Garmin is announcing the GPSMAP 640 today, a new hybrid marine and auto navigator. The 600 series represents a completely new product line for Garmin. Nuvi-like in appearance, the 640 features a 5.2" touchscreen, the same size as that found on the nuvi 5000.
With a couple of extra-wide screen models out now, I’m betting we’ll see some more 5.2" automotive nuvis announced early next year at CES. The other item of interest for non-boaters is the availability of XM WX Satellite Weather™, which I’d love to see on the nuvi series and Garmin handhelds. And as long as I’m wishing, if Garmin can put aerial imagery on this and other marine units, why not make it available for the rest of us too?
The 640 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2009.
About Rich Owings
Bugs and issues
(from a document sent to Garmin Support)
1. Can’t access automotive mode if there isn’t a routable map installed, even if the unit has a built-in basemap.
For 4×4 and motorbike puorposes a lot of people uses topo maps and not-routable maps, either locked or free: they are then obliged to load a piece of routable map if they want to to see other maps.
Solution:
LET THE USER “PLAY” WITH THE BASEMAP AND/OR LOAD HIS FAV. TOPO MAPS
ELIMINATE THE ANNOYING WARNING
1a. related issue (BUG?)
scenario: “clean” device with any mapset installed
Plug-in the USB cable (turn on the GPS or wait that the GPS reboots)
A dialog box warn you that you can’t use the unit without a routable map and
ASKS TO “PRESS OK”
You promptly press OK
The unit reboots into marine mode and then (for it is connected to th PC via USB cable) reboots in Automotive mode
The same dialog box warn you that you can’t use the unit without a routable map and
ASKS TO “PRESS OK”
…LOOP…
At last, I discovered how to break the loop…
*DO NOT* PRESS OK *AS REQUESTED* by the dialog box.
WAIT until the dlg disappears, then transfer maps.
Solution:
ELIMINATE THE ANNOYING DLG BOX
LET THE USER “PLAY” WITH THE BASEMAP AND/OR LOAD HIS FAV. TOPO MAPS
2. The unit can’t show Topo or routable maps in marine mode.
Marine mode is the only way to use and manage tracks.
Capability of displaying topo or routable maps would be very useful for navigating off-road by bike or 4×4.
(Bikers & off-roaders need strong route and track management tools/capabilities.)
solution:
ALLOW TOPO/ROUTABLE MAPS TO BE SHOWN/USED IN MARINE MODE
OR (BETTER)
ADD TRACK MANAGEMENT IN AUTOMOTIVE MODE
(load/show/save tracks, trakback, compass)
2a. If routable cartography is loaded onto the SD card, when loading the marine firmware a warning message is shown: “Map format not supported”.
Note that this behaviour applies only for routable cartography loaded onto the SD card.
3. When creating a new (saved) route (automotive) the unit do not ask wether you want it calculated shorter, faster or *off-road* (GPSMAP 276c).
This prevents to create an off-road route on non routable maps or in routable maps but in an area not covered with roads/routing data (the system tells there are no roads near start/end points and do not allow you to save the route).
You can set the routing preference before creating the route but it is very annoying.
When navigating in 4×4 and bike this is a recurrent scenario.
Solution:
ASK SHORTER / FASTER / *OFF-ROAD* WHEN SAVING/ACTIVATING A ROUTE AND WHEN SELECTING WHERE TO\WAYPOINT ETC.
(ADD CHKBOX “DON’T ASK AGAIN”)
4. My locations are ordered by distance only (not always useful)
Solution:
ADD OPTION: ORDER BY NAME
5. DATA MANAGEMENT/XFER
Data management and transfer work in different manners for automotive and marine mode.
…but the user is the same for both modes!
A. Automotive and Marine mode uses different databases, so for a trip that involves both modes you must load your data twice.
B. Automotive and Marine mode write their own tracklog.
To obtain a full tracklog of you trip/holiday you are obliged to save and merge both databases.
C. Can’t save automotive tracklog. So if you travel for 15 days you loose a great deal of you travel data.
D. Automotive mode supports .GPX files but marine mode does not.
see .adm files.. oh no… one more file format…!
