nuvi 1490 touch screen

I have not had that problem yet with my 2 14xx Garmins

Thanks for the feedback!

The touch screen panels can vary, even within a specific model. Some are just downright horrible when it comes to touch sensitivity. If you just purchased the unit and can return/exchange it easily, that would be the course I would take. If purchased locally at retail, ask to try the unit before walking out of the store with it.

Just in case you are not aware of it, teh majority of the Garmin GPS's (including the 14xx) use resistive touch screens. They behave quite differently than the capacitive touch screens used in most smart phones.

I found that the screen is quite responsive and sensitive if I use the finger nail instead of the ball of the finger tip. An old-fashioned stylus works quite well too, if you happen to have one handy.

And there's a way to tell if a touch panel is sensitive or insensitive...angle the screen so you see light being reflected, then press the center of the screen. If there is considerable looseness or "give" in the plastic layer when pressed (the plastic is stretched with some slack in it), the panel is usually one of the sensitive ones.

If the outer plastic is stretched very tightly and does not have a lot of "give", the panel is usually one with bad sensitivity.

You can sort of compare this as the plastic being one conductor of an electrical switch, the glass panel underneath it is the other. There is an inherent very small gap between the two to keep them fron contacting one another. The looser stretched plastic will be more sensitive since it's easier to push it into contact with the glass while the tighter stretched one will be less sensitive as it's harder to push it into contact with the glass.

Calibration mode only affects the accuracy of the function being selected. It has nothing to do with sensitivity and can not change sensitivity.

I agree that the variable is the touchscreen itself, as they can be supplied by different vendors to Garmin. The manufacturing process and materials may be slightly different from vendor to vendor. One good example of this, is the two types of touchscreens that were used in the 6xx line. One type works forever and the other type dies within 4 years due to the fracturing of the conductive silver ink.

The electronics and firmware are all the same between units but there can be different vendors for the touchscreens and differences in lots of the same type.

Both my 1450 and 1490 had horrible touch screens, but I think it was a software bug, not physical. I only had trouble with the screens when operating the keyboard. With other screens they worked fine.

I can confirm what Jim is saying is factual. It is interesting to know that even the same model of a Nuvi may behave differently.

My original Nuvi's 660 touchscreen died. It had a serial # beginning with 12P (newer touchscreen). I liked the unit so much I replaced it with a purchased used unit. The replacement has a serial # beginning with 186 (original touchscreen). This unit still works perfectly and is approaching 6 years old. Even the battery is still holding a good charge after all these years.

Thank you Jim for sharing your knowledge and providing a great service to GPS owners.

Below is Jim's site link if you want to learn about touchscreens.

http://www.sharc.net/gps_LCD_repair.htm

Ditto, my 1490 same problem.

It is not a smartphone nor tablet, it doesn't do swipe, nor pinch.

To me, a positive hard press to get the correct key is more important, especially in a moving vehicle.

Yes but some of the touchscreens I've encountered (the non-sensitive ones) required so much pressure to activate that getting a keypress to register literally moved the GPS at the ball mount to the left or right, depending on what key you pressed. It was fine on the center characters of the keyboard but the characters to the far left/right of the keyboard were the worst offenders and as I said, literally shifted the GPS at the ball mount.

I agree, using a bean bag mount, the less sensitive the touchscreen is, the more apt you will get movement of the GPS and will need to re-position it.