Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone Now $69.99 From Amazon! (1/20/2010)

 

Amazon now has reduced the price of the Garmin Nuvifone G60 for $219.99. If anybody here using this?

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-nuvifone-Phone-Only-Service/dp/...

Is it unlocked?

Jim1348 wrote:

Amazon now has reduced the price of the Garmin Nuvifone G60 for $219.99. If anybody here using this?

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-nuvifone-Phone-Only-Service/dp/B002R8S5AK/ref=cell_dp_woplan

Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone $219.99 From Amazon

I think it comes subsidy locked to AT&T, but apparently it can be unlocked. We have had some discussion about it on HoFo. I am tempted to get one and use my T-Mobile pre-paid SIM card in it.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1609361

It looks like getting a phone unlocked only costs a few dollars.

Instant Unlock Code $1.79
Unlock Any Cellphone Use Any Sim! Easy to enter codes. Pay by Paypal.
www.CellUnlockStore.com

Instant Unlock Only $2.49
Unlock Any Phone For Just $2.49 Use Any Sim In Any Phone Unlock Now
www.Cell-Unlockers.com

Unlock Codes from $4.99
Unlock your cell online today, Any network in any country!
www.UnlockSolution.co.uk

Mobile Unlock
Get Mobile Unlock Find & Compare Great Options On ASK
Mobile.Ask.com

Uh, maybe not

Jim1348 wrote:

Instant Unlock Code $1.79
Unlock Any Cellphone Use Any Sim! Easy to enter codes. Pay by Paypal.
www.CellUnlockStore.com

Unlock it first, and then I'll believe it. New phones like this can be hard, and expensive, to unlock.

Caveat Emptor.

--
nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

Verizon

Wished it work on Verizon network. After someone buys one and unlocks it let us know

Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone Now $199.99 From Amazon

I did order one of these from Amazon on Sunday, January 24, 2010. They were offering free two day shipping. However, apparently that really means three days, since it arrived on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. I was home when the UPS truck arrived and I figured the first thing to do was to try and get it unlocked, since I am a T-Mobile customer. The US version is subsidy locked to AT&T and can't do anything, except dial 911 until it is either unlocked or an AT&T SIM card inserted.

One of the first things I did was call AT&T Customer Service and ask for an unlock code. They asked for my IMEI number and told me that I would need to send a facsimile of the receipt showing that I paid retail price for this. I was told that it would take 48 hours. I was okay with that since that would mean I would get it by Friday evening and have the weekend to try it.

Two days passed and I called again Friday night to check on the status. This time I was told it would take 72 hours. I called again a couple of times was not able to get the unlock code until Friday, February 5th, 2010 from AT&T. During that time I was told that only AT&T can issue the code, but that it comes from Garmin.

In the meantime I was getting nervous because we are getting ready to go on vacation and I wanted to be able to use this. I actually tried two different unlock companies. I check with Remote Unlocks first http://www.remoteunlocks.com/ They allow you to enter your IMEI number to see if your phone can be unlocked. I felt pretty confident because after entering the IMEI number, I received a message that states, "Your phone details have been successfully submitted and our system shows your Garmin phone can be unlocked immediately." I proceeded with PayPal payment and a short time later I received an email stating, "Requests are generally processed within 12 hours, however please allow up to 24 hours before receiving your details." I thought to myself that immediate must means something different to them. Anyway, the following morning I get another email.

"We have been unable to obtain an unlock code for your phone using the imei number supplied. Although this model is generally un-lockable, there are instances where codes cannot be generated. This is due to unique phone variables and cannot be predicted in our preliminary report.
As an apology for this, we would like to offer you a full refund and a free unlock code for your phone as soon as one becomes available on our database. Alternatively you can use this free credit for an alternative phone.

We would like to offer you a full refund for this and we offer our apologies for the inconvenience.
Refunds are usually processed within 48 hours, however please allow up to seven days for funds to reflect in your account.

If you have any issues please contact us.

We have offered some further advise below on possible options you now have.

Next Step

1) You can contact your service provider and ask them for a code, however if you have excessive time left on a contract they may not allow this. This option can be free.

2) Specialist shops are available in commercial areas. They can unlock the phone directly using a cable. Prices can vary for this service.

3) You can download certain software from the internet which may make it possible to unlock your phone using your USB cable, however this can be risky and may damage your phone or firmware.

Again we apologize for this and hope you have more success unlocking your phone in future."

