From an ergonomics and hardware perspective, the Nuvi is clearly the class leader. It does cost too much and the simplicty of the interface greatly limits flexibility.

Hardware. The Nuvi makes the TomTom and other units look downright bloated and clunky. The industrial design is not quite in the Apple league but is the best thing available at the moment. The SiRF chipset is far superior to those used in older GPS units (including some current Garmin StreetPilots). It locks signal quickly, the screen is bright, the voice to text is clear, etc.

I have owned many GPS units of all makes and types. Thus, unlike many 1st time GPS owners, I am no longer mesmerized by the fact that GPS can find my street address. The Garmin, like many other brands does a very good job at getting you from point A to point B. Garmin's maps and algorithms do seem slightly better than some others but it will still send you on some routes that a local driver would not use. the fact that the 670 is preloaded with maps of both Europe and the USA is a great feature IF, and only if, you have a need for this.

My biggest frustration with the Nuvi lineup is the limited configuration options. Garmin, in an effort to appeal to soccer Mom's, has really dumbed down the interface compared to years ago when you could configure just about everything including display of MGRS data. The Nuvi has even less flexibility than the StreetPilot series when it comes to configuration options.

Like any brand of GPS, the Garmin will often recommend a route that is simply absurd. This is where the interface falls down because the only place to select from shortest time, shortest distance, etc., is in the system configuration menus. Magellan, for example, asks you every time if you want "shortest time", "shortest distance", "least use of freeways", "most use of freeways", etc. If Magellan suggests a goofy route you simply go back one screen and pick an alternative. This also provides a quick and easy way to compare various routing suggestions. To do so on the Nuvi you have to return all the way back to the system settings and even then you only have shortest time or shortest distance. I do understand that many folks want to keep it as simple as possible but I also think Garmin should include an "advanced settings" menu for those who want more. Yes, the StreetPilots are more configurable but they are dinosaurs from a hardware perspective.

The TMC traffic service is a mixed bag. It is only useful in certain metropolitan areas. Likewise, the information is often not current. It is like listening to the traffic report telling you that Route XYZ is fine when you are sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on that very road. Quality of data really depends on the geographic area and the road itself. But yes, the way Garmin built the FM receiver into the power cord is a thing of engineering beauty.

Bluetooth may or may not work for you. When I try to pair my Nokia 9300 the Nokia sees the Garmin but the Garmin never sees the Nokia. If this feature is important to you then do check the Garmin site to see if your phone is listed as a compatible unit.

The graphics are good but nothing special. Again, about on par with everyone else.

I have not tried using the Nuvi as an MP3 player. I already own an iPod.

The big question becomes, is it worth the money? This is a tough call considering that some GPS units are now at the $200 mark. If you fly from city to city and want to take your GPS along then the Nuvi is a good choice. It is great to be in a strange city where you jump in a rental car, plug in an address, and away you go. If you want the basics or do not need the slim form factor there are much better deals from Magellan, TomTom, and even Garmin. The Nuvi is a better product but i do not think it is so much better that it justifies the huge price premium. I might feel differently if it had some amazing graphics engine or there were an "advanced configuration" menu that allowed me to tailor it to my own quirks and needs.

I did buy the 670 for the size and the USA/Europe maps. For those specific needs it is the best in class. I do love the Nuvi hardware but I still prefer the software and configuration options on my 4 year old Magellan Roadmate.

This is a brief initial review, see lower down for more

I bought this to replace a Tomtom Navigator 5 system running on a Dell x51v with the external Tomtom Bluetooth receiver. The major issues with that were a terrible lack of POIs, terrible time and distance predictions, poor routing and no control of the map view.

First thing I noticed on opening the box is that the mains charger comes with adapters for all the countries I regularly visit, so I clicked the US two pin adapter in place, plugged it in then plugged the lead into the 670. It came on immediately and said it was loading maps. A few seconds later it showed a map. It was already locked on! That's a huge advance from the old days when it took at least 4 minutes for my GPSIII+ to find the satellites. I am in the middle of the top floor of a large open plan building, the position shown was accurate.

Without looking at the manual I got rid of the touch beep, bound it to my bluetooth phone, set the timezone and voice and set it up to navigate to a restaurant for lunch. All in under 15 minutes with time out for work.

In the car I mounted the unit to the windshield and plugged in the power conenction, it immediately lit up green to show it was connected to the traffic system. I was expecting to have to register and sign up for a service agreement, instead it came up and showed it was already enabled with 3 months to run. A few minutes later I looked at the traffic detail map and saw it already showed the local problem areas. Very cool.

Apparently the 2.60+ firmware handles 4Gb SD cards so I ordered one and look forward to trying the MP3 player.

I tested the POI list by looking for gast stations and particular stores in the area, it had everything I knew of and more, so I am very hopeful at this stage.

I'm looking forward to trying the hands free too, all we did so far is dial another cell phone in the car and laugh about the echo we got. Sound quality and volume seemed good. I'm going for a 1500 mile road trip to Utah this weekend, so I'll update after that.

1685 miles later...

Garmin certainly has accurate maps for CA, NV and UT, they seemed very up to date. The option to "avoid dirt roads" was especially welcome and saved me some nasty miles that the direct route would have taken on unpaved roads. Routing was mostly good, but could do with some more skepticism on the choice of rural state roads. I was happy to take route 88 into the Sierras from the bay area because I was on a road trip, but I80 is probably 50% faster.

The one significant bug is a holdover from previous Garmin products like the GPS V, it is also an issue it shares with Tomtom. While heading down an interstate, let's take I880 from Oakland to Fremont as an example, with many miles of straight ahead to go, the 670 will direct you off at a ramp, it likes to take the I238 ramp towards Livermore, and then immediately back on. This is amusing to a local, but it could be very confusing to a visitor. It did the same to me in 395 south through Reno last night, that did confuse me. This is a bug that should have been eradicated years ago.

Another issue with the GPS V is still present in the 670. When recalculating the map display is suspended, so right when you need to see what's going on you have a useless map. When routing resumes it gives the verbal instructions before repainting the map. Not good. In contrast the Tomtom always recalculates silently and just flashes up the new route. The Tomtom never leaves you with a dead screen. I don't like to be told every time the route is recalculated, when I go the wrong way, for whatever reason, there's no brownie points to be gained telling me off. At the very least there should be the option to disable this 'feature'.

POI selection is absolutely outstanding, at least compared to other things I have used. It makes the Tomtom implementation look like amateur night. You can select the POI by type, gas stations, shops and restaurants are my favorites, then either go straight to the list of hit SPELL and type in part of the name. It will match on any part of the name, so you can include partial names, even partial words, and it will still show the matches. Once you have your list you can select by address, direction and distance, or see the POI on a map. The direction changes from compass direction when stationary to relative direction when moving, so you don't have to waste your time looking at gas stations you passed twenty miles ago.

I did have one POI which can obviously never have been true, the Shell station near Lohi, UT has obviously always been a house. But mostly the POIs are very accurate.

It is disappointing that you can no longer select different on-screen data, I liked that with the old units and miss it. That's a big step backwards. I want to know time-to-next, time-to-go, course, altitude and other things that used to be offered.

There is a weird issue with map detail and zoom level, small roads appear and disappear as you zoom in and out. Let's be clear, a small road that is visible on a small scale (big area) disappears as you zoom in and then only reappears at some of the highest scales (most detailed) when you can't see any context, or even if it's actually the same road.

In general though, the automatic map scaling is very good, the 3-D view shifts to a track up view as it zooms out, this addresses my major gripe with Tomtom in that it allows you to keep your route in context and see how you are getting on in the big picture. As the view zooms in it adds a lot of street detail, much much better than Tomtom.

The time to destination predictions remain excellent. Outstanding. It was within minutes on the driving time over a distance of hundreds of miles on each occasion. Tomtom is often pessimistic by 50%, totally inadequate for planning purposes.

Is it worth it? Is it as good as it should be? For me, no and no. For $850 I can get a decent laptop, that's a lot more hardware, so that's not where the money went. They are still not addressing their software issues, they have faulty algorithms that have been unmodified for years and inherited from old products. As a software engineer I am disappointed but not surprised. Near work it will still sometimes tell me to take three right turns instead of an entirely legal left.

But it is very good. Garmin's mechanical people have done a great job, this is obviously a class device. But the software and systems people aren't as good.

