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5 Responses to “Garmin nüvi 1690 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth Navigator with nüLink! Services”

Darcal Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
EDIT – 12/15/09: Upon further use of the unit and it’s nuLink traffic feature, I’ve run into numerous occasions where the traffic data simply wasn’t too accurate. There were times that I’d be driving and the 1690 would indicate that I was in yellow level traffic, however, there really wasn’t any traffic on the road at the time. There were other instances of where there’d be highway road construction going on with bumper to bumper traffic, but the nuvi didn’t acknowlegde any traffic existed. With that said, overall there have been more times than not that the 1690 has nailed the traffic data and has been accurate, but it’s been more like a 70-30 ratio which is just ok in my opinion. While I still believe the 1690 has the most accurate traffic compared to other nuvi models (explained in my review), it still leaves alot to be desired at times. I’ve come to the conclusion that the radio is simply the best source for the most up to the minute traffic info.

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I purchase alot of navigation devices, so I was excited about the 1690 as there was much hype with this unit. The nuvi 1690 is Garmin’s current top of the line model. It features the new Garmin nuLink service which includes things like traffic, weather, gas prices, movie times, etc. It’s really good if you like that kind of stuff. It’s basically a much better version of MSN Direct if you’ve ever used that service.

I have a nuvi 1490t and 765t as well, so I’m going to make comparisons of the units. First thing I must say is that this unit acquires a satelite signal FAST (provided you used the unit within the past couple of days prior). I’m talking less than 10 seconds fast. I remember with my old nuvi 350 I used to have to sit in my car and wait a few minutes for the unit to get a signal, not with this 1690. The same can be said with the 1490t as far as fast satelite acquisition. With the 1690 however, I can actually get a signal inside of my house without standing directly by the window, which is the first device that can do that in my experiences. I would imagine it’s good in a city with tall buildings like NYC with this kind of signal strength though I haven’t tested there. As far as navigation, it navigates as well as any other Garmin device so no changes there. Directions are very accurate and re-route calculations if you miss a turn are quick. Text-to-speech is excellent as well and is very accurate and clear with pronunciation of street names. Something Garmin has done with the newer software in all of their new units is increased the size of the text in the green bar when you’re navigating. This is great because the text in that green bar used to be too small to make out sometimes while you were driving. The size and thickness of the font of the arrival time (which can be changed to another category) and speed indicator (which can’t be changed to another category) have also been increased. The speed indicator font now turns red whenever you go above the speed limit. I’ve noticed that the little speed limit signs are also now on practically all roads and not just highways. They are also pretty accurate and update as soon as I pass the real speed limit sign at times. Another thing to note with the 1690 is you now have an option to change the screen layout. You can have it where the map screen itself is smaller and a list of four categories (three choosable, can’t change speed indicator) are to the right of the approximately 3.5″ sized map screen (ie. Arrival Time, Direction, Distance to Destination, etc.) You can now also flick your finger on the screen like an iphone to navigate the menus instead of pressing the up/down arrow which is neat. Some have complained about the responsiveness of the keyboard, however, I feel it’s the same as all the previous nuvi models I’ve owned. When I press a key it gets immediately entered though there have been a couple rare times it has taken a second to register. Nothing serious though, it’s very useable. Also, the map screen redraw rate during a route is fast, so the car on the screen moves along nice and smooth like both the 765t and 1490t (and unlike the nuvi 350, 660, etc. which hops along instead of glides).

The screen on the 1690 in terms of quality is exactly like the screen on the 765t. This is a bit of a disappointment for me because the screen on the 1490t is far superior to every other nuvi model. The 1490t’s screen is of course larger (5″ instead of 4.3″ like on the 1690). The 1490t’s screen is a much better screen because not only are colors more vivid, but viewing angles are MUCH better. I was hoping the 1690 would have the same screen, but in a 4.3″ version. Not the case. I uploaded a couple of screen shots of a 1490t and 1690 side-by-side so you can see the comparison in screen size.

