New Firmware for Nuvi 660

New update for the 6xx series. check yours with the webupdater. the changes are listed

Changes made from version 4.60 to 4.70:
Added support for one traffic provider
Improved Points of Interest searching

Any performance issues with the update?
I think we all are a bit hesitant after the 7x0 fiasco.

I upgraded the firmware on my 660 this week. It doesn't seem to pick up the satellite's as fast.

Updated to 4.7 yesterday evening and did a check on my 660 this morning. I discovered that the FM traffic service didn't report any incidents, just a couple of construction zone locations. It had been snowing overnight and I knew that there should have been some accidents and the odd road closure reports for my area. So for me the traffic services didn't seem to work as well after the "upgrade."

Anyways I decided to revert back to v. 4.6 which has worked for me really well.

I have a big trip coming up this weekend. i'll let you know how it worked.

I have a 1400 mile trip that will test it well

I updated as well to the latest firmware and so far have had no issues. I have also updated the Bluetooth and have had no issues. Pairing up with a Samsung phone.

No problems encountered for the upgrade from 4.60 to 4.70

There is little difference in POI search times as claimed in "Improved Points of Interest searching" bullet in release notes.

Here are some random tests for POIs near Toronto:

Category Subcategory V4.60 V4.70
------------- ------------------ -------- --------
Food All Food 3.56 3.59
Food Barbeque 6.83 5.81
Food Fast 3.59 3.65
Food German 73.18 70.96
Food Mexican 3.65 3.12
Bank/ATM 7.79 7.91
Shop Shop Ctr 6.75 6.66
Commun. Border Xing 44.58 43.37
Commun. City Hall 10.09 10.24
Commun. Police Stn 6.88 7.02
Entert. Casino 99.65 90.17
Entert. Movie Thtr 10.04 9.17


660 owner here...

Still a lil leary about updating...
(I'll just haunt a lil bit more for more feedback.. )

thanks for the info.
going to update now.

I updated my 660 about a week ago to 4.70. No noticable differences found, which means I feel it is quite safe to upgrade.

I just updated the other day and so far no problems.

It also means there is no reason to upgrade.

They stated the new version:
Added support for one traffic provider
Improved Points of Interest searching

May be worth it just to improve POI searching. I use that a lot so want to take advantage of improvements they made. I would expect someone at Garmin monitor's POI Factory (as I consider Factory to be the best) and probably implement some discussions we have read about. I just wish they would detail exactly what they fix/improve.

I also expect they tweak little improvements/corrections throughout the unit.

Sure, if those are noticable. But if there is "no noticable difference," there's no reason to upgrade.

I'm REALLY curious about what:
"Added support for one traffic provider"...means.

Does this imply better traffic data?
A second/additional source for traffic data for the GTM-20?

Mike, I couldn't agree with you more, but you'll never convince most of the members.

I have the 650 and have had no problems with the update so far.

david

It adds support for MSN services for those who want to purchase the MSN receiver and pay for the convenience of having updated traffic/fuel price/movie time and other items.

Cheers

No problems encountered for the upgrade from 4.60 to 4.70

There is a 20%+ improvement in POI search times ("Improved Points of Interest searching" bullet in release notes).

Here are some random tests for POIs near Toronto:

Category Subcategory V4.60 V4.70
-------- ----------- ----- -----
Food All Food 4.48 3.46
Food Barbeque 8.36 7.09
Food Fast 3.42 2.58
Food German 93.68 75.06
Food Mexican 3.64 2.75
Bank/ATM 8.9 6.84
Shopping Shopping Ctr 7.72 5.94
Community Border Xing 63.08 48.39
Community City Hall 13.29 11.15
Community Police Stn 10.63 7.88
Entertainment Casino 134.47 104.44
Entertainment MovieThtr 12.54 9.98

If there is no noticeable difference, why bother? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Why did your earlier post show a much less favorable comparison? In that post, some search times were worse with 4.7 -- ?

The 680 is the only 6xx unit that has MSN support and it is also the only 6xx unit supported by the GDB50 MSN receiver (which already comes with the 680).

I believe 4.70 added an additional TMC provider as mentioned in this post: http://megagarmin.forumcommunity.net/?t=22569148

Do you have a reference to show that the change was MSN-related?

My earlier post was for a 650, which overall only showed about a 5% improvement. In fact, as you pointed out, some cases were slightly worse than before the upgrade.

The second post was for a 680.

Per Garmin Customer support - the additional traffic provider is NAVTEQ.

Has anybody noticed any improved traffic reporting?

Not really noticed anything IMPROVED on this end in regards to traffic updates. I suppose this would depend on where you are located with regards to the traffic transmitters.

Seems a little faster on POI searches, and the Bluetooth definitely works better with my blackberry 8830...

I now have a reason to update my GPS. Thanks for telling me that there is a software update. Also would be a good time to get the latest POI's installed.

Thanks!

I have used the new firmware for a few days and beleive it gives a fast lock on position. I ahve found no other benefits

I upgraded the software, but am wondering about the Bluetooth. Any one had any problems? Last time I upgraded it, I had a mess on my hands until I got it downgraded.
Well, guess I answered my own question. Downgrades for a Dummie.