NaviGadget

garmin nuvi 680 review

Jan 6, 2007 garmin, gps navigation, reviews

Less than a day after Garmin announced their overpriced nuvi 680, its review is published on PC Magazine and it instantly became Editors’ Choice.

Not sure why but the reviewer must think CES 2007 (Jan 8 – 11) ended even though we’re still 2 days from kick-off:

First introduced at the CES trade show in January 2007, the nüvi 680 retains all of the features that earned its predecessor an Editors’ Choice.

The review mostly talks about new MSN feature which promises to bring you traffic, weather, gas prices, and movie times info. It sounds like the traffic and weather information is OK; however MSN can only gather gas prices and movie times from participating businesses. So there’s a chance your favorite movie theater a block from you may not be listed.

Another small catch about the MSN Direct feature is that the receiver for this service is not embedded into the body of the device but it is integrated into the power cord.

As with the nüvi 660, Garmin has integrated the real-time data receiver into the power cord. The power cord connects to the suction-cup mounting bracket and delivers both power and data to the mounted nüvi 680. The power cable includes a small backup battery that can power the MSN Direct receiver for up to two days even when unplugged. Data is received, stored, and processed by the receiver; so that the next time you attach the 680 to the bracket, up-to-date data is handily transferred to the nüvi.

Does this mean we’re out of luck if we want to get some movie times outside of the car? Can MSN Direct supply 1 weeks worth movie times at once? We’d like to hear your thoughts on this feature.

Like we mentioned in our previous nuvi 680 post, the MSN Direct will be free for the first year. After that you’ll either pay $50/year or $130 for the lifetime of the product (not your lifetime, but the lifetime of the product)

Nuvi 680 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007 for $1000.