The Nuvi 660 arrived yesterday. This thing is almost beyond belief. It has a bunch of features I'll probably not use (at least for a while) but it's very intuitive and a brief overview of the manual (pdf file on CD included) is all you need to get started.

Now where to mount it? The Modifry kit looks pretty good - anybody tried one yet?

 

I've had the C340 for two days now, it's awesome and I'm only sorry that I didn't buy one sooner!!

 

Sue told me that she wanted to buy me a GPS for Xmas, and that I should pick it out myself. Based on Internet research and comments from you folks I decided to get the Garmin nuvi 660

I ordered the GPS from Amazon, partly because I trust the company and mostly because I had two Amazon gift certificates which help lower the price. The company that Valentine bought her GPS from has a lower price, but I have dealt with Amazon before and they are very organized and speedy. They also respond to customer concerns in a very short time via email.

Demand for the 660 is so high that Amazon is currently out of stock. They promised that I would be shipped one the first week in January.

Hope I won't be disappointed with my new toy.

 

I friend of mine has the 660 and he LOVES it, I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

 

You will not be disappointed. It is the top of the Garmin line and has more features than you will actually want to use.

I love mine.

 

I recently upgraded my cell phone to a motorola razr. i added their gps service called vz navigator. it costs an aditional $10 per month, with no long term committment. I wanted to see if a gps system was really useful without the hardware investment.

it works great. it gives turn by turn directions with street names, displays a map etc. i mainly use it in my truck. I put a velcro square on the back of the phone and I lay it on my center console as I drive. the volume is loud enough to allow the radio to be on , yet still hear the directions. in my other cars i just lay the phone in a cupholder.

the plus side is that i have GPS where ever my phone is. the down side is that the service is dependent on getting a signal from verizon. it piggybacks on the cell signal . however, I find that in the eastern U.S., that is rarely a problem.

I find that the most useul feature is finding a lunch spot when I am in the boonies. plug in a name, wendys, subway (it's clear i am not a gourmet) etc and the service will find the locations by distance and GPS to them.

so far, i would recommend it.

 

Nice summary, Rob. I was wondering which you liked better.

Do you use the "600 voice commands" on the Si's Navi for anything? Can the voice commands control the radio or the heater/air conditioner? Do you use the Navi's voice commands for controlling the radio or the heater/air conditioner.

Barry

 

The Acura's navi system is second only to the Lexus, from what I've been told. You can change the "narrator's" voice too. My favorite bit was how it offered you "choices" of which route you wanted to take to your destination. Very cool!

 

The Garmin is great for that as well. Set it up to avoid highways, etc. We did so yesterday, then when we needed to get home, a bit sooner, I changed the setting, it recalculated and we hit the highway.

I'm still finding my way around with the Garmin 360, but from what I can see, it's a gadget. I got a real kick out of it when just before dark the screen changes to nighttime mode. Hadn't see it do that trick yet.

 

Sometimes late at night, when I'm driving home from work and feeling lonely, I'll ask my Japanese (its a Honda afterall) girlfriend who lives in the navi for the time. Other than that I almost never use the voice commands. After the novelty wore off in the first few weeks, I stopped using the voice commands. The unit is so very easy to use that there really is no need, besides, I don't remember the important commands and GiPi doesn't always understand what I'm trying to tell her. I'm content to just have her tell me the time.

By the way, the voice commands control all of the navi and audio functions but have nothing to do with the heat or airconditioning. Some things you still have to do yourself.

Still, the Honda/Acura navi is so very good that even without the voice commands it would be my first choice. Aside from the accuracy, it is easy and intuitive to use. It gives you a choice of "Maximize Freeways", "Minimize Freeways", "Direct Route" and "Easy Route". The address book holds 200 addresses (one hundred per person) and there is a host of features. The audio system is very, very good and plays CDs, MP3 disks, compact flash and SD memory cards, in addition to XM radio.

My mother has the Lexus Navi in her ES330. Its a pretty good unit, and I'm probably biased, but I like the Si unit better. I find it easier to use, and much more intuitive.