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Team GpsPasSion
154 Posts |
 Posted - 05 août 2009 : 11:50:11
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USER REVIEWS - GARMIN NUVI 1690
Connected GPS (SIM Card) - nüLink Service : 2 year bundle
UPDATED 20110507 : new v3.90 software available, see details on page 27.
UPDATED 20100813 : new v3.60 software available, see details on page 23.
UPDATED 20100603 : new v3.50 software available, see details on page 18.
New software v3.40 available as of 2010/5/11. See page 17 for details.
UPDATED 20091214 : New v3.00 software available via the webupdater, fewer advertisements (less frequent and old ones not shown again), see details on page 7.
UPDATED 20091105 : there seems to be a screen flickering problem with all the 1690s manufactured before October 16th, see details on page 5.
UPDATED 20091008 : nuvi 1690 now available in the US, arriving early November in Europe.
User reviews :
- Moofy : >> LINK << on page 4
- ssandhaus : >> LINK << on page 4
- mitchellgibbs : >> LINK << on page 5
Links :
- Preview on Amazon : >> LINK <<
- Post on the Garmin Blog : >> LINK <<
- nüLink Service minisite : >> LINK <<
The IFA show is now underway in Berlin and the GPS manufacturers are firing from all quarters with new models. Starting off with Garmin who officially launched their first "connected" GPS, the nuvi 1690 leaked in August by the FCC. What we didn't know about was the nüLink Service bundled with the 1690. It is prepaid for two years in the US and for one year in Europe and then available for $5/month and €79/year, respectively.
The nuLink service is reminiscent of TomTom's LIVE launched last year and that failed to get widely adopted with an official 30% renewal rate, but possibly as low as 10%. The recurrent cost is a problem of course but also the lack of a "killer" feature. Nothing really new with nuLink apart from "flight status" or "Ciao" to broadcast your position. Will it be enough ?
Original post by flomat - Two days ago nuvi 1690 was reported to pass fcc featuring GPRS/UMTS/EDGE connectivity among others referenced at engadget or slashgear
I just hope Garmin won't stick to its recent notorious feature deployment policy by removing any gps functionality from this upcoming device ...  |
Team GpsPasSion |
Edited by - NanaimoRick on 08 oct. 2010 03:11:40
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
Posted - 05 août 2009 : 14:55:34
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Good catch, did some formatting of the title and message ;-)
Having used the TomTom GO740 for almost a year now I can say a "connected GPS" is nice since there is nothing you need to connect to get "live" services, neither via Bluetooth to a phone or via a cable for an RDS/FM or MSN receiver. Having said that what matters is the content that is pushed to the device...and the cost. In Europe TomTom charge €10 per month for services that are of little interest, with traffic information generally being less useful than the information you can get for free from the RDS/FM receiver...as a result the renewal rate is only 30% according to TomTom? |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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gpspoi
44 Posts |
Posted - 05 août 2009 : 20:01:04
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One would hope that Garmin would attempt to 1-up TomTom in the US, given that the Live 740 is already available in the US. I would hope that Garmin isn't just coming out with a "me too" product. One way they could do this would be to support GeoRSS feeds, like the Dash Navigation device. You could maintain all of your waypoints in Google Maps or Bing and simply "subscribe" to them on the PND using GeoRSS feeds, rather than actually pushing them to the PND as favorites. This feature is the only reason that I still use my Dash PND. Of concern though, with the Garmin unit, is that I see no evidence that they are going to have a feature equivalent to TomTom's IQ Routes. Garmin's ETA seem to be a little aggressive in the later map updates, and I think it because the Navteq speed limit data is better, because they aren't taking real world speeds into account.
Lastly, a big "if" with the 1690 will be the traffic provider and whether the Garmin will be a probe device like it is with the 740 Live (and Dash). If I am going to use a connected PND, I want to feel like I am contributing back to the "system" with real time traffic information and having that contribute in the same way it does to IQ Routes on TomTom.
If the 1690 is simple a one-way traffic system, I might as well just use TeleNav. |
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
Posted - 05 août 2009 : 21:13:25
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On the "probe" topic, there were some confusing reports about this, but I heard it from the "horse's mouth" in September at the TomTom HD Traffic HQ in Amsterdam and had it reconfirmed in May but TomTom is not using the LIVE devices as probes , neither in the US or in Europe, details are here http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=100734&whichpage=3#867682
Back to the "1690", yes GeoRSS feeds would be great, never got a chance to try them as we didn't get the Dash in Europe, but the concept is neat.