Overall? If I could edit the rating I'd drop at a point or two now. But I still haven't seen better. At these prices it's not like there are many people who are willing to try them all.

Contrasting my own companies attitude to software errors (we are one of the biggest suppliers in the cell phone, commercial radio, wireless networking and many other fields), we would not allow even a mildly irritating bug to remain in one of our products for years. So I am wondering if I should return this on principal. I'll try support first, in the past that didn't achieve much.

8,000 miles later

Yes, I do a lot of miles.

Lasting impressions: I almost always have the voice prompt switched off, the guidance is repeated too often on high speed roads and I hate to hear it continuously telling me that it is recalculating when I don't agree with the way it told me to go.

There have been too many instances of ridiculous routing, you need to zoom out and see of the route looks sensible. Most do. A good example of a bad one was in Yellowstone National Park, I was in Canyon Village and wanted to return to my hotel in West Yellowstone, about a 35 mile trip fairly well due west. The first part went OK but then I was directed north 60 miles on US89, 30 miles west on I90 then 60 miles south on US191. I ignored the advice and the continuous u-turn instructions and recalculation. As I arrived at the Wyoming/Montana border, about three miles down a straight road from my hotel, the Nuvi crashed. Screen controls didn't work. When I swiched it off and on again it discovered there was a three mile route to the hotel instead of the previous 170+ mile suggestion. Strange.

The traffic information has been a mixed blessing too. As traffic builds in the morning and evening rush hours it seems to be added in realtime, but it doesn't seem to be purged out when it is no longer present. So if I go in to work late at 10am the roads are running at the speed limit but the traffic information on the Nuvi still says they are at a crawl. On Friday night I went to dinner after work, when I left at 11pm the roads were quiet and most people were doing 15mph over the limit, but the Nuvi told me that I880 was jammed solid with a 30 minute delay for the next few miles. That had probably been true six hours earlier, but not in the last four. This isn't a fault with the unit, it's a fault with the traffic service, when switched on the unit gave the correct route. Bad traffic information also gives unreasonably pessimistic ETA estimates.

Would I buy it knowing what I do now? Still yes. I still think Garmin are the best of the current offerings, they just need to fix a few things and beat up their traffic information provider.

Does it work with SDHC Cards? Yes it does. I have tried the Transcend 4Gb card, which I use for music and audio books, and a SanDisk 4Gb card which came straight out of my Canon SD1000 and in to the Nuvi. A couple of seconds later it was showing a slide show of the pictures I took recently, so it can handle 2Mb jpeg files too.

I picked Garmin because their web site gave better info on their products than other manufacturers. The size and shape of the Nuvi sold me over their PDA-based products. This 670 has a larger screen than the 370 and has the pre-loaded European maps which the 660 model lacks.

The unit has worked properly right out of the box and even acquired the GPS signals inside our house.

The maps display clearly in both 3D and 2D views, with detail appropriate to the level of zoom, which can vary from tens of meters out to showing the whole continent. Mounting the unit in the center of the windshield just under the mirror reduces the obstruction and places it where one is already used to looking. As expected, full sunshine compromises visibility even with backlighting set to 100%. At night, reducing the backlighting to 50% still gives a brighter image than the car's instruments.

The pre-loaded maps include some fairly out-of-the-way restaurants and hotels that I've visited before. Searches for points of interest can start from other locations, so you can get directions to an out-of-town location that you haven't already visited and saved.

Calculation of routes works well with the caveat that the the unit can't know that I prefer to use a scenic route or to turn onto busy main streets at a light.

You can select from several voices. I first picked a classy British lady to read directions, and was quite happy with the result. However, her pronunciation of street names once we got to Quebec make me laugh. Picking the French voice cleared that up, but now I can't wait to hear what that one will do to English place names.

I've had no use yet for the Bluetooth and FM TMC traffic features. Ditto the so-called "must have" features such as MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, currency and unit converters, and extra-cost SD cards. However, I do find the world clock feature, displaying up to five time-zones, useful. The MP3 player is just that; CDs ripped in .wma format won't play.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the purchase. I rationalize the expense (maps only cost a few dollars) by noting that, although I can plot out a route on a map, a few minutes into the trip, I'll have forgotten the directions. Write them on paper? What, and miss all this fun?

The nuvi 670 is my third Garmin GPS. The first one was Street Pilot II, very hard to use. The second one was C330, very easy to use. I also have built-in GPS in two of my cars too. The new Garmins are all very easy to use. I bought the 670 for traveling in north America and Europe. Also bought the bean bag, what a waste! Within the first two miles I tried, it just flew off the dash board in a straight acceleration at a traffic light. I am sticking with the suction cup.

A couple interesting things: A street near where I live was built about three years ago and it wasn't in the nuvi still. I tried to look up some hotels and attractions in Venice, Italy and Geneva, Switzerland but the nuvi didn't even list the two citis (read on). I e-mailed Garmin tech support and was told I have to be near the cities to be able to find the POIs. What a bunch of BS. It worked when I searched POIs in Zurich, why not Geneva and Venice? Later I found out by myself that, if the spelling of an European city in its native language is not the same as its English spelling, the nuvi may not list it after you enter the city name in its English spelling. You need to enter the native spelling. For example, I entered "Geneva", it listed a bunch of Genevas in the U.S., but not THE Geneva in Switzerland, same thing with Venice. I found out the Geneva is Geneve and Venice is Venezia in native language. Once I typed Geneve and Venezia, it worked!

I guess you need to play with it a bit to learn the tricks but all in all it's a nice device.

Man, what a disappointment! The Nuvi 660/670 is a beautiful device - a sleek design with an excellent screen, and great position accuracy. Since this is our second Garmin (we currently own a Quest), we were mainly interested in a GPS device with an up to date US & European point of interest (POI) database. The Nuvi 670 seemed to fit the bill perfectly given its large POI database.

But this is exactly where the device failed. We tried more than 25 POIs in Atlanta, GA where we're currently based. The 670 was unable to successfully guide us to a single POI correctly. We tried various well known shops that have been around for at least 5 years, e.g. Publix, Toys-R-Us, Wal-Mart (including a Wal-Mart Superstore that has been around for 10 years), Target, Barnes & Nobles, etc. Either it did not know that the shop existed, or it guided us to a non-existent shop. The same applied to fuel stations.

If we provided it with an address it worked like a dream and the accuracy was great. But the POI database proved to be totally useless. Fortunately Amazon's after sale support is brilliant and they allowed us to return the Nuvi 670.

Oh yes, Garmin has no after hour support...

Took the Nuvi 670 to Sweden, Denmark, and down to central Germany. Also, did a trip from southern Maine to eastern PA. GPS reception was always good, maps were very good, and no major routing problems. The fastest route setting does sometimes send you on a slower route (one time it took us off the main road through winding slow roads back to the main road, and there were no traffic alerts). The traffic receiver worked in the congested areas of both our Europe & USA trips. When there is traffic info, an icon silently appears on the screen (several times we hit traffic delays only to see that the nuvi knew about it but didn't warn us). You only get an audible traffic delay alert (and automatic recalculate announcement) when a fixed excessive delay ahead value is exceeded (you can't set that value). Also, the traffic display map is separate from the navigation display maps... and that traffic map is rather primitive.

Signed up to one of the safety-camera POI services linked from the Garmin site and downloaded the locations of European speed & traffic-light cameras. The POI alert function on the nuvi worked great.

The photo viewer is dreadfully slow. Photos aren't always displayed full screen, even when they have enough resolution. There is no way to easily locate a photo... you have to painfully go through the thumbnails in sequence.

I'm not so sure the extra price for the wide screen nuvi is worth it. I sprung for it thinking the picture viewer would be great with my camera... most of the photos had black bands to the side, so the smaller screen would have been about the same. During on-the-road navigation you tend to only look at the map area at the center of the screen, so the sides are not quite as important. The wide screen is useful when finding something when you are at a roadside rest.

The MP3 player is great... patched the Nuvi to the radio aux input and enjoyed what we loaded on an SD card. The FM transmitter works well until your radio picks up a weak station at the frequency you pick.

Bluetooth hands-free works well.

The Webupdater works well, and you'll want to update the software to the latest version.

