Garmin NUVI: FM traffic vs. MSN direct
techma...@yahoo.com
model.
Can anyone share a review on the FM traffic feature or MSN direct
feature? Is the subscription worth it?
Jack Yeazel
The MSN Direct (at least in Atlanta) uses more of the speed sensors to
display traffic than TMC...
Also TMC only supports traffic while MSN Direct supports four features
(for the nuvi 600 series) and eight features (for the 700 series)...
These eight features are: Traffic, Weather, Gas Prices, Movie Times,
News, Stocks, Local Events, and Web Favorites (Send to GPS).
--
Jack
Get general GPS information at: http://www.gpsinformation.net/
Tekkie®
>
>
> techma...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > I am considering replacing my 2610 Garmin streetpilot with a new NUVI
> > model.
> > Can anyone share a review on the FM traffic feature or MSN direct
> > feature? Is the subscription worth it?
>
> The MSN Direct (at least in Atlanta) uses more of the speed sensors to
> display traffic than TMC...
>
> Also TMC only supports traffic while MSN Direct supports four features
> (for the nuvi 600 series) and eight features (for the 700 series)...
>
> These eight features are: Traffic, Weather, Gas Prices, Movie Times,
> News, Stocks, Local Events, and Web Favorites (Send to GPS).
>
>
>
Jack, I have a 660 and am not impressed with the FM traffic. If I get the 680
cord can I then receive the MSN traffic after subscribing?
--
Tekkie GRIP = Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians
Jack Yeazel
No, the 660 isn't compatible with MSN Direct, but the 680 is...
You can receive the first four MSN Direct features with the 680...
Sharon
I've used them both. They both suck. If anything, the MSN direct
subscription is not as bad as the FM traffic feature because it has more
features (gas prices for example).
However, with a Blackberry 8700 in my hand, I can check my location and
traffic just by clicking a button. I see red zones, green zones, yellow
zones, etc.
Interestingly, the free Google traffic feature on my cellphone is just as
innacurate with just as spotty a coverage as the more expensive Garmin FM
traffic and MSN Direct capabilities.
Other points:
- Of course, Google traffic is only free if you already are paying for
unlimited data on your cellphone (which I am) ...
- No, you can't just switch antennas ... they're both hugely bulky.
- The FM traffic antenna is a huge cigar while the MSN Direct antenna at
least has a kink in it but they're both hugely bulky and the Garmin wires
should be muuuuuuuuch more flexible 'cuz they make the whole thing worse.
In summary, don't bother with the traffic feature on the Garmins;
especially if you have unlimited web access on your cellphone!
purcha...@optonline.net
> especially if you have unlimited web access on your cellphone!
I'm not an expert, only first learning about this myself, but as I
understand it, the advantage of having a traffic system built into the
GPS (as opposed to getting Google traffic on your Blackberry or
whatever) is that you don't have to specifically check it... the GPS
should automatically route around traffic it knows about, right? That
would be much more useful. I don't really care about knowing where the
traffic is, what I want is for the GPS to get me where I'm going while
avoiding it! It seems to me that relying on your cell phone for
traffic would require frequent manual checking, and even then, if you
knew traffic was coming up, manually having to tell the GPS unit about
the detour. And I don't think you can tell a GPS about a detour that's
further away than where you are, can you? Which means you'd have to
guess at the best place to deviate from the planned route and let the
GPS take you from there.
Secondarily, FM coverage shouldn't have the dead zones that cell
coverage has, so that would be another benefit of the systems in the
GPS.
Mike Henry
<purcha...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:97758d49-b6e6-427d...@s50g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
The Nuvi 680 uses MSN Direct and is next to useless if you are more than a
15 radius of the transmitter in Chicago, which appears to be near the center
of the Loop. In the Chicago area it only seems to have traffic info for the
Interstates, so it will often route you to surface streets in rush hour,
which can suffer from even longer delays. In any case you have no idea if
the avoidance will save any time or not. The estimated delay is often off
by quite a bit, too. I don't mind a few minutes error on a 40 minute
commute, but I've seens errors of between 20 and 60 minutes on occasion for
that same 40-minute commute.