Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS System: Review

This past Christmas, I received the Garmin nuvi 660 Global Positioning System and after working with it I want to share the pros and cons of this device.

Sometimes I like to go "exploring", visiting new places, wanting to know the quickest way between two different points.

One of the biggest disadvantages of the system is that sometimes a message stating "Acquiring Satellites" comes on and it may take several minutes to find a signal.

I have found walking along streets in New York City and driving on Pennsylvania highways for the system to fail to find a satellite. I believe the tall buildings in New York blocked the signal while the terrain and remote parts of Pennsylvania contributed to the lack of signal there.

Unfortunately, while the system does allow you to simulate a trip, it's hard to do that when the system can't tell you where you are especially when you are inside. There is no way to modify the "start" location to make up for this. Once you have a signal, you got it made.

The only exception is some tunnels where the GPS may lose the signal temporarily but gains it right back quickly.

Just make sure that your battery bar in the main menu shows it's fully charged you should be fine if you mostly use the GPS in your vehicle and have it hooked into your car's DC power. While the system tells you that you have "low battery", such as when you bring the unit in someone else's car, you have a problem unless you can quickly hook it into your car's cigarette lighter or AC power.

The trip simulator is a God sent if you don't know an area that well and want to concentrate on driving and not looking at the screen the whole trip.

The unit will show you the various step-by-step maps of each turn and give both audio dialogue and a written message showing those turns. This allows you to become familiar with the route you are about to embark on.

The ability to listen through the unit's external speaker or an FM frequency is excellent as well. For the FM feature, tune your radio to an unused FM channel and set the frequency on your system to that channel by picking an odd-numbered frequency between 88.1 FM and 107.9 FM.

You can also "Lock" your system to prevent buttons from being pressed when you want the system to be on but you are not actually using it. The system even has its own security system allowing you to type in a code and have a "security" location making the system virtually useless to anyone else.

The system allows you to find food, lodging, gas, bank/ATM, automotive services, shopping centers, parking, entertainment, recreation, attractions, hospitals, transit, community venues, etc. both closest to you, in a different city, along your route, or at your destination.

In terms of food, you can search by category and the categories include American, Asian, barbecue, British Isles, café/diner, Chinese, deli/bakery, fast food, French, German, international, Italian, Mexican, seafood, specialty food products, and steak/grill.

Shopping allows you to search by category as well and it includes apparel, computer/software, convenience, department, general merchandise, grocery, home furnishings, house and garden, pharmacy/chemist, shopping center, and specialty retail.

The parking feature allows you to see information on parking garages, pay parking lots, and free park and ride locations.

Entertainment categories include bar/nightclub, casino, live theater, and movie theater while recreation categories include amusement/theme park, arena/track, bowling center, golf course, park/garden, skiing center/resort, and sports/fitness center.

Attraction categories include hall/auditorium, landmark, museum/historical, and winery while community categories include border crossing, city hall, community center, court house, fire department, government office, library, place of worship, police station, post office, school, and utility.

Transit categories include air transportation, auto rental, ground transportation, and transit service while auto services includes automobile repair, automobile club, car wash, dealer/auto parts, rest area/tourist info, truck stop, and wrecker service.

Essentially the system acts like a phone book with phone numbers for a multitude of businesses.

You can look up information about cities and intersections as well. You can even type in the name of a business or an address and it will find it for you.

You can add a "Home" address and wherever you are, you click "Go Home" and it will map you to whatever place you call home.

The Point of Interest, POI, data is not always accurate and new shopping centers and new residential developments that opened two years ago or less will not show up on the system. If you have a favorite place, either showing up or not in the system, you can add it to your "Favorites" list and flag it.

The system does a good job of telling you about whether to keep left, center, or right at confusing intersections on highways.

Its traffic feature allows you to see traffic delays along your route and in your area. It will give an approximate time delay and works through the FM traffic receiver through the 12-volt receptacle in your vehicle. The feature comes free but there is a fee once the introductory period is over.

For those using the system to map roads with more than one name, use caution. It may state "Take right onto Boston Post Road" but actual signs do not state the road is Boston Post Road but rather say it is U.S. Route 1 (in this instance the same stretch of road has two different names). This can be confusing when the system says you are on U.S. Route 5 or "Berlin Turnpike" and signs tell you that you are on U.S. Route 5/CT Route 15 (again same stretch of road shares more than one name)

Times that it does give you two names for a road might be quite confusing. For example it does tell you Interstate 95 (I-95) is the Governor Davis Lodge Turnpike or "Connecticut Turnpike" but no signs on I-95 actually refer to the road as anything but "I-95".

