+ 0 likes

Garmin Nuvi 660 Travel Assistant

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about them. He told me that he had a nuvi 660, good for me, and told me that he was very pleased with it. I told him it was between the 770 and 660 and I asked him if I could borrow his for a week. He agreed and off I went. I put it through its paces and a couple of days later I placed my order for the nuvi 660.

I have only had this unit for a month now and it has performed to my expectations. For those looking to purchase any GPS unit I highly recommend looking into the refurbished units. The 660 usually sells for around $600, if not more, new. I bought a refurbished unit for under $200 and it works and looks like it was new. However beware, if you are looking for the FM transmitter capability you might not get it with the refurbished model. The one I got was evidently manufactured in the United Kingdom at a time when it was illegal to have it broadcasted over your car stereos. I found that out when I called customer support after I realized that it was missing on my unit, cause it was on my co-workers unit when I borrowed his. Hey not a problem with me cause I had an adapter that I used to plug my IPOD into the car. I pluged it into my nuvi and hit the aux button on my radio and guess what it solved that issue. Heck I think that is even better than the FM transmitter cause you don't have to find a compatible station or listen to the static. Customer support even told me that I could even send it back to them if I wanted and they would send me a new one. I don't think I'm going to bother.

As far as the bluetooth feature. I am overjoyed at its performance. It had no problems pairing up with both phones I had. I had a nokia and then I switched to a sanyo. The internal speaker is somewhat efficient. There are times when I have a hard time hearing it but that is usually because I have my windows down going 70 mph down the freeway or in the city with alot of traffic noise but again what's my fix, I push the aux button on my radio and wah lah I can now turn up the volume. My wife does say however that I sometimes sound tinny or fade out. Although I had someone call me from my nuvi to talk to me and they sounded fine. One feature that I wish the nuvi had is that when a call does come in that it would automatically answer it instead of having to push the answer button. That isn't a big issue for me but it would be more convenient.

As far as the window mount. I have read where it keeps falling off the window. As of today it hasn't fallen off once on me without me forcefully pushing on it and even then it takes a little bit for it to happen. But I am planning on buying the friction holder for the dash in the future. That is what my co-worker had when I borrowed his and I liked it.

As far as the battery life I have not been able to judge how long it lasts because I always have it plugged into the car

As far as navigation is concerned it was usually right on when I arrived at my destination. There were a couple of times when it led me to nowhere. I am stationed in Florida and am getting transferred to Virginia so I drove up there to do some apt/house hunting. The nuvi took me to the front door of the place I was going to stay while looking for a place. I had a List of 17 places to look at and I inputed the addresses and saved them to my favorites so all I had to do was hit the name of the apt I wanted to go to and there I was. Except for one apt complex. Unless they started to build apts under the water then I could have missed it. Other than that it took me to the rest of them with no problems. I loved not having to try to read the pages from mapquest and drive at the same time or to constantly have to pull off the road to get my bearings. It took a hell of alot of stress out of my already stressfull task and even if I wasn't paying attention to where I was the "ding" would remind me that I have a turn coming up and it was always in enough time for me to get into the proper lane. It did take me on a route where a bridge was closed causing me to take another route by hitting the detour button but that wasn't the fault of the unit. There were times when the unit wouldn't recognize the address but I got around that by typing in the intersections that were on the directions of the apt guide books and that usually put me in the right area and I would find the place. There was only one time where I had to use the directions provided by the apt guide book. If it wasn't for the couple of misguided directions I would probably have given it a 5.

As far as satellite aquisition it doesn't take much time at all. The time it does take doesn't matter cause I let my car warm up and when I leave it has already aquired the satellite.

I can agree about it not coming with a printed manual, even though I saved the manual on my laptop when I borrowed the one from my co-worker and read through, but even without reading it, it didn't take me long to learn about it by just pushing buttons and experimenting with it.

On the trip up and down I didn't have to worry about where the next gas station was or rest area or places to eat. I just had to hit the "where to" and then hit the food/lodging and there were the distances to whatever I needed. So I didn't have to worry if I was one notch to empty and sweating if I will be able to make it to the next gas station or if my kids had to use the bathroom by the annoucement "the next rest area is in 25 miles so let me know if you have to go before we pass the one coming up." It also had hospitals, attractions, recreation, community, airports, parking, auto services, shopping, banks and other stuff.

As far as the speedometer function. Well I don't know about you but I made sure there was one in my car before I bought it. :o) There is also a complaint the the include windshield mount isn't legal in ca or mn. Well that's why there is a disclamer saying to check with your local law enforcement before purchasing to find out about such things or just buy a friction mount for your dash board. Problem solved.