E. GPX files are read by automotive firmware if placed into the internal memory.
Not so if placed into the SD (User manual, pag. 61 tells oterwise)
F. In marine mode you cannot send data directly from MapSource with the procedure explained in the user manual, pag. 30
[ISSUE ALREADY RECOGNIZED BY GARMIN SUPPORT]
As stated in the user manual, pag. 30, column 2 (connecting the device directly to the PC) , I
-powered the unit in marine mode (or switched to marine mode)
-connected the unit to my PC with the USB cable
-Sent with MapSource Wp, Rt and Tracks
when I unplugged the USB cable and rebooted the system, I couldn’t retrieve my data in the marine database.
The procedure stops with step 5. And you expect to retrieve your data right placed in “where to” wp/tr/trk.
Not at all. You still need to import your data: information\user data\data transfer\replace from card
More: when you import data in MapSource (from the unit), they are retrieved only from the UserData.adm file even if you have several files saved in the unit.
G. in automotive mode, waypoints sent from mapsource are imported directly.
Not so with routes. You must import them form the file/s stored into the unit
(MapSource puts your routes there). Two steps.
When importing routes the unit immediately calculates the routing and this step is very slow.
(Now I understand the 10 routes limit…)
H. 10 routes limit (automotive mode) is inadequate
(even if you can load them from GPX file/s in groups of 10)
15 days of travel @ 2 routes a day = 30 routes at least, immediately accessibles.
Solutions:
ONE DB FOR BOTH MARINE AND AUTOMOTIVE MODE
DAILY TRACKLOG IN .GPX FORMAT
(yyyy-mm-dd.gpx AS IN GPSMAP 60CSx) for both Automotive and Marine mode (Merged)
FULL SUPPORT FOR .GPX FILES (automotive and marine)
ADD CAPABILITY TO SEND/RECEIVE DATA FROM/TO MAPSOURCE WITHOUT ANY OTHER ANNOYING STEP (WRITE DIRECTLY TO DATABASE)
UNIFORM THE DATA TRANSFER PROCESS
DO NOT CALCULATE ROUTING ON ROUTES IMPORT
MORE THAN 10 ROUTES IMMEDIATELY ACCESSIBLES
6. After unplugging USB cable, the unit reboots always in automotive mode, even if previously setted in marine mode
7. the unit lacks Route Avoidance (selected area or road)
MINOR / COSMETICS:
Marine mode:
WP and RT list lacks the “note” field
WP names length is 10 digits only
WP, RT, TRK: preview map is too small: it would be better to add a button “Show Map”
“User data” button wold be better under the “main menu” and not under “Information”
“Compass” button would be better in main menu and not under “Dashboard”
Add a “Compass” button to the menu bar for direct access to that page from map screen
Add capability to create a new route from waypoints (search)
Automotive mode:
“Custom Routes” under “settings” menu is redundant. It’s the clone of “Where to\Custom routes”
Can’t disable declutter (perhaps someone want to see on the map all loaded waypoints)
Add “show info” button for selected objects on the map
Add Map Setup Option: 3D (course up) under xxx zoom level (otherwise: 2D *North Up*)
Provide action to delete mapsets (deleting directly form memory or SD can be… dangerous)
MapSource: transfer to\Select Device Window: SD and internal memory have the same name
We think that at least the next issues must be fixed to make this device more useful and friendly to bikers and off-roaders.
1.
ALLOW TOPO/ROUTABLE MAPS TO BE SHOWN/USED IN MARINE MODE
OR
ADD TRACK MANAGEMENT IN AUTOMOTIVE MODE
2.
ROUTING: ASK SHORTER / FASTER / *OFF-ROAD* WHEN SAVING/ACTIVATING A ROUTE AND WHEN SELECTING WHERE TO\WAYPOINT ETC. (ADD CHKBOX “DON’T ASK AGAIN”)
3.
ADD CAPABILITY TO SEND/RECEIVE DATA FROM/TO MAPSOURCE “WITH A CLICK”
UNIFORM THE DATA TRANSFER PROCESS
4.
