Question with 1490T, traffic, and routes

I was on the I-5 North in So. California coming from the San Diego area on Sunday. I was getting the yellow and red warnings as I traveled north. Traffic was bumper to bumper. Without my utilizing the "Avoid" option on the unit I was rerouted from the 5 onto Pacific Coast Highway. It was longer and slightly farther to my destination but easier on my physical and mental condition. It appears that if traffic is too heavy the unit calculates an alternate route without prompting. However, if it does we are always free to ignore the alternate. I like this feature.

If you go to GPSMagazine.com, go under the reviews tab and select Garmin Nuvi 1490T (second down on left) and then select "Read the Review", it gives very good detailed info on this traffic thing, and most all operations that you can do with the 1490T. I just got mine and am still figuring things out, so other than this I'm not much help yet.

Some good info. I finally broke down and bought a 1490T today to replace my old Street Pilot C340 (still works great, just wanted to take advantage of all the new stuff). I was reluctant to buy a new one because of all the early problems with the 1490, but it sounds like they may have resolved then, and I got a new one (not refurbed) for just over $200 at BJ's...thought it was worth a shot.
Just got done updating the Maps & Firmware (I think...even though I've done it twice - the Dashboard still says I have a Firmware update to do ?) ...I guess it will take me a little while to figure out all the new functions, but it should be fun....☺

I appreciate the quick replies. It sounds like it does automatically re-route due to traffic at some sort of threshold. I'll look at the references as well.

ddmau, I haven't had any issues. It did freeze on me once when I was playing with the stored route feature. It took me a while to get it to turn off and reboot. When I registered my unit, I also updated the firmware and the notice of available update did not go away either. I haven't checked since.

After I regestered, I updated firmware and the available update still remained, then I signed up as a user on the sight, and with the GPS plugged in , I log on to the sight, and it tells me there is no update available. I think the bottom line is you have to be logged in with your GPS plugged in.

Enjoy the new unit and keep us informed as to how you are getting on with it. I'm looking at this model too.