Even with some of the flaws discussed in reviews and actually witnessed personnally for what I paid for it I think has worked like a GPS should. There are valid complaints and then there are some nit pick complaints. As time goes by and I have owned it longer and been able to better comment on the product I will update my review as necessary. But as of now I would recommend this product to any who are in the market and again you can save alot of money by looking at the refurbished units from amazon.

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Garmin Nuvi 660 Travel Assistant

...

to MapSource run on a PC), can't speed up Simulation mode, some newer add-ons aren't compatible, synthesized Text-To-Speech (TTS) voices are noticeably lower in volume than non-TTS voices (which isn't specific to the 660), and Garmin seems to require MS Internet Explorer for its communication plugin which is needed to update maps (again, probably not specific to the 660).

Why buy the 660?

OK, I chose the 660 instead of the 760 because I felt that I was buying a more robust, better-built, accessory-rich, "Golden Era" nuvi, especially after reading several reviews of the 760. Having now used it for a few weeks I believe I made the correct choice.

I don't need the "traveling salesman dilemma" feature. And if many reports are true, the 760's inferior speaker won't help it much neither as a GPS nor as a hands-free cellphone adapter. And if BOTH the speaker AND the FM transmitter are poor, it's all over. I couldn't take that chance. To me, after a relatively long period of stable model releases, suddenly Garmin began to look like General Motors and started releasing what I feel were needless model changes that represented either cost-cutting, market segmentation to confuse buyers so they'd be less likely to "look behind the curtain", or simply desperation as Navteq was sold to Nokia and the overall market, once saturated, began to shrink.

One possible example is that the 660/760 model change occurred at roughly the same time the F.C.C. became more pro-active about consumer products with built-in FM transmitters, specifically FCC Title 47, Part 15 devices. They initially forced XM to recall nearly all of their receivers and some time later some models from Sirius. Both were forced to re-design their new receivers with lower output levels so they were fully compliant with the spec. I believe that the same thing may have happened with the 660/760 model change, which would explain what seem to be a greater number of complaints about the 760's FM transmitter--I have no data to support this, but I have experience in the field and others I know tend to agree.

For whatever reason, everything works fine in the 660 I received in my Honda 2002 CR-V. If the FM transmitter were a problem, I could easily live with the built-in speaker, a compromise that several 760 owners have complained about. Traffic.com's exact value still escapes me, but I need to dig deeper. On paper, it's based on a far larger data pool than MSN's alternative, so it should be better (its display is certainly easier to interpret at a glance--one green line is better than four).

But if you just want to talk cost, the free slipcase and AC adapter are worth $45+ alone and after that you should STILL get the friction mount AND a bag you can put everything in (Gilsson's is excellent), adding at least another $55+ to your purchase. After that, with the 660 you're done. But with the 760 that's another $100+. To me, the choice of the 660 is simple--more for your money and better quality for your investment.

For my part, "older fonts", the lack of routes--my research indicates that you can use MapSource on your PC to lessen the pain of its absence--and other feature additions haven't been deal-killers, and the swing-out antenna allows you to turn the satellite receiver off instantly, which is a real convenience--it preserves battery life for extended use as a hand-held tourist accessory, and makes route simulation a lot easier (if slow).

This is almost a moot point--660s are nearly gone and soon so will 760s. Too bad, because xx5 models are pricey and may well continue to follow a path to lower quality. And not to discount the last-minute price increase that always seems to accompany a technology product as it leaves the market, it still surprises me to see that 660s are significantly more expensive than 760s. The same thing happened long after the 350 was discontinued. There may be more to it than demand exceeding supply--the 660 may well be a better design. It certainly has its advantages.

That was my analysis before I bought--you have to do your own.

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Garmin Nuvi 660 Travel Assistant

...

to MapSource run on a PC), can't speed up Simulation mode, some newer add-ons aren't compatible, synthesized Text-To-Speech (TTS) voices are noticeably lower in volume than non-TTS voices (which isn't specific to the 660), and Garmin seems to require MS Internet Explorer for its communication plugin which is needed to update maps (again, probably not specific to the 660).



Why buy the 660?



OK, I chose the 660 instead of the 760 because I felt that I was buying a more robust, better-built, accessory-rich, "Golden Era" nuvi, especially after reading several reviews of the 760. Having now used it for a few weeks I believe I made the correct choice.



