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beckp
USA
250 Posts |
 Posted - 27 déc. 2007 : 23:14:23
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Well, Santa brought my wife a 260 and my son the 650. I've had a chance to use both of them and thought I would offer my thoughts and impressions. I won't bother with the feature differences such and MP3 and audio out jack on the 650.
Form Factor: The 260 is nice and small and can easily slip into a pocket, glove box, or just about any other compartment. If you think you might need to carry it for walking, size is perfect. The screen is not too small to be viewed on the dash. The 650 is a bit thicker and of course wider. While probably not a "pocket" device, it's not so big as to tuck away neatly. The flip out antenna is a bit cumbersome for handheld use, more on this later. Winner = 260 is slicker than the 650.
Screen: The 260 has a brighter screen than the 650 and perhaps a better viewing angle but for me this is a non issue since the most practical position IMHO is right in front of you on the dash. Both seem to have the same amount of anti-glare characteristics. The larger real estate is nice on the 650 but comes at a cost of bigger unit. Winner = 260 but the 650 is by no means a slouch, the 650 screen is just dandy.
Speaker: The 260 doesn't have an audio out jack so it better have a good speaker. I found that on the highway with music at moderate level, the volume at around 50% was fine. The 650 speaker isn't as good and needs to be up much higher, almost to the point of distortion. But the 650 does have an audio out jack, again more on this later. Winner = 260
Routing/Software: Both are very similar in overall function and I didn't test the same routes on each unit to see if they would be the same. There are two things on the 650 I like much better, I like the pre-turn "ding" on the 650 and the ability to view sat info. I miss the ability I have with "iGuidance" on my PDA and that's to have the ETA info be exchanged with Speed or any of the other travel specs without having to go to another screen. Winner = 650
Reception: The 650 has the flip out antenna and it picks up sats and maintains much better than the 260. With the 650 I can be in the house and still get excellent reception, with the 260 I have to be right up to a window to get a few bars. Both seemed to perform just fine outdoors though. Winner = 650 but at a cost of the flip out antenna getting in the way (non issue when mounted in the car).
It's hard to say who the clear winner is because of the different needs. For my wife and the 260, she doesn't have her music up too loud that the internal speaker can't be heard. The smaller form factor is nice for her as she might need to use it for walking around Washington DC. Now the 650 for my son is more in line with his needs, loud music but we got an 8gig SD card so he can use the MP3 player and the audio out jack to a cassette converter. These features fit his needs. Either way, I'm very happy with the Garmin product.
BTW ....got the bean bag mount for both, very nice. Easy to move around in the car and they stayed place. I took our Exterra and bounced it around a bit and cornered hard and it stayed put. Tried it in our van and took some on/off ramps a bit too fast to see if it would slide, nope.
Paid = $300 at Costco for the 650 and $249 at Comp-U-Plus for the 260. |
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robogps
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 00:13:50
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Lucky family! Glad you like both.
Doesn't the 260 have an option for "Attention Tone" (as do other nuvis) to enable the pre-turn "ding"? Garmin's website doesn't have the manual available for the 260 so I couldn't investigate.
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Bogey
Canada
181 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 01:28:33
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@ robogps, the Very Best to you and family in 2008  |
Nüvi670 fw v3.7 ; w/Beanbag - CN NT 2008 EU Maps V10 - CN NT 2009 NA Maps V9
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LeaderOfMen
Canada
5 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 02:34:43
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| Nice review! I am also happy with the size of the smaller units. So you like to mount right in front of you? I was thinking slightly to the right so the passenger can also see. Will experiment. |
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zband
9 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 03:10:00
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robogps - I have the 260 and as far as I can tell it does not have the "bell" . Beckp, what processor do you have in your unit (preferences->system-> "about" button, under the gps SW version you should have a number (x.xx) followed by a letter s,b or m
s= SiRF chip
b =bravo chip
m =Mediatek
I have the mediatek chip and I'm wondering how long does it take to lock on satelights from a cold start (ie turning it on and seeing the garmin splash screen) mine sometimes takes up to minute or two, which is annoying and wondering if this a chip problem. |
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beckp
USA
250 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 04:01:00
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Software Ver. 3.60
Audio Ver. 1.8
GPS SW Ver. 2.40b
Takes about 1 minute to see some green in the sat bars ... having a Holux CF GPS card for my PDA .. 1 minute is lightening fast. If I haven't used the CF card in a while, it can take up to 5-8 minutes. I'll gladly suffer for a one minute start-up. I basically turn the GPS on before I do anything else. By the time I'm ready to back out of the driveway it's at least been a minute. |
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zband
9 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 04:07:19
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| Hmm , interesting, so if you have a card in it - it actually slows down the unit? |
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beckp
USA
250 Posts |
Posted - 28 déc. 2007 : 04:22:49
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| Now remember, I'm talking about compairing the Nuvi 260 Sat aquisition time vs my PDA solution that uses a Holux Compact Flash GPS reciever ... that takes a LONG time to aquire satelites, even with an external antenna. So the minute or two it takes for the Nuvi 260 to aquire sats is not a big deal for at all. I did a lot of reading before I bought the two units, as I do with many purchases (TV's car's etc ... ) and the draw back is you sometimes start worry about the small stuff. For the Nuvi's I own ...I don't care what the chipset is, etc ... I turn it on, it comes up reasonably fast and away I go ...what's under the plastic I'm not going to worry about. |
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robogps
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 29 déc. 2007 : 14:05:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Bogey
@ robogps, the Very Best to you and family in 2008
Thank you, Bogey :). The very same to you and your family! Here's wishing for a happy and healthy one! |
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mmoonitz
33 Posts |
Posted - 31 déc. 2007 : 00:51:26
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Have had some time now to try out my new 'costco' Nuvi650 - replacement for my C340. I am not a particularly sophisticated user compared to some of the others I see on these forums but I note:
1. Set up time is much faster. Mapping and firmware was current so no downloads needed.
2. Love the widescreen but it can get a bit distracting with all the detail possible unless you zoom in.
3. I can use the C340's AC charger
4. Navigation seems more sensible most times for me than the 340. For ex, in NJ the 340 had me exiting a fwy and making a quick U turn to get to the desired local road. The 650 routed me the way I should go w/o the U Turn.
5. I love the 'MOB' function - that is pressing the car icon to fix current location.
6. Not crazy about the DC connecter used with the unit mount. Difficult to attach - 340's one is a better design. BTW, no need to purchase an AC charger - all you need is an AC adapter for the DC charger - available at Big Lots for $3.00.
7. Would be a vast improvement in Garmins in general if you could do your own local map updates via a PC, like the Tom Tom claims. I note many roads that are known locally by different names than the mapping software. On Long Island (NY), the Garmin refers to Sunrise Hwy as 'Pow Mee Yah' Highway [POW/MIA Highway]
8. I ended up using a nongarmin weighted 'friction' pad onto which you simply stick the provided window mount,then clip on the 650. Works fine and doesnt move off the dash.
All in all - am very satisfied so far with the upgrade.
Michael Moonitz |
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User Review: Nuvi 260 vs 650