Navteq do have "historical speeds" and they were used in the Intellinav AIOs a couple of years but not to much effect and yes it seems trafic speeds by class work well with Navteq maps in the US, on the other hand IQ Routes really helped TomTom produce decent routes in the US, I had documented that here http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=250 using some of your Dash "problem routes".
Big question is whether Garmin see this as an opportunity to "milk" their customers with a monthly fee, and that means these devices are doomed, or whether they see it as an opportunity to feed interesting content to their existing and new customers. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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gpspoi
44 Posts |
Posted - 06 août 2009 : 01:13:22
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Interesting comment on not using the Live devices as probes. While they are not using them as probes, they surely are using them as IQ Routes inputs, aren't they? In other words, I would assume that as I drive with the 740 Live, I am feeding the IQ Routes data through the GSM connection. Is that not correct? Is that still only a HOME feature that requires a connection to the computer, rather than using the Live connection? What a wasted opportunity if that is the case.
I still use my Dash to this day because of the GeoRSS feeds. Can't believe TomTom, Telenav or others haven't added that simple feature.
No one has marketed a connected PND in the US correctly in my opinion. They are selling it like a cell phone plan which is nuts. In the US, customers are accustomed to paying $X per year for quarterly map updates. And they pay $Y per year for traffic. They accept that. They ought to simply market a connected PND as a Map/Traffic "Plus" service, where the marketing focuses heavily on what consumers already pay for, which is Map/POI updates and Traffic. If the costs end up being 10% more than traditional Map/Traffic services that should be the "plus" connected services and it should not be emphasized. They are focusing on the connected services when they advertise the $9.99 fee, and that is just plain dumb.
Amazon markets their Kindle in a great way. The fact that the Kindle uses the Sprint CDMA network is not the focus. The subscription is part of the initial cost of the Kindle. And then they get an ongoing subscription fee by selling electronic books. A few cents from every book sale pays for ongoing Sprint CDMA connectivity. That is exactly what the PND manufacturers should do. |
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gatorguy
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 06 août 2009 : 01:14:36
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Magellan added Navteq's Traffic Patterns to their latest model release last month and I would expect Garmin to do the same for the 1690, which I expect will be heavily populated with MSNDirect services. Here's hoping they also include Bing. I'm especially interested to see if Navteq handles the traffic or they move to another traffic supplier on their connected 1690.
Garmin had been in talks with Sprint a few months ago, reportedly on being the service provider, so I had hopes that would happen. Looks like AT&T or T-Mobile (again) instead, with a standard Edge connection. Use of Sprint's 3G and soon to be 4G network would have opened additional opportunities for services IMO. |
Garmin 1695 / 760 / 255 / Navigon for Android / Navigon 8100T / Garmin Dakota 10 / Geomate |
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
Posted - 06 août 2009 : 01:23:50
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I agree that the emphasis should be on the content not the technology other than for its "plug'n'play" quality...however there are problems with that too, in Europe there are frequent outages of the "LIVE" services, annoying when people are paying €10/month. With RDS FM if you're in a covered area it always works, less annoying to a customer who bought (or got a bundled) "free for life" device, even though the coverage is naturally lower than for GPRS.
