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| Garmin nüvi 660 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $699.99
Buy New: $244.82
You Save: $455.17 (65%)
New (50) Used (3) Refurbished (7)
Avg. Customer Rating:  1431 reviews
Sales Rank: 34
Format: Cd
Platforms: Windows Xp Professional, Windows Xp Home Edition, Windows 2000
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Display Size: 4.3
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 2.6 x 2.6 x 2.6
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 010-00540-00
Model: 010-00540-00
UPC: 053759065110
EAN: 0076565001226
ASIN: B000H49LXQ
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great Product June 18, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First of all, you have to understand the limitations of this technology. If you are living in a town with a lot of growth and many new streets in the last year or so, the Nuvi won't find them. I drove through a subdivision that was developed 4 years ago - and the Nuvi shows me driving in a field.
Many of these problems cannot be blamed on the Nuvi, however; it is more likely the fault of the information supplied by the community and how often it is updated.
The other main complaint of the Nuvi is the FM transmitter. If your radio antenna is in the back of the car, it will be too far away for a clear signal from the Nuvi. You will get a lot of hiss, even when you find a clear radio station. And, of course, if you are traveling across country, the "clear" station that you found in one area may be home to a monster radio station somewhere else along your route.
A better solution is the headphone jack in the side of the unit. You can plug a cord into the jack, and into the mp3 jack in your stereo. If you have an older stereo and no jack, Radio Shack makes a cassette tape with the same jack and cord coming out of it. Simply pop in the tape, plug in the cord, and your "tape" setting on the stereo will route the Nuvi audio.
Beyond these items, the product is outstanding. I have never had to wait longer that 20 seconds for it to acquire a signal, even on the cloudiest days. The voice commands are very clear, and the timing of the commands matches your speed - in other words, if I am driving 25 mph, the voice will tell me "turn left in .3 miles", but if I am going 70 on the freeway, it will tell me "turn left in .8 miles". You always have plenty of time to switch lanes, etc.
The POI's work as indicated.
One other glitch- in Missouri, we name some of our roads with letters (who knows why), and the Nuvi wants to "name" the lettered roads. In other words, Hwy CC becomes Highway Country Club when spoken.
Overall, this is amazing technology and allows you to drive without worrying about glancing at a map. When you are out of town, it is a lifesaver. I drove to St. Louis, and it took me to the front door of my hotel. The next morning, I realized that I had forgotten a SD card for my digital camera. Needing the card, and having no clue where I was, the Nuvi took me directly to the nearest Walgreens, and directly back to the hotel.
Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase.
Directions and Audible Street Names - Easy to Use Out of the Box June 16, 2007
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Since moving to a new city, my (self proclamed directionally challenged) wife and I decided to take the plunge and get our first navigation system and as usual with technology purchases, I was left to make the research and the purchase decision. After doing my homework, I purchased the Nuvi 660 three weeks ago and so far am suitably impressed. After initial charging with the supplied USB AC adaptor, the unit has functioned well and has given my wife and I above average directions. After a few tests, I trust it to take me places I have never been or to give me better routes than I usually take. I'm sure there are a lot of features I have not even discovered but I was able to self learn the basics without consulting the user CDROM.
I will list the pros and cons I have noticed to date:
Pro
- Large screen touch screen is easy to see in daylight or night.
- Uses street names when using the audible directions feature which I have found useful in an unfamiliar city.
- Can be used in the handheld mode for walking (we have already done this a couple times).
- Quick and intuitive to use right out of the box.
- Comes nicely equipped with chargers, cover, and mount.
Con
- User manual is on CDROM.
- Unit is kind of pricy.
- Takes a long time (more than a few minutes) to initially find satellites. (I don't keep it in the car so I am thinking about giving it a chance to find itself before I go out to the car.)
- Says, "Recalculating" in a really sarcastic tone when your go off route. (I am not the only person who noticed the tone as evidenced by other reviews and comments.)
A neutral item is that it seems to have a propensity towards using the Interstates.
Overall, my wife and I like it and have above average satisfaction. My wife is able to use it by herself and finds it reassuring while navigating a new city which makes me feel better as well. That alone makes it worth it.
 Works great! June 16, 2007
Love it. Great display. Easy to use touch screen. Fast routing. Great mount. MP3 plays great thru CD adapter in car radio (hard to find clear station with FM transmitter though).