Some suggested improvements for Garmin to consider in a future software update:
- give an audible alert when traffic info changes on the calculated route
- integrate the traffic display info into the navigation maps.
- improve the fastest route calculation algorithm... add time for each turn, sharp curve, and crossroad/congested-area.
- expand on ways to customize the route... for example, it would be nice to tap several road segments and mark each as route-via or do-not-use (and an option to save do-not-use segments for future trips).
- add a way to quickly locate photos in the photo viewer application (every Nth thumbnail option)
- speed up the photo thumbnail display
- have the photo viewer show photos as full screen (unless the photo's resolution is so low it would be too fuzzy)

I'm probably considered the "soccer mom" referenced in a previous review. I bought the Garmin Nuvi 670, as an upgrade to our current TOMTOM 910. It's much easier to carry & attach to the windshield compared to the TOMTOM 910 - my Garmin Nuvi bluetooth was a one time connection (TOMTOM wants to reset often), and back to my original comment of being a soccer Mom, it's worth it's weight in gold when I don't have to rely on a 10 year old to give me directions to their house after practice!

On the other hand, I frequently travel, state to state and occasionally international - I find when I get into a rental car, in an unfamiliar city, my portable navigation system is my best friend. It certainly doesn't hurt to do some "personal due diligence" prior to any trip - map out your locations, google & research addresses - and program them in prior to your trip (if they're not already listed in POI's) I would never plan my entire trip based solely on POI's programmed into my navigational system.

The nuvi offers extras that have definitely come in handy - to say the least, having a currency exchange calculator built in to the unit has often been helpful (although it needs to be manually updated). I haven't tested the language dictionary/conversion - but what a neat feature if you need it. Calculator - good to have too.

I'm just beginning to use the Nuvi to it's full potential, but have been very pleased w/ trips to Vancouver BC, Victoria, along w/ a great deal of the west coast to AZ... the real test will be in London this fall. Don't let the cost deter you, it's definitely worth it.

This is a remarkable GPS, portable, easy to use, and surprisingly accurate.

There's a lot to like about this unit. The MP3 player is outstanding. It plays well enough through the built in speakers, but when coupled with the FM traffic antenna and a car radio, the sound is superb. Absolutely no static, no interference, unlike add on FM transmitters for iPOD's. If I really want to listen to music, the audible directions can be disabled.

The number of languages and voices is amazing. Arriving in France with a US voice, pronunciation of street names was hilarious. Switching to French solved that problem. I liked the ability to have english words and directions on the screen, but French spoken. So the unit would read, "take the second exit in the roundabout", but the audio would be "prend le deuxiem sortie au rond point." The spoken word gave up once in a while in Sweden, instead of really messing up a street name, the voice would spell the name. This only happened twice during travel in Italy, France and Sweden.

Ease of use, the unit does take some getting used to. Some of the settings aren't exactly obvious. And it took a bit of time to figure some things out. I really disagree with the comment in another review about changing the settings for Car, Bicycle, Pedestrian, off Road, etc. That is down right simple to change. Three presses and you are there. I frankly would hate what the Tom Tom does, ask me every time how I want to get there. You usually set this once and then never set it again.

Map detail is phenomenal. I was on a shuttle bus INSIDE Charles DeGaulle airport, taking me from my plane to the terminal. I turned on the unit and the "alley way" we were on inside the airport was listed. The entry doors were even on the map. Frankly, I've never seen a paper map with that much detail. The unit had sidewalks in a small southern suburb of Paris. The address of a friend in Sweden, where the development is two years old, was on the map. Walkways in Genoa Italy near my hotel were listed. I never saw a single street or alley anywhere I travelled in Europe that was not listed.

Direction accuracy. The Nuvi 670 never took me a wrong direction while travelling in and around Genoa, Italy; suburbs of Paris; and Stockholm, Sweden. Chicago area is a major piece of cake. Whenever I misunderstood a direction (more on that in a minute), the device simply recalculated the route. I've used so many other systems that make you feel awful about deviating from a route - Hertz neverlost is the absolute worst. Almost all of them tell you to make a U-Turn. I never heard that statement once out of this device. I made some pretty foolish errors, all my fault, and the device simply got me back on track. Stockholm was very challenging, not for the device, but for humans. There are many bridges and multilayered areas in that city. Twice I made the exact same mistake, taking a right exit instead of just staying to the right. When you see the paper map of this area, it's almost impossible to not make this mistake. Tunnels, multiple ramps, and bridges all in the same area did confound my ability to navigate.

The traffic warning system is very odd at best. In the US, no problems with this unit. It's as good as the radio or internet traffic websites, they both use the same information. In Italy, there was no traffic information. In France the service exists, I understand it is free, but the service refused to work. Sweden isn't supposed to have a traffic information service (it wasn't listed on the Garmin website), but there it was in Stockholm in all it's glory, functioning beautifullly.

The safety camera warning system is also strange. France seems to have a million of these. Fixed ones were pretty accurately warned. The system actually beeps if you exceed the published speed limit for that camera - say 90kph. The strange thing, the computer can't figure out which road you are on or which direction you are travelling. If you are on a highway and happen to cross a road that has a mobile warning, you will get say a 40kph warning on a 110kph speed limit road. Strange quirk in the software.

There's really little I wish would change in this system. I can learn to live with most of it's shortcomings. The positives far outweigh the negatives.

Is it worth this much money? Absolutely yes. In that equation I also compared the Nuvi 660 and the cost of adding European maps and the FM traffic antenna. I've tried so many times to learn how to use NeverLost, and about 10 different navigation systems in rental cars. This is so much easier and consistent.

I purchased the Nuvi 670 for use in both US and Europe, and just returned from a 2 week trip driving in Germany, Austria and Italy. The 670 worked as advertised - just turn it on and it found the satellites and our location and was ready to navigate. I used the included suction cup mount, wedged into a dash tray. No problem with satellite connection. Internal speaker was excellent. Maps were very detailed. The 670 found every small road we used, even the winding one lane paths in small towns. Pronounciation of street names was comical, but adequate, especially when coupled with the clear text line at the top of the screen that gave the name of approaching cross streets and the turn instructions in the lower right corner. We could not have navigated in some places without the Nuvi, as the street maps we purchased were not as detailed and were impossible to follow quickly enough. This is a superb product.

For about ten years I had been using a Garmin 12 Map for my travels. It worked quite well and still functions as if new. I was quite curious to discover the differences that one decade would make in a navigational system. To claim here that the changes are astonishing would be both accurate and vastly understated. The Nuvi 670 includes a variable FM transmitter that permits the audio to run through a car or home stereo on any vacant FM frequency (although there are few such frequencies any more). The Nuvi also includes VERY detailed maps of the USA, Canada, all of Western Europe and some of Eastern Europe. It has a superb MP3 player, a photo storage capability and a useful talking book player.

At 6.2 ounces it feels light and portable, even in a shirt pocket (where it fits easily). The screen is clear, bright and functions well on its internal (Lithium Ion) battery, via an (included) AC adapter or the 12/24 Volt car-charger (also included) that simultaneously serves as a traffic info antennae that will also run through the car's FM radio. The tiny built-in speaker provides good quality sound and volume, so the FM radio is not necessary (if there are no vacant frequencies or you are outside of a car/home).

The car charger only connects to the Nuvi via the suction cup adapter (for windshield mounting) so a user needs to carry the mounting system on trips to be able to use the car charger. As with all portable GPS receivers, mounting is an issue because the windshield suction cup obscures some visibility, and leaving on the dash (even with an optional "bean bag" mount) makes the unit subject to sliding or falling during sharp turns or sudden stops. However, because reception is VASTLY improved (over my 12 Map Garmin), satellite signals can easily be recceived anywhere inside the car, so I am now placing the unit on the center console where it works just fine.

I recently purchased a new car and decided NOT to include the factory GPS because it was far more expensive than the Garmin (MSRP $2,500), less functional and not portable. I am convinced that was the prudent choice, and when I eventually sell this new car, I get to keep the GPS.

I do plan to take the Nuvi to Europe this fall. The map coverage there seems as complete as that in the USA.

Clearly I am quite pleased with my second Garmin. The company has earned my loyalty AND the record profits Garmin has earned from being such a leader in a complex field.

Great GPS... BUT...I bought the nuvi 670 because I like to travel to Europe. However, I use it in the US for every day business and work mostly in the same city going from address to address. Unfortunately, unlike other less expensive GPS devices out there, I have to type in the same city name over and over again while conducting my business. Why couldn't they have programmed a "favorite city" or "SAVED" cities list to select from??? This becomes very tedious - "TOO BAD". Everything else is good.

