Nuvi 1690 opinions?

Here are some existing threads on the 1690:

http://www.poi-factory.com/search/node/1690

Also here is a good thread with user experiences:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=128769

Thanks, I guess I should learn how to do better searches here.

I weighed the options and decided the lifetime traffic made the 1490 a better buy in the long run.

I'm not sure what the service will cost after the 1690s introductory period but I'm sure our phones will be doing it all for free by then.

Dan

I had a problem with my 1490 so I traded up to the 1690.

I have to say I like the 1690 unit better over all but:

The screen is smaller, the touch screen is less responsive, the traffic is only free for 2 years and the speaker phone is really useless.

But the integrated receiver let me wire it directly to my car. No matter where I turn it on it is always active. I can send addresses directly from my computer wirelessly through Google maps, the gas feature is nice for finding good pricing, and the smaller size fits better in my car.

I still think the 1490 is a better unit but the feature set on the 1690 makes it more productive.

This is my first Garmin, I have only MS Streets & Trips 2006 used on a laptop to compare. For me it's great. Here is what I said on another post.
The gas search feature can save some mony. I was SB on I96 about 5 mi or so from Savannah GA, it gives the higher prices in red and the lower prices in green and points in the direction of the station. Straigh up arrows are the ones that will be right off the interstate and anything else will be somewhere else even the ones behind you BUT what I experienced was this.
At the point I descrebed above there where 6 or 7 prices in red (higher prices) straight ahead and about 20 other lower prices behind me. I said to myself I'm not going back or paying the higher prices, I'll wait a while. Then after I passed all the exits that lead into Savannah with the higher prices I did another search and wowa, there where a bunch of cheaper prices just ahead. The question I had was, Why did I get all these location with the lower prices behind me and not after Savannah? The ones after Savannah where closer on the first search.
Anyway that is a great service that will save you money. It tells you the last price update also by saying today, yesterday, two days ago... I'm new at this GPS thing so that's the best one so far. The google search for Wall-Mart or anything that can be located even by phone number is great. You can't load all those POI's. Not that you don't need POI's. The one I just love is the rest area POI, I set it to 3 mile alert and couldn't believe how many rest stops there where. We use them a lot to stretch and walk around. The next POI I get will be the red light cameras. I can go on but want to keep it somewhat short, chat later.
Jim