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| gkassian |
Posted - 24 nov. 2010 : 03:18:07
I'm very curious about how Garmin "veterans" felt when StreetPilot line was replaced by Nuvi. I have never owned and haven't even seen one, but from what I've heard, it was possible to avoid specific part of the route and was even possible to edit maps or even include new streets. Please correct me if I'm wrong and this is just an urban legend :)
How was the transition from StreetPilot to Nuvi. What were the features that you missed the most? What was good about Nuvis that made you happy?
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ukemaxxer |
Posted - 28 sept. 2012 : 18:40:20
They will have to prize my 2720 from my cold dead hands!
I recently thought it was time for an upgrade, I didn't like the thought of losing my remote control, but hoped the voice command would work well.
I ordered a new top of the range 3590LMT. Great looking device, fantastic screen resolution.
That's the good bits done. For me, the voice command did not work well. I drive a 2 year old Volvo V50, not the worst of cars, but background noise was sufficient to render voice control useless!
The worst think was a fault where the map portion of the screen would just go grey. The top bar would still show traffic camera alerts, and the bottom bar would indicate speed, direction etc. Only way out of this was a full shutdown, only for it to go again in a few more miles.
It has been returned to Amazon for a refund. I'll never be unfaithful to my 2720 again! |
| wildgoose |
Posted - 07 déc. 2011 : 03:18:27
The 26xx/27xx/28xx represents the pinnacle of Garmin’s engineering power. These devices are designed around a time when GPS devices are still a novelty, and people are willing to pay big bucks for it. They are built like a tank, extremely robust, and it’s not far off to say that Garmin’s best talents worked on it.
Nuvi represents a new direction in Garmin’s thinking and execution. GPS devices are becoming commoditized, and Nuvi is their response to this changing environment. The devicess are simpler, cheaper, and meant to be replaced more often. They expanded their product lines excessively, and as a result, their engineering resources are stretched thin and the product quality suffers (top talents probably also left). Just read the review of any new Garmin products in the last few years and you’ll know what I am talking about. If they really want to copy Apple, focus on one or two things and do it really well. After all, we don’t have 10 different models of iphone4 to choose from are we?
They also missed a few business opportunities along the way (not purchasing Navteq, etc), and now, as pundits are predicting dedicated GPS devices may disappear in the near future, they are increasingly fighting for their survival. It’s not clear how they will fair out in the future.
I really wish the 26xx series are open source at this point. While the newer Nuvis do have some desirable feature (lane assist, junction view, speed sensitive auto zoom, 3d terrain shading, etc), some of these features can probably be ported to the 26xx/27xx series, extending its useful life by allow volunteers to fix bugs that Garmin is too busy to fix.
If they really want to learn something from Apple, they should open up their device to 3rd party developers and possibly open source their device all together. The single most important reason for iphone’s success is not because of its awesome hardware, but because of its App eco system. Have other people write software for your system so you can focus more on the important stuff. You want people to have more reason to bring your device. This might be already too late, but it’s better late than never.
I am still using my 2610/2720. I’ve tried newer Nuvis (1490, 3790, etc), while they do have some desirable new features I mentioned above, I can troubled that I can always spot a few flaws/bugs in the product. It’s why I say the best talents have left Garmin. I have not spotted such obvious bugs on my iphone or older Garmin units. (Trust me, Steve Jobs would’ve had the guy fired. ;)
If you want the specifics? Here they are:
1490- Lane assist, junction view, speed sensitive auto-zoom very nice.
- Speaker produces a hiss when on. Pop up ads that only shows best western or red lobster??
1450- Very slow map redraw when zooming in/out automatically. I clocked it. Occasionally it takes up to 7 seconds for the screen to redraw its content when zooming from .5 mile level to 800ft zoom level due to vehicle speed change, and vice versa.
- Speaker hiss and vibrating noise
3790- 3D terrain shading very nice.
- Lane assist graphics (arrow/text) not vertically centered. How something so trivial gets pass QA baffles me. This is their newer UI and probably the graphic designer or engineer paid no attention to it. Looks good enough to me, ha. It seems to be fixed on the latest 3490 screenshot but you have to buy a new buggy product to get it. There’s some Garmin economy for you.
