Hmm, didn't know about "Image Zoom add-on" may have to go over to Firefox from Safari. Thanx!

 

Do any of you live in a metropolitan area - such as NY/NJ - who might comment on the traffic info option that comes along with some of the Garmin nuvis?

We travel the NJ Turnpike fairly often...think traffic jams...with the GW Bridge, 95 North and South etc., and I'm wondering how the FM capabilities are for this traffic info - when you are using the Garmin on its own, not wired through your audio system.

Thanks for your input. I am considering the 660 and wondering if the 760 is stronger or they're about the same.

 

My good buddy has the 660 w/ traffic option and he likes it. He doesn't drive into the city but he does hit the dense NJ area near the city, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Philly Metro.

The 660 was top of the line when he got his - a few years back. 760 wasn't available. I have no idea if there's any difference between the two.

Have you looked at these for info?
http://www.gpsreview.net/
http://www.gpspassion.com/FORUMSEN/f...p?FORUM_ID=172

I've got a MIO 520. It's good but NOT in the class of a high-end Garmin.

 

Thanks so much - I really appreciate your feedback on your pal's Garmin w/traffic option. I have looked at that first site, but not the second. Will do so now.

 

There's good news-bad news on the 660 -- the good news is that you can pick one up for a little over $300, new on Amazon for a bit more, or reconditioned on eBay for a bit less.

The bad news is that these prices are so low as the 660 is somewhere between discontinued and orphaned, but so what, it works.

Oh, and if you're looking at what to do with that GPS, you need to visit
(and register at)

http://www.poi-factory.com/

another great community!

 

Well, I have a $200 Best Buy gift card, courtesy of Verizon, that I thought I'd put towards a GPS...so the 660 might well be it. Or I can wait a bit longer and the 760 will be cheaper and scheduled for the GPS orphanage. From what I've read - as is true with so much in the electronics/computer world - you turn around and there's something new and better. I really don't need a lot of the extras - but I want wide and I want traffic and I probably want something else, too.

Thanks for that link - I'll check it out, as well!

 

Decided against a standalone GPS and subscribed to Verizon VNavigator on my Blackberry. It works great, has text to speech, is always up to date, and I am told will upgrade soon to include traffic conditions and alternative routing. Now I see no reason for a standalone unit.

 

Well I travel a lot for business and having a nice big easy to see touch screen, with split info and easy access to "add Via points" and POI capabilities are just fantastic. No comparison really - but I do travel quite a lot to new places so the dedicated specialized device is a life saver.

 

I bought a reconditioned Streetpilot C530 for $180 at Buy.com and it works beautifully. It even has Bluetooth, MP3 capability, and uses the same GPS antenna/FM traffic receiver as the Nuvi. The main drawback is screensize and bulkiness compared to the Nuvi, otherwise it is comparable in features.

 

What do you use? The 760? I know you mentioned your buddy's using the 660? Or maybe I'm just lost in gpsland?

 

Sure you do. You're paying at least $10/month for pretty basic GPS maps. If you didn't have Verizon you'd be paying zero for GPS on a Blackberry smartphone (maybe Sprint charges you too). ATT, Tmob, they let you download Googlemaps and use it free. The screen is tiny, there's no traffic updates, no touchscreen. It's better than nothing, but not much, and it's expensive to boot. Nice (if you're Verizon).

 

You know, the more I read the more confused I get - not so much on here but on these gps forums, etc... Here's a question that shows my ignorance - I have read about needing to download new versions of MSN traffic...can you do this on a Mac? It's just that so much of Microsoft is not Mac compatible... Then there's TMC vs MSN traffic...Some seem to swear by one and others seem to swear by the competitor.

 

I have a TomTom 910, that I have mounted to the left corner of my windshield. I can then listen to the very proper British voice and hear the same thing coming from my proper British mother in the passenger seat repeating what was said, you know, just in case I missed it the first time. Its like having a two for one...
It is a really nice unit, and although, as previously mentioned, having a satellite radio on it would be nice, it is equiped with a 20GB MP3.
I would like to find a better way to mount it, so it is not sitting in the sun on the dash. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Also...why a hearse?

 

I've got a MIO c520. It's very nice. But definately it benefits from having a little human interaction to ensure that it's doing the right thing in some circumstances. It's Fast mode (should be essentially use lots of highways regardless of tolls and get me there quickly) can be quirky - it all depends on where you are in relation to the highway. When I got it, the best deal was $300 and I got widescreen, bluetooth, text-to-speech (IMPORTANT), and great split screen capabilities. For an extra $30 I got an extra 3-year parts labor coverage (buydig.com).

At the time the best deal on the Garmin 660 was nearly $600. Even the Garmin 360 was $400 at the time. The ONLY thing that I'm not crazy about w/ Garmin is that you can't do more the one Via point. Perhaps they changed it since when I bought. Sometimes it's very useful to say Go here - through X AND Y first. Well, for me it is anyway.

Today, prices have really come down on those Garmin units. And if I were buying now I'd buy the 660 or 680 and maybe even think about the 7xx series.

Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff - I think you'd buy the 700 series because that's the series that offers the different stops along the route...but it's still at the low $400's price. I think I may stick to my paper maps for a bit longer until something new comes out and prices drop on the 700 series...

