Nuvi 680

Sounds like a great unit. I do believe the 660 does show the miles to next exit (lower right corner) none of the cool MSN stuff though

Well I received the Nuvi680 today and having a heck of a time getting MSN to recognize that I have a legitimate account. Been talking with MSN tech for about an hour and he has tried everything to the point he told me to hold off till the morning and call back and would upgrade the ticket to the next level.. Hopefully I will take a nice drive to the Computer Show in Pomona and by then maybe the MSN feature will kick in.. keeping my fingers cross.

Sounds like this Nuvi680 has it all, i just wonder in the next 5 to 10 years, as they add to the GPS's, Will we even reconize them from what we are using today? or will the ones we are using today in years to come become as the VHS Tape compared to the DVD hmmm. Time will Tell

DizzyFox

I just got my Nuvi 360 last year and at the time there where only two Nuvi to choose from. Now I see this 680 and a bunch more!!! WOW.

Nick Jr.
Well? (How's it going with the MSN service, assuming you ever got it to work!)

Nick:

Sorry to hear you have problems with the MSN. I activated mine online and by the next day I had all the features.

I am sure they will get it straight for you and I am sure you will like it. I enjoy it very much.

Stan

Its working now since they reprogrammed me from the Riverside area to the LA Basin, but in another note, I am displeased with the movie icon, not showing movies close to my area which are many. Iam hoping they will eventually get a cell tower close to my surroundings..

Nick,
I believe the MSN service is carried via an FM radio station subcarrier.
Can you give me a little more info. on the MSN traffic feature? Is it good at giving you advanced notice of trouble ahead and is it also good at reroutes around the trouble?

It does give you advance notice of traffic congestion etc; you can also select the icon and it will show other areas of congestion, it starts from a few miles from where you currently are and goes for several miles in various directions...

NickJr
Have you been able to tell if there is any difference at all between the TMC traffic and MSN traffic?

It sounds like they both get the info from the same FM source. Perhaps the only difference is the display portion.

Do you feel it was worth the upgrade? I currently have the Nuvi 660 and it seems tough to justify the upgrade for the few feature differences.

For the additional cost difference I would stay with the 660 - Garmin as usual will come out with a new model with probably more features.. that is why I decided to only upgrade my MSN for now an additional 6 months for $9.95 instead of a life time for $139.00 - yearly additional charge is $49.95 after the 1st year being free..

New to the GPS thing and new to POI Factory.
Just purchased a Nuvi 360 I had researched on Consumer Reports.
Very simple to use out of the box. Like the fact that you can use it as a walk-around device and fits in your pocket easily.

Music Player and paired Bluetooth functionality for cell phones. Very useful.

Any tips from anyone please. Thanks.

nickjr, was curious on your input and far as the gas prices and the weather features on the unit, does it work well or is it a work in progress?

Bombos:

I have a 680 with MSN and the weather thing works great! I am currently in Charleston SC and the weather updates regularly and seems to track pretty closely with the TV weather guy. The other cool feature is that when a city comes up in any of the menus the current temperature for that city is displayed.

Gas prices can be a bit touchy since the prices seem to change daily (if not hourly) and of course always going up. The Nuvi tells you how old the price is. For example it will say 1 day ago, two days ago, etc. The thing is, even if the price isn't completely accurate at the moment you check, the cheapest prices are usually still the cheapest even if they are a couple of cents higher. So it is still useful as far as I am concerned. I think as gas prices stabalize a bit it won't be an issue.

Keep in mind my experience is on the east cost and your milage may vary out on the west cost.

Whay say you Nick? How are the prices and weather data in your neck of the woods?

Stan

I am very pleased with the traffic and gas information, however as I stated earlier the movie info in my area is not very accurate and the weather is sporadic, picking certain cities which sometimes are within 10-15 miles away which I guess is close enough since the info is coming from LA tower which is about 40 miles away..

I love my 680. It's two weeks old. I originally wanted the streetpilot 2820 with XM. But I've decided that the MSN was a better deal on the 680.

New 680 garmin owner, closest movies that show up is 110 miles away in phoenix. Gas is closed but data is 1-2 days old. Map is already out of date for my city, for bridge built 3months ago.

The map you got in your unit is at least a year to two years old, and updates happen approximately annually...so a bridge less than 3 months old >might< make it into the next map released, don't be surprised if it's not.

It can sometime take a few years for some roads, bridges, etc. to get updated on the map. No device will ever substitute for good local knowledge. A bridge built only 3 months ago might not even make it into this year's map update depending upon who and how the data gets reported to Navteq. There's a Burger King and a bar near me that have been closed (demolished) for 7 - 10 years that still show up on my new Zumo.

There's a new fairly major state road/tunnel interchange that shows up perfectly on the maps. However a surface street that was previously a dead end but was connected as part of this project (and actually opened before the interchange) still shows up as a dead end on the map.

So, it's not a perfect system. The best thing we can do to help is to report errors that we find to Navteq using their reporting tool.

I paid the extra $120 for lifetime MSN and now my Garmin gets updates on new bridges and roads. My street wasn't on the unit before I upgraded and now it is. It's work the extra $120 for lifetime service because new map update are $75 per year. Enjoy.

Jennyzita, if what I've read about the Nuvi 680 with MSN Direct is true, I'm understanding that to be the four items that the service provides is information and updates on are the following four items only.....