- New map coloring scheme looks good on paper (and computer), but terrible in practice. The map background is basically gray, how do you compete with the sun when your LCD is only at 50% brightness? Have you forgotten why the designers picked the original coloring scheme for the older units in the first pace? Brightly lit background with black text is a lot easier to read and compete with the sun than white text on gray background.
- Device flexes with slight twist. The iphone have zero flex.
- Touch screen sensitivity not as good as the iphone.
It’s not useful if I don’t say what I want, so here’s what I want in a new car gps:- A 5” screen with 3D terrain shading. After using a 5” screen, even a 4.3” seems small. The 3D terrain shading (what I call true 3D) would look awesome on a larger screen. But it’s year 2 since 3790 came out and still no 5” model with it.
- Remote. I am the 1% that really enjoys using the remote on the SP. (Not holding out my breath for this one ;)
- Able to customize the data fields and map coloring scheme like I do on the 26xx.
- Open up your device so others can develop cool apps for it! It’s a 5” device. Make it a browser, a ebook reader, etc. I always wanted my portable GPS to compute the estimate sun rise time on long plane trips, taking into consideration the plane's speed/heading of course! Once you open up your system, these kind of apps are easy to add.
- Perhaps a regular non-glass 5" touch screen. It's not fun when the glass screen of the 3790 reflects the sun back in your eyes.
- Remove the battery (or make it user replaceable). One less thing to break
Garmin can still survive for a few years doing what they are doing. There will always be a small market for dedicated GPS devices, and it is still quite a few years away for every car to come with GPS build in. How about revisit the phone market but have it based on Android? No one’s going to buy your phone if it’s based on a proprietary system, I hope they learned their lesson.
Ok, enough rant, back to driving home with my 2610 with its aging 2009 non-NT map. ;)
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| Boyd |
Posted - 29 juil. 2011 : 00:03:41
quote:
Originally posted by danham
One question: when the Montana was first introduced, there was speculation that it does not use TTS voices. Is that true?
Finally got my auto cradle last night, and it was worth the 2 week wait. It is well-made, attractive and functional. Fans of the Nuvi active cradles should be pleased - it even uses the old style multi-pin locking power connector instead of mini-USB. When plugged into the cradle, a volume slider appears on the menu along with the brightness control when you tap the power button.
So I gave it a workout today, and I can confirm that earlier rumors about the lack of TTS were false. Maybe it wasn't in the initial firmware, or maybe it doesn't work with all the voices? I just used the default (American Jill) and all the street names were announced as expected. |
| RoverReg |
Posted - 28 juil. 2011 : 15:48:56
quote:
Originally posted by Boyd
I purchased the StreetPilot 2620 shortly after its introduction, about 7 years ago (seems like a lifetime to me now 
So my 2610 would be a bit older then. About a year ago, the screen brightness would suddenly go to full and stay full until switched-off, when it would work correctly for a varying number of days.
So I telephoned Garmin at Southampton, UK and was told that the 765T was the direct replacement. I bought it and discovered so many features missing, dumbed down or just ridiculous. As an example the many voice warnings prior to a junction gave a countdown of distance to turn, on the 2610. On the 765T it was replaced with the street name and no distance countdown. Now if I know the name of a street a few hundred yards ahead, then why am I using a GPS?
All buttons now gone, so not so easy to mark waypoints while driving as one has to enter a name/number, when on the 2610 the next number was given.
The number of false warnings about speeding when I was well below the limit, caused me to stop using it and revert to the 2610.
So I bought a Tomtom GO 7000 as my RV is tall and this would route to avoid low bridges. But it does not work and still routes me to go under low bridges. Icons for waypoints/POIs are not visible and the 2011 mapping is more out of date than my 2610 with 2007 mapping.
Unfortunately my 2610 died while on a trip to France, hoping to compare the two.
Fortunately, I had my Garmin 76CSx with me for marking waypoints and it's database. The 7000 database was lacking any French campsites even though I passed by many. I had to find a location on the 76 and then type the lat/long into the 7000.
I've done a lot of searching on the web and it would appear that the older style of GPSrs with functioning features is now gone - replaced by features not needed on a GPSr.