So by this time I am getting nervous since I had just bought a new Garmin Nuvifone G60, I can't seem to get an unlock code from AT&T or Remote Unlocks, so at that point it seemed like I had just spent $219.99 for something I can't use.

I even tried CellUnlockStore.com. They, sent me the following:

"Dear Customer,

Sorry I have been unable to generate the correct unlock code for your mobile. There are so many mobile out there sometimes the firmware on certain versions mean I cant generate the code.

I have sent your details over the accounts team who will send you a refund. Although normally quicker please allow up to 7 days for the refund to get back into your account.

Once again I apologize for not being able to get the correct code for your mobile. Your only option may be your network operator or a local shop who can unlock via a cable.

Best Regards,
cellunlockstore.com"

So, by this time I am even more worried, but I tried AT&T again, and was finally able to get the unlcok code from them. I entered it and it opened up the Nuvifone immediately. I made a test call with my T-Mobile prepaid SIM card and it worked fine.

I apologize for the length of this post, but hopefully it will be beneficial for anybody considering a Garmin Nuvifone G60, especially if they want to not get a data plan and use it primarily as a cell phone and GPS.

One of the first things people need to know is that this isn't an iPhone. If you want an Iphone and the accompanying contract and data plan, then get it. I, however, usually have a laptop computer at work with a wireless aircard in the car with me. I can't justify the expense for a phone that I don't use that much. I also want a GPS that works independent of the cellular towers.

To give a little background, I still have my Garmin StreetPilot 2730 that I bought used. It works great, but it is getting a little bit dated by today's standards. I also have a Garmin Nuvi 500, that has been taken over by my wife. Finally, over a year ago I bought a used Pharos GPS Phone 600 (Eten Glofiish X500) that I use with Garmin Mobile XT. Probably many of my comparisons over the next few days will be between the Pharos/Garmin Mobile XT and the Garmin Nuvifone G60.

Anyway, I anybody is still considering a Garmin Nuvifone G60, it can be unlocked, but prepare yourself to wait to get it unlocked. Since Amazon dropped the price even further to $199.99, it may get more interest.

Unlocking Experience

I've never had a problem with unlocking a phone - I have only unlocked phones locally at a store or in my most recent experiences through the provider. I have never tried the internet route, no need nor desire. I might have felt differently in a Metro area without storefront cell businesses offering unlocking while you wait.

I've now gone through maybe 6 between my wife and I, it's never been an issue. Ive yet to find any significant objection from the vendor or carrier.

--
17

NUVIfone G60 vs. M20 vs. Mobile XT

I'll be curious to hear what you have to say about the G60's performance. Also, try to load some other Garmin maps on it.

I have a NUVIfone M20 coming from Singhapore, and already have the Garmin Mobile XT for Windows and Symbian. Mobile XT is clever, but in a car at highway speeds it is very easy to miss turns. It's nice on a cell phone when walking around a foreign city though.

So, let us know what you think. Also, can the G60 sync with MS Exchange for calendar and contacts? Can you load any applications on it?

--
Garminfone (Android) Colorado 300 NUVI 550 NUVIFone M20

Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone $199.99 From Amazon

So far I am pretty happy with its performance as a GPS. The most notable difference between the Garmin Mobile XT application on a smartphone and Garmin Nuvifone G60 is spoken street names. When I first let my wife use the Pharos GPS Phone 600 with Garmin Mobile XT I tried to not influence her opinion, but she had some experience with my Garmin StreetPilot 2730 and the first comment she made is that it doesn't tell her the name of the street. It simply states right turn ahead, etc.

Is your Garmin Mobile XT not keeping up at driving speeds because of a slower processor on the smartphone. The Pharos has a 400 MHz processor. That was probably fast compared to some other phones at that time.

I don't know anything about Microsoft Exchange, so I can't comment on that. I don't believe any applications are available to download onto this.

I know some people have referred to this as a feature phone, rather than a smartphone. That is probably as pretty accurate name.

One of the other observations that I have made so far relates to included connected services. Since I don't have a regular data plan, I was interested to see how many of these I can use via wifi. I am happy to report that Yellow Pages, convertor, and Flight Ststus works just fine on wifi.