I bought my Nuvi to take to Europe, which I did. The problems outweighed the joys by far. I was disappointed with the following. 1. Many streets in Rome, Florence and Paris (3 major European cities) were absent and not on the map. Also, many restaurants were not included in the section on Places to Eat. 2. Most of the time it took "forever" to contact the sattelite. I would stand in a Piazza waiting for up to 10 minutes for the transponder to connect with a sattelite so I could begin a search. 3. The batter was impractically short lived and could only be recharged in a car or in an electric socket. 4. I never knew which direction I was going in. There is no compass function which would tell me the way to my route.

I think the major problem here was that I was always on foot when I used this GPS. Even though I set it to the pedestrian setting, it tried to take me on streets that were appropriate for vehical travel. For a walker, I found this to be a total bust and a waste of money. I returned it when I got back to the U.S. and Amazon gave me a refund. Bravo to Amazon but thumbs down to Garmin. They need to do better.

We purchased this as a replacement for another brand unit in order to get the European maps and the battery operated portability. We used the unit primarily in a vehicle in Scotland and had coverage in all areas around the Highlands. The system was extremely accurate. The unit allows for choice of "quickest" or "shortest" routes and not "most highway use" as did our previous unit, and Garmin seems to make no distinction about the size and quality of the roads it uses to route, at least in Scotland. We found ourselves being routed on one lane roads instead of going a few minutes further to a two lane road. After an adventurous 8 mile leg on a single lane road through a cattle and sheep farm, we dug out our AAA maps and routed ourselves, then let the Garmin reroute to where we were. It was extremely helpful to have a preview of the upcoming road and to have the voice tell us about the exits and roundabout turns. It is always a comfort to know where you are on an unfamiliar road at night and that you can find your way back to your hotel, especially in rural areas. Great product, but don't forget your paper maps!

I have used this now for several months. I have a Garmin quest that I am extremely happy with so most comparisons are made to that. In general I'd higly recommend the unit.

Pros:
1. Fast satellite acquisition
2. Directions spot on
3. Very intuitive interface
4. Voice directions loud and clear (sometimes mispronounced but not a big deal)
5. Big clear display
6. Very compact for the amount of functionality it provides and the screen size. It will fit into jean pockets provided you don't have anything else in there. I wanted something with a large screen and if you don't need the additional functionality and looking for more portability go with the 3xx series. I wanted the extras since I'm planning europe trips so I'm fine with the extra girth.
7. Bluetooth functionality works great with my slvr l7.
8. It's good that they made their connectivity using mini USB rather than some proprietary plug.

NOTE: I don't have any major cons with the devices but there are a fe minor annoyances:
1. Speaker seems too soft to recieve calls over unless you have it mounted quite close, not sure if this is a function of the unit or the phone on the other end since directional instructions come through loud and clear. Also I haven't tried recieving through the FM transmitter
2. Havn't played with it too much but I have a garmin quest and it's routing algorithms seem a little better than the nuvi. The nuvi tends to try and take side streets rather than use freeways even with all avoideances turned off. I'm hoping this is just a settings issue.
3. Disabling the europe maps doesn't seem to affect stratup times too much.
4. For the asking price would have been nice if they included some extras like the language dictionary, but I'm not sure what the margins are on these things.
5. Would be nice if you could change the number diplay subsections to whatever you want. On my quest I can customize the number readouts to show things like total distance left, speed etc. Don't seem to be able to do this with this unit and this is an annoyance since it displays the time left which is often wrong and ultimately not that useful. Hoping that Garmin will release an update for this.

Functions not used:
1. FM Transmitter
2. European maps
3. Language dictionary

I like the Nüvi 670 very much. On a recent trip to England, I used the included suction cup mount and cigarette lighter adapter to mount it in my rental car. It was invaluable in getting me from point to point while I concentrated on driving on the left side of the road and navigating the roundabouts. The pedestrian mode was very useful in helping me get oriented after I emerged from underground subway stops. Its pretty clever that they thought to include a mode that ignores one-way streets and illegal turns for people who are walking. The interface is fairly intuitive. The Bluetooth integration works very well with my RAZR. The MP3 player is quite adequate. The picture viewer is useful for a small number of pictures. I would prefer other ways of navigating through images for larger numbers of images. I also found it a little slow when dealing with 10M pixel images from my camera, but that is to be expected. It certainly works well to have a few family snapshots available to show friends, but it fall show of being a good way to review pictures on a 2MB SD card while on vacation. I like the simple USB interface to my Mac. It makes it easy to get files on and off the Nüvi.

Overall, I'm amazed at how much information I can hold in the palm of my hand and the number of things this device does well. I give it four stars instead of five only because of the minor issues I listed so far and occasional hick-ups in the database in the EU. For example, it was able to guide me to the rental car pick-up at Heathrow airport, but not the drop-off. Also, the FM transmitter is not very strong and doesn't not work well in my car. These issues were only minor for me, but make it slightly less than perfect.

We have had in-car GPS units in my wife's last two Infiniti FX 35s and I always considered them the benchmark for in-car navigation but the Nuvi 670 is clearly superior.

I use the 670 in both my BMW sedan and my Porsche 911 and it is markedly better than the in-car systems offered by either of these manufacturers.

So far it has performed flawlessly. It's easy to program and the maps are nicely detailed. An easy-to-use menu system lets you quickly customize the unit's functionality to your personal preferences. The included windshield mount puts the unit up where your eyes should be - watching the road and traffic - not down at dash level.

The traffic alert system works just fine in my area and it is a terrific help in avoiding delays. The traffic data links up to the 670 through a special power cord that includes an FM receiver.

Don't lose this cord - the replacement cost is north of $200! A standard vehicle power cord is $30 and is what I use when I take the unit on business travel or vacation trips. After the initial trial period the traffic alert service costs $60 for an annual subscription fee.

The unit updates over the Internet via your computer and thanks to a recent software fix it is both PC and Mac friendly.

I plan to use the 670 both in-car and - thanks to the battery and built-in maps for both North America and Europe - on foot in Italy this summer. This wouldn't be my pick for a back county hiking GPS but I'm looking forward to seeing how it helps me get around Rome on foot.

When you factor in the other features Garmin builds into the Nuvi that go beyond navigation (Photo Viewer, Bluetooth link, MP3 player, SD card slot, etc.) and the add-ons and accessories available you have the Swiss Army knife of portable GPS units.

Just took this to Italy. It was just great for driving. Option for selecting "truck" versus a car keeps you off the smallest streets, a plus if you are not used and do not care to drive the small windy roads in the mountains or within cities. You can also insert a waypoint to avoid or bypass certain areas. Very up to date. Only a few new intersections or rods were not mapped. In the "pedestrian" mode, you can use it to wander a city, after marking your parking place. One problem is the slight ambiguity of which way to start, when walking. A north arrow would be good. Also, the battery will run out if used continually for a few hours of walking, so be careful. Be sure to have the 12 volt charger for the car. Other than those two issues, it was absolutly great.
The Fedor Europe addition was pretty good, but not must. Overall, I would not go without it. I also use it extensively in the US, as I travel often.

I am extremely satisfied with this GPS. This is the only one I have used, but it is very easy to use, and has lots of useful extra features. I only speak English and live in Germany, and having a European GPS is invaluable. It also features pedestrian and bike modes, which are very useful in Europe. The built in FM modulator makes for easier listening in the vehicle, and the built in MP3 player allows for music listening while the stereo is tuned for the FM modulator.

The only downside is the battery charge only lasted for about three hours while walking around downtown, and the unit was mostly on standby in my pocket.

The Nuvi 670 is extremely user friendly and start-up is quick/easy. For the most part the maps are excellent and it is feature rich - specific address, city only, intersections, favorites, home. In very rural areas, you do need some idea of where you are going. My setup was to "fastest route" and sometimes - when out in the those areas - that meant being told to turn onto a farm road - gravel, dirt and all. The recalculation time is very quick and the GPS is sensitive to very short distances - maybe 200 feet or less. When I failed to turn or made a mistake, it quickly got me going in the right direction. We are just coming off of a 2500 mile road trip with the Nuvi - it was wonderful. Loved it and it saved so much time and gas in determining the best routes plus finding gas stations, ATMs, hotels, etc. If you live in California, you will need to order the friction mount since CA doesn't allow the window suction mount which comes with the Nuvi. Friction mount works very well.

