Comments on: Garmin Nuvi 660 Sat Nav Review

By: Carl

Carl — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:20:32 +0000

@ Fergus: I have a 610WT and looking to upgrade and also require BNG … Garmin have confirmed that this isn’t available on in-car sat navs let me know if you know of a model that does!

By: Oz

Oz — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:49:20 +0000

Nuvi 660T – Pants.
Looks flash at first, but not goot at it’s core function – navigation. Takes obscure routes randomly, and traffic reroutes when you are a long way from problem, but does not reconsider the original route. Drove into stationary 5 mile tailback on M1 and it didn’t even know. Junction detail shows up too late to be in correct lane, and custome POI’s dont show at all.
Reverting back to Tomtom. Nuvi soon to appear on ebay.

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:56:01 +0000

Mike,
It should give directions when using the in car charger. I’d give Garmin a call since it is only 6 months old.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:38:01 +0000

My Nuvi 660 only lasts about 3 hour not the 7 in the review, and it won’t actually give directions if it is being charged using the in car charger is something wrong here, do you think ?. It is 6 months old.

By: Fergus

Fergus — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:23:04 +0000

I notice you didn’t reply to the comment about the Garmin’s limited grid co-ordinates facility. Most people use British National Grid Ordnance Survey in Britain. My job often entails working in a rural environment where postcodes don’t apply and the BNG grid ref system is a the most reliable way of getting to my destination. I fear that Garmin have been a bit short-sighted in removing this facility from their latest models.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:05:13 +0000

My Garmin Nuvi 660 worked perfectly for a year and then the warranty ran out and problems began. The car charger ‘exploded’ at the end and pieces went flying everywhere and got lost and the gps device could not store power in the battery, so it was useless trying to charge it either on the computer or at the wall socket. The gps was an expensive device and I am disappointed that with the cost of getting the device looked at and repaired, it is better to purchase another one. A waste of money, seeing as it only lasted a year and a half, before the battery packed up.

By: robert phillips

robert phillips — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:52:19 +0000

the first 660 i sent back the voice level was to low new one sounds.ok . have not tried the traffic side yet .music side. cannot download from my pc to the nuvi unless it has a sd card inserted.this is from garman.plus cannot playmusic from the nuvi 660to the car stereo. which it says you can in the owners manuel

By: Dean

Dean — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:38:14 +0000

Hi Ben,
Sorry for the late reply. In my limited testing I’ve found sound quality within the car to be fine, but sometimes the person at the other end of the call can have difficulty hearing me whilst I am driving. This is not always a problem but it has happened to me before.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:15:29 +0000

How well does the unit perform as a handsfree unit when paired to a mobile phone? I know that is has a simple user interface but i am worried about sound quality both within the car, and on the other end of the call.

By: Dean

Dean — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:48:29 +0000

Tony,
Most sat nav systems don’t have the intelligence to know that a particular road will be busy during peak times, they just direct you along what is in theory the quickest route, so you can’t really complain in this area.

You’d get that problem with pretty much every other make of sat nav, although the TomTom Go 740 that I reviewed a while back is smarter in this area and takes into account the time of day you’re travelling. It though is significantly more expensive.

Shortest route is not a profile I would recommend as you found out, it will take you down routes that are often not practical, especially in urban areas. Again you would find that same problem with other makes of sat nav too.

How old are the maps on your system? Just because it was bought new doesn’t necessarily mean you have the latest maps. There may be a map update available which may fix some of the issues you saw with it not recognising certain junctions.

In my experience I’ve found that all makes of sat nav have their faults, none are perfect. Hope you find better success with an alternative.