 No Route Capability June 15, 2007
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
Just got a return note from Garmin Support. Although advertised as having Routes and waypoints, it just isn't so. Using MapSource on your computer (which you must request) leaves something to be desired. After all the hassle of learning MapSource(not worth getting into here), I uploaded the Routes and Waypoints. In the favorites, just the waypoints appear. Figured I was doing something wrong. Contacted Garmin. They confirmed. The Nuvi 660 (and the C530) does not support routes. So, if you wish to plan trips before going on them, forget Garmin. I'm looking elsewhere, and looking to return my (daughters presents) units.
Too be fair, the C530 unit seems excellent for just getting from here to there. The Nuvi 660 is not worth the extra $300. The MP3 player only works over an FM transmitter (poor), and only handles MP3. No M4A (I could understand the M4P problem, but not the M4A).
Widescreen portable GPS Comparison June 15, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This review may help someone like me who is not knowledgeable about GPS and is looking for basic functionality. I was looking for a unit that is portable (so I could also use it for walking or switch cars) and has a widescreen display, so I settled on comparing a Garmin Nuvi 650 Personal Travel Assistant for North America and a Plenio VXA-5000 4.3-Inch Touch Screen Car Navigation System with Bluetooth.
1.Audio - The Plenio does not have text to speech functionality, meaning the Plenio will announce "Turn left in 500 feet," while the Nuvi 650 will announce "Turn left on Main Street in 500 feet." I found the Plenio confusing if there were two possible left turns close to each other, and the display didn't always help. (See "Display").
2.Display- The Plenio display appeared dim and difficult to read on bright days, even at the brightest setting. The Nuvi had a brighter, easy to read display even when driving toward sunlight. When a turn is announced, the text of the street name on the Plenio is small and difficult to read; on the Nuvi the street name is announced and the visible text is larger, bolder and easy to read. This also makes it easier to keep track of cross streets when operating in "tracking mode" rather than inputting a destination.
3.Portability- The Garmin is thinner and lighter. The Plenio's suction mount is more substantial, but it has to be to hold up the device.
4.Controls- The Plenio has volume up and down controls, on the Garmin these are only accessible with some difficulty through the touch screen.
5.Accessories- The Plenio includes an FM transmitter, (sound can play through your FM radio) and Bluetooth; to get this functionality with the Garmin, a trade up to the Garmin Nuvi 660 Pocket Vehicle GPS Navigator and Personal Travel Assistant is necessary. The Plenio includes an AC charger, a useful tool in a portable GPS. If you have a mini USB AC charger, you can use it with the Garmin.
6.Waypoints- The Garmin allows only one waypoint (stopover on the trip); multiple waypoints are available on the Plenio.
7.**** Satellite reception- The Plenio has an internal antenna while the Garmin has a foldaway flip up antenna flap. The Plenio was totally incapable of getting a satellite fix, and therefore useless, while in my wife's car (she has a metallic layer in the windshield as some cars do); the Garmin had no such problem. The Garmin also could fix while indoors. The Garmin allows the user to turn on "WAAS" which is a combined satellite and ground GPS mode that is more accurate than satellite alone; I haven't seen that WAAS makes a difference to a basic user like me. The Garmin seems to get a fix from a cold start about 25% faster than the Plenio.
8.Points of interest and maps- The Garmin maps (v.8) seemed "less out of date" than the Plenio. (maybe 2 years out of date versus 3-4 years). The Garmin has a more substantial list of points of interest (POI's). The Plenio allows you to program the unit to show your choice of POI's (such as all gas stations and/or restaurants) as icons on the map, and bring up more information ( name, phone number) by touching the icon; the Garmin will provide this information from a separate search menu.
9. Map orientation For some reason, the Plenio map orientation insists on switching from "driving direction up" to "north up" orientation and needs to be manually switched back each time it is turned on. The Plenio map displays a "compass rose", a nice feature, but it is small and unreadable when in 3D mode. The Garmin stays in the map orientation as programmed. There is no compass, but when in "tracking mode" there is a text box that gives the driving direction. (N, SW, etc.)
To summarize, the Plenio had more bells and whistles which I willingly traded in for the much improved basic functionality of the Garmin.
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