While that might be a pain, the ability to zoom in and out of an area and the ability to see route numbers and street numbers through the zooming options allow you to get acquainted with the area you are in. Zooming in real far allows you to see icons (like a fork and spoon) and point to them with your finger on the touch screen to get the name of the business.

If you click on "view map" and allow the GPS system to change the picture without giving it a destination, the unit will give you the approximate distance to the next exit, sometimes a description of towns/villages and route numbers where those exits go to, upcoming highway rest areas, upcoming road intersections that you may want to be aware of, and of course the direction you are heading which may differ from the distance of the route (if the route as a whole goes north and south, your unit can say you are heading East. This happens with I-95 in Connecticut.)

Mapping options allow you to change the typical map detail, map view (track up, north up, or 3D view), map outlines, and the image that depicts your vehicle. That image can be a pickup truck or car of various colors, a motorcycle, or an arrow and this icon is like the "You Are Here" red circle on the mall directories.

Keep in mind this has an accuracy of 40 to 50 feet or less so it may instruct you to turn too soon or too late, so keep your eyes peeled and have a good level of common sense.

It will estimate the time it takes you to reach your destination and that time will be modified during your journey.

Keep in mind that the system may take you through very congested and busy areas when common sense would have you take another way with less congestion. Since the "congestion factor" is not accurately factored in, the way you prefer with less traffic may and often does get you there quicker than the way GPS may recommend.

Keep in mind that the GPS system will recalculate you even if you get off course so you could go your favorite way on a cross-country journey and it will still recalculate directions so you can go on the highways you enjoy.

You can even add in intermediary trips for gas or food, just don't add these in when you are driving! Give this task to your passenger or pull over to the side of a road.

Be aware that mapping does a great job for zooming in but bring an atlas or map if you want to see the "big picture" since it's easier to look at those than get the right zoom level on the GPS of the area to see what you want to see.

Other features of this model include audible book player, MP3 player, picture viewer, calculator, language guide, travel guide, Savers Guide, world clock, currency converter, unit converter, and ability to hook into Bluetooth cellular phones.

The system has a memory card slot allowing you to load in information and it comes with a USB port allowing you to download updates from your computer.

It is preferable that you do this with a computer that has high-speed Internet access and one you have administrative privileges to.

The system has multiple languages, voice languages, allow you to change the time format from 12 to 24 hours, and measures by miles or kilometers.

You can change your route preference from faster time to shorter distance or even "off road".

You can modify voice prompts by telling you "guidance only" alerts or "guidance and status" alerts.

You can change the written language of the unit as well as the language that the unit speaks as it gives you directions.

You can also modify the percentage of volume dedicated toward navigation versus the MP3 audible portion.

Also the brightness of the unit can be changed and you can have the unit's color mode be on daytime, nighttime, or auto.

Auto changes the background color to black when it's night and white when its daylight, a great feature for your eyes if you happen to be driving and looking at the unit as well.

The system also tells you your hours per hour speed, your overall average miles per hour, your moving miles per hour, miles driven total, total time, moving time, and stopped time.

You can change the system's "splash screen" which is an intro screen you see every time you power up your device.

Might I recommend you have the system professionally installed in the car, I had Best Buy's Geek Squad do it for around $30 and it was worth every penny.

I heard too many horror stories online of those who broke the system as they tried to install it.

As for the attachment to your windshield, once you learn how the release button works and how it hooks in, you are all set.

It's a great feature to have to carry the GPS with you for security reasons and for "pedestrian" mapping.

The system is bundled with a car charger, home charger, small instruction manual, suction cup, and GPS leather case.

I am pleased with my GPS system and hope changes are made to make the system even better.

However, I'm still not ready to let go of my regional and state maps and my U.S. atlas, all gotten from various places like welcome centers, town halls, and stores.

As for price, my gift giver got it at Best Buy on the weekend after Thanksgiving; this normally goes for $700 to $750. Would it be worth it at that price? Maybe, since I heard this is one of the best GPS systems Best Buy is currently selling.

Before you buy this GPS system consider three things:

1. How many times do you go on vacation or travel in unfamiliar areas?

2. Do you have difficulty figuring out the quickest way between two points even if those two points are relatively close to your home or workplace? This is possible if you normally go from home to a point and then back home but then decide to go between different places.

3. Do you travel in or around large cities or lots of traffic? If so, the unit will be valuable for the traffic alert features.