Nuvi 3597: Display timeout

I don't see how you would use Screen Timeout if you have entered a destination and your route is being displayed on the map screen as the screen will always be moving and therefore never reach the Timeout minute setting time.

If you only need the voice instruction but not the map display I'd suggest that turning the Display Brightness setting to 0% may be your best bet. It's not quite a totally blacked out screen but it pretty close on my 3597.

I always thought it controlled how long the GPS would wait until it powered off after detecting the loss of power.

But I've not mucked with it so it's just a guess...

If non-powered battery life is important, the 3597 is definitely not the right device for you. Like most of the modern Garmin automotive models, it is a battery hog.

Guys, thanks for the replies. After my encounter this evening, I have no idea what this setting does.

I navigated to a known restaurant 10 miles away. We parked and I left the GPS powered up. I assumed it would be off when we returned to the car. (The timeout setting is set to 2 minutes.) Much to my surprise, when we returned to the car 1.5 hrs later, the GPS was still completely powered up, never gone to sleep. So, I selected a new destination (Home) and the GPS died about 5 minutes into our new trip.

I guess I'm pleased to see that the GPS might be good for 1.5 - 2 hrs of battery life, which would be more than adequate for my purposes.

The display can be set for 10% brightness, nothing lower.

I'm going to demo my 1450 and see if that's any better in terms of battery life. It does not have any sort of display timeout setting, but it does have a much larger speaker which may ultimately help me.

T, you don't think it would time out after reaching the destination??

Maybe but if you want to save battery life when not navigating why not just put the Nuvi in sleep mode (tap the power button)?

By the way my 3597 reads 0% brightness but as I say it is not a totally black screen so 10% maybe the exact brightness.

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Display timeout is for out of the cradle on battery, IIRC.

That is correct.

I am guessing that the explanation for this chain of events is that the GPS never had 12 volt power for this trip while driving and while in the restaurant. It must have been in the night display mode for much of the time, which is less bright. That is the only reason it lasted that long.

Cigar lighter outlets are not made to a good standard. It could be intermittent but it was off for this trip.

The way I use the 3597 is that it is always plugged in to a cigar lighter outlet I installed so it is on with "accessory" power. When the car is shut down a countdown timer appears and after 15 seconds the GPS goes into sleep mode. So with the switched cigar outlet I am forcing sleep mode. It doesn't depend on idle time.

dobs108

I'v never understood why battery life is an issue with an automotive GPSr when vehicle battery power is almost always present. While some vehicles power off the outlets when the ignition is off, most newer vehicles have both power on and off outlets available.

If use outside the vehicle is important, perhaps a handheld would be a better choice. Garmin's Montana for example has a fairly large screen and is vehicle mountable with a powered base. It gets excellent battery life from it's internal l-ion rechargeable battery and will still fit in a pocket.

I did have it mounted on its cradle, but not plugged in.

I'm trying to figure out a way to use it on the motorcycle where there's no power available without starting in with a wiring project.

I have used it on the motorcycle previously. I'm just trying to max out the battery life and use it for audio only. The old 1450 might be a better choice as the volume is really loud on that device. I'll have to test the battery life to see what I can realistically expect.

I thought about switching between sleep mode and powered on as we ride but we're often making frequent turns and don't stay on a single road for a long stretch. Also, with gloves on, powering it on/off becomes much more of a challenge and is somewhat of a safety issue. Talk about distracted driving!

That's the piece I didn't know.

I've been out with both devices this afternoon...power cords left at home

The 3597 has two very significant and distinct advantage over the 1450: SLEEP MODE and the design/location of the power button

The Sleep mode on the 3597 is great for the reason it brings you back to the navigation mode and does so quickly without any additional button presses. Hit the power switch and you're navigating again within 60 seconds. The location and the size of the power button is workable with summer gloves. I think the narrow soft power button on the 1450 would be next to impossible to depress with gloves on. The 1450 takes much longer to get back to the navigating display, too. Sometimes when it's powered back on, it forgets that it was navigating all together. The 3597 gets straight back to business every time.

I suspect the display on the 3597 is going to be much crisper and readable in bright, direct sunlight. The primary advantage, maybe the only advantage, of the 1450 is the massively loud speaker.

Battery life is probably going to be better on the 3597 since the 1450 is getting on in years, but I don't know that for certain.

You could get some additional battery time on your 3597 by getting one of those USB power banks used to charge cell phones (something like this: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15120). I have never tried one on my 3597, but I suspect they could be plugged directly into the 3597 cradle with a mini USB cable. Of course it is one more thing that you will need to recharge overnight.

I've got one of those and it's pretty handy. It will charge the Nuvis.

Honestly, if I can get something close to 1.5- 2 hrs of runtime from the battery, I'm good. We don't typically ride longer than that.

Does anyone know if the SLEEP mode is commonplace within the Nuvi line up? I searched a bit this afternoon and can't find it.