Downloading new voices

Welcome to the poi factory. You will learn a lot of good info here. There are many people willing to help.

I see that your 1390 speaks street names as well as giving voice prompts. Spoken street names require a voice with TTS (Text to Speech). Your unit probably already has both some TTS and non-TTS voices, so if your spoken street names disappear, check to see if the voice being used is a TTS one.

If spoken street names are important to you--as they are to most nuvi users--you'll need to stick with TTS voices. The optional voices obtainable from Garmin or downloaded from other non-Garmin but nuvi-compatible web sites are not TTS. Your first decision before looking for new voices is to determine if you want to keep spoken street names. If so, there may be no voices or very few voices that meet your need. You also need to install voices compatible with your unit--there are two speech engines employed by Garmin for the various nuvis--voices intended for one engine will not work with the other.

Just to make sure that you have all the latest voices, you should download and install WebUpdater, then run it with your nuvi connected to the computer. This will first check for firmware updates, then check for additional or voice revisons and other updates:

http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp

Also, although you received the Quickstart manual with your unit, you may also want to download and store on your PC the full 72-page Owners Manual. Hmm, it's good weekend reading....

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/nuvi_1100_1200_1300_1400_O...

PS--Garmin has just come out with a new map. If your nuvi is fairly new, you're entitled to a free map update. To check your version, tap Tools/Settings/Map/MapInfo. It will state that you have City Navigator North America version xxxx.xx. The new map is 2012.10 so if your nuvi has a 2011.x0 map, you'll want the free update. WIth your nuvi connected to your computer, visit the myGarmin site:

https://my.garmin.com/mygarmin/customers/myGarminHome.faces

then see if you have a free update being offered. If you haven't registered your unit, you'll do that here as well as installing Garmin Communicator plugin for your web browser. Note that when updating you map, the default is to update only to your GPS unit. If you want the map installed on your computer as well, look for the Install Options button in the lower left corner of an early update window, click it, then select Install to GPS and Computer. The new map offers many more junction view images (which your nuvi can display) as well as giving other updates to maps and POIs. It's really worth the two hours or so it'll take to download and install.

Here's what our DorkusNimrod wrote about the two Garmin speech engines:
There are two RealSpeak TTS speech engines used in nuvi units with the lower end units having reduced TTS audio quality. The two speech engines are not compatible with one another.

RealSpeak Mobile (low-end Garmin units such as 2x0/2x5)

Fearing that we've already overwhelmed the new nuvi owner, I better stop now....

You can try this website. Some are free and some are not... www.navtones.com

In my earlier reply, I came across this site offering RealSpeak TTS voices. Does anyone know if these are compatible with our nuvis that use the RealSpeak Solo engine? (I.e., DorkusNimrod or Turboccc, can you help...?)

http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/RealSpeak-Solo-Di...

I wondered where the full-length guide was! I thought maybe the box was missing a CD.

I've updated everything already so I'm just that much ahead.

How do I determine which TTS engine my Garmin uses?

Thanks for all the help.

Or is it Jack and Jill? Anyway, I believe those are two of the ones that speak street names. It is always fun to listen to Jill pronounce Porterville. It comes out as Portugal. Anyway, it is never boring.

I get tired of Jack and Jill

Karen is the way...

It makes my unit sound more expensive (lol).