Drivesmart 55 & 65

The Drivesmart 66 is the better choice. The DriveSmart 66, 76, and 86 are alike except for screen size. The DriveSmart 55 is different. It is a value-based GPS.

I bought the DriveSmart 76. It seems big for the windshield mount, so I got a beanbag mount. The DriveSmart 55 and 66 have the windshield mount with the suction cup.

Several weeks ago we were discussing FM traffic. I am not sure the DriveSmart 55 has FM traffic. The Garmin site is not specific. The 66, 76, and 86 have FM traffic or you can pair the Garmin with a smartphone.

Some members say that FM traffic is being discontinued, but that is in Europe. The New York City metro area is well-covered for FM traffic.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/52295

Load POIs on all these GPSs just the same.

I have or had six Garmin GPSs and they were 100% reliable. My nuvi 760 still has the original battery at about 12 years old.

The DriveSmart 76, and I assume the 66 and 86 use both US and Galileo satellites. This is an even more reliable position than previous Garmins. This helps in mountainous locations as well as near tall buildings.

Why do you prefer the 66 over the 65. I was happy with my NUVI 2555, but the traffic stopped working and I like the idea of a larger screen.

The DriveSmart 66 is currently available from Garmin, while the DriveSmart 65 is not, because the 65 is an older model. Source:Garmin website.

It may be possible to find a new 65 from a supplier. I wanted the newer model.

These are the only areas in Canada that are covered by FM Traffic. If you want full coverage you will have to connect to your cell phone. Traffic data usage is very minimal. On a round trip from VA to FL and back,, data usage was less than 150 mb. I don't think that will kill your data plan. Feel Coverage is much more wide spread than FM traffic. There is no overage in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

Canada
Calgary, AB, CANADA
Edmonton, AB, CANADA
Hamilton-Burlington, ON, CANADA
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, ON, CANADA
London, ON, CANADA
Montreal-Laval, QC, CANADA
Oshawa-Whitby-Clarington, ON, CANADA
Ottawa-Gatineau, ON-QC, CANADA
Quebec City, QC, CANADA
St. Catharines-Niagara Falls-Welland, ON, CANADA
Toronto-Mississauga, ON, CANADA
Vancouver-Surrey-Burnaby, BC, CANADA
Windsor-Tecumseh-LaSalle-Lakeshore, ON, CANADA

Good Price At Costco for the 65 and seems to meet my needs.

The NUVI was bought in 2013, so good time to do it.

I live in Kitchener and can't get coverage, with my NUVI2555. I figure I'm ahead of the game. Most car travel is in Ontario.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

Why will you be able to get better FM Traffic coverage on the DriveSmart 65 than you do on the nuvi 2555? If the nuvi 2555 traffic receiver is still working, it seems to me like you will have the same coverage with the new device.

The traffic isn't working on the NUVI anymore. It also didn't get any coverage in the past in Kitchener/Waterloo where I live.

The other part of the equation, is I would like to get a larger screen, and the 65 gives me that. I bought the NUVI2555 9 years ago, so I'll keep that in my wife's car as a backup.

My DS65 checks off all the OP's wants.
But:
The road ahead feature is hit and miss (a map error I guess and not limited to the DS series).

My DS65 will occasionally turn itself right off (not sleep)and requires a long press on the power button to turn it back on. Probably should have returned it the first time it happened under warranty but haven't.

With the default traffic (sans apps) there is very limited traffic available with coverage only on the main roads.

Old POI work

I had my traffic disappear on a previous model and found a reference on how to turn it back on. (long forgotten). But, in some semi hidden button sequence you get into an area where you can turn the traffic on or off.
AND.. the size of the DS series makes it much easier to type in a destination and view the maps. One negative that is not mentioned is that the DS series will not auto rotate so portrait mode is out.

Kitchener/Waterloo is included on phranc's list of areas covered by FM traffic.

My biggest issue with the DS 65 is it's size. I can't mount it well in my current car, a kia stinger. It's just too big to go in the lower left corner where I prefer. Not a fan of mounting it in the center of the windshield.

Maybe I should Buy Yours LOL

Maybe. Shipping might be pricey to .CA. For now it's collecting dust.

I'm using a Drivesmart 55 along with a BC40 and have zero complaints. Like the size and have no use for a larger screen. It has FM traffic via internal receiver and TA20 and I don't pay much attention to it. FM Traffic is hit and miss anyways. No issues with voice commands, it's actually pretty good.

*One thing to note is the map shows the road as green and I have the speed and redlight camera POI's installed. These POI locations are displayed on the map as a small blue square and it's hard to see them on a green background (road).