Now if Garmin were to combine the features of the 2610 & 76CSx with a larger square screen, then we could buy an almost perfect GPSr. |
| Boyd |
Posted - 21 juil. 2011 : 23:11:22
Heh, since I can't stand machines that talk, I have never tried. I would also need to use the earphone jack, since nobody has the auto cradles in stock (including Garmin). |
| danham |
Posted - 18 juil. 2011 : 15:40:51
I came "this" close to getting a Montana for the reasons you describe, but in the end needed something right away that met some of those important criteria but not all, so I bought a zumo 660. In the end the a la carte cost of the Montana plus maps was more than I wanted to pay. I realize that will change, but time was a factor. I hope the Montana marks a trend at Garmin to increase user choices and maybe I'll catch the next "generation."
One question: when the Montana was first introduced, there was speculation that it does not use TTS voices. Is that true? If so, it would be of very little use to me on my motorcycle.
-dan |
| Boyd |
Posted - 18 juil. 2011 : 14:41:54
Well I got a Montana 600 a few days ago, and it is quite an impressive unit. For starters, it has the nicest transreflective screen I have seen. Garmin has finally introduced a unit with a screen equal to the 60csx in terms of visibility (but much larger and higher resolution). I don't have City Navigator installed, and may not ever, but I can use my 24k topo card if I want full routing capability (Garmin's 24k topo's have the same Navteq roads and POI's as City Navigator).
This is the most customizable device that Garmin has ever made - there are multiple ways to accomplish almost anything you could want to do. For starters, it supports multiple profiles like their other new models. Profiles allow you to save the current state of the unit, including all the menu options you have chosen, then return the unit to that state with one tap.
The menu screens are fully customizable. You can rearrange the icons, delete the ones you don't want, or create new functions from a long list of possibilities for each item. But the most powerful feature is the shortcut function. These are macros that you create for almost anything that can be done by pushing buttons. The possibilities for these seem almost endless and the shortcut can either be added to the menu pages or placed in a Favorites dashboard where you can access it from just about any screen. The result is that two screen taps can accomplish pretty much anything.
You can even add the Favorites dashboard to the screen that comes up when you tap the power button. This is an especially powerful function, allowing the power button to serve as a dedicated menu key.
The Montana is not cheap, and you would have to buy City Navigator and the auto mount separately, but it's definitely worth a look. Garmin has never made anything like this before. |
| Kex |
Posted - 07 juin 2011 : 23:30:55
Filtered Search:
A TomTom will let you do this. For POI, they are filtered on any part of the name. For example, "bucks" will find "Starbucks".
For cities, although you must begin at the start, the list filters dynamically on the screen while you type (very nifty).
TomTom results filtering of any search function is one of the improvements that I have liked the most.
Food & Drink Categories:
However, one of the main differences I noticed when switching from Garmin to TomTom is the lack of categories within points of interest. For example, "restaurant" is one single category for a TomTom search, bringing up Foster's donuts or Baskin-robbins alongside a Japanese restaurant (obviously not the same price category). This is even more unhelpful since only the first 48 results are displayed. My SP 2720 has 16 categories of "Food & Drink", including "Fast Food" and "Café/Diner", so that is really helpful when you want a quick snack, not an anniversary dinner!
This is not a huge issue for me, since I use my PND's for traffic more than for tourism or long distance travel, and even then there are some features that help compensate, such as visible POI markers displayed on the map while driving. These can be displayed according to user selected categories, from all categories to none, and everything in between, so it's quite useful.
Shortcut Buttons:
The other thing I miss on the SP 2720 are the hard buttons, with all the shortcuts using one press, two presses, or just holding it down. I don't think there is a PND available that has any equivalent for that any more, although there are some features that help to make up for it on some.
1) Find button, three functions: One tap gets you to the “find” menu, and two taps will start navigation directly to the stored home location. Holding it down takes you to your list of recent finds.
2) Menu button, three functions: One tap takes you to the home menu, two taps take you to the Tools menu, and three taps take you to the Settings menu.
3) Map button, three functions: One tap will take you straight to the map display, whether currently following a route or not. Two taps will take you to the list of turns in the current route. Three taps will take you to the trip log.
4) Speak button, two functions: One tap will repeat the last instruction, and show the appropriate zoom window. Holding it down will take you to the menu for adjusting sound levels or muting the sound altogether. I would have preferred two taps as well to either mute, or unmute, without having to go through the same menu as to adjust the sound level. |
| Torquer2 |
Posted - 07 juin 2011 : 22:06:38
One of the features I like best about my old SP2610 is the "Filter" feature when searching. The word (or even letters) does not have to be at the beginning of the name of a POI but can be anywhere in the name.