Was looking for a GPS navigator, and decided to buy the 670 since we were planning a trip to Italy. Whether walking around the cities/towns or driving in the countryside of Tuscany, the Nuvi 670 delivered what I needed. I can't begin to imagine how many times we would've been lost had we not had the Nuvi.

If you are driving around in the country, I would recommend you disable the navigator's use of Unpaved Roads. In my case, it used them a lot more frequently than I would've expected.

You'll also find that some places out in the country (i.e. restaurants, hotels, etc.) don't know or publish their street address, especially the street number. But, it's pretty easy to take an educated guess, which ususally gets you very close to the intended destination.

Finally, I could bicker about the pronunciation of the Italian street and town names, but that really wasn't a big deal at all.

After using the Nuvi 670 for a few months I will have to say that it is wonderful. This is the only driving GPS I've owned but I've used numerous built-in ones and rental car ones. There is much to like about it. The traffic option is good but quality varies by location. The map does appear to be just a bit behind when you're driving too.

I have not had the opportunity to use it Europe, just in the US.

Would I buy it again? YES!
Here's a quick list of the Pros & Cons

Pros
- Reception is very good and locks on quickly
- FM traffic information is useful
- Very easy to use

Cons
- Street & merchant database is a little old in some areas
- FM traffic information could be displayed a little better
- Searches for some merchants never return
- FM transmission audio quality is REALLY bad
(Believe all the reviews, it's THAT bad!)

I spent a lot of time looking at different brands and decided the 670 had the most features and flexibility for the money. I previously had a Magellan and I like the Nuvi better. The screen is large and bright. The voice is clear and the mounting device is much better than the Magellan. The best feature is the ability and ease of using the points of interest. We just drove cross country and relied on the Nuvi for motels, restaurants, gas and many points of interest for sight seeing. I wish it showed the elevation and displayed how much time to the destination in lieu of what time you are to arrive; that was a bit confusing as we went through several time zone changes. However, that is just a nit pic. I also think Garmin should be able to equip these devices with an atomic clock similar to a cell phone so the time zones change automatically. We had to rely on the cell phone for the correct time when we were in the areas of question and then reset the Nuvi.

Well, this machine is impressive, the first time I turned it on I got a fix in less than 10 seconds! There are nevertheless some flaws:
For instance, The Nuvi 670 shows a route from point A to point B, and then a totally different route from point B to point A.
Many things are optionnal and expensive (for instance, the language dictionnaries).
The translations are approximate... and very funny! For instance, "Powerline Dr." in spanish turns into something like "Poder linear Doctor", which had my family laughing for 10 minutes! I haven't tried french, but I am sure I'll get some nice surprises also.
The manual is not very detailed, and I haven't been able to put a destination in the "favorites" folder before I get there... Strange.
There is no way I can hear my iPod through the speakers of the Nuvi (the TomTom offers that feature, and by the way is about half the price!)
I think I still have to use it more to get accustomed to it, and to be able to discover and take advantage of the tons of features.

Overall a decent product. Has some shortcomings but this review is limited at this point to the German region. We have noted sometimes a delay with acquiring a satellite signal. The roundabouts are not clearly shown and maps are not fully updated for some of the areas we have been too. Real view is not an option that I can tell and we truly miss this feature found in the Navigon and most Asian navigation systems. The price was decent so I can't really complain. However I would have to see a dramatic improvement in the software to buy another Garmin.

The unit was bought for a holiday in Massachusetts in April 2007 and I'm glad I did. It made driving around so much easier.
And it seemed like a better idea compared to buying a US map for my Garmin iQue 3600 (European version).


Likes
-----
Ease of use. You don't need to consult the manual much.

The size of the display.

The speaker is loud enough.

USB interface to pc: with Windows XP the unit and the SD card in it are assigned drive letters and you can transfer pictures or mp3 files by "drag and drop". Lovely.

You don't have to select a specific postcode/city when looking for an address. You can make do with streetname and number, and then search the lot. A friend of mine has a unit (different brand) that forces a postcode/city selection, it really bugs him and I see why.

Bluetooth interface: Connected easily to my mobilephone (Motorola K1).

FM transmitter: I think I like it even though you have to choose GPS or radio, you can't have both.
It pauses the mp3-player when giving directions and it doesn't interrupt when you are on the phone (via Bluetooth, of course). Neat.

TMC: I like it and the equipment for it is not bulky.


Missing features
-----------------------------
Routes: I don't always agree on the suggested route. So give us routes or at least a few more via points (instead of just the one avaiable).
An example, with the iQue 3600 you can make a route and have it suggest the best order.

Track log: I miss the track log I have in my iQue 3600.

I want current speed on the map display. Speeding fines are up, authorities are less lenient (at least in DK) and my speedometer is very inaccurate.
It would be useful if you could customise the map display.

Configurability, overall: There is not enough. You can't make the unit individual to suit your taste.


Dislikes
--------
Danish letters: You never know beforehand when a name or word is spelled correctly or the Danish letters have been substituted for the two-letter equivalent. Fix that, please, Garmin.

Maps: Ran into problems around Logan Intl Airport, Boston, when I was pressed for time and later also in Denmark. (Tracklog might have helped a bit).
I don't think that map updates coming out once a year is often enough.

Gallery: "Slideshow" shows the pictures in the order you transferred them to the unit. You should have more choice here, e.g. order, size, date and random. Also, you should be able to control the interval between pictures.

I bought a new Nuvi 670 on July 29, 2008. Today, August 12,2008 I happened upon a notice that said the Nuvi 670 was discontinued. I'm rather upset with the news. Nowhere was the discontinued status mentioned. How long will Garmin support the unit? I understand that products do have a lifetime, but it should have been stated in the Amazon blurb.

I have been loyal to Garmin for over 12 years but now I am beginning to think elsewhere. I docked half mark for poor layout. In previous Garmin products, you could choose how much and the type of information displayed. On this model, you can only display two and Garmin decides what those will be. On my regular trips to and from work, I do not need the map but I do like the traffic transponder. However, traffic alerts can only de displayed on the map and not the other displays and so these minor gripes go on.

I docked a second half mark for the announcement of the next turn off. More often than not, the distance to the next turn is not to a turn at all but as you approach the turn, it advises you to carry on down the road you are on. This renders the displayed information of little value. More frustratingly, it does not tell you that it is not a turn until after you have moved into the lane anticipating it. The most serious implication is that at a complex junction the Garmin will instruct you not to turn for the first exit and then announce a real turn almost as you are on top of it. Not only does this mean you have to move back out of the first exit lane but you need to make quick decision for the real approach. This can lead to you being a nuisance to other road users.

Finally, I docked two marks for Garmin stopping users uploading bought mapping to the computer. Most people are aware that a drawback of current GPSes is that they can take you through the middle of a town rather than the route around it. They can send you down routes that aren't roads at all. They can take you off the interstate at one exit only to bring you back on at the next. A real danger is that they can take you on roads that are inappropriate for drivers that are not prepared. To guard against this I check the route out on the computer first but with the Nuvi, Garmin expect you to do it on the screen. It is impractical to check out a route turn by turn for a long trip on such a small screen without a mouse and without doing so will lead to nonesenses and occasionally danger... Garmin will of course sell you a second map for your computer and that would require four maps one for each region for both the GPS and the PC.

One last whine. Garmin do not tell you that you have to update both map areas independently and that one traffic receiver will not cover the two map regions.

Don't throw those paper maps away just yet! I've had my 670 for a couple of weeks now and my sister in law has had a 650 for about the same length of time. Hers' doesn't navigate any better than mine, so it's not a defective unit. I bought the Nuvi so that I could get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The problem is that in at least 1/2 the cases, Nuvi takes something other than the best route. It may not be obvious when you don't know where you're going, but when you know the best route, Nuvi may well direct you far out of the way. Case in point, last week I drove 100 miles or so on a route that I've taken several times in the past. When the Nuvi directed me the wrong way down the nearby highway, I rejected its' routing in favor of the route I had taken in the past. The trip took me 1 hour 50 min. On the way home, I followed Nuvi's route and took 2 hours 10 min to get home. Nuvi had rejected an interstate highway that went in the general direction of my destination in favor of a state highway which went thru the middle of several cities complete with many stop lights. It also had me backtrack 15 miles in the wrong direction on the interstate to pick up the slower highway!

