Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map Updates and Traffic
Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map Updates and Traffic
- Sunlight-readable, 5-inch backlit TFT color touchscreen display with 480 x 272 WQVGA pixel resolution
- Preloaded with City Navigator NT data for the lower 48 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, with nearly six million points of interest
- Free lifetime map and traffic updates for the most up-to-date maps, POIs, and navigation info, along with constantly updated traffic information
- Advanced navigation features including voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, lane assist with junction view, fuel-saving ecoRoute
- Integrated Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker for hands-free calling. Comes with One-year warranty.
nüvi 1490LMT features FREE lifetime map and traffic updates.One-year warrantyThe large screen nüvi 1490LMT comes with free Lifetime Maps and Traffic and offers multiple-point routing and Lane Assist with junction view to help you manage busy highway interchanges. It announces streets by name, has hands-free calling compatibility and pedestrian navigation options. The ecoRoute feature calculates a more fuel-efficient route. It’s easy to see where you’re going on nüvi 1490LMT’
List Price: $ 349.99
Price: [wpramaprice asin="B003ZX8B3W"]
[wpramareviews asin="B003ZX8B3W"]
[wprebay kw="gps" num="26" ebcat="-1"] [wprebay kw="gps" num="27" ebcat="-1"]
Comments
3 Comments on Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map Updates and Traffic
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C. James on
Sat, 16th Oct 2010 3:23 am
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Banjo46 on
Sat, 16th Oct 2010 4:14 am
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Diane Harrison on
Sat, 16th Oct 2010 4:46 am
Great Screen – Great Fratures – Some Quirks,
Having been a Garmin owner for about 5 years I had no doubt what brand I was going to buy, my old Garmin served me well but it was time for a new one and the wide screen was a key feature I wanted in my new one.
The screen is impressive, while going from 4.3″ to 5″ does not sound like much it is really amazing how much more map and information that fits well on the screen. The screen itself is anti-glare that works, and very bright if you want it, I have the brightness at 60% and that is fine even in bright sunlight. The images are very crisp and clear, street names and such are auto-sized to not obstruct the map but big enough to read easily. The volume when it is reading out direction is also outstanding, so loud I have it also on 60%. So a solid 5 Stars on the screen and voice volume, as well as the pronunciation of the street names!
Quirk: When I first got it I was in my office and opened it, plugged it in to just power and fired it up, it kept asking for me to agree to the license terms and no matter how I answered it rebooted itself, did this like 4 times and then was ok. This would happen each time I turned it on. Not a big issue really, as soon as it “sees” the sats it stops doing it and is fine. Little off for the scare factor, it has never done it again.
The update process is very easy but long, likely very long on a slower PC and/or slow internet connection, the map data is huge. That said it is the nature of the beast and Garmin makes it as painless as possible, the registration and update process was very slick.
Once all updated and ready to go it is time to go through the options, you don’t have to, out of the box it picks everything, but I think most will find it worth it, there are a lot of options on how you want it to find routes, deal with traffic (comes with lifetime traffic info), how you want the maps to look in many aspects, 2D, 3D, Track top to your direction or top to always north, and all kinds of additional information that can optionally be on the map screen. Out of the box Garmin has every bell and whistle turned on which I guess I understand but this is why I say it is worth getting it where you like. From the factory you will only see 4.3″ of map on route as it has 4 tabs of optional information along the right side. I wanted 5″ of map so I disabled the side tabs in settings, very nice option, you can also pick what tab is showing what information from a good selection of options.
Quirk: If you are using the traffic information and have the traffic avoidance enabled you can get some really odd routes, since I was just trying mine out around town and to work and back I knew it was telling me wrong turns, a little time in the manual and I found out why, it was automatically altering the route around traffic alerts, while this may sound like a good thing and would be if it told you it was doing that, in my case it was not, no other route is going to help and I did not know what in the heck it was doing 
I found you can have the best of both worlds, keep trafic information turned on but disable traffic in the avoidances setting tab. Then it warns you of traffic on your route, lets you see where, and gives you a detour option at that point you can take or ignore. It would be better during the route calc process if it said it had added detours, and when it does it on the fly it should also, minor quirk once you know. This is a 3 star feature in the auto mode. 5 star would be to tell you and offer y/n detour options for each point.
Junction View to me was one of the most impressive features, I go through one very complex set of interchanges for 3 freeways with express lanes to bybass interchanges and local lane to pick up any direction to or from any free way, many a folks have left on the wrong path… When I was aproaching it the garmin flipped to junction view and wow, it had a clearly marked path through the maze, and nailed every lane on the money, and the optimum lane for the follwing turn if there was more than one lane leading into it. Very nice! Another 5 star feature, this would have made my first time through that a lost safer than the old garmin with just a yellow line through it.
The routes it comes up with are 4.5 star, it hits most very very well but will toss a few more odd ones out than my old Garmin did, they all do some, I think this could do better, the good news is these are not horrible routes, just not the better or best always.
The next 4 star item is the power cord/FM Traffic radio, it is like having jumper cables going up your dash, why it is not in the unit is beyond me, I am stumped so far as to how to route the cables a lot more cleaner than this and have traffic info.
Another option is to skip the traffic radio and run on battery, with the right settings you can get 3 hours, but with my settings I can get just over 2 hours on battery…
My Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator,
I immediately began using my Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator. I planned several trips, researched numerous items as to locations for my upcoming trip. During the trip I searched for my nearest Starbucks coffee houses, rest areas and restaurants. I found this little device to be invaluable, for my Spouse also (who, not being a computer person… immediately began using it). I am addicted…I love it. Can’t wait to start planning the next trip. I did have 2 instances of misdirection to areas that were not as requested…(1)a Starbucks (was not where I was directed…I accredited this one to the fact that Starbucks had closed some of its stores in recent months)(2)a restaurant was not where I was directed. I believe Streets / Lanes / Avenues and Ways played a big part in this misdirection. I love my Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator.
One last item… my vehicle is equipped with OnStar and the first cell phone to be turned on in the vehicle is usually the first to be picked up by the OnStar Bluetooth phone system (it only handles one at a time)…. The Garmin nüvi 1490LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator will pick up a second Bluetooth cell phone and is loud and clear. Thanks Garmin.
Worth It,
So you may pay a little more for the life time maps, but it;s worth it! Worked great out of the box. Be prepared, it took 4 hrs to upload the new maps, but hoping next update doesn’t take that long. Its easy to work and quick to respond. One of the best buys I’ve made recently. My sister has the 13?? Garmin with the 4.7 screen. The 5 screen does make a difference and now she wishes she had gotten the one I have. Pay a little more for a bigger screen, you’ll be amazed at the difference!
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