The speaker in the 1690 is the same as the one in the 1490t which is a big plus because that speaker is LOUD. The 1690 and 1490t models have better speakers than any other previous nuvi model. If you have the volume turned up to 100% it’s actually TOO loud. Highway driving with windows down would be the only probable scenario for 100%. You can hear some static however during turn by turn instructions with it turned up to the max 100%, but not a deal breaker and the voice can still be understood. So much credit to Garmin for including a loud speaker.

The nuLink services are good if you’re into that kind of stuff. Traffic is one of the big features included. Garmin includes a 2-year subscription to the service which is $5 a month thereafter I believe. Now WHY they still have the little popup ads present like in all their other “free lifetime traffic” models I have no idea. These ads for varoius companies that pay Garmin will pop up on your screen from time to time, like if your vehicle is stopped at a traffic light or you’re searching for a POI (they won’t actually pop up if your vehicle is moving on an active route, only when stopped). Problem is there’s really no way to permanently get rid of the ads (which annoy me greatly, but some others don’t seem to have an issue with them). Weather is nice as you can view the forecast in your current location or another location you can manually choose. The White Pages feature is great as well as you can look up a person by first and last name and drive directly to their address on file. It uses the data connection of the unit to get the info, so it’ll be up to date since it’s accessing the Internet. Google Local Search is an excellent nuLink feature. It basically makes your POI database 10 times larger and always up to date since it accesses the Internet for it’s data. It’s separate from the internal POI database, so you would have to choose one or the other to search for a POI. It would’ve been nice if both POI searches were integrated, but I can understand why they aren’t. The Google Local Search relies on an Internet connection being present whereas the internal POI database is already stored into the unit’s memory. You would constantly have duplicates of the same POI if they were integrated since they may be named slightly different since they come from completely different sources. The Gas Prices search is good as well as you can search whatever area you’re in for the lowest gas prices. In my experiences it’s been very accurate (gets the data from customers’ credit card receipts) and will show you under the price it displays the last time it was updated… ie. Today, Yesterday, 3 Days ago, etc. It usually says Today or Yesterday the times I’ve used it.

Traffic on this unit is GREAT. I say great because all the other units with free traffic are horrible because they’re constantly feeding inaccurate traffic data to the unit via the integrated FM receiver. With the 1690 it uses at&t’s data network for nuLink, so traffic data is MUCH more accurate and can be delivered to the unit much faster making it more up to the minute. I did a real-time side by side comparison of the 1690′s traffic data and the 1490t’s free traffic. Think they’d be identical because they both use Navteq traffic? Think again. I searched for all traffic incidents nearby my current location. I’m not exhaggerating when I say the 1690 brought up double the amount of incidents that the 1490t brought up. Just to test it out I drove to the closest traffic incident nearby and sure enough it was there. The 1490t didn’t even acknowledge it existed. Also, there were times where they’d both have the same traffic incident, but different data (ie. 3 min delay as opposed to 10 min delay). I drove to a common incident as well to see which one was more accurate. Again, the 1690 was more accurate. I assume it’s because the 1490t still had older data that hadn’t yet been updated. That gives you an idea of how much better traffic on the 1690 is compared to all other Garmin models. AT&T’s EDGE data network seems to be everywhere as well, so chances are if your at&t cell phone has reception, so will the internal receiver of the 1690. I have MSN Direct on my 765t which I believe works good… when it wants to work. Problem is… it never works. It takes forever to download data and reception is horrible in alot of places with MSN Direct. Not at all the case with the 1690 and at&t’s network. In addition to having great coverage, it downloads data fast which is great. Once the device is powered on (and has cellular network reception), you’ll have all the updated traffic info in no more than a few minutes. I really like the whole “connected” idea when it comes to traffic.