I have been a longtime user of Garmin products from the forerunner to other handheld products and this is by far the best I have had. I have used it in the US, France, Italy and Spain and it performed great. It even warned me when to slow down for the photoradar driving to Normandy in France.Of course, there are times when the directions get a bit confusing but that happens and is probaby more to do with me than with the unit....The one draw back is the battery could last a bit longer but I usually hook it up to the DC adapter anyway. I have used the MP3 feature as well as the bluetooth phone..all work well. The great thing too is the preloaded maps of the US and Europe...I remember downloading mapsets into my old Garmin (PAINFUL!!) and now...none of that...No regrets with this product. I give it to relatives that visit and the "Home" feature is nice so they can find their way back to us....

We purchased the Garmin Nuvi 670 GPS because we had used and liked other Garmin GPS models in the past (e.g., they were provided with rental cars). We selected this particular model for the following reasons: larger screen, verbally names streets when giving directions, and is pre-loaded for US and Europe. We have had the unit a relatively short time and have not used it for Europe, but did use it during recent travel in 2 western states. It performed as expected including navigating us in and out of subdivisions involving many different streets. It was especially useful at night when it was hard to read street signs or paper maps. We also used it to find gas stations, places to eat, and other specific businesses. We have not used all of this unit's features. The unit comes with a very brief instruction sheet and a user manual in many different languages on a CD. These materials are adequate for basic instruction, but do not provide much guidance on how to use the unit in the most efficient and effective manner. We found that we had questions that were not answered in the manual. Much of our learning has been by trial and error. We suggest you use your unit on a few test trips before using it on real trips. Also this unit does not have the same features as other Garmin models, so past experience with other models may be of limited help. We found the battery lasts about 5 hours before unit goes dead. Some street names given verbally do not match local pronunciations. For example, La Jolla was not pronounced correctly. We also found that some listed businesses were no longer in business. We have not updated our unit since we purchased it, so it is unclear how frequently business information is updated.

We bought this for a recent trip to England, Ireland and Scotland, and we found that all of the maps were quite detailed and the Garmin easy to use. All of the small roads in Ireland were even on the map, which was good since it would be very easy to get lost.
We did find it took a little while (especially first thing in the morning) for the satellite to boot up and find your location, which was frustrating when you needed to find a location and were waiting several minutes for the satellite to link with the Garmin. There were also several restaurants, rental agencies and other locations not in the system, which needs to be improved. (for example, the rental car agency in Ireland was not on the map and it was offsite like many others.)
Overall am pleased with the purchase and would recommend it.
Chris Young President, The Young Team, Inc.

Even if you are an experienced Indian tracker, after dark in a maze of cart-wide one way cobbled stone streets of Italy, without a Garmin your directional skills will be severely challenged. Despite some missed turns (my oversight), the Garmin performed admirably finding our way back to the Frascati train station and through the old Etruscan towns of Palestrina and Tarquinia. It is truly amazing to see the agility of the Garmin recalculating new routes through these mazes. Truthfully, without stopping to ask for directions, this trip would not have been possible without the nuvi. Thank you, Garmin.

I would strongly recommend the Nuvi 670, especially if you like to explore on your own. If you are searching out sites of antiquity, I would suggest that you enter these locations into the "Favorites" section prior to your trip.

Delighted new owner, Holly Fritch Kirby, M.D.

I absolutely love this GPS! It is easy to use, accurate as it any specific and detail direccion can be. I used to get lost all the time, now it is a breeze, I can go to Italy and know what I am doing and where to go! I have no complaints except for the windshield mounting piece, because it falls easy when there are high temperatures (imagine, I am in FL) so, when I do not use the car in a day and I live it where there is heat, the mounting piece falls. Other than that I will reccomend this to anyone. If you want to give a woman "the perfect gift" (other than diamonds) this will be the gift you want to surprise her with.

The screen size and quality is perfect. Make sure when you download data to the device or sd card inserted you must use the supplied USB cable. Any other cable will not work on a consistant basis. MP3 play perfectly. The POI points of interest you can download free on the internet work as advertised when you use the POI loader supplied software. Not sure that the increase cost over the 650 is worth it. The only difference is the included Europe maps. Will not display very large JPGs so if you want to store them on the device need to save them as a smaller file

In general, it works well. However, I am having trouble with the BlueTooth link to my Motorola Razr cellphone. It works fine when
I call out, but only answers properly about 50% of the time.
When it malfunctions, I can not hear the person calling, but they
can hear me. Also, it's not the easiest thing to figure out how
to make it drop the Bluetooth connection. So when it is acting up,
its hard to drive & drop the connection at the same time...

If you don't want to attach it to the windshield, you can buy the
dash top friction mount 010-10908-00. It has a ball mount which
connects directly to the socket mount that comes with the Nuvi.
So far it is working very well for me, does not move around on the
dash, and it is easy to set on the floor when I park the car.

It's been years since I have been so happy with a purchase. This product is amazing. My mistake was not buying this when it first came out. I was on the fence about buying this and if you are simply considering it, buy it and try it out for a month, you will not return it, it's just too good. The only difference from the 670 and 660 is the europe maps. The incorporated traffic is worth every cent of the whole product if you live in a traffic area. Buy it now.

Got the 670 for a trip to europe, given it had pre-installed maps of europe and North America. Didn't bother to update the european maps (saved the free update for North America) before we went on a two week trip with travels thru southern England and Normandy/Brittany/Paris in France.
br /
br /Device was INVALUABLE, and a GREAT VALUE. For only about $70 more than a plain-vanilla nuvi 250, you get widescreen, more features, a case, and an AC charger - useful if you plan to use it as a pedestrian in cities.
br /
br /I was particularly impressed when it took us from Bayeux to Mont St-Michelle to Le Mans in a route that included a series of country roads I would have never found or been able to navigate on a map. Only rarely was there a road that wasn't on the GPS, and only once a one-way street that hadn't been correctly identified. The only navagational downside is that the audio prompts couldn't quite keep up with the speed of decisionmaking in roundabouts - watch the screen to keep yourself from making an extra loop.
br /
br /It was also a great aid while walking in Paris, locating ourselves and finding a pedestrian route to a location or the nearest metro station.
br /
br /ps. Also used on the Eurostar train, where I recorded a max speed of 183 MPH!
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I'd always be hesitant to purchase expensive electronics knowing their price will go down soon, but finally, at the last minute, I pulled the trigger and purchased this Garmin 670 that arrived a day before leaving for Europe ! We were traveling with our elderly parents - better be in a relax mode rather than getting lost all the time. This is my first GPS.... first trip to Europe - no idea how this gadget works... no idea what Europe was like. I only had the time to read the manual to see which accessories I needed to bring along.
br /
br /And wooow.... I must say, after 800 miles driving (we only drove for a week out of a month - one biggest reason why we were hesitant to purchase this), I am becoming more like Amex people... "Never leave home without it (GPS)" !
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br /This Garmin is easy to set up. Don't forget to recharge it fully the first time, even though it said it was ready to use right out the box - I found the battery level was low. In the beginning, it took a while to 'communicate' and adjust with this Garmin. Just like in any new relationship, at first we often misunderstood what it was saying. Sometimes it'd say "turn right", when the turning was more like "stay on the right" or like 20 degree turning only. Or we were not sure if there were several turns close to each other. True that it'd say "in 50 feet turn right".... but we found there were cases when there were 2 turns very close to each other, not to mention that I had to learn the sense of distance, which I didn't really have in the first place. Since English is not my first language (but it doesn't have setting on my native language), this added up to more confusion. Several times we'd miss our turns, but Garmin quickly recalculated the route so that we could get back to our destination.
br /
br /After a day or two, we were getting better in understanding the 'language' of Garmin. We didn't detour much, though make sure, if you are not the adventurous type like I am, put the mode in "fastest" - that way you can stay in the highway, or turn off the "avoid delay" mode. Otherwise, what happened to us - we were in a slow moving autobahn when Garmin detected this 'delay' and told us to exit - we ended up in very small roads which I was not comfortable at all - finally despite its direction, I went back to the autobahn. I preferred to wait 20 minutes in a nice big highway, rather than being rerouted to the middle of nowhere in confusing small roads. Another time we ended up in weird route, I suspected that it could be due to the fact that I didn't set the mode as "fastest" - though some reviewers here thought it could be due to software error. It's still a mystery to me, so what helps - if you are traveling, just get a big map for a general overview, and once you know you are in the right highway, just keep sticking with the road signs if there is any, even if Garmin tells you differently - otherwise you may end up in weird small roads. If there's no sign, just follow Garmin. BTW, this 'weirdness' only happened to us twice, during our 800 miles, so I guess it's quite reliable.
br /
br /With this Garmin, we were all really enjoying our road trip much better. We went from small town to another small town, which I don't think we'd go since we had no maps of these towns. Everyday we visited different small towns without the fear of getting lost. I always thought english was a universal language... until we got to Europe... they seemed to have no need of english ! The places we visited - most people didn't speak English... we'd have hard time asking for direction if we ever got lost ! Road signs or other signs were not in english. Just imagine the trouble if we didn't bring this GPS !
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br /I never used other GPS before, so I can't really compare this one with different brands, except to say that I am very satisfied with this one already. Oh, don't wait to purchase GPS when you get to Europe - the price was doubled there !
br /
br /The restaurant lists came in handy too, from time to time we used it to find a specific restaurant. Oh, I also used it to see if the taxi cabs we used (when we were not on the road) were honest or not ( hubby would sit in front, I'd sit on the back, turned on my GPS without any sound, the cab drivers wouldn't know what I was doing) - we'd give bigger tip if they were the honest type.
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br /The price of GPS is going down all the time - don't forget to check the price from time to time since Amazon will refund the difference if it's still within a month. In my case,it went down 3 times (about $ 30 total) - they adjusted it every time I emailed them. Don't forget to check the version of the maps - in my case, I got the older version, but still worked fine in Europe. I think you need to install the software and connect your GPS to computer and to the internet to have the version checked. Later on I upgraded the USA map for free - wish they'd do the same thing for Europe maps. Oh well.
br /
br /I was planning to sell this GPS back on the market once we got back - I had no use of Europe map and could just get a much cheaper one with USA map only. But somehow I feel I owe much to this GPS ... it has made our trip so wonderful, which I don't think I could say the same without it.... surely it's worth keeping. So nope.... you can just get yours someplace else.. I am not going to sell you mine... :-).

