[Turtle]

The speakers on the Garmins are all plenty loud. Hearing voice prompts through the vehicle's stereo speakers is a nifty addition, though, but the FM transmitter also lets you hear audio books and MP3's through the speakers, as well.

But the FM transmitter is not why you'd want the 660 over the 260. While useful, that's a really minor bell and whistle. The 660 is next generation advanced technology, the 260 is older hat. The 660 uses WAAS and the newest SiRF chip, which in combination uses a system of satellite and ground system for amazing accuracy, and can distinguished between a direct satellite signal and a signal that gets bounced off the side of a building, or hill. It keeps ahold of the satellite signal even in the canyons of large city downtowns. If you've ever tried to deliver in midtown Manhattan, you can truly appreciate that. It also locates the satellite signal dramatically faster than non-WAAS and SiRF units. The 660 also has built-in Traffic, a major plus. It's also Bluetooth for hands free calling.

Bluetooth is a bell and whistle you can easily live without, as Bluetooth headsets handle that better in some cases (the Garmin picks up a lot of vehicle noise and to the listener it can sound like you're calling from the open ****pit of a bi-plane). The Traffic is a bell and whistle, but an important one. The other stuff is more than bells and whistles, it's important for quick and accurate routing and locations. Fast and accurate is very important when it comes to having to route around an unexpected detour or when the FM Traffic receiver has to recalculate the routing, or even when you take a wrong turn and it needs to recalculate to get you back on route. Fast and accurate, very important. Money well spent.

[Rocketman]

Thanks Turtle. The FM transmitter is just something that sounded like it might be useful to me (someone who has never used a gps device at all). The only other thing that I saw in the spec that looked to be useful is the feature where it speaks the actual name of the street instead of "400' turn right". I like that it gives the street name. The 260 speaks the street names, which is the reason it was on my list. The 660 speaks the street names and has the FM transmitter...plus it has all the other bells and whistles you mention. The only substantial (to me) thing I see missing is dead reckoning and it looks like you have to get into some pretty pricey units to get that.

Ok...it looks like i'll be in the market for the 660. I've been looking at the tomtom's also, but I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for there. No doubt they have a unit as good as the Garmin, but I'm having trouble comparing one tomtom unit to the other, much less comparing it to a Garmin. Garmin's website has the side-by-side comparison table that really helps.

Thanks for the help. I'll probably sleep on it and try to get one bought tomorrow. Looks like the 660 is going for $325-$350 depending on where you look. I'll look some more later .

[Turtle]

With the new WAAS and SiRF chips, dead reckoning is pretty much obsolete. The way dead reckoning works is, the GPS unit is also hooked into the vehicle's steering and speedometer (or in some cases the vehicle's computer), and when the unit loses the satellite signal the GPS unit can figure out where and how far you've traveled based on the information it receives from the vehicle. Unless you plan on doing a lot of driving through tunnels, and need precise navigation while in them, dead reckoning is no longer an issue.

[Rocketman]

Cool, I didn't realize the unit would have to be tied to the vehicle in any way for the dead reckoning to work. Other than that, my understanding of the operation was somewhat accurate. It is good to know that it's basicly obsolete.

Thanks Turtle for the technical help. You've helped me sort through a lot of options and I think the 660 is probably the best bang for the buck for what "I" need. In time, I wouldn't mind upgrading to one of the higher-end units, but not until they have actual truck routing on them. Of course when they put that on there, $1,000 may seem cheap! LOL

Thanks again,

Rocketman

[Rocketman]

Well, I did it

Although I did change my mind at the last minute! I looked over the units on ebay and realized that I could get the Garmin 750 for about the same price as the 660. The 750 has some features I thought I would like that 660 doesn't have. The 750 also comes with a DC power cord which the 660 doesn't, that makes the cost of the units pretty much equal.

From reading some of the reviews at Amazon, the 750 had some problems with satellite aquisition, but they have an update patch that apprently solved those problems. As I understand it, the 750 also requires the purchase of an antenna to operate the traffic function? One of the reviews said that the 750 has a much better windshield mount also.

Turtle, whatcha think? Did I mess up by going with the 750?

Edit: Almost forgot. Paid $372 with S&H and ins. included.

[Turtle]

No, I don't think you messed up at all. The 750 and 660 are basically the same price, so it's more of a matter of trading features than anything. The 750 is not Bluetooth compatible, so you can't make hands-free calls. The hands-free calling works great if you're sitting still and the motor isn't running, otherwise you'll never use it. It's good in theory, as you can do a search for something, like a restaurant or motel, then immediately call it, all while driving. But, it just picks up too much background noise to be very useful.

The 750 also doesn't have the integrated FM Traffic. It's an option that you buy the FM Traffic antenna for. I prefer it to be integrated, but, by making it an option, you have the choice between real-time FM Traffic (provided by Clear Channel) and the real-time traffic offered as part of the optional MSN Direct service (local traffic, movie times, gas prices, weather). The real-time traffic, while not perfect, is turning out to be very, very handy in this business. But, whichever method of real-time traffic you choose, assuming you get it, keep in mind that both are gonna cost something. The FM Traffic GTM Antenna is $215 (comes with 15 month subscription, after that it's $60 a year), and the MSN Direct antenna is $125 (comes with 12 month subscription, after that, not sure, might even be free, I dunno).

The 750 has better technology in that it uses the SiRF III Star chip for better location-based services. That's what allows the "Where did I Park?" thing (very kewl, not so much for a truck, but great for a car), the "Where am I now?" thing (also very kewl), the MSN Direct Service, road speed limits shown on screen, and much more and better information while using it for walking navigation.

Essentially, you swapped a few features for better technology, and the option of adding traffic in two different ways. MSN Direct certainly has its appeal.

[Rocketman]

Thanks for the help Turtle. I do like some of the features of the 750 over the 660. I'll check into the traffic options later on. For now, this looks like the best I could do for under $400. If this unit holds up, I don't see me wanting anything more until somebody markets something with truck routing.

Thanks again!

Rocketman