Archives for July 2011

Garmin BirdsEye Satellite Imagery

July 25, 2011 By Rich Owings 32 Comments

Garmin BirdsEye Satellite Imagery is a $29.99 annual subscription plan (though downloaded imagery does not expire) that allows you to transfer satellite imagery to compatible Garmin devices. At this point, the following series are compatible:

Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport Tagged With: BirdsEye

Magellan RoadMate 5175T-LM review

July 19, 2011 By Rich Owings 10 Comments

Hands on with the WiFi-enabled Magellan RoadMate 5175T-LM

UPDATE: I’ve added a response from Magellan.

The Magellan RoadMate 5175T-LM is a new unit from Magellan, whose most notable feature is WiFi, so I’ll focus on that in my review. It has a 5” screen with accelerometer, allowing you to use it in landscape or portrait orientation. And as the T-LM implies, it comes with traffic and lifetime map updates.

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, GPS Reviews, Magellan auto GPS Tagged With: Magellan RoadMate 5175T-LM

Google Maps drops traffic time estimates

July 18, 2011 By Rich Owings 1 Comment

Google has quietly dropped their “in traffic” time estimates from Google Maps. When you set up a route in the past, you would usually see two time estimates, including one showing the estimated time “in traffic.” Traffic conditions are still shown, and you can still change the time of day to visually see the impact on traffic, as shown above. But this won’t change the estimated travel time.

Filed Under: Featured, More GPS News Tagged With: Google Maps, Traffic

Garmin Lifetime Updater

July 13, 2011 By Rich Owings 49 Comments

UPDATE: Here’s a Garmin Lifetime Updater FAQ.

Here’s a nice surprise – Garmin is taking the hassle out of downloading lifetime map updates. A Garmin Lifetime Updater showed up on their website today, which automatically downloads updates to your computer and notifies you when they are ready to install. Here’s a few notes on the app:

Downloads files automatically to your computer
No sign-in required
No web browser required
Advanced options let you specify download speed and schedules

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, Garmin auto GPS Tagged With: Garmin Lifetime Updater, Lifetime map updates

TomTom GO 2535M LIVE review

July 5, 2011 By Rich Owings 16 Comments

Hands on with the TomTom GO 2535 M LIVE

The TomTom GO 2535M LIVE is the current top of the line navigator from TomTom. Start with a 5” capacitive touchscreen, add LIVE connected services such as weather, gas prices, HD Traffic and Google Local Search. Then tack on Bluetooth, what could be the best voice recognition of any brand, lifetime map updates – well, you get the picture; this thing is loaded.

Filed Under: Featured, GPS Reviews, TomTom auto GPS Tagged With: TomTom GO 2535M LIVE

TomTom VIA 1435TM

July 3, 2011 By Rich Owings 2 Comments

The TomTom VIA 1435TM is a high-end model in TomTom’s new VIA series. Sporting a 4.3” screen, the VIA 1435TM offers lifetime traffic and map updates (hence the TM in the product name). This model updates a previous unit, the very popular TomTom XL 340TM, adding Bluetooth, voice commands and TomTom’s new Webkit-based interface. Like all units in the VIA 1xx5 series, this one comes with preloaded maps of the US, Canada and Mexico.

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, GPS Reviews, TomTom auto GPS Tagged With: TomTom VIA 1435TM

TomTom VIA 1405TM

July 1, 2011 By Rich Owings 2 Comments

The TomTom VIA 1405TM sports a 4.3” screen and offers lifetime traffic and map updates (hence the TM in the product name). This model updates a previous unit, the very popular TomTom XL 340TM, bringing along TomTom’s new Webkit-based interface. Like all units in the VIA 1xx5 series, this one comes with preloaded maps of the US, Canada and Mexico.

Filed Under: Auto, Featured, GPS Reviews, TomTom auto GPS Tagged With: TomTom VIA 1405TM

$50 rebate & killer deals on Garmin Oregon 450/550 series

July 1, 2011 By Rich Owings 6 Comments

UPDATE: ~~Wow, now there’s a heck of a sale on the new Montana series too.~~ Well the Montana deal didn’t last long, but at least the Oregons are still available…

UPDATE 2: GPS City’s prices have gone up, but fortunately the rebate is valid till the end of September, so hopefully we’ll see some better deals.

Garmin has just posted a $50 rebate for the Oregon x50 series~~, bringing the price down to $249.95 for the 450 and $349.95 for the 550 at GPS City, one of our favorite low-cost vendors~~. Hit the jump link for all the details on this killer deal.

Filed Under: Featured, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport Tagged With: Garmin Oregon series, GPS Deals

Garmin nuvi 1450LM

July 1, 2011 By Rich Owings 19 Comments

The Garmin nüvi 1450LM brings lifetime map updates to the nuvi 1450, adding to the latter’s feature set which includes 5” wide screen, multi-destination routing, lane assist and junction view.

Filed Under: Featured, Garmin auto GPS, GPS Reviews Tagged With: Garmin nuvi 1450LM