I do appreciate your taking the time to answer my never ending questions.

And moodylewdd is priceless!

 

My Pleasure. Not sure if it matters but I don't use my bluetooth. My intention was to look up POIs, then hit a button and have it auto-dial. But, I found bluetooth more annoying than useful - my GPS would always try to autoanswer calls into my phone and be used as a speakerphone. And I don't want it to do that. It could be that I just don't know how to tell my blackberry to do X but not Y. Or it could be a limitation of my MIO gps. I never did figure it out and it doesn't really bother me - I rarely need to actually call a POI. So I disabled BT on my MIO gps. However, I Love BT for my handsfree wireless w/ my mobile phone. That's great.

At this point, you have amazing gps technology available to you for a reasonable cost. There are lots of great options out there.

What would be perfect I think is an Apple iPhone w/ GPS receiver. But it doesn't look like this will happen any time really soon. I just got an iPod Touch and it totally rocks. Technically, I bought it only because I bought a new MINI - so that I could use my iPod adapter ... one thing leads to another ...

Jef

 

Yes, you said it perfectly - "one thing leads to another". I do appreciate your experiences. I don't know what I'll do - probably nothing right now...just keep treading GPS water. All food for thought!

 

Tom Tom One...

 

Donna/Mike. We have a Sirius radio (not mini Sirius) and we are in the hunt for a gps. Could you take a picture of your mount. I have been thinking of this also

 

Just added a Garmin Nuvi 200 to the DD. Nice.

 

Just catching up on some of the more recent threads and I agree the Apple iPhone with gps would be fantastic, especially when they allow other carriers to host it.

 

Hey everybody I'm using a portable jvc kv px9s I got for $100 recon. works great it plays mp3, movies mpeg4, can load pictures has a slot for sd so you can dowload all your stuff on a sd and play music/movies/pictures or a usb port so you can plug it into you computer and download straight from the comp instead of using the sd its got a 20gHDD and 64mbyte of ram and all you have to do is plug it into your aux for sounds and to charge just plug it into your cigerette lighter and if you want you can take it w/you anywhere especially if you go out the country and just gives you all the info you need from places to eat hotels gastations etc. Only problem its a little bulky but for $100 you can't go wrong. All in all I love it.

 

Hello: Perhaps this is finally the thread that can help me. I have been trying to use one of the phone setups from NEWMINISTUFF.com. Despite help from Mike, the setup doesn't work with the 2008 cabrio. I have asked questions about this on several threads and by phone to dealers. That set up drains the battery. There doesn't seem to be a way around that. Several other 2008 cabrio owners have had similar experiences.

So, when I finally learned about some GPS units having bluetooth connections, I was delighted. My local dealer says that he has the kits for the NUVI 360 for both the both the Mini I and Mini II. They are, as you know, different, but I don't know what the differences are. And I would love to have a 700 series NUVI, and the kit only supplies the 360. The dealer will not sell me the kit without the GPS letting me use my own NUVI.

I have read that I can buy that part, but I have not been able to find it. I have tried to contact Morrisotown Mini but have not heard back yet. I don't know which of the two I would order. I know that my car is first generation, even though it is a 2008, with the new convertible not coming till 2009. But Mikey's bluetooth kit seems to work only thru the 2007 cabrio. My identity is in confusionhttps://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/images/smilies/lol.gif

Does anyone here have a suggestion of me of how I might use a GPS with bluetooth, thru the car's speakers (I do have the auxiliary thingy). I am not so worried about hooking it up; my husband is quite able to do the physical work if we know how!

I am willing to buy a Kuda holder or whatever. I have more or less given up the idea of using the steering wheel controls for now.

So, I would really appreciate any input/ideas/solutions, etc.

Thanks so much,

Barbara

 

I've been trying to find the part name/number/price for the bracket shown below. Anyone have some info?

Thanks in advance (or as the kids say, "TIA!")

PS: FWIW, I am using a TomTom Go 300. Works great but kinda bulky (rounded back like the first iMacs). Probably why they came out with the TomTom One for the same price about 20 seconds after I bought mine. (grrr).

 

Have a Garmin Nuvi 370 with the accessory tach mount as pictured in the previous post. The bracket (Mini PN: 65 90 0 428 283) was $140 from Classic Mini in Ohio with NAM discount and I installed it myself for free. The Garmin is an awesome unit and I love having it hardwired into the car. The position of the unit on the tach mount works fine for me too. Nuvi 370 also has European maps included in case you travel to Europe and it gives you the option of having a British lady's voice giving you directions. I love how the British call out our three digit highways: instead of saying turn right on to Highway Six Eighty she says turn right on to Highway Six Hundred and Eighty in a pleasant British voice. How awesome is that? You can also download a customized Mini for your vehicle. I was able to find a sparking silver Mini with a sunroof. Now if I can only figure out how to hardwire the sound into my car speakers so I can hear the damn thing. The Nuvi's built in speakers don't provide enough volume. Like the fact that I have a built in Nav and didn't have to spring $2000 for the factory unit. BTW, only the Garmin Nuvi 300 series will fit in this set-up.