Garmin Nuvi 1690 GPS

It had the highest rating from Consumer Reports and I felt safe buying it without extensive research. I was pleased with my relatively recent Magellan Maestro, however it needed map upgrading to bring it up to date. That process through Magellan was too expensive to consider, given that a variety of new GPS units could be purchased for just a little more than the cost of an upgrading through Magellan.
I have had my Garmin for a couple of months and I like it very much. I like the bells and whistles that were not available on my previous unit. I particularly like the instant traffic alerts and available detours. I have used the POIs and the airline arrival/departure functions. I like the clear display with alerts regarding lane selections. I also like the longer battery life of this Nuvi 1690. Like my previous unit, I enjoy the blutooth voice commands and cell phone pairing. Transmission is a little fuzzy, but understandable on both ends. The Nuvi lacks the capability to select numerous pre programmed destinations, and I miss that ability. I purchased the optional weighted dash mount which allows me to quickly and easily set the unit on the floor out of sight whenever I leave the car - and it leaves no tell tale signs to an outside observer interested in theft. The Nuvi 1690 was a good choice for my needs and was easily mastered out of the box, even by a novice like myself.

This unit cost more, but if it is worth it.

I have owned a Nuvi 680 for 2 years and wanted to upgrade because of the Nulink. I was not disappointed buying the Nuvi 1690. The google search paid for itself, when I broke down on my first trip with it. I needed to find a part for my van an hour before the stores closed over a long holiday weekend. I typed in the auto parts store name and it found the closest one with a phone number. I was saved. The other great feature for me was flight information. On the way to the airport, I was able to check my wifes arriving flight, which became delayed in route, which saved me from circling the pickup area at the airport. The only thing that I didn't like over my 680, was it seemed to take longer for the traffic info to update. There have been a couple of times when there was a red traffic alert, but when I got there, there was no traffic. This is a great unit, but to expensive if you buy it in a retail store at retail price. I paid $359 delivered on ebay. Great Price.

SO SO

I tested it on local trips where I know the quickest route. To say the lease it came up with some strange routes and always wanted to send me thru the busiest part of town I like to stay away from. When I have used the traffic avoidance on the freeway, it’s alternate routes have been a nightmare. Kinda like out of the frying pan and into the fire. I have used it on trips from NJ to Boston and I usually don’t use it’s suggest routes, except when I don’t know where I am going. The route it chose to avoid traffic on I-93 into Boston put us on local streets with signals every 500’, construction at most signals, loads of pedestrian traffic and parking cars, the alternate route was much longer than the freeway delay. It’s use of terminology can be very confusing, like with keep right vs take the exit ramp, it is not consistent so when it says to keep right at an exit ramp I never know if it wants me to turn right. When on freeways it gives directions to the next junction, so when you get there it says to keep left or right even though you have no options but to continue. So keep right can mean anything, turn right or take fork to the right or continue. I have made a lot of mistakes at ramps and had to recalculate my trip, the problem is the time to recalculate is longer than the time to the next turn when in cities so you never catch up and if you stop to let it catch, the road rage behind you can get you killed. So it gets me there with a lot of confusion and recalculating. I guess that is better than not getting there at all. I think I could have paid alot less for a lesser model and got the say results.

Nice Unit with NuLink Service at an Affordable Price

I have owned several Garmin GPS Units and the Nuvi 1690 is a good unit if you are willing to pay the annual cost for the NuLink service after the expiration of the two year service that is included with the unit. NuLink is comparable to the now defunct MSN Direct service previously offered, except that NuLink includes Google Local Search. In my opinion, the Google Local Search feature is worth well more than the $5 monthly cost ($60 annual cost) for NuLink because of its ability to find businesses not in the Garmin POI database. Local Search can even do a reverse search for a name and address using only a telephone number. However, given the affordable price of the 1690, I have found that it is actually cheaper to buy a new 1690 at the expiration of the NuLink service period than to renew the NuLink service with Garmin. NuLink is required for traffic information to be received by the 1690.

Navigation is good on the unit (as I have found it to be on all Garmin units) and includes Junction View (the original Junction View) and Lane Assist, which are both great features, but it does not include newer features offered by Garmin, such as split screen Junction View, Traffic Trends, or My Trends.

My preferred Garmin is actually the Nuvi 1695 (which includes NuLink with a 5" display and newer features than are included with the 1690). The Nuvi 1695's larger display is clearer and easier to see than the 4.3" screen on the Nuvi 1690. The cost of the Nuvi 1695 isn't that much higher than the Nuvi 1690, but the 1695 only includes one year of NuLink service (one year less than the Nuvi 1690).

On an older Nuvi 1690 that I have, I found that some archived files were stored in the unit's solid state memory caused serious problems with the operation of the unit. When the files were deleted, the unit worked great again. Also, the touch screen for entering locations when using Google Local Search seems to have a delay between the time that characters are entered and subsequently displayed. The delay does cause me to have some difficulty when using Google Local Search while driving.

I use the Nuvi 1690 as an extra GPS unit which I use only when traveling and need a GPS for a rental car while my wife uses a Nuvi 1690 in her vehicle. The 1690 is a good unit for the money and the Google Local Search is great when looking for a particular business by name.

The bottom line is that I prefer my Nuvi 1695 over the Nuvi 1690 but the 1690 is a great unit at a very affordable price, which offers features that are easy to use. The Nuvi 1690 (available now at under $120 when on sale) is a great value.

Garmin Quality and Serviceability

With perhaps the exception of some of their entry level products, everything that Garmin makes is of the highest quality. The workmanship seems to exceed that of their competitors.

I purchase this GPS for a gift. I looked at several other units that were considerably less money, but my prior experience with other Garmin products tilted the scale in their favor. The 1690 offers all the latest technology.

I have two large Garmin integrated marine GPS’s. Two Garmin radar arrays and two Garmin depth finders. I purchase two of each as a backup safety factor, but I have yet to encounter that first failure or service issue. If you do have any question, simply call their customer service number and you will talk to the most knowledgeable in the industry.