Questions on a 52LM and 3590

Don't think you are going to find a solution to the "polarized" problem. I have, among others, a 3597 which is as high a resolution Nuvi as you can get AFAIK. With my polarized sunglasses on and the Nuvi positioned in Landscape mode (the 3597 can also be used in portrait mode as well) it's basically impossible to see the screen contents. The only solution I have found is to swivel the Nuvi about 45 degrees from horizontal and the screen will be visible with your glasses on. It looks funny but it works.

The Garmin traffic service is basically only good in metropolitan areas and even then tends to not be all that accurate or, at least, up to date. If your in an area with no cell service I doubt very much that you'd get any traffic data on your Nuvi as it's using FM radio to transmit it's data. I doubt there are many areas without cell service that would have strong FM radio reception, particularly when, outside of major cities, the Garmin traffic service doesn't really exist anyway.

There are several models with 5", 6" and 7" screens that have 800 x 480 resolution. One example would be the 6" Garmin Drive 60 LMT. Just look at the specs on the Garmin site for any model you are interested in. Also many of the newer models are dual orientation which means you can use them in either landscape or portrait orientation. This can help mitigate the problem with polarized glasses.

Garmin's with the traffic receiver use FM radio signal rather than cell. So yes they can work when there is no cell signal. That said, the traffic coverage is pretty spotty and mostly in large metro areas, so most areas that have Garmin traffic coverage would also have cell phone coverage.

Thank you alandb & t923347 for your answers. t923347 your example of offsetting the gps 45 degrees was the infor I was seeking. This says that Garmin hasn't considered real world driving. I wonder if TT has addressed this in any way?

You both mentioned Garmin traffic as limited to major metro areas. Is this the case with HD traffic as well?

You both mentioned Garmin traffic as limited to major metro areas. Is this the case with HD traffic as well?
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Hre is the coverage area for HD traffic.Just click on one of the areas to show coverage on the map. http://coverage.here.com/hdtraffic/

Short video overview HD Traffic http://www8.garmin.com/traffic/

Having HD traffic on my 3597 I would not recommend changing your current GPS in order to Upgrade???? to it. Possibly a slight increase in traffic updates and accuracy but nothing that's worth upgrading to IMO.

It's been a number of years since I've used my TomTom for much of anything. It had the same issues with polarized glasses if I remember correctly and doubt that that has changed.

....my gps's. The way around the issue was to order a pair of sunglasses that were not polarized. Problem solved. Something about the polarization of the lenses and the screen of the gps not working well together, as you have found out. If they are not polarized the sunglasses work just fine.

Garmin's FM and HD traffic in the state of Arizona only cover Greater Phoenix and Greater Tucson. There's an awful lot of state left without any radio-supplied coverage. Traffic on a Garmin GPS in AZ is then infinitely better using the cellular coverage with the Smartphone Link app and a GPS that will link to your smartphone.

Not an option for those of us with $700 prescription sun glasses that have polarized lenses. Certainly not going to fork over another $700 for new glasses without the polarized lenses.

I did some research on the question of polarization and TT and found much the same problem as the Garmin. Polarized lens and GPS's are not compatible. Something about the orientation of the glass of the GPS and the lens. But what this says about the industry is it doesn’t have the customer in mind in design. The gps glass could be oriented not to block polarization. Not rocket science.

I have the same problem using my Nuvi 3597 with polarized glasses. I found just adjusting the viewing angle slightly solves the problem. The Nuvi doesn’t have to be rotated a full 45 degrees. I imagine this will vary though with different viewing situations and polarized lens types.

As many of us here have stated, Garmin traffic is mostly effective in major metropolitan areas. In rural areas, I’ve found Garmin’s Smartphone Link with live traffic to be the most useful. As you have discovered however, there are locations without either Garmin traffic or cellular coverage. In those areas, you are just out of luck. On the whole, cellular service areas (depending on your carrier) are far more extensive than Garmin traffic coverage.

I don't know for sure, but I wonder if the manufacturers are trying to reduce reflective glare on the device screen itself by polarizing the glass.

Most of the LCD displays needs polarized light to work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-crystal_display

The emitted light from most LCDs is linearly polarized.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-crystal_display

The issues are further compounded by the lack of standard for the orientation of polarization.

The "Can't see screen with polarized sunglasses!" is not so uncommon. See, e.g.,

http://www.amazon.com/forum/canon/Tx1H79EKM6O9VJT

The issues would disappear, if and when Garmin or other comes out with GPSRs with OLED displays.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5" tablet with 1600x2560 resolution. The graphics on it are good in shaded/dim areas outdoors (and incredible indoors), but get it out in the sun like on a dashboard, nope, can't see it. My better half has a Nexus 6P with AMOLED, little brighter but overall same thing.