Garmin Nuvi

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I'm looking to replace my ancient Nuvi 855. The on/off slider switch is sticking. Also some of the "keys" on the keyboard stick, different keys at different times. I will replace this unit with another Garmin so any recommendations on which GPS to purchase please keep it to Garmin models.

I'm seriously considering the Nuvi 2589. This model is about $50 cheaper than the 2599 but doesn't come with HD Traffic. As expediters, how important are traffic alerts? Are these alerts accurate and current? Is HD Traffic worth the extra $50.

I want to stay with a 5" screen and probably a capacitive touch screen model. Any recommendations for other Garmin models?
 

Ftransit

Veteran Expediter
Driver
We have one with the traffic it was great when it was working but hasn't worked in 3 months, keeps saying traffic cord unplugged (no traffic cord just power cord). It helped us to get around some bad delays before it was too late.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Turn the Garmin off. Not just the screen, but a hard off so it has to reboot when next turned on. Disconnect the Garmin from the power cord. Unplug the power cord from the power source.

Plug the power cord back in to the power source. Connect the power cord to the Garmin. Turn the Garmin on.

The HD Traffic will now work, if you are within range of a HD broadcast.
 
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tknight

Veteran Expediter
I like the traffic delay warnings if there's a rest area or exit near I get off and wait it out or try to get around it
 
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Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
As expediters, how important are traffic alerts? Are these alerts accurate and current? Is HD Traffic worth the extra $50.
The old FM traffic was, as it turned out, only marginally helpful. The minutes of delay it would show was worthless, as it could show a 5 minute delay and it was really a 45 minute delay, or it would show a 30 minute delay and there would be no delay at all by the time you got there. It just didn't update often enough or use enough data sources. Usually, information off the CB was more accurate. The HD Traffic is updated every 30 seconds in real time and I've found it to be astonishingly accurate, both in it's locations and minutes of delay, but also in its re-routing suggestions.

If the HD Traffic were a standalone gadget or a separate addon to a Garmin, I'd pay the $50 for it.

I want to stay with a 5" screen and probably a capacitive touch screen model. Any recommendations for other Garmin models?

I have the Nuvi 3597LMTHD. It's one of the newer Prestige Series units. Portraint/lanscape mode, pinch & zoom, like a smartphone. Automatic brightness and sound levels. I like it a lot. The only thing I don't like is, my older c550 had both Truck and Car routing, whereas the new one only has the Car routing (if you have a truck, Garmin expects you to get a truck GPS with Truck routing). Not having the Truck routing isn't that big a deal, but it's problematic in the greater NYC area all the way down to Baltimore and DC with Parkways, Expressways and Turnpikes. I've had to go in and manually set the Custom Avoidances to force it to keep me off the Parkways. It wants me to use the Hutchinson River parkway so bad at times I think the toll authority cut a deal with Garmin.

Incidentally, the Nuvi models (with 4 digit model numbers), the second digit is the screen size (2-digit models, it's the first digit). A 3597 is a 5 inch screen, a 2639 is a 6 inch screen, a 2789 is, well, you know.

If I were to get a new one today, it would almost certainly be the NuviCam-LMTHD, which is a 6" screen version of the 3597, plus the dash cam.
 
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Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Thanks. Did Garmin solve the time zone issue you had? My 855 was set to eastern time and always stayed on eastern time no matter where I was. I wish my iPhone had an option to stay locked on eastern time.

The NuviCam has some nice features and at $400 it should; I can't see spending that much on a gps though. Also, bigger may be better but a 5" screen works for me. I like to keep my gps tucked up by the A pillar, somewhat out of sight and sun.
 

Yowpuggy

Expert Expediter
Owner/Operator
Thanks. Did Garmin solve the time zone issue you had? My 855 was set to eastern time and always stayed on eastern time no matter where I was. I wish my iPhone had an option to stay locked on eastern time.

