thinking of buying a garmin 3590. (My first gps). Thoughts? Reccomendations?

A little pricey but doesn't look like a bad unit at all. I found it very interesting that Garmin does not include "Garmin Lock", the "feature" intended to encourage owners to leave their GPS in the car that doesn't keep your GPS from being stolen or your window broken to get at it. Good for them, maybe they are finally learning.

I'm not clear myself on what a "HD" traffic receiver is. As long as the model is marked with LMT you should be getting lifetime maps and whatever traffic receiver it needs included in the price. I'm sure others will join in with details on HD traffic as opposed to regular traffic.

It wasn't clear from what specs I saw how much memory the device has. One concern that I have with recent Garmin devices is that they seem to skimp on memory and you end up with memory limitations and perhaps having to add an extra microSD card to install the ever growing maps. Easy enough to add a microSD card, but the average user should not have to do this and doing so may give up some utility of having other extra maps on the microSD card. I'm hoping that others will comment on the memory size.

Thanks

Looks to be a large 8GB:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/34375

Not keeping mine. The traffic icon does not work right and I do not trust it. All it does is search and update unlike my 3790. Plug it in the icon is green, some traffic and it turns yellow, back-ups and it turns red. Tells you where and for how long. It's surprised me many a times on how accurate it is. Good luck with yours if you buy it.

5 inch screen seems unnecessary.

With the split screen Junction View images offered on the newer models like my 2460, I find the 5" screen very desirable. Certainly though, it's up to all users to make this judgment for themselves.

Started out with an old C340 which I believe had a 4.3 inch screen. Then upgraded to a 1490 with a bigger screen and that was nice. Currently have a built in unit with an 8" screen in my company car and all I can say is that in my opinion, "size does matter".

Just a lot easier to look at, especially if your eyes are "high mileage"!

Not just for old eyes, either. More info at a quick glance, instead of hunting for it.

4.3" to 5" is a good jump in screen size.

If you are in US then HD traffic should work at most places but if you are in Canada then there is no HD traffic. I just bought 2595 and subscribed to 3d Live traffic via smartphone link app and have to see how extensive cover I get in Toronto area?

Ya...right, It's for old eyes and that's that. When your young you can quick glance at a 4.3" screen easier
than us old guys can on a 5". Feed him....

For details

http://www8.garmin.com/traffic/

I have both HD (GTM60) and non-HD (GTM35, GTM25) receivers. The GTM60 comes bundled with a 2495LMTHD that I got from Costco (USA).

HD traffic gets updated twice a minute and provides coverage for local thoroughfares in addition to highways. Non-HD gets updated once every 5-10 minutes and covers mostly highways only.

In the SF area, the HD traffic is pretty accurate for the highways, especially during commute hours. Local coverage is mostly misses. It does give you an indication of the local traffic patterns and might be used for references.

For details

http://www8.garmin.com/traffic/

I have both HD (GTM60) and non-HD (GTM35, GTM25) receivers. The GTM60 comes bundled with a 2495LMTHD that I got from Costco (USA). You would need to check the details to see if yours comes with HD receives.

HD traffic gets updated twice a minute and provides coverage for local thoroughfares in addition to highways. Non-HD gets updated once every 5-10 minutes and covers mostly highways only.

In the SF area, the HD traffic is pretty accurate for the highways, especially during commute hours. Local coverage is mostly misses. It does give you an indication of the local traffic patterns and might be used for references.