I don't need the "traveling salesman dilemma" feature. And if many reports are true, the 760's inferior speaker won't help it much neither as a GPS nor as a hands-free cellphone adapter. And if BOTH the speaker AND the FM transmitter are poor, it's all over. I couldn't take that chance. To me, after a relatively long period of stable model releases, suddenly Garmin began to look like General Motors and started releasing what I feel were needless model changes that represented either cost-cutting, market segmentation to confuse buyers so they'd be less likely to "look behind the curtain", or simply desperation as Navteq was sold to Nokia and the overall market, once saturated, began to shrink.



One possible example is that the 660/760 model change occurred at roughly the same time the F.C.C. became more pro-active about consumer products with built-in FM transmitters, specifically FCC Title 47, Part 15 devices. They initially forced XM to recall nearly all of their receivers and some time later some models from Sirius. Both were forced to re-design their new receivers with lower output levels so they were fully compliant with the spec. I believe that the same thing may have happened with the 660/760 model change, which would explain what seem to be a greater number of complaints about the 760's FM transmitter--I have no data to support this, but I have experience in the field and others I know tend to agree.



For whatever reason, everything works fine in the 660 I received in my Honda 2002 CR-V. If the FM transmitter were a problem, I could easily live with the built-in speaker, a compromise that several 760 owners have complained about. Traffic.com's exact value still escapes me, but I need to dig deeper. On paper, it's based on a far larger data pool than MSN's alternative, so it should be better (its display is certainly easier to interpret at a glance--one green line is better than four).



But if you just want to talk cost, the free slipcase and AC adapter are worth $45+ alone and after that you should STILL get the friction mount AND a bag you can put everything in (Gilsson's is excellent), adding at least another $55+ to your purchase. After that, with the 660 you're done. But with the 760 that's another $100+. To me, the choice of the 660 is simple--more for your money and better quality for your investment.



For my part, "older fonts", the lack of routes--my research indicates that you can use MapSource on your PC to lessen the pain of its absence--and other feature additions haven't been deal-killers, and the swing-out antenna allows you to turn the satellite receiver off instantly, which is a real convenience--it preserves battery life for extended use as a hand-held tourist accessory, and makes route simulation a lot easier (if slow).



This is almost a moot point--660s are nearly gone and soon so will 760s. Too bad, because xx5 models are pricey and may well continue to follow a path to lower quality. And not to discount the last-minute price increase that always seems to accompany a technology product as it leaves the market, it still surprises me to see that 660s are significantly more expensive than 760s. The same thing happened long after the 350 was discontinued. There may be more to it than demand exceeding supply--the 660 may well be a better design. It certainly has its advantages.



That was my analysis before I bought--you have to do your own.

+ 0 likes

Garmin Nuvi 660 Travel Assistant

...

to MapSource run on a PC), can't speed up Simulation mode, some newer add-ons aren't compatible, synthesized Text-To-Speech (TTS) voices are noticeably lower in volume than non-TTS voices (which isn't specific to the 660), and Garmin seems to require MS Internet Explorer for its communication plugin which is needed to update maps (again, probably not specific to the 660).





Why buy the 660?





OK, I chose the 660 instead of the 760 because I felt that I was buying a more robust, better-built, accessory-rich, "Golden Era" nuvi, especially after reading several reviews of the 760. Having now used it for a few weeks I believe I made the correct choice.





I don't need the "traveling salesman dilemma" feature. And if many reports are true, the 760's inferior speaker won't help it much neither as a GPS nor as a hands-free cellphone adapter. And if BOTH the speaker AND the FM transmitter are poor, it's all over. I couldn't take that chance. To me, after a relatively long period of stable model releases, suddenly Garmin began to look like General Motors and started releasing what I feel were needless model changes that represented either cost-cutting, market segmentation to confuse buyers so they'd be less likely to "look behind the curtain", or simply desperation as Navteq was sold to Nokia and the overall market, once saturated, began to shrink.





One possible example is that the 660/760 model change occurred at roughly the same time the F.C.C. became more pro-active about consumer products with built-in FM transmitters, specifically FCC Title 47, Part 15 devices. They initially forced XM to recall nearly all of their receivers and some time later some models from Sirius. Both were forced to re-design their new receivers with lower output levels so they were fully compliant with the spec. I believe that the same thing may have happened with the 660/760 model change, which would explain what seem to be a greater number of complaints about the 760's FM transmitter--I have no data to support this, but I have experience in the field and others I know tend to agree.





For whatever reason, everything works fine in the 660 I received in my Honda 2002 CR-V. If the FM transmitter were a problem, I could easily live with the built-in speaker, a compromise that several 760 owners have complained about. Traffic.com's exact value still escapes me, but I need to dig deeper. On paper, it's based on a far larger data pool than MSN's alternative, so it should be better (its display is certainly easier to interpret at a glance--one green line is better than four).