The border around the unit is about the same width as the 1490t, despite being a smaller unit. It’s also thicker than the 1490t. I suppose that’s because they had to fit the cellular radio module with sim card inside the unit. The black border is a piano black finish and a fingerprint magnet. The rear of the unit has a rubberized finish. The cradle mount is good because it’s powered… meaning you plug the power directly into the cradle and simply insert/remove the device. The 1490t doesn’t have this kind of dock… it requires you to plug the cable directly into the unit for power.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the 1690. I just hope they make a 5″ version soon because I love the screen size of my 1490t so much. If I had to choose, however, it’d be the 1690 because of the Garmin nuLink service which is without a doubt a great and useful feature. Perhaps everyone won’t have the same great experience that I’ve had thus far with this unit, but it’s worth the risk in my opinion.
Rating: 5 / 5
Christina Le Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I wrote a very heated review a few weeks ago… after playing around with the GPS for a full 24 hours. After a lot of hemming and hawing, I decided to keep the GPS because it served its purpose: provide directions for me while I drove around in LA/OC. I’m sure there’s probably a better one out there but I paid $360 for this unit from CarToys.

The following review is my original one including more opinions on this unit: I’m officially a GPS newbie. I never owned a unit before so fellow newbies – this is for you too. So far, I’ve had this unit for up to 3 weeks now and here are some pros & cons. Also, this is a matter of my opinion, if you have any tips – PLEASE let me know.

PROS:

1) The GPS made my drive very convenient… it gave accurate information even though their traffic data wasn’t precise. In one instance they wanted us to hop off the 5 freeway, drive down a regular street, and do it again.

2) Garmin’s NuLink service is very helpful as there were several occasions where I needed to find some information and I was able to look through Google Local for it.

3) There are a lot of handy features. I like their points of interest. I never knew there were so many events in the area. It’s handy when you want to see an art exhibit (doesn’t list all), comedy show, or something. Looking for food has never been so easy for me. I don’t have to drive around in circles to look for it.

4) The bluetooth is very handy. I found it very easy to use. Too bad I can’t have an “address book” on there. Favorites seem to be sufficient, however when I look under call history — the number that I entered as a favorite registers as UNKNOWN CALLER. This might be problematic because… what if you don’t want to pick up? :)

CONS:

1) Traffic data stopped working and it’s slightly unreliable. The first week it worked for me. However, for some UNKNOWN reason, it stopped working when I tried to look up traffic data a week after I got the unit. I was getting incomplete data. Some freeways showed up as black (which the route used to show up green for good traffic) and it’ll show yellow and red. However, these colors didn’t align to the freeway (when it used to).

2) The Google search helped a lot BUT it’s slightly slow and the response isn’t perfect. I live in Orange County and drove to Los Angeles w/ the device so it should be able to retrieve data well enough. However, I kept running to the “server is busy” messages.

3) THIS DEVICE RESTARTS AT VERY RANDOM TIMES (even though it’s fully charged or plugged into the car). I used this device all day and it restarted on me while I was driving, using it in pedestrian mode, and just entering data. I noticed that it happens quite a bit when it can’t connect to the satellites EVEN THOUGH I’m in an open area. That led to manually restarting the device several times. If I clicked too fast, it restarts too! This is getting slightly irritating. Also, in a place like LA, you can’t have this thing randomly restart!

4) There have been a few times when the device registered incorrect dates. Earlier, I was looking for comedy events that were playing TODAY. However, when I click on TODAY, it gave me the times/events for TOMORROW’S DATE versus TODAY. When I click on TOMORROW’S date, I get the next day’s events. What happened to TODAY and not tomorrow? That is buggy.

5) Marking your car’s parking spot is slightly unreliable. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe this is due to user error but I got it to work the first time… however, afterwards, it didn’t work.