As for "probes" for IQR, yes that's how TomTom built their "historical traffic" maps, but it's all statistical data so one device doesn't make much difference especially as time goes by, in that topic I linked we were hoping for "live probes" to report traffic problems as Dash did/does. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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gpspoi
44 Posts |
Posted - 06 août 2009 : 03:51:10
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MSNDirect definitely appears to have the infrastructure to support an Internet based delivery of their content instead of FM based. Essentially that is what the Bing for Mobile is - the same content as MSN Direct. I've got traffic, directions, maps, weather, movies, news, events, AND GeoRSS feeds (Collections) on Bing for Mobile on my Windows Mobile phone. All the is missing is the navigation. I would like to see the 1690 use an MSN Direct solution. That is just like MSN Direct - Navteq traffic so that will be interesting to see play out
@Gatorguy - I doubt it will be AT&T or TMobile directly. More likely it will be a wholesaler/aggregator like Jasper Wireless or similar. |
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gpspassion
93427 Posts |
Posted - 06 août 2009 : 10:30:03
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| Bing Mobile sounds interesting, since Garmin have been working with MSN that might be a good fit, licencing might be an issue though, we'll see. I need to check out Bing Mobile for WM, can't say the previous incarnations of "WM turnkey" apps like Yahoo Live (or whatever it is/was called) left much of a mark. |
Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion) / Où commencer? |
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Dewi
621 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 02:54:12
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| FCC has the 1690 Quick Start manual posted. |
Edited by - Dewi on 18 août 2009 02:55:27 |
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NanaimoRick
Canada
7426 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 03:33:03
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| Just beat me to it Dewi. Thanks for the link. |
Rick James - Nuvi Forum Moderator
Nuvi 350 - Nuvi 760 - Nuvi 1695LM - Nuvi 3790LMT (with ecoRoutes HD) - Nuvi 2460LMT - Nuvi 3597LMTHD (with ecoRoutes HD) also TomTom 540S for side by side comparison >> Here <<
2010 Golf Wagon 2.0 TDI Clean Diesel
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synomenon
621 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 04:24:46
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| I'm not all to excited about these connected devices using GSM radios. I don't like the interference the GSM radios cause with other electronics (my car stereo and speakers for instance). |
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NanaimoRick
Canada
7426 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 04:45:21
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For those unhappy with losing the 'powered cradle' in recent Nuvi models, it looks like it's making a comeback on the 1690.
Interested to see what, if any, the monthly charge will be for the NuInfo service. Doubt we will be getting data from Google for free but it will probably be competitive with MSN Direct. Also Google search capability for locations could be a really nice feature if the data is more up to date than the built in POIs, for example. |
Rick James - Nuvi Forum Moderator
Nuvi 350 - Nuvi 760 - Nuvi 1695LM - Nuvi 3790LMT (with ecoRoutes HD) - Nuvi 2460LMT - Nuvi 3597LMTHD (with ecoRoutes HD) also TomTom 540S for side by side comparison >> Here <<
2010 Golf Wagon 2.0 TDI Clean Diesel
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Edited by - NanaimoRick on 18 août 2009 04:47:26 |
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hpatlik
1141 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 04:45:35
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Look thru the quick start manual. I guess this means Garmin is in the process of ditching MSN and starting their own info service?
Features are very basic. I assume they do come out with more variations on a theme to including routes, etc.
HPatlik
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Edited by - hpatlik on 18 août 2009 04:48:05 |
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SergZak
USA
1767 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 04:47:56
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This is yet another new Garmin unit (including the others in the 1xxx series) that does not impress me in the least bit. For me personally, I simply do not need nor want this wireless "connected" aspect of the unit along with it's inevitable problems (bugs), extra monthly fees and potential quirks.
Give me a stable GPS that does what it's supposed to do with maps that actually show streets and street names with some degree of user configurability and I'm happy. I can do without all this unnecessary (at least to me) wireless, "connected" fluff. I do however like seeing that the units will supposedly have a powered cradle and applaud Garmin for this but my current units are already fully capable in this regard. My current units do all that I need them to do and is precisely the reason why I purchased nuMaps Lifetime for them.
Something may change my mind in the future but as of now, I am sticking with what I have. |
nüvi 3490LMT, nüvi 3790LMT, nüvi 765T, nüvi 855, nüvi 760, nüvi 750 |
Edited by - SergZak on 18 août 2009 05:09:13 |
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jotne
Norway
1685 Posts |
Posted - 18 août 2009 : 07:11:03
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Agree with you SergZak
I am still waiting for a stable high end "mapping" unit, where user can set their own zooming level for streets and POI.
Garmin have to see that it different driving in a big city and in the country side. |
Previously owned : GPS "eTrex Yellow" "GPSmap 76S" "GPSMap 60CS" "GPSMAP 60CSx" "Nüvi 660"
Unit I have now :"Nüvi 760 EU" "Nüvi 765" "Edge 305" "Colorado 300" |
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[TOPIC] Nuvi 1690 GPS w/nüLink - Reviews - v3.90
