DS-86 Downer

If that option is something you use, I hope Garmin will get enough requests to add it for you. It is not unheard of that Garmin has added a feature for existing units, but it is pretty rare in their history of device updates. Their updates usually just fix bugs.

To be honest, on the Garmin devices I have owned, I have played around with the shorter distance routing option, but in my experience it has almost always provided undesirable routes. I suppose it could depend on your location and the kinds of roads and routes available. The route I get using "fastest" isn't always ideal or the best route for those who know the area, but from what I have seen it almost always is better than the "shorter" option. It would be interesting to hear other members experiences.

Does this mean the only options are Fastest and Direct, or have they replaced Shortest with another option?

Fastest and straight-line.

I don't use shortest distance either. - just reporting the fact.

I wish Garmin had a "remember/learn" feature.. where if you deviated from a route the same way a number of times it would remember that.

A route from my home invariable takes me the long way out of my neighbourhood. It's no big deal, and yes.. I could probably modify the route but why can't Garmin remember my preferences.

And back to the original point.. There needs to be a "common sense" category. A mix of fast and short.. the route you would take if you knew the area well and were not using the Garmin.

Unless you disable the feature, your Garmin GPS will learn your preferred routes. It does take a few times for it to learn and the process requires you to have "Home" saved to your device and possibly have your starting point for the return home as a Saved or Favorite place as well.

More info:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=hGV4xg8nBE7KuZJ1oHaHX6

Does the GPS not leave a track from previous trips? You could always follow it to and from your destination. I use it all the time on routes I have used, but there are no direction prompts.

So many conditions, some people may not even know myTrends exists. For instance, quoting Garmin, “ After you have an established pattern of driving habits, a device with the myTrends feature will display a myTrends event within a two-hour window of when a particular habit usually occurs. For example, if you usually leave work for home at 5 pm each day, the myTrends event will trigger on your device as early as 4 pm, and as late as 6 pm.”

Other conditions are outlined at https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=hGV4xg8nBE7KuZJ1oHaHX6.

So true.

Am I correct in thinking that out of the box, myTrends is enabled? I think so although I know many who go through their new device and disable it. I keep mine active and it has learned how I want to go home rather than its original "go a little further, turn into an 'alley,' then backtrack a half block."

Unless that "feature" has improved it is a nuisance, activating and making assumptions when you do not want it. Just because yesterday I left at 7:50 and turned right.. does not mean today I am going to the same place.
I want it to remember frequent similar deviations while on a route. As in: If my route includes a major highway.. and I always get to it from "this way".. remember it.

I will have to agree with Ralph6410. Although I haven't disabled My Trends on any of my devices, I find it more annoying than useful. All I have had it do is decide what my destination is, and more often than not, it is wrong. Just because I went to the same destination four or five times in a row at about the same time of day, it isn't necessarily where I am going today. For me, My Trends has never learned a different route to a common saved destination even though it is a route deviation I always take to that destination.

Unfortunately I can't check my 2689 at the moment but the manual states "Before you can use this feature, you must save at least one location and enable the travel history feature."

To me, that would infer the travel history feature is not enabled by default but has to be enabled for myTrends to work.

I would maybe agree if the default Garmin fastest route to Home (generally half or more of owners' trips) was the route I'd take. I don't need or care for my GPS thinking "I'll suggest he go to the post office, hiking trailhead, or grocery store," etc.

But I do like its ability to learn that I prefer my route home, not the one it feels is fastest.

What if the GPS never really takes you home? Many years ago and based on something attributed to the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), my "home" is actually our local police department, about 1/2 mile from the house. I rarely go anywhere near the place so the GPS probably figures I never reach my intended destination.

The reason the BPD was making the suggestion, is people were stealing cars from malls, movie theatres, etc. Very often the cars also had garage door openers in them. So you gave the thief the routing to your home and a means to get into the garage while you enjoyed a 2-hour movie.

I thought that there was a model, years back, that did this and I sort of thought that it had been brought forward to current models with some notion of, "The GPS learns/remembers your driving patterns so if you take a different route than is suggested each day it will figure this out." I haven't seen that work, in practice, with the route I take home with my 86 over the last few months. It still takes me the longer way than the one backroad. I have see it remember when I go places and if I'm going to the same place on a regular basis (like you driving to work each morning or home each afternoon) that it'll remember this and suggest it when you get into that car around that time.

Some of you may remember the ecoRoute plug-in (plugged into your ODBII port and communicated with your Nuvi). I thought this was a pretty cool idea and, as I remember, it offered you the most eco-friendly route home (used the least amount of gas based on their calculations).

For routing, it seems like you might want a few options:
1) shortest (probably the least used because driving through residential neighborhoods doesn't make for a good drive)
2) fastest (probably the most frequently used)
3) eco (considering traffic, speed, stop signs, traffic lights, etc. - the "cheapest" or most environmentally friendly way of getting home)
4) scenic

I think, for most, "shortest" would be mostly academic. Fastest would be the norm. I could see an audience for eco. I think that "scenic" would be a nice addition.

Other things I'd like added:
1) digital road signs: I'd bet that these are published through some REST API on the web. As such, if I'm driving down I-95 and there's some huge snow-backup, it'd be cool to have the sign slide in from the right saying, "I-95 closed ahead. Use alternate route." This could be a virtual sign that they could place wherever, depending on the incident, OR it could reflect the signs already in place (both would be a nice option)
2) HOT lanes: a) status: Open/Closed (for my direction) b) price - much like the data for the digital road signs above, the GPS should be smart enough to look at some DOT's API and say, "The HOT lane is open. The price for this route is: $... if you decide to take it." Also, even for regular toll roads, this should work.
3) Toll roads/lanes - really wish they had the traditional "green" coloring so that, on the map, you could immediately see, "Oh, this road turns into a toll road ahead..."

Also, this is all REST API / internet stuff - get my phone out from being the middle guy and let me just a hot spot in my car (or my phone if I don't have one)

I had to give mine up when I upgraded to the DS65. I found it to be a cool thing to have. It told you how much gas/cost you used on the last trip each time you shut down. And.. actual temperature of your coolant.. battery voltage.. throttle position and more. I was very disappointed that Garmin removed that feature.

I prefer the way Google Maps allows you to drag the route with your finger to alter the route. I have a shortcut out of the neighborhood that my Garmin never chooses. On occasion, I've tried using waypoints to force a particular route; but that sometimes produces unexpected results.
Mark