I did a little looking at the Nuvi, and it does not appear that this Filter search is present. Is that correct? Do any GPS units by other companies have something similar? |
| Jim1348 |
Posted - 03 juin 2011 : 04:37:36
After borrowing my neighbors Garmin StreetPilot 2610 several years back, I bought a second hand Garmin streetPilot 2730. At the time, I really like having the XM feature for entertainment. More recently I have a Pharos GPS Phone 600 with Garmin Mobile XT, a Garmin Nuvifone (G60), a Garminfone (A50), and my wife's Garmin Nuvi 500. What I miss the most from the 2730 was the selectable tabs. Specifically, I really liked the tab that displayed the approximate street address. While I can do that with the other devices, it is a separate function. Also, the 2730 seemed more feature rich when doing multiple stop routing. As others have pointed out, I, too, really enjoy the more sensitive GPS receiver chipset and the portability of the newer devices. Needless to say, I would never take a 2730 with me on a hike, but any of my other devices do that just fine.
At one time I might have thought it would be nice to see say a Garmin StreetPilot [b]2910[/b.] It could be similar to the 2610/2720/2730/2820. A dedicated vehicle GPS with the more sensitive GPS chipset, but I don't think we will ever see it, |
| gpspassion |
Posted - 03 juin 2011 : 01:11:15
Thanks for updating the thread ;-) Didn't know that Garmin had given up on that "promise", disappointing, even though I'm like you, I don't need/use that feature. |
| Boyd |
Posted - 29 mai 2011 : 15:05:16
Checking back in over here again....
Garmin has withdrawn their promise to add Mapsource compatibility to the 3700 series. The deadline came and went, and Garmin removed the FAQ from their site that said they would make it compatible. Not such a big deal for me personally, but others are not so happy.
However, it looks like Garmin will finally have a unit that provides lots of advanced features, including some that have never been available on any model - the Montana series. Not cheap, but looks very cool: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=141093 |
| gsm134 |
Posted - 06 mai 2011 : 16:19:14
I'm another person that agrees the older streetpilots are far better for features then the Nuvi's. I have a 2730 and love it, but I bought a W295 when Amazon had the on sale for $79. The one thing I really like how easy it is to put in my pocket, but it lacks the features of my 2730. |
| RhoXS |
Posted - 05 mai 2011 : 03:11:32
Contrary to one of the opinions above, I think the Nuvi series is an unacceptable step backwards. Dumbed down is a good description of them.
The StreetPilot series were outstanding devices. Our original 2610 was best. The two 2720's we bought were also excellent but many nice features of the 2610 were lost in the transition to the 2700 series. We now still have a 2720 and a new 1490LMT. The 1490 has some nice features not available on the StreetPilots but, overall, it is a very disappointing device compared to the excellent StreetPilots.
My major complaint after using the StreetPilots is the cartoonish appearance of the maps on the 1490. The 1490 has a bigger screen but the streets and lettering are so fat the larger screen is mostly wasted. The size of the car showing my location is so big it looks silly. I never had a problem seeing detail on the smaller StreetPilot screens so I cannot accept the excuse that the larger screen is easier to see with bigger text and fatter streets. The screen has the resolution to show more detail so why it is not taken advantage of truly escapes me. The street pilots (especially the 2610) were capable, on a smaller screen, of showing more useful data and street detail, including a decimal point for speed, than the unacceptably dumbed down Nuvi series. The continuous compass card on the 2610 was a slick feature but now it is only possible to see a compass heading at a resolution no finer than 45 degree increments. Why when the information is available? There are many other big steps backwards.
I do not really understand why Garmin chooses to continuously take away features that have already been developed. Many of the newer features require much more processor horsepower so maybe some features need to be sacrificed. However, I would think currently available processors would be able to keep up with the demand for CPU time and memory.
I purchased the Nuvi 1490 because there is now really nothing better but I am just not happy with it. If I never had a StreetPilot (especially the 2610) maybe I would be happier with it. |
| Boyd |
Posted - 27 nov. 2010 : 07:30:05
FWIW, Garmin has stated that they will add Mapsource route transfer compatibility to the 3700 series during 2011 Q1. |
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