This is a good piece of hardware (receiver, screen, interface) but Garmin could have added a some features to make it better for raw navigation.

The Nuvi DOES NOT show:
-Longitude or latitude,
-Compass heading (in degrees not just N,S,E,W),
-Altitude,

This is data that is certainly available but Garmin has decided it's not worth their time to provide it. It could easily be added as its own menu item and would make the device that much more useful for backpackers, mariners, bikers, hikers, etc. As it stands it's pretty much useless for anything other than driving.

If they got serious about it (and remember this is JUST SOFTWARE) they could allow you to set a heading with the touch screen, display topographical information, average speed along a given route, deviation form shortest route, etc. - and of course keep all the features it has now. A week for a good programmer - tops. C'mon Garmin, you can only gain customers by doing this.

Other problem: The Nuvi 670 I have froze up about once every two hours on the road requiring a power down and re-boot.

Got this one specifically because I was going on a trip to Europe and didn't want to deal with downloading or buying a memory card with additional maps. Worked great in Ireland an well as California. Menus are intuitive, though some features (like volume control) can take a number of touchscreen button pushes to access. Nice being able to slide a SD card with MP3 files in and listen through the unit's speaker, headphones, or car's radio via FM transmission (FM works well in some areas, not others).
br /
br /Having built-in traffic is GREAT! And it gives a freeway map showing yellow and red lines where the traffic is slowed,once gave a "traffic slowing" verbal warning about one mile before I hit a sea of red lights, and gives a written description of local traffic tie-ups (from what exit to what exit, etc.). Only caveat is the traffic warnings are not always completely reliable (probably takes awhile for the source of info to get updated).
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br /POI feature has been wonderful. Want to know where the closest Starbucks is? It'll tell you. Want to find local restaurants? A list will appear. Very handy and pretty darn accurate (well, except for the time it led us to what "used" to be a gas station....).
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br /Main reason for 4 rather than 5 stars is the bluetooth isn't so great. Works OK but I've been told my voice isn't so clear on the other end.
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br /So buy this as a good, solid GPS for the price and consider the extras like playing music, bluetooth, etc. a bonus.

We received this product about a week before we left on a trip to NM and CO. The detail in this unit is amazing. We were in some very remote areas and the unit had forest service roads, fire roads, and muddy trails listed. It even had the names of some very small creeks. The restaurant, ATM, gas station, etc. info was amazing. The only drawback was the routing in some remote areas. It would have you driving off onto some little used roads rather than the obvious, faster roads so you have to use a little human logic when using it. All in all, a very reliable and impressive unit.
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Overall this is an excellent product. I've thoroughly enjoyed using it and have made use of most of its functionalities such as listening to my MP3s whilst receiving directions through the FM receiver. The bluetooth integration with my cell phone (Qtek 9100) is also amazing and I've been able to do things like receive calls through the navigator whilst driving and lookup the nearest restaurant and call them up for a reservation. The only things I've seen close to a glitch are slightly outdated european maps and some delay in processing GPS signals in narrow roads and alleyways which are typical in this continent. Things I would like to see in future releases are options for a map update service, worldwide coverage, better grammar in Spanish and a java "platform" for loading additional applications such as games.

I bought the unit as a replacement for a unit that was stolen. All I can say is that it's AWSOME. The menus are intuitive, the instruction are clear, the bluetooth works flawlessly, the traffic alerts are spot on and the GPS acquires super fast. This is by far the best unit out there. Yes, it's expensive, but it is worth the extra coin to have the european maps preloaded and all the extra cool features in the ultra-sleek package.

I have only had the unit for two weeks but so far it is excellent. The 670 came with older maps and Garmin updated both the N.A. map and Europe map for free. Europe was updated online and took a few hours to download with my slow internet connection. Garmin customer service sent the N.A. map DVD via mail which took 3 or 4 days to receive. Hold time for customer service was about 2 minutes.
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br /The unit locks the GPS signal within seconds both indoors and out. Routing has been accurate and re-routing is very quick. You can in fact add stops along the way to a destination. Spoken directions are clear and precise.
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br /One issue that I had initially was that turns were announced way too close to the actual turn. However, after updating to the latest N.A. map that issue is not longer present. Turns are announced far enough in advance of the turn. I also think that more announcements are made as a result of the update.
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br /I highly recommend this GPS. Garmin customer service seems very good also.

Garmin nüvi 670 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
br /My nuvi 670 works beautifully in the USA but a nuvi 360 would work just as well for half the money. I purchased the 670 for a three-week vacation to England last summer. The 670 failed miserably.
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br /As soon as I received the 670, I ordered the free update CD with European maps and loaded them on my Garmin. I thought I was all set.
br /
br /Then I went to google maps and preloaded many locations, including hotels where we would be staying.
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br /Our first dissapointments came during our arrival in London. Leaving our hotel on foot, I set the Garmin for walking and selected a destination that was nine-tenths of a mile away. The Garmin identified its location but did not show any streets. We got a taxi. I thought, oh well, it's not set for cities but will be ok on the highway.
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br /I also had to reset Garmin's clock to local time. There are many European cities listed but none in the United Kingdom. There are a few in the continent, but London is not there. So my garmin was set an hour off.
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br /We hired a car and set out for Braintree. The Garmin was confused right off the bat. It was no help, constantly "recalculating." We kept stopping and asking people for directions to the highway leading to Stansted where we found signs that led us to our destination.
br /
br /At Braintree, we purchased a map.
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br /To make a long story short, the nuvi 670 never worked. I had many destinations preloaded. The garmin would recognize the distance and direction, but was unable to show most roads. If we were on major highways like the M4, the road would appear on the garmin, but our car would look to be floating to the left or right of it, as though we were the Starship Enterprise. And then, as we drove, the voice would start . . . recalculating . . . recalculating . . . recalculating . . . driving us nuts, to the point that I would have to turn it off. My Garmin was bewildered. We were lost.
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br /It is difficult to drive in England and I had such high hopes to make efficient use of my driving time. But no, we were often . . . Lost in England . . . and the Garmin was no help.
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br /While the Garmin was helpless in giving directions, it was indespensible in an unexpected way. England is loaded with speed cameras. They are on major highways and in small villages. There are warning signs posted but it is easy to speed through before you realize it. The garmin was a lifesaver (or I should say, a money saver). Every time we approached a speed camera, the nuvi warned us. At $50 a speeding ticket, I'm sure it saved me hundreds of dollars. Some of you may be asking why I think I saved money because after leaving the country, how would the authorities get anyone to pay speeding fines. Well, I did not always have the garmin turned on . . . and you guessed it. I received a letter from Avis, informing me that my credit card would be charged $50+ for a speeding ticket. (It's in the rental agreement)
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br /So if you want a GPS to warn you about speed cameras in England, get a Garmin. But if you want a GPS to provide directions, you'd better look at Tom Tom or some other brand. My experience suggests that Garmin does not have the mapping platform for the United Kingdon.
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br /I'm not surprised that the nuvi 670 has been discontinued. It did not perform as it should. Perhaps it works better on the European continent, I don't know. But if you take a nuvi 670 to England, before you head out for your destination, I'd suggest that you purchase a good road map.
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I really love this unit. I have come across a couple of street name errors so far, however, I am very satisfied this unit. Very simple to understand and navigate!

