ChiliGuy

Admin February 13, 2008 at 11:26 PM [linker q=”Garmin Nuvi ” gtm=”merchant” ct=”US” id=”ff0cb67fb2918847a0547817f8a226be,” ft=”fetchProducts” w=”auto”]Garmin Nuvi 660[/linker]
Using the included integrated traffic receiver / 12v adapter, the nuvi 660 is able to receive traffic information broadcast over the RDS system (FM Radio Data System — this is the same system that displays the song you’re listening to on some FM radio stations). When a traffic message is received, the nuvi 660 displays the incident on the map and can change your route to avoid the accident/traffic.If there is a traffic event received that impacts your current route, the nuvi displays the appropriate icon in the lower-right hand corner of the map display. Touch the icon, and you can view the details of the traffic issue, or tap “Avoid” and get routed around the problem. Even if you don’t manually view the traffic event, if the nuvi detects a traffic event and can find a better alternate route, it will prompt you saying a better route is available, and would you like it to automatically re-route you.

The 660 comes with a complimentary 3-month traffic subscription. After that, It’ll cost you $60/year

[linker q=”Garmin Nuvi ” gtm=”merchant” ct=”US” id=”d4d6c4984fe1448061b03381a9375f4c,” ft=”fetchProducts” w=”auto”]Garmin Nuvi 680[/linker]

The nuvi 680 is identical to the 660 in every way, except for the addition of MSN Direct.

Unlike the nuvi 660, which uses ClearChannel’s TMC service for real-time traffic data, the 680 leverages MSN Direct for real-time traffic data, local gas prices, movie listings, and weather information.

MSN Direct receives its traffic information from traffic.com, which is currently being acquired by NAVTEQ. Traffic.com gathers most of its traffic data via road sensors. The nuvi 660, StreetPilot c550, Zumo, and most of Garmin’s other GPS units use TMC traffic to receive ClearChannel’s real-time traffic data via FM. Unlike MSN Direct’s traffic data, ClearChannel’s data is provided by Inrix, whose traffic coverage is (currently) more extensive than traffic.com’s. Inrix gathers traffic flow data from more than 500,000 commercial, delivery and taxi vehicles across the U.S., and also collects additional traffic details such as construction and road closures, real-time incidents, sporting events, weather forecasts and school schedules.

That said, MSN Direct’s traffic service provides more information about traffic problems around you. So instead of just notifying you of traffic ahead, MSN Direct will prompt the nuvi to say something like “1 incident on your route. 15 minute delay.” With MSN Direct’s traffic data, you’ll have an idea of how long a delay is ahead of you.

So, in essence, although ClearChannel’s TMC traffic data (provided by Inrix) provides greater coverage, MSN Direct’s traffic data (provided by traffic.com) provides additional useful information about traffic delays. Coverage may or may not be an issue for you, depending where you live. You can check local coverage of both service by visiting Inrix (nuvi 660 and other Garmin units) and traffic.com’s (MSN Direct) coverage pages. Garmin has also built a page that lets you lookup your zip code or city name and see if it’s within MSN Direct coverage.

Garmin includes a full year of MSN Direct service for free with the nuvi 680. After that, it’ll cost you $50/year or you can choose the $130 lifetime option. Note that the lifetime subscription is per device, not per user. So if you replace the nuvi 680 with a future GPS, the MSN Direct subscription will not transfer to the new device.

Besides traffic MSN offers gas price, weather, and movie information.

Gas Prices from the MSN menu displays a list of local gas stations (ordered by closeness) and the price per gallon of gas (regular unleaded) sold at that station. The page also displays the distance and direction to the gas station, as well as the age of the data. MSN Direct collects this data by observing credit card transactions at gas stations, and recording the price paid per gallon of gas. Using this data, you can choose the gas station that has the most competitive gas price, even if it’s not the closest gas station.

The nuvi 680’s real-time movie times information is provided by the MSN Direct network. From the MSN Direct menu, tap on Movie Times to view local movie theater information.

The nuvi 680’s real-time weather information is provided by the MSN Direct network. From the MSN Direct menu, tap on Weather to view weather information.

San Diego is a big/major city: for MSN Direct Coverage it appears you’ll have a strong signal,
Http://www.msndirect.com/coverage/Covera…
and FM TMC you should be able to access it too
Https://shop.garmin.com/fmtraffic/select…

In my opinion even though it cost a little more the Garmin 680 is the better buy. 1)The traffic warnings are more detailed. 2)The 680 you get a free year of the traffic feature compared to the 660 three months. 3)MSN(680) traffic service is $10 cheaper per year(Nuvi 680 @ $50/year vs Nuvi 660 $60/year) 4)Nuvi 680 also includes gas station prices and movie times. 5)You can get a lifetime one time fee for Nuvi 680 MSN($130. About the same as paying for two years of the Nuvi 660) that is not offered on the Nuvi 660.

Thats just my opinion the choice is up to you.
Happy driving!!!

AdminDecember 28, 2008 at 8:05 PMI am sure that Circuit City, Best Buy and CompUSA have them. It doesn’t need to be made by Garmin. It’s a commonly used cable and has USB at one end (plugs into your computer) and mini-USB at the other end (plugs into the GPS).

In many cases you can use the same cable that came with your digital camera or cell phone.

AdminJuly 14, 2009 at 5:28 AMWell, you can buy one from any Dealer. BUT, since it has to be installed by a certified center, I would say check the local airports or nearby airports for an Avionics Shop that does the installations.

You can’t just plug and play there are requirements for installations.
Check Garmins Site for Dealers/Shops near you.
Http://www8.garmin.com/dealers/

There are avionics dealers on-line as well but you still need a LOCAL shop to do the installation
Http://www.chiefaircraft.com/airsec/Avio…
Https://secure.sarasotaavionics.com/prod…
Http://www.gulfcoastavionics.com/
Http://www.bennettavionics.com/gns430w.h…

PS – they do show up on Ebay (MOTORS) under the Avionics lists but the prices aren’t any better than you can get locally!
Http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayIS…

AdminJuly 14, 2009 at 5:28 AMWell, you can buy one from any Dealer. BUT, since it has to be installed by a certified center, I would say check the local airports or nearby airports for an Avionics Shop that does the installations.

You can’t just plug and play there are requirements for installations.
Check Garmins Site for Dealers/Shops near you.
Http://www8.garmin.com/dealers/

There are avionics dealers on-line as well but you still need a LOCAL shop to do the installation
Http://www.chiefaircraft.com/airsec/Avio…
Https://secure.sarasotaavionics.com/prod…
Http://www.gulfcoastavionics.com/
Http://www.bennettavionics.com/gns430w.h…

PS – they do show up on Ebay (MOTORS) under the Avionics lists but the prices aren’t any better than you can get locally!
Http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayIS…