Garmin nuvi 660 Car GPS Receiver

There’s been enough said by other reviewers how portable the unit is, how fast it acquires satellites, how much better it makes your travel (which, of course, any navigation system would do), however this review is not about the strong sides of the unit, it’s about it major flaws.

#1. Maps are outdated. Both roadways and points of interest. Example: IKEA in Paramus, NJ on Rt 4 and 17 opened in 2003 is not shown on 2008 nuvi maps, curiously Ikea Drive is. Roadways are slightly better – if something is missing (like a “new” exit or a “new” street) you still get directions – longer commute but you still get to your final destination.

#2. 3D view is annoying (applies mostly to city driving – under 50 mph). Due to slow gps location refresh rate (once a second) and absence of any kind of sensors (such as acceleration and yaw sensors that are present in other manufactures GPS devices – helps correct position), the location of the vehicle on the screen always lags behind your actual location. Observed it on my 660, on two 650, on one 760 and on 250W – all had the same lag issue in 3D mode. All units had the most recent software update from Garmin web site.
I have tried changing 3D view to 2D “Track Up” view – lag goes away. The only problem is that nuvi does not allow you to keep the scale you like, zooming out and making the map too small to read.

#3. Good luck using FM transmitter. Unless your vehicle FM antenna is right next to your GPS you get background noise all the time. MP3 quality through FM transmitter is really bad. I kind of found a way to circumvent crappy FM transmitter by connecting the unit audio output directly to my car audio system (possible connections – ipod or tape player).

#4. Cannot avoid part of the route (unless it’s a next turn).

#5. Cannot add more then one stop to your route.

#6. Traffic is not always where it’s shown on the map and vice versa. (though it’s not Garmin’s problem, it’s TMC)

Overall it’s very good. Annoying, but good.