The Premium Connected Services, on the other hand, are available with a subscription, and simply do not work for me via wifi or T-Mobile T-Zones, nor did I expect them to work. This is an area where the Garmin Mobile XT has an edge. Garmin Mobile XT will work with Google Local Search, traffic, weather, fuel prices, flight status. The Nuvifone has traffic, white pages, weather, movies, local events, and fuel prices as Premium Connected Services. The good thing if you are connected via T-Mobile is Yahoo! Mobile is available through T-Zones either with a contract phone or pre-paid SIM card even if you are not on a data plan. Yahoo! Mobile has a local search, weather, and movies. If you want traffic, Navteq Traffic works on T-Zones. Fuel prices, on the other hand, might not be so readily available on T-Zones.

I used POI Loader last night to downlaod a number of POI files to the Nuvifone. I did run into a limit of 32 POI files. I had not ran acrosss that limit anywhere in the past. I probably have way too many POI files on my aging Garmin StreetPilot 2730 anyway, so rather than downloading all of the same POI files that are on my 2730, I just need to select the 32 files that I might need most.

No nothing about the

Know nothing about the Nuvifone but on regular Garmin units you can run into the 32 file problem if you have all the csv or gpx files in one folder.Using subfolders will expand that.May be the solution for the Nuvifone.

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Garmin Nüvifone G60 POI Files

That is good to know. Most of my POI experience is with the Garmin StreetPilot 2730, so I may have to do some tweaking.

Thank you for the reply!

Thanks

Thanks for the time to write the review. If you don't mind, let us know how it holds up in a few months.

Daniel

--
Garmin StreetPilot c580 & Nuvi 760 - Member 32160 - Traveling in Kansas

unlocking Garmin g60

Jim, I too purchased, over the weekend, a new AT&T version of the Garmin g60 in hopes it would not be difficult to get it unlocked, sounds like wishful thinking. Would you be kind enough to share the unlock code and forward to cavalerifl@aol.com? Thanks in advance, fishyogi

.

fishyogi wrote:

Would you be kind enough to share the unlock code and forward to cavalerifl@aol.com? Thanks in advance, fishyogi

Typically, unlock codes are IMEI specific, and aren't transferable unit to unit.

--
nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

You can look for unlocking

You can look for unlocking services on eBay.

--
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/21626 - red light cameras do not work

Hmmmm...

But is the Nuvifone even worth all the hassle?

Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone

For me it has been worth the hassle. Granted, I did not enjoy the hassle, but I really wanted a newer phone with GPS that works independent of the cell phone towers. I think that the Nuvifone has some very neat features, but for me having it subsidy locked to AT&T would be a deal killer. I like having the ability to download POIs from here and use MapSource to organize my Favorites. I hope that Garmin comtinues to improve the Nuvifone line and succeeeds in this endeavor. Maybe selling unlocked phones in the US will take off and become popular. I suspect that a number of people are watching what is happening with the Google Phone. So far I have read that sales are not exactly overwhelming. I think that Americans like convenience and immediacy in purchasing, so changing the dynamic to one where you buy on line and don't get it in a local brick and mortar store will be difficult to change.

Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone Now $69.99 At Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-nuvifone-Phone-Only-Service/dp/...

I may get another one as a spare at that price.

The suction cup mount purchased separately is $47.73.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=30018#accessoryTab

The lithium-ion battery is $49.00.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=65904

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=30018

I think I am convincing myself to get another one at that price!

.

The G60 is being liquidated as a huge marketing failure - replacement spares are going into the new Nuvi 295, which is essentially a G60 with no cell phone.

Amazon is having trouble moving my request to my cart - go figure.

I like how Amazon specifies that it is 6.02539682539682 ounces.

--
Currently have: SP3, GPSMAP 276c, Nuvi 760T, Nuvi 3790LMT, Zumo 660T

Me neither.

bramfrank wrote:

The G60 is being liquidated as a huge marketing failure - replacement spares are going into the new Nuvi 295, which is essentially a G60 with no cell phone.

Amazon is having trouble moving my request to my cart - go figure.

I like how Amazon specifies that it is 6.02539682539682 ounces.

At $70 for a phone and GPS

At $70 for a phone and GPS that's not a bad deal. I have a regular cell and GPS but I could put a Pay-As-You-Go card in and just use it for visitors, who would probably appreciate the GPS add-on to the usual PAYG phone I use!

Wow

That is a severe drop in price.
Shows that the original price was massively inflated.

