Mark Spearman

My old friend Ken Thomas recently did an article that sung the praises of the Google Android as a GPS device.  The Android is a very impressive phone, but in my view it’s still a phone, not a GPS. I don’t like cell phones and I really like a GPS, so naturally, I was skeptical at Ken’s claim that you may want to sell your Garmin stock.

Ken brings up some good points, the most important being that Google constantly upgrades and that means a constant update for traffic and maps, an important part of traveling with GPS. In my area though, a Google Android also constantly loses connection! This usually happens when you need the connection the most.

Ken based his article on a Garmin Nuvi 1370. It’s a fine GPS, but it’s no comparison the Garmin Nuvi 1690 with NuLink. NuLink may have changed Ken’s mind had he compared this to the Google Android. NuLink is a new feature that uses AT&T’s network to gain access to Google. This allows the GPS to draw information from Google. When you’re in coverage, you get many features from Google that work with your phone. For example, if you’re looking for an auto parts store, you just type in “auto parts” and it will give you that search from Google and a choice can be made from the returned search. Fuel prices, traffic information, and more are all pulled in from Google.

The Garmin 1690 GPS navigator–with Bluetooth and included Traffic Receiver–features an enhanced user interface, ecoRoute, public transit mode, and text-to-speech. Plus, pedestrian navigation capability is enabled through optional CityXplorer maps, which are available for select tourist destinations in North America and Europe and can be downloaded easily directly to the nüvi. more…

The result is that you get Google data for free for 2 years with the purchase of a Garmin Nuvi 1690, then $60/year after that. Compared to the high cost of data plans, this is a tremendous savings. Sure, the data plan does more, but for those of us who just want to get to where we’re going, NuLink provides just the data you need without the distractions that you don’t need.

There’s even more that maybe the Android can do, but I don’t know about. For example, a monitor can connect to your vehicle’s engine computer and feed engine performance data to your GPS. Error codes and information to improve your MPG are sent to the device. Even without the engine data, the Garmin 1690 will give detailed information to help improve your driving habits and warn you if you’re speeding.

The main reason that I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 1690 GPS is something that many people may not need. It sounds simple, but few GPS systems can do it well, and unless I’m wrong, Google cannot perform at all. This the multi-destination routing capability that allows you to input many destinations and sort them into a route that is optimized for the shortest distance and time. This is a simple but time consuming task for humans, but a very intense process for a computer. A GPS that does this well, which Garmin’s advanced models do, takes a high power processor to complete. I was very impressed with this capability.

An added bonus with the Nuvi 1690 is the bluetooth capabilities that allow for hands free cell phone use. The unit is an adequate tool for this. The driver has to speak up just a little, but the caller can be heard very clearly.

I read many reviews that stated that the Garmin Nuvi 1690 was not worth the money and that the NuLink service was poor. I’ve found these reviews to be completely inaccurate and I would recommend the GPS to anyone. If deciding if a GPS will take care of your travel needs or if you need the data plan to support an Android, I would seriously consider a Nuvi 1690.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Garmin EcoRoutes ESP Provides Drivers All Kinds of Vehicle Data (prontotech.com)