A. Traffic
B. Gas prices
C. Theater movies and times
D. Weather

That would mean, to me at lease that map updates, such as new streets or bridges wouldn't be updated as that would be done by NAVTEQ, and I don't think updates would be a part of the MSN Traffic Service.

Anyone agree?

You are correct in your statement to the best of my knowledge. Garmin just contracted with MSN for this service that the 680 has versus what the 660 does not have.. everything was identical except for the MSN service...

I upgraded to the 660 instead of the 680 because the MSN service is not available in the areas I frequent, so subscribing to it would be a waste of my money. Actually, the 660's traffic feature is of no use to me either, for the same reason. But the bluetooth and the cell phone capabilities trump that little issue.

I think I asked this question, but can't remember the answer. Can you pair the phone AND a headset to the GPSr?

I would love to do that so that you can still use the headset (which typically has better mic) but still be able to see the caller id on the GPSr.

But near as I can tell, a bluetooth capable GPSr and a headset are essentially the same thing: a hands-free device as far as the phone is concerned - and I don't know that it's possible to have more than one hands-free device active while paired to a phone.

That said, it is possible to improve on the sound of the GPSr as hands-free device by using external microphones, and piping the GPSr's audio through your vehicle's sound system.

I couldn't resist trying - but didn't expect it to even recognise it as the correct sort of device. The Nüvi invited me to enter the passcode "1234" ... on the headset

I have yet found an external mic that was better then a good quality headset.

The phone actually pairs with the headset, not the other way around. In other words, my particular headset can handle pairing two phones at once. I am wondering if the GPSr can do the same, able to pair with both the phone and the headset. Does that makes sense? Sometime I don't convey my thoughts very well.

The GPSr will think anything trying to pair with it is a phone...and I suspect they're only able to pair with only 1 phone at a time.

I think that it must depend upon the unit.

You can definitely pair both a headset and a phone at the same time to the Zumo.

Here's a screenshot.

Link

Learn something new every day...

Thanks 'cycle-mom.

Ok, so this is my first GPS. I love it.

As to the Bluetooth question, I have been able to pair the 680 with 3 different cell phones, each one is listed, but it will only bond with one phone at a time. It automatically bonds to the last phone it was bonded to upon startup, if the phone is within range.

Now for my gripes...In my area, Nassau County, (Long Island) NY, I am getting multiple UNKNOWN gas stations (about 90%). This is frustrating when you are trying to find the station.

The movies listings do not show the theaters that are local to me.

The weather shows for Queens County, without a choice for Nassau, although Nassau is in the supported area.

I have left the MSN receiver plugged in for 5 days now. It should have downloaded all the information. I have left the Nuvi plugged into the antenna for 8 hours.

I like the way the MP3 player works with the FM transmitter, I just wish the shuffle feature didn't always start with the same song.

If you want to clean up some space on the internal chip, there are files you can delete. For example, after you connect the Nuvi to your computer and look at the new drive in my computer. You can follow the path :\Garmin\Voice and delete any of the language files you do not plan on using. xxxxxxxx.vpm. Here I just left the "English American xxx.vpm files.

You can do the same thing with the Help file languages you do not plan on using :\Garmin\Help\. Here I just left the English folder.

This will allow you store a whole lot more custom POI's

DISCLAIMER & Best Practices:
Do not delete files you are not sure of. Doing so could render your Nuvi useless until those files are restored. Therefore I suggest that you copy them to your computers' hard drive first, so you can restore any that you may have deleted by accident. (I spoke with a Garmin tech and she said that this is a great way to add internal storage.)

Does the MSN Direct really update maps? I have the Nuvi 680 and still notice maps are outdated. I have found a street in Los Angeles that shows up on the Nuvi map but, when I try to program in an address, the street isn't found. Corporate Center Drive is the steet.

I have had similar experiences with movies and gas, only certain movie places seem always to show up even though I am next to an Edwards and it never shows up..
The gas station brands is sporadic... sometimes I get the name (Shell, Union76, Mobil) but usually unknown but I do get the directions to go there if I want to.
I called Garmin about the FM transmitter and inquired as to why in one day, the battery would go down from like 4 arrows to one and then a hour later back up again, I thought it suppose to last several days when not connected to your car battery, but I guess not according to Garmin tech..

I just traded my GPSMAP 296 for a 680 and have been using it for several days now. No problem subscribing to MSN service. Did take a couple hours before I got MSN info but it did accurately give me local movie theaters and times, gas prices etc.

I'm learning some of the subtleties of the unit and how to build custom POI files now so I can upload some files to the site.

Tom

No, MSN Direct does not send map updates. They provide only the services they claim. Nowhere do they say they provide updates. Garmin does not claim map updates via MSN. If this were the case, they would be selling that feature big time.

Is there anyone out there that has the 680 here in the Tidewater area? I would like to discuss your impressions of this unit.

This is my first gps, but I do not find the MSN stuff very helpful. Traffic is note updated in a time helpful manner where I am. The cheapest gas is not what I see, and movie theatres are listed > 100 miles away when there are close theatres.

I bought my Nuvi 680 in May. Pretty happy with it till today whenthe internal speaker suddenly died. I can still get sound out using the FM transmitter but the internasl speaker is dead. Tech support has suggested I need to send it in for service. Not too pleased with quality of some of the Garmin products. I also had trouble with the StreetPilot 2820 I used to have. Anyone run into this issue.

You may be interested in this Nuvi 670 Speaker Failure link.

RT