6) ADVERTISEMENTS ARE ANNOYING – It obstructs your route. So far, the only way I can get around this is by clicking on it. Then it brings to a list of where all the stores are in the area, and I have to click back. This is a problem because it’s a distraction that’s frustrating and problematic when you’re trying to pay attention to the road. In California, you can’t mount your GPS on the center of the windshield. As a test of the law, I had it mounted on far right side of the passenger’s side and realized how hard it is to get out of the screen. I had to pull over, pull it off, and place it on the passenger seat just to have it next to me so I can click on the ads to make them go away.

7) The battery life is very short. It states that it lasts for 4 hours but it seems to last only a couple hours for me while I’m using it in pedestrian mode.

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Depending on things go with this device, I might even consider returning it. Luckily Car Toys has a wonderful return policy on Garmin products. I may call Garmin’s customer support to find how I can get around these problems. If not… I’m going to put it back in the box and do a return!
Rating: 2 / 5
Donald H. Moore Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I have a good history with Garmin units. I’ve owned the Garmin 2720, 2820, 60CSx, 76CS, Oregon, Colorado, Nuvi 885T, Nuvi 1490T and bought this one, the Nuvi 1690.

But now, if there was something better from another company, I would buy it. Garmin is suffering from putting out too many products at once. Which keeps them from concentrating on getting one right before introducing the next one.

Now, the 1690.

The good:

Weather – You can view up to 4 different cities (one of them being your current one) and see a 6 day forecast for each.

Traffic – Acquisition is very fast. But see the bad.

Menus – I guess this is good. If you’ve used any other Nuvi, you can jump right in.

The bad:

Volume/Clarity – The volume is very low. At 80% volume, I think it is borderline acceptable. At 90%, the voices are distorted and unbearable.

Ads – Ads appear on several screens, including the Fuel screen. They seem to popup only when stopped, but it is very annoying to me. I’d rather pay for a subscription than get ads.

Interference – It interferes with electronic devices near it (like speakers, monitors, and phones). The screen itself will shutter and shake during this time. Supposedly they fixed this in later units.

Traffic – I am not sure of the source of their data, but it is really bad. It warns me that I am entering an area that is red (major traffic) but yet I am driving through it at 55 MPH. Other times I sit for an hour without moving, and the unit says there is no issue.

At one point, it said the slow traffic continued on for 24000 miles!

Favorites – It has the same bug the previous units had where you have to perform a complete reset of the user settings in order to see any new favorites that were added since the last complete reset.

Street Details – These are the same as the other newer Nuvi’s, where they choose to show the minimal amount of details for the upcoming roads.

Reboots – This thing reboots at the drop of a hat. Changing menus, routing around traffic, searching for destinations and going off course.

I used it for a week, and then sent it back to Amazon. The bad is just too bad for me to enjoy using this.

And now that Garmin has released a new phone (with 4 year old technology), I suspect that they are stretched even thinner than before.

Good luck if you buy it. Maybe they will fix these issues at some point.

Rating: 2 / 5
L. Balk Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
This is just a typical Garmin unit, I like Garmin better than most of the other companies primarily for how they handle points of interest. I was disappointed the Google option is a separate search not integrated into the primary search but the Google search was useful and I could have seen using this as the default POI search tool, if I was going to keep the unit. Tom Tom did this same which I don’t get, it would have made more sense to combine the integrated items with the Google search, but I an not a programmer and don’t know the challenges with accomplishing this.

The reason I really do not like this item and I am returning it, is because of the pop ups for advertisements. This item was over $400 which is a premium to pay for a GPS, I don’t mind paying for a yearly service agreement and becuase this is only a two year subscription that comes with the unit I am paying for it. I just don’t expect to get pop ups for local businesses , not only is it unaceptable but it is a distraction and it is unsafe. For example: I chose the option to show the closest hospitals, now you would assume if I am looking for a hospital it would be an urgent issue. I got a little blue pop up banner Target – Check out this week’s deal on-the-go. This same pop up showed up on a few other occasions while I had the regular navigation map up as well. This is the reason I am giving it such a low rating and returning it.
Rating: 1 / 5
Friedman Wagner-Dobler Says:
March 10th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
The Garmin product line is old enough at this point that this GPS has most of the features you need and works. But:

