GPS : Garmin Nuvi review

[Arun]

hmm That power supply issue sounds interesting. will check it out today with another adapter n report back. Thanks for the pointer

[N A V I N]

most of these units u get from carrefour etc are refurbished. they come in plain white box.
latest firmware upgrades are set to prevent certain types of map loading.
Njoy.

[Suresh]

Unit restart is a known issue with Garmin when the power supply is not adequate. Have you tried with another branded and properly rated power supply?

The next suspect for restart is heat. People who face this place usually address this by placing the unit near the a/c vents, hence cooling it.


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[Arun]

Not bricked. I was running an aftermarket image too for a long time . My unit battery is gone so there is not even a minutes backup power. Also while hooked on to the 12v charger, it frequently restarts. I will get a unit later on and mount it /wire it permanently above the centre rearview mirror so that it starts along with the car. So many things to do and so little time and budget

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[Suresh]

I have not only upgraded the firmware but also put in a modded firmware which gave my Nuvi lane assist feature which did not come out of the box. I reckon it is a standard feature now.

But this does have the risk of bricking the device.

And yes, Arun, the bread crumb feature is very useful, either off road or on road.

And, what do you mean dead? Physical damage or bricked?

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[N A V I N]

Good  review  Arun.
For certain reasons:)  it's not recommended to upgrade the firmware.


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[Arun]

my nuvi is dead. I am currently using the built in navigation unit that came with the FJ.  On road is working very well. Offroad as you said the the use is limited to pointing to the general direction. The feature that I miss mostly is the breadcrumbs feature(marks the travelled route in blue dotted line) that Garmin has. Used this feature to backtrack out of situations many times. Jeep comes with garmin as their built in navi unit  whereas Toyota went for el cheapo iGo nav software. Cant justify paying AED 2k for a Montana series, but I might go in for another Nuvi if I see one priced right.

[Suresh]

I own a Garmin Nuvi 1410 bought almost 4 years back.

It has, and still does, serve its purpose, weather on road or off road, though the off road usage is limited to just know which direction to head to.

One can create route, using Base Camp, but it is a pain to use and setup. Tried once and decided never to do it again.

On road, have used it extensively here in UAE, Oman and also India (right across the country) and have not yet come across an issue. Well, yes, sometime in India it does tend to take you through some village road, so local knowledge still beats Garmin.

There are multiple options to update your map or get additional countries, both legally and illegally. Such sites are dime a dozen.

I currently use the OpenMap free maps for Garmin, where in I can select the area required and download the IMG file. 

The link : http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

This beats the extra you will need to pay for the LT series, which give you 'Life Time' maps. Do realize that Garmin's 'Life Time' for free map update is based on their product life time cycle. So, once they mark your model as at the end of its life cycle, you will no longer get the free update. And new maps are usually released once a year.

All new iterations of Garmin supports placing your additional maps in a folder called "Map"; any IMG file placed here will show up in your maps selection option. Do not select multiple maps at the same time, as the rendering will become horribly slow.

As it stands now, do not feel the need to upgrade.

How has your experience been? Have you upgrade to any devices, and if so, how has the upgrade been? Are you using all the benefits offered as we usually end up using only a fraction of the features offered.

PS: Do not share links to any illegal file sharing sites.