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Archives for April 2007

Garmin nuvi 650 review

April 30, 2007 By 29 Comments

Garmin_nuvi_650_l

UPDATE: Though still available and supported, Garmin has discontinued the nuvi 650. For newer models, check out my Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

The Garmin nuvi 650 is Garmin’s entry level unit in the 4.3″ wide-screen 600 series.  The touch-screen nuvi 650 comes with pre-loaded maps of the U.S. and Canada, an MP3 player, and the ability to call out upcoming street names. So you’ll get “turn left on North Main Street in 500 feet” rather than just “turn left in 500 feet.” Live traffic coverage is available as an add-on.

Step up to the nuvi 660 to get an integrated traffic receiver, Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone use, along with an FM transmitter to stream music, directions and phone calls through your car stereo speakers. The nuvi 670 adds European maps to the 660’s feature set, while the nuvi 680 adds MSN Direct services to the 660’s features.

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Filed Under: Auto, Garmin, Garmin auto GPS, GPS Reviews, Hardware

Lowrance iWAY 600C review

April 23, 2007 By 1 Comment

Iway600csat_2
UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For current recommendations, please refer to our auto GPS buyers guide.

The Lowrance iWAY 600C is the new top of the line automotive and marine GPS navigator from Lowrance that, in addition to displaying maps, has aerial imagery of hundreds of U.S. and Canadian cities.

The iWAY 600C has a large 5″ touch-screen, pre-loaded maps of the continental U.S. and Canada, plus electronic charts with depth contours for U.S. inland lakes, the Great lakes and coastal waters. It also has an MP3 player, built-in FM transmitter and 5.5 million points of interest (POIs).

25 GB of its 30GB hard drive is dedicated to maps and aerial photos. The remaining 5 GB is available to store MP3s.

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Filed Under: Aerial imagery, Auto, GPS Reviews, Hardware, Lowrance, Lowrance auto GPS

Transfer waypoints to your nuvi with MapSource

April 21, 2007 By 1 Comment

As noted in my last post, I just returned from a trip to the southwest. My wife and I visited many towns and cities in New Mexico including Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Silver City, and we even made it as far north as Colorado Springs. My trusty Garmin nuvi 660 led the way.

We were gone 12 days and had many places we wanted to see. We’re considering relocating so we were checking out neighborhoods, open houses, restaurants, etc. When you’re doing a trip that complicated, in cities you aren’t familiar with, simply plugging destinations into your GPS isn’t always the best way to do things. There’s nothing like being able to visualize the whole city on your computer screen. So I used Garmin’s MapSource to find POIs and create waypoints, and then transfer them to my nuvi.

If you don’t have the latest version of MapSource, download it to enable this capability. In version 6.11.1 Garmin added support for transfer with Garmin mass storage devices, such as the nuvi. I found it to be very helpful.

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Filed Under: Garmin, Software

Trip Report – Southern New Mexico and Mexican Gray Wolves

April 21, 2007 By Leave a Comment

My posting frequency has been down a bit lately, as I just returned from a “working vacation” – how’s that for an oxymoron? Nevertheless, my wife and I had fun exploring New Mexico and a bit of Colorado, but our outdoor adventures were mostly in Southern New Mexico. I like describing and posting tracks of our hikes and bike rides (and how I prepped our GPS receivers for them), so if it’s your cup of tea, read on. If not, regular programming will return following this post!

My wife (who is also my partner in outdoor adventure) is five months pregnant, so this won’t be a report of crazy adventures, filled with mountain bike crashes and off-trail adventures in canyons. This trip was comprised of relatively sedate hikes. In addition to those listed below, we also did shorter jaunts in Petroglyph National Monument (Albuquerque, NM) and Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, CO), but the tracks there aren’t long enough to be of much use to anyone. So without further delay…

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Filed Under: Trip report (TR)

Magellan Maestro 3100 and 3140

April 17, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Magellan_maestro_3100UPDATE: Read our Magellan Maestro 3100 review and Magellan Maestro 3140 review.

Magellan has announced two more members of their Maestro series, the Magellan Maestro 3100 and 3140. Both are based on the thin Magellan Maestro 4000 series models, which have a 4" screen. The 3000 series will have a smaller form factor, with a 3.5" screen. Both the 3100 and 3140 will sport the SiRFstar III chipset. According to Magellan,

“Without compromising the quality and richness of experience that Magellan stands for, we have been able to pack into an even smaller form factor premium features found in the Maestro 4000 series. These include text-to-speech, full map coverage, AAA travel information, and more. In addition, they are the first auto navigation solutions on the market that use the new Samsung 2443 processor for rapid routing."

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Filed Under: Magellan

1:24,000 scale Colorado topo maps for Garmin receivers

April 13, 2007 By 1 Comment

24kcoloradotopomaps

UPDATE: I’ve posted a more comprehensive set of resources for free topo maps for Garmin GPS receivers.

Above the Timber is about to release DVD’s of 1:24,000 scale topo maps of the Colorado Rockies for Garmin GPS receivers. I call them 1:24K scale maps even though that is a bit of a misnomer. These are digital maps, so the scale changes at each zoom level. However, the data on the screen is based on USGS 1:24,000 scale topo maps, and they show 40 foot contour intervals, as seen in the image shown here.

These are much more detailed than Garmin’s 1:100K-based U.S. Topo maps. And while Garmin does have a 1:24K scale product, it is limited (for the most part) to certain National Park areas.

The Colorado Topo Maps DVD will go on sale around May 1, at a special introductory price of $79.95. While you can “make your own maps,” the process is a bit laborious, so if you are a back country enthusiast in Colorado, this is a pretty good deal.

Related posts:

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Filed Under: Garmin, Maps, Software

Magellan Maestro 4040 review

April 8, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Magellanmaestro4040

UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For current recommendations, please refer to our auto GPS buyers guide or check out our other Magellan auto GPS reviews.

The Magellan Maestro 4040 is part of Magellan’s newest lineup — the Maestro series. Like all members of the Maestro family, the 4040 has a wide 4.3″ screen, voice-prompted directions, AAA travel information and a SiRFstarIII chipset. The 4040 also has preloaded maps of the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, 4.5 million points of interest (POIs), and Bluetooth for hands free cell phone use. Additionally, it will call out the street names for upcoming turns.

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Filed Under: Auto, GPS Reviews, Hardware, Magellan, Magellan auto GPS