But if you just want to talk cost, the free slipcase and AC adapter are worth $45+ alone and after that you should STILL get the friction mount AND a bag you can put everything in (Gilsson's is excellent), adding at least another $55+ to your purchase. After that, with the 660 you're done. But with the 760 that's another $100+. To me, the choice of the 660 is simple--more for your money and better quality for your investment.





For my part, "older fonts", the lack of routes--my research indicates that you can use MapSource on your PC to lessen the pain of its absence--and other feature additions haven't been deal-killers, and the swing-out antenna allows you to turn the satellite receiver off instantly, which is a real convenience--it preserves battery life for extended use as a hand-held tourist accessory, and makes route simulation a lot easier (if slow).





This is almost a moot point--660s are nearly gone and soon so will 760s. Too bad, because xx5 models are pricey and may well continue to follow a path to lower quality. And not to discount the last-minute price increase that always seems to accompany a technology product as it leaves the market, it still surprises me to see that 660s are significantly more expensive than 760s. The same thing happened long after the 350 was discontinued. There may be more to it than demand exceeding supply--the 660 may well be a better design. It certainly has its advantages.





That was my analysis before I bought--you have to do your own.

+ 0 likes

Garmin Nuvi 660 Travel Assistant

...

to MapSource run on a PC), can't speed up Simulation mode, some newer add-ons aren't compatible, synthesized Text-To-Speech (TTS) voices are noticeably lower in volume than non-TTS voices (which isn't specific to the 660), and Garmin seems to require MS Internet Explorer for its communication plugin which is needed to update maps (again, probably not specific to the 660).







Why buy the 660?







OK, I chose the 660 instead of the 760 because I felt that I was buying a more robust, better-built, accessory-rich, "Golden Era" nuvi, especially after reading several reviews of the 760. Having now used it for a few weeks I believe I made the correct choice.







I don't need the "traveling salesman dilemma" feature. And if many reports are true, the 760's inferior speaker won't help it much neither as a GPS nor as a hands-free cellphone adapter. And if BOTH the speaker AND the FM transmitter are poor, it's all over. I couldn't take that chance. To me, after a relatively long period of stable model releases, suddenly Garmin began to look like General Motors and started releasing what I feel were needless model changes that represented either cost-cutting, market segmentation to confuse buyers so they'd be less likely to "look behind the curtain", or simply desperation as Navteq was sold to Nokia and the overall market, once saturated, began to shrink.







One possible example is that the 660/760 model change occurred at roughly the same time the F.C.C. became more pro-active about consumer products with built-in FM transmitters, specifically FCC Title 47, Part 15 devices. They initially forced XM to recall nearly all of their receivers and some time later some models from Sirius. Both were forced to re-design their new receivers with lower output levels so they were fully compliant with the spec. I believe that the same thing may have happened with the 660/760 model change, which would explain what seem to be a greater number of complaints about the 760's FM transmitter--I have no data to support this, but I have experience in the field and others I know tend to agree.







For whatever reason, everything works fine in the 660 I received in my Honda 2002 CR-V. If the FM transmitter were a problem, I could easily live with the built-in speaker, a compromise that several 760 owners have complained about. Traffic.com's exact value still escapes me, but I need to dig deeper. On paper, it's based on a far larger data pool than MSN's alternative, so it should be better (its display is certainly easier to interpret at a glance--one green line is better than four).







But if you just want to talk cost, the free slipcase and AC adapter are worth $45+ alone and after that you should STILL get the friction mount AND a bag you can put everything in (Gilsson's is excellent), adding at least another $55+ to your purchase. After that, with the 660 you're done. But with the 760 that's another $100+. To me, the choice of the 660 is simple--more for your money and better quality for your investment.







For my part, "older fonts", the lack of routes--my research indicates that you can use MapSource on your PC to lessen the pain of its absence--and other feature additions haven't been deal-killers, and the swing-out antenna allows you to turn the satellite receiver off instantly, which is a real convenience--it preserves battery life for extended use as a hand-held tourist accessory, and makes route simulation a lot easier (if slow).







This is almost a moot point--660s are nearly gone and soon so will 760s. Too bad, because xx5 models are pricey and may well continue to follow a path to lower quality. And not to discount the last-minute price increase that always seems to accompany a technology product as it leaves the market, it still surprises me to see that 660s are significantly more expensive than 760s. The same thing happened long after the 350 was discontinued. There may be more to it than demand exceeding supply--the 660 may well be a better design. It certainly has its advantages.







That was my analysis before I bought--you have to do your own.