MORE THAN 10 ROUTES IN AUTOMOTIVE MODE WOULD BE GREAT.
ROUTE CALCULATION PERFORMED WHEN ACTIVATING THE ROUTE
5.
DAILY TRACKLOG IN .GPX FORMAT
6.
ADD OPTION: WAYPOINT\ORDER BY NAME
***
Bugs/issues (2)
1. Speed limit does not show the last digit when speed value has more than 2 digits (120 Km/h is shown as 12 Km/h)
2. While navigating in off-road mode from A (start) to B (destination) the magenta line always joins A to B.
It would have to join the vehicle current position to the destination instead.
Start position is never updated.
3. Something seems wrong in the map info screen:
Details are the same for both products…
City Navigator Europe NT 2009
[1] TIRANE, SHQIPERIA, LEIRIA, PORTUGAL, LISBOA, PORTUGAL
AdriaROUTE 1.70
[1] TIRANE, SHQIPERIA, LEIRIA, PORTUGAL, LISBOA, PORTUGAL
4. Can’t show infos for a selected point on the map (lat/lon etc…)
5. There is not a tool for measuring distance
6. Map view setup: can’t set “course up” under xxx zoom level
While driving in the city or near a series of turns the “course up” (or the 3D perspective) view is the best choice, when navigating a long leg of route the “north up” view with lower zoom level is more effective and useful.
So it would be better if the user could choose 3D perspective under xxx zoom level.
Excellent info. Thanks for sharing. Hey, is it true that the XM weather features are disabled in auto mode?
Thank you for appreciating infos.
I’m glad you found the article useful.
Sorry, I can’t say anything about XM for I own a GPSMAP620.
Duh!
Andrea, did you get any feedback from Garmin?? Also, how long have you been using your unit? You have many good points. You seem to use the TOPO and road side predominately. I will need it for Marine (work) and Car (travel), so I won’t need tracking in Automotive, but it would be a nice feature if I decide to use the unit when Mountain Biking.
This may sound silly, but I’m really disappointed in the 10 Character Limit. The manual does not mention this either. I have a GPSMap 76cs with over 300 Waypoints. When I first got the unit, I tried to use Map Source to create names for my Waypoints, only to find that they are truncated when brought into the unit (10 limit). My unit is 3 yrs old and was surprised to find that the 640 (according to the above) still has a limit. This was the one thing I was really hoping to change in newer models. I have to abbreviate everything with many WP’s using the same name + 2 digits.
I work at Sea and carry my unit between my work vessel and my car. In the 76cs, I have to manually change maps, knots to statute, follow road from not follow road, etc., then vice versa going back. I’m looking to get the 640, to get these changes without having to constantly go into the Menu system to make all these changes, but it seems you had some issues with this on the 620. Will the pre-loaded maps nullify these issues?? Also, does the unit have to be placed in a cradle to get it to change, or is there a Macro button that will allow the unit to be handheld and still make the change (Marine/Land or Land/Marine)?? I can put a cradle in my car, but I can’t modify my Work Vessel. Thanks for all your information and help,
Narvon
Narvon,
I sent an email to the Garmin’s Customer Support.
They replied that they had forwarded my report to the developer’s team…
10 chr limit: in marine mode only
The gpsmap 620 has two completely different softwares.
The appropriate software is loaded when the unit is placed in the cradle.
You can switch to the other software by touching the appropriate icon on the screen (the unit reboots).
Each software has its own settings.
Hope it helps.
Bye.
A.
Andrea,
Thanks. I like the reboot method (I suggested to a Garmin tech that they should include a Macro button or 3 to have different settings memorized. This will do the same.)
Still very disappointed in the 10 character limit for Marine applications.
Haven’t pulled the trigger yet. A lot of cash considering there are many little (but necessary to some of us) bugs/issues that need to be updated/fixed.
One other issue for me. Area calculation. I do some SAR (Search and Rescue) work and it helps to keep track of the area covered. My GPSMap 76 CS will do this and the unit is 4 yrs old.
Oh well. Thanks again for the input. Guess we’ll have to wait until the Developer Team fixes the ‘Bugs’ and updates the software.
Narvon