I just bought the nuvi 670 to replace my stolen nuvi 660. Since the 670 is actually now a little cheaper than the 660, I figured I might as well get this one and enjoy the additional features, like the European maps.
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br /While I thouroughly enjoyed owning the 660, it requires a lot of common sense. The routing tends to be a little goofy at times; this is true of the 670 as well. I tend to use GPS as a guide, something to lead me in the right direction when I'm going to an unfamiliar destination. I also like being able to see a map on demand; helpful when you cannot read street signs at night.
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br /I do have a couple of gripes with the 670. For one, the volume is not loud enough. Second, every time I turn the unit on, I have to reinput my location and time zone. I like to use the British male voice (I can hear him better) but it keep defaulting to "Jane", the American female voice, which is way too low and obnoxious sounding. Finally, there are issues finding certain addresses; even with updates, some areas grow very fast. I, for one, have a current Thomas guide in my car to help fill in the blanks.
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br /Other than that, it is what it is. For the money, I consider the nuvi line to be among the best around. Just use your head--if you are lazy or don't have any sense of direction, this unit can only help you so much.

I am a very frugal person and do a ton of research before making a purchase. I looked at many, many reviews for all different models. But everywhere I looked Garmin was on top of the list (including Consumer reports, which rated the Nuvi 770 as #1, and the 670 as #2 out of all GPS devices). I definitely wanted the European maps included in whichever model we purchased. But based on so much negative feedback left for the 770 model locking up and such, we decided to go with the 670 because it seemed that all the bugs were worked out of this model and the new one still had some tweaking to do.
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br /I was a little disappointed in the lack of a physical manual (just came with a CD of information). I am a printed manual type guy. But outside of that we were up and playing with the options almost immediately. Really you only need the manual to update the maps. The interface is so easy to use, you don't need instructions. Updating the map took FOREVER! But I guess it would be the same regardless of the model.
br /The day after we got the device we tested by driving to Canada. It worked great. Now it wasn't 100% fool proof. But it was 98% right on the money. With the GPS unit and plus a little common sense, I trust this device to take us anywhere.
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br /In Conclusion: If you are looking for a GPS for use in North America and Europe (we haven't tested the European maps yet but can't wait to), then buy this model. It works great.

The nuvi 670 has a lot of features that work really well.It even has an mp3 player. The only negative is the free map update which is available through the Garmin webpage. Installing the update is very complicated and takes at least 7 hours.

Bought the 670 rather than the lower model because of the pre-loaded European maps (not yet used) for only $30 more, rather than paying $150 to have them loaded at a later date. The screen is clear and easy to read. You have to multi-task and not just listen to it, 'turn right and then left' doesn't mean first left, can mean second left. 'Recalculating' can become an irritating word when you don't follow the instructions properly. Also, 'Saint' instead of 'Street' can be annoying when only the St is shown on-screen.
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br /Used on a long trip from Chicago to Washington DC and back and around DC for a month. Great when you get lost and good to find local attractions and search for local restaurants/gas stations etc. when you're on the road.
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br /Have not yet tried all the features, the MPS is great, fitted 100 songs on internal memory no problem (can add extra external memory).
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br /I would recommend this product.

The vendor shipped on time and it arrived on time. This product is great. The street pronounciation is pretty wild for certain uncommon names. I bought this product to travel in Europe but have not had a chance to use it there. In the US it works great, but it does not prompt you to select "Most use of Freeways, or No Freeways" or other route options. You have to force it by ignoring the proposed route or by missing the turns intentionally. The traffic alert works well in those cities where there is an alert system. I love the touch screen. In general the Owners manual is weak. Great product especially when compared to the in car type that require use of joy stick to spell out the address.

After only a month we find that we just can't live without it. Going to Italy next month and we'll see how well it speaks Italian. Some of the directions seem a little out of the way but you always end up where you're supposed to be. A good value.

I have been using a Magellan GPS Roadmate unit for many years. The Garmin 670 is a truly outstanding unit, easy to use, fast acquistion of satellites, with a great display and many optional settings. I was the Program Director of the GPS System at General Dynamics from 1980-1982 during its developmental phase. I continue to be amazed at its growth in capability and the way units like this Garmin 670 serves the civilian community.

Great price and great features:
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br /Big screen
br /Bluetooth for hands free use of my phone
br /MP3 player with FM transmitter
br /Photo Viewer (with SD card slot)
br /Calculator/currency converter/language translator
br /International charger, in car cord and mounting system included
br /Easy to move from car to car
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br /Be sure to upgrade the maps - they are from 2006 (free download instructions included)

Great product for its price and number of maps it covers. love the pedestrian mode.

The screen on this unit is simply unreal. It is exceptional!! Bright, clear and the 4.3 inch is an improvement for sure over my 3.5 inch. Among the 4 Garmins I have the Garmin 370 and 670 are the best (same features except the 670 can make announcements through your car radio speakers, in addition to its own). The smaller one is better for bicycle trips or walking in cities but the larger definately best for my car. The voice is clear, I really don't need to glance at the screen while driving since "she" announces the street names (the turns) clearly. I highly recommend this unit, it is more than I need but glad I got it (wanted both the 370 and 670 for trips to Europe also).

I have been loyal to Garmin for over 12 years but now I am beginning to think elsewhere. I docked half mark for poor layout. In previous Garmin products, you could choose how much and the type of information displayed. On this model, you can only display two and Garmin decides what those will be. On my regular trips to and from work, I do not need the map but I do like the traffic transponder. However, traffic alerts can only de displayed on the map and not the other displays and so these minor gripes go on.

I docked a second half mark for the announcement of the next turn off. More often than not, the distance to the next turn is not to a turn at all but as you approach the turn, it advises you to carry on down the road you are on. This renders the displayed information of little value. More frustratingly, it does not tell you that it is not a turn until after you have moved into the lane anticipating it. The most serious implication is that at a complex junction the Garmin will instruct you not to turn for the first exit and then announce a real turn almost as you are on top of it. Not only does this mean you have to move back out of the first exit lane but you need to make quick decision for the real approach. This can lead to you being a nuisance to other road users.

Finally, I docked two marks for Garmin stopping users uploading bought mapping to the computer. Most people are aware that a drawback of current GPSes is that they can take you through the middle of a town rather than the route around it. They can send you down routes that aren't roads at all. They can take you off the interstate at one exit only to bring you back on at the next. A real danger is that they can take you on roads that are inappropriate for drivers that are not prepared. To guard against this I check the route out on the computer first but with the Nuvi, Garmin expect you to do it on the screen. It is impractical to check out a route turn by turn for a long trip on such a small screen without a mouse and without doing so will lead to nonesenses and occasionally danger... Garmin will of course sell you a second map for your computer and that would require four maps one for each region for both the GPS and the PC.

One last wine. Garmin do not tell you that you have to update both map areas independently and you need a separate, expensive traffic receiver for the second map area.

Bought this item to replace my old GPS device, a TomTom One V1 which was several years old with outdated maps, and somehow managed to get it's screen calibration messed up, with no way to recalibrate the device.
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br /The Garmin Nuvi 670 feels like a solid device and is well constructed, though after using it for a few weeks, it really does feel inferior to the TomTom in many ways.
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br /Cons:
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br /- No battery meter, and no warning when it's low. The device just shuts off, which is very annoying when driving.
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br /- Power plugs into mount instead of device. Combined with the point above, where the device just shuts off, this is a big inconvenience.
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br /