Thanks to reader datrays who sent me a heads up about an interesting thread on GpsPasSion. Folks there are complaining that the nuvi has a weak feature set and poor user interface. They are saying that the Garmin Mobile XT and even the Quest have more capabilities. Let's hear it nuvi owners -- what do you think?
UPDATE: For an in-depth analysis, check out this post on the nuvi vs. Garmin Mobile XT, c5xx and c3xx series. And if you want a great auto GPS that gives you a broader feature set, check out my Mio C520 review. Also, the nuvi 750 and 760 have added new features that negate this issue.
Related posts:
Hi All,
I'm the author of the thread and the Mobile XT vs. nüvi comparison document that's being talked about over on GpsPasSion's nüvi forum. Unfortunately, I had to pull the document from my site as the sheer number of folks downloading it was killing my bandwidth. If anyone has the ability to host the document publicly (it's about 5 MB in size in it's compressed format), I'll be more than happy to provide it.
Other than that... I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
Lastly, note that while the comparison document specifically references the nüvi, it can be applied to the C550 as well since the nüvi and the C550 have nearly the exact same (feature limited) user interface.
Let's hope that Garmin gives us more of what we want in the nüvi 610/660 when they come out. The zumo also looks promising as well.
-- MIKE
Posted by: The Office Maven | August 28, 2006 at 11:20 AM
Oh, this is great so someone with a smart phone and Garmin Mobile XT is going to have more navigation options than my dedicated nuvi unit. Can anyone explain what Garmin is thinking?
Posted by: JME | August 28, 2006 at 05:24 PM
Actually, "going to have more navigation options" is an understatement. Mobile XT walks all over the nüvi (and the C550) as far as the number of (useful) features goes. You should really see my document. You'd be absolutely amazed!
Posted by: The Office Maven | August 28, 2006 at 06:10 PM
How much bandwidth are we talking about? I might give it a try. I think TypePad has a distributed system I can put it on.
Posted by: Rich Owings | August 28, 2006 at 06:26 PM
when can I buy it in england. Thank you.
Posted by: john | October 08, 2006 at 01:31 AM
John,
I assume you're asking about the nuvi 610/660. I've seen no release dates for the European models. The 300 and 310 are available of course. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. You might want to ask on http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=172
Posted by: Rich Owings | October 08, 2006 at 08:21 AM
Where can you download Garmin Mobile XT to compare to NUVI ? I have a Bluetooth GPS and Motorola Q and Dell Axim 51V I would like to try to use with Garmin software. Any help is appreciated thanks.
Posted by: John Paraglide Tandem | January 17, 2007 at 03:04 PM
I have an HTC S620 with Garmin Mobile XT and a Holux GPSlim 236 but the software can´t connect it. Any helps please.
Posted by: Fernando C. | April 25, 2007 at 04:30 PM