AT&T agrees to provide unlocks for all devices minus iPhone

Just in case anybody is wondering, this can be unlocked for use on any GSM network. I unlocked mine and have been using it on T-Mobile since this winter. One of the nice things about T-Mobile is T-Zones. It is a limited amount of data without paying for a data plan. The YellowPages.com function works very well on the Garmin Nuvifone G60 with T-Mobile T-Zones. Also, the Yahoo access allows you to search for a business, click on the address found, and navigate right to it without having to manually enter an address.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/05/24/att-agrees-to-prov...

I Wonder How it Works

Jim1348 wrote:

Just in case anybody is wondering, this can be unlocked for use on any GSM network. I unlocked mine and have been using it on T-Mobile since this winter. One of the nice things about T-Mobile is T-Zones. It is a limited amount of data without paying for a data plan. The YellowPages.com function works very well on the Garmin Nuvifone G60 with T-Mobile T-Zones. Also, the Yahoo access allows you to search for a business, click on the address found, and navigate right to it without having to manually enter an address.

Since Amazon is selling it without a service plan and the phone seems to be locked to AT&T, how can we ask AT&T for an unlock code?

Thanks for the t-mobile t-zones info. I have a t-mobile prepaid service. So you're saying the phone has Yellowpages and Yahoo built into it and they function just fine with prepaid t-zones access? Does Flight Status work with t-zones as well?

Btw, t-mobile prepaid phones can now access the whole internet for a fee (99 cent/hour). It's called Hour Pass. More info:
http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm24173.xml?related=y&Referr...

I'm not sure if the Hour Pass is device dependent or not. When I access google with my t-mo prepaid and Nokia 6600 (old phone), it won't let me. However, when I do the same with a newer phone, Nokia 5800, I see a prompt to purchase the hour pass.

Curious...

Jim1348 wrote:

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-nuvifone-Phone-Only-Service/dp/...

I may get another one as a spare at that price.

The suction cup mount purchased separately is $47.73.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=30018#accessoryTab

The lithium-ion battery is $49.00.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=65904

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=30018

I think I am convincing myself to get another one at that price!

I see you posted links to the phone at Amazon. You also posted links to a mount and battery. IF you buy the phone from Amazon, does it not come with a battery and mount?

.

CSands76 - I believe what Jim1348 is referring to is that at $70 it's now cheaper to buy the entire phone (which includes a mount and battery) than to purchase those replacement parts separately.

Unlocking

Thanks Gadget, for clarifying.

As far as unlocking goes, does AT&T charge for giving an unlock code? If so, how much?

Garmin Nüvifone G60 GPS Phone Now $69.99 From Amazon!

AT&T does not charge a fee to get the unlock code. You must provide them with proof of purchase and then they provide you with a code. When the code is entered correctly, it unlocks the phone so that it can be used with any GSM SIM card.

The Included Connected Services work with T-Mobile T-Zones:

-Yellow Pages — Search for and navigate to businesses in your area with 1 click to get voice-prompted directions.

-Flight status — Quick access to flight departure/arrival times and gate information.

-Converter — Convert currencies, measurements or temperature.

-Ciao!™ — Location-based social networking platform that integrates compatible social networks into 1 easy-to-use interface.

The Premium Connected Services do NOT work with T-Mobile T-Zones:

-Traffic — Receive alerts for traffic delays and road construction on your route.

-White Pages — Search by business name or first/last name.

-Weather — Current and 5-day forecasts tailored for your current location.

-Movies — Look up movie times by theater location or movie title and navigate to the theater.

-Local events — Search for and navigate to concerts, theater performances and more.

-Fuel prices — Search for the best fuel prices near your location and navigate there with 1 click.

Fortunately, since Yahoo can be accessed via T-Mobile T-Zones, things like traffic, weather, movies can be viewed there. Yahoo isn't built in, but rather is accessed via T-Zones.

Thanks

Jim1348 wrote:

Fortunately, since Yahoo can be accessed via T-Mobile T-Zones, things like traffic, weather, movies can be viewed there. Yahoo isn't built in, but rather is accessed via T-Zones.

Thank you for the info. I think we have different T-Mobile T-Zones service. Mine is a "pay as you go" prepaid. It doesn't let me access Yahoo at all. My t-zones service only lets me see my prepaid balance, ABC News and purchase some silly ringtones, games etc.

[EDIT]
I was wrong. I can access Yahoo mobile website and login to read my email. I've had this prepaid service since Dec 2005 but didn't know I could access Yahoo without extra charges. Awesome! Thanks much Jim1348. It's kinda slow (over GPRS) with my old phone. Gotta get me a new t-mobile 3G device.