The NuviCam has some nice features and at $400 it should; I can't see spending that much on a gps though. Also, bigger may be better but a 5" screen works for me. I like to keep my gps tucked up by the A pillar, somewhat out of sight and sun.
Go into settings then general then time & date and turn off automatic
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I have a 2555lmt, it's a couple years old but I am completely satisfied with it. Like you a 5 inch screen is plenty for me. With free map updates it's all I need. Not sure if the traffic is the fm or HD turtle spoke of.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Did Garmin solve the time zone issue you had?

Go into settings then general then time & date and turn off automatic

Yeah, the 3597 had an issue with the Automatic Date & Time, as the screen mode (and brightness) was (still is) tied to the Time Zone. When it first came out, if you turned OFF Automatic, the screen mode (Day versus Night and then appropriate relative brightness) got tied to the only Time Zone it knows by default, which is GMT (technically, UT1). GMT is 5 or 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time (depending on if it's Standard or Daylight Saving Time).

So, you're driving along at 1 or 2 AM and the screen is on Night and it's it's relatively dim, then, because it thinks it's in Greenwich, London, where the sun is coming up, it suddenly changes to a Day display and goes full-on brightness to blind you. 12 hours later the reverse happens, where it's all bight and sunny out and suddenly the screen changes to Night and it's so dim you think it turned off.

I sent them a detailed e-mail, showing how to reproduce it, and they got back to me and let me know they had added that to the list of things to fix in future updates. They actually kept my apprised of the progress, and when the update came out that included the fix, they let me know it was coming.

It was two or three software updates ago they fixed that, so that I can turn OFF Automatic and it'll stay on Eastern Time and the screen mode will stay on Eastern Time. If I'm in the Central Time Zone, it'll change to Night mode about an hour too soon, because it thinks I'm on the East Coast, but that's easy dealt with by tap-tap, up the brightness, and the rest of the night goes like it's supposed to.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I have a 2555lmt, it's a couple years old but I am completely satisfied with it. Like you a 5 inch screen is plenty for me. With free map updates it's all I need. Not sure if the traffic is the fm or HD turtle spoke of.
That one has the 3D Traffic. It's better than the old FM Traffic in that it updates every 5 minutes. The traffic information is still rather basic, for example, "Slow traffic ahead," "Accident ahead," "Construction ahead," etc., but it's still useful.

The HD Traffic gives you much more detailed descriptions of traffic alerts. For example, "Stalled car in left lane," "Long-term construction ahead," "Accident - Right two lanes blocked," "Debris in roadway," etc. The HD Traffic also includes (for most but not all models with the HD Traffic) some basic weather information including current temperature, 6 day forecast, and more details.

The HD Traffic is included with the Prestige series and a few other models (I'm sure more and more will have it in the future). If you want it, you can add it by using the GTM 60 HD Digital Traffic Receiver, for $70.

Now, there's also the Garmin Live Traffic that you can get with the Smartphone Link (Live Traffic costs a one-time $20) that actually provides far greater coverage than the HD Traffic (which is piggy backed on FM radio signals). HD Traffic is better in some cities, Live Traffic is better in others. For example, there is no HD Traffic in Canada, but Live Traffic covers pretty much all of southern Ontario and the other major cities in Canada. Toledo has no HD Traffic, but it is well covered with Live Traffic. Live Traffic works wherever you have a cell phone signal, so rural, whereas HD Traffic won't do rural. Live Traffic goes directly from the traffic servers to the Garmin via the Bluetooth link, so it really is live. It's updated every 60 seconds (contrary to the 2 minutes that Garmin states on their site), and is actually more accurate than the HD Traffic.

You connect your smartphone running the Garmin Smartphone Link app via Bluetooth, and you get the Live Traffic (also available is extremely detailed Live Weather, $5, and Traffic Cams, $5).

Live Traffic and HD Traffic cannot be used at the same time (except for the 3597, sort of), so you have to look at the coverage and make a decision.
HD Traffic Cities
HD Traffic Map
Live Traffic Cities
Web based Live Traffic

With the 3597, under the traffic settings, you can select AUTO, and it will automatically switch between HD and Live Traffic. I'm not positive, but I think the only other Garmin that does auto switching is the NuviCam model. But otherwise, if you connect the HD Traffic power cable and boot the Garmin, the Garmin uses the HD Traffic as the primary. Then you can connect the smartphone and the SmartLink and it will use the Live Traffic. To go back to HD Traffic, just disable SmartLink or Bluetooth and select HD in the settings.