First there is quality control. My first unit went back because it would continuously drop wireless data communications. The first and second unit have screen flicker. Turns out (per Garmin on 10/28) ‘[screen flicker] is part of an issue we’ve seen with some of the earlier devices that were manufactured. This has been fixed in the devices that have left us since then. The only way to fix that is to get that in for an RMA.’ So the second unit is going back too; we’ll see what the third unit brings… (Update: Unit #3 had a pixel stuck on green – we’ll see what unit #4 will bring….) In addition, there are bugs that should have been caught with rudimentary testing (the wireless signal strength meter shows 5 bars whatever the signal strength; device reboots when routing around traffic) or proofreading (documentation confuses GPS and wireless signal). Oh and the 1690 hasn’t even been entered as a line item in the support database.

Second there are customer support policies. If you’ve received two units that are defective; both because of manufacturing/QC issues, Garmin expects *YOU* to pay for the return, and then ‘The turn around time should be between 10-14 days from the time we receive the device.’ Come on! Ever heard of “sorry, we screwed up, the recall is on us”? Or failing that, how about advance replacement?

Third there is Garmin’s product support. It used to be the best in the GPS world. It has turned into a diabolical shambles of people that barely understand the product walking you through level 1 scripts (reboot, reinstall, reset) … and when they’re done with that they start again at the beginning.

This is a particular issue with this device because, as a connected device, you will suffer from bugs and performance problems, some of them real-time, introduced by Garmin, Google, Navteq (traffic services), Navteqs (maps) and the AT&T wireless network. Let me give you an example. There is construction two miles from where I am. It shows up on the traffic site operated by Navteq. It doesn’t show up on the unit. This could be a problem with the network, a problem with the Navteq traffic service, a problem with the firmware (what is it supposed to display?), perhaps a map problem, a contractual problem (is traffic data throttled to conserve bandwidth?), or interactions between all of the above. Having tried unsuccessfully to resolve a similar issue with Garmin on the 775 (when my GPS failed to indicate that the entire city of Pittsurgh was closed down due to the G20 gathering) I know there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of getting this resolved. It does seem that there is a little more traffic information on this device than on the FM services, but that isn’t saying much.

In fact, while the quantity of traffic information may be better than with FM-based Garmins, the quality of the Navteq-provided data is very poor. The unit regularly indicates delays of two or three minutes when there is absolutely no traffic problem: this appears to be based solely on the fact that construction is reported for that area, not on any data relating to traffic flow. At the same time, particular incidents that are reported on the radio (with the data also being provided by Navteq) don’t show upon the unit.

Fourth, the battery is not user replaceable. The claim of “4 hours battery life” on this page turns to “up to 3 hours” in the manual, and under normal use will quickly turn to “30 minutes maximum”. This is a problem because it makes the unit’s pedestrian mode useless.

Finally, if you opt out of receiving advertisements, traffic services won’t work any more. As you will be paying for those in two year’s time (assuming the battery hasn’t died by then), that’s unreasonable. And unless you give Garmin wholesale rights to your location data, none of the location based stuff will work. This is about as unreasonable as Facebook claiming ownership rights to anything posted on their site.

Having said all that, I do find the 1690 a pretty cool gadget. The implementation has some rough edges but that will likely improve over time. If you want something that just works, you’re better off waiting for a few months; as a non-essential early adopter’s toy it would be great – if Garmin got its act together.

Update, 4 months later: Despite a software update in December, this unit is still ridiculously buggy and reboots or hangs on numerous occasions (also a reasonable description of Garmin tech support). The internet integration now looks primitive, compared to the Google Nexus One – although that is only a smartphone and not a dedicated GPS, in many ways it runs rings around the 1690.
Rating: 2 / 5