If the DS 55 allows themes, you could try a different one that changes the colors you now see in the map.

I much prefer the landscape format, so I would never use it in Portrait mode.

I have never tried a portrait mode, but where my DS65 sits it would fit better in portrait so was disappointed when I found it was not an option to try. In landscape it does give a nice big keyboard to type in addresses with large fingers.

I already checked before and there are no display options except for the day/night color options.

I took a quick look at the online manual for the DS 55. It implies that under Setting/Map&Vehicle, there is a Themes option. Does your DS55 offer that setting?

Thank you so much for this CraigW. Seen this before but never bothered with it because it listed different countries. Changing it from the default Garmin to something like France changed the road color to yellow. Works great, now I can easily see the POI locations when they are on the road. Learnt something new today.

jackrabbit000, you finally got me off my butt and I created a new FAQ.

Here's the new FAQ with a return of the Narvick themes which you may like better than the French theme:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/52412

I have two of these Drivesmart 55. One for me, one for my wife.

On mine, I just have the regular FM traffic and its okay. I did pair it with my phone, and even with the limited data, I do okay with my daily commute. The traffic feature has saved me some time, especially when I have to rush back to pick up the little one and there is some major accident along the way and it reroutes me to a shorter route. The Garmin Drive app isn't the greatest, but it is better than the apps they had for prior generations.

On my wife's, I ended up getting the HD traffic receiver. She doesn't like installing apps onto her phone. I also often use her car during the weekends transporting kids, so with the HD traffic (that doesn't depend on phone data), I get decent traffic info.

Not sure if you get HD traffic in your area, but if you do, it could be better than using the app and the data plan.

The FM Traffic does not work in Kitchener/Waterloo, where I live, but the Data Traffic link was terrific. I took a 1300km/830 mile road trip, where I had to use Data Traffic link. Used about 1 mb /hour. Totally acceptable data usage. Loved the way it displayed upcoming traffic delays.

The size of the DS65 was perfect. I drive a Chevy Trax and use a bean bag mount. Fits perfect in the left hand corner of the windshield. Any larger would have been a problem.

Took a bit of effort, but figured out how to set up the Trip Data to suit my travel info preferences.

The notification of a drop in the speed limit was helpful, but didn't set up to do anything other than a colour change of the displayed speed limit, when I was over the limit.

Glad I made the change from my NUVI 2555LMT.

Getting traffic back, or to work on the 2555MT; it may be an issue with the power cord.

Older versions of the Nuvi 2555LMT came with either a GTM 25 or GTM 36 vehicle power/traffic cable. The newer versions of the Nuvi 2555LMT come with a Garmin vehicle power/antenna cable.

The built in traffic receiver can be verified on the Nuvi 2555LMT.
From the Main Menu > Settings > scroll down to Device > About.
In the About settings, if it says "Built in traffic receiver: Yes", then the Garmin Universal Vehicle Power Cable 010-11838-00 will work to provide power and traffic.

If it does not say anything about traffic, the the Garmin GTM 60 Digital 3D Portable Lifetime Traffic Receiver would be the cable for the Nuvi 2555LMT. If you have that cable and traffic is not working, perhaps the cable is bad.

The GTM 60 cable will receive both the HD Digital Traffic and Garmin Traffic.

For the same price as the GTM 60, the GTM 36 will receive only the Garmin Traffic.

GPSgeek, thanks for getting back to us with the report on the DS65. We are glad you like it!

Thanks for the info. I checked and it does say Yes, for Traffic Receiver. I don't get FM Traffic in my area and I have to drive about 60 miles to get an area, that has it. The last time I used it, I had no accidents or construction to trigger it. Garmin suggested that I do a reset, but again, I don't know if that worked.

However!!! I wanted an excuse to get a new unit with a bigger screen and my wife even understood that it was good to have Traffic. WIN! WIN!LOL

I value the advice at POI factory. It's right and polite to say thanks.

FactoryOutletStore for under 175 bucks. I have used them for years and the units cannot be distinguished in appearance and function from new. I have two Drive 65 units with lifetime maps but you will need to get FM traffic the receiver/powerplug that comes with it as that is how you get traffic.

I was able to get traffic via Bluetooth, paired to my Android Phone. I also got FM Traffic where it was available.
I tested by turning off my Bluetooth, in an area where I knew that the FM Traffic was available. That worked fine.
I also tested the Bluetooth link to my traffic on the phone and was pleasantly surprised, since I knew that I did not have FM Traffic in the area that I was travelling in Northern Ontario.
My main concern was data usage, but I checked how much data Garmin Drive used before I started each day and at the end of my trip. I only used about 1MB/hour.