If you don't have built-in HD Traffic and are looking at adding it, if it's one other the other, the $70 HD Traffic, or the $20 Live Traffic, go with the Live Traffic, as it's better overall. I added Live Traffic to my 3597 and it spends by far most of its time connected via the SmartLink rather than using the HD Traffic. It's only rarely that Live Traffic isn't available and HD is available instead (and that I notice the change). If you live and work in one of the cities on one of the above lists at the links, then you should go with whatever works for your location, but for expediting I've found the Live Traffic to be great.

I added it about a year ago, after I found out it really and truly would auto switch between the two.

I also added the Live Weather, which is worth the $4.99. The basic weather information as far as forecasts is weak, as it's just high and low temps and % of precipitation, things like that. Any weather app on the phone is going to be much better for detailed weather and forecasts. But it's got a weather radar that is updated every 15 minutes, with animation, and it's got weather alerts, and the road information is excellent, as it tells you wet, ice, snow, strong winds and fog. And gives you alerts along your route.

I got the $5 traffic cams, too. Marginally worth the $5. I mean, it is, but instead of automatically giving you the traffic cams along your route, you have to go in and manually select which cameras you want to be on the list of cameras you can choose from. That's great for someone who commutes to work and regularly deals with the same traffic cameras, but it's basically worthless for expediting, especially since you don't even know the names of the roads where the available cameras are in different cities. When in a route, and you're driving, it will give you a list of nearby cameras and their direction from you, so it's not that bad to go through the process of choosing a camera. But it requires more attention that you really want to give it when driving in areas that have enough traffic to require traffic cameras, quite frankly. But it comes in handy at times, especially out west in the mountain passes.
 

tknight

Veteran Expediter
I save the 5.00 and just look out the window if it's wet it's raining if dry it's not ,if its ice well it's real cold as and snow
I guess I am a smart ass!
 

TruckingSurv

Seasoned Expediter
I have two Gamin units, one just a run of the mill Nuvi and a Dezl for CMV, if you are running any vehicle that requires CDL, scaling, etc., then a unit made for that usage would be the better choice IMO. I think Garmin has worked most of the bugs out of the Dezl, there were moments when I wanted to give it flying lessons, never had a bit of trouble with the older Nuvi.
 
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mjmsprt40

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
The one issue I have with my Garmin is that it is addicted to the Chicago Skyway. It will try to go there anytime it's even remotely on the route. This is one issue I'll over-ride the Garmin on every time. The Skyway is expensive. The Kennedy/DanRyan combination is slow. If I'm coming home from Lower Michigan or South Bend in Indiana, navigating the Jane Byrne interchange in Downtown Chicago is terrible slow. I choose the Tri-State every time---- faster and cheaper by far than the Skyway stuff.

I can't be sure of course, but I suspect the Garmin has a girlfriend on the South Side, and that's why it wants to use the Skyway. Oh well, just a stray thought.
 
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Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
It likes the view.

Many Garmins have Custom Avoidances where you can to in and mark the beginning and end of a road it is to avoid.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Thanks. Did Garmin solve the time zone issue you had? My 855 was set to eastern time and always stayed on eastern time no matter where I was. I wish my iPhone had an option to stay locked on eastern time.

The NuviCam has some nice features and at $400 it should; I can't see spending that much on a gps though. Also, bigger may be better but a 5" screen works for me. I like to keep my gps tucked up by the A pillar, somewhat out of sight and sun.

Rather than change the settings on the Nuvi [for the time zone], I got a $5.00 stick on that doesn't change with the zones, so I can see when I cross the lines. Because sometimes, I'll be so involved in my audiobook [Game of Thrones!] I don't even notice that it's an hour earlier than it was a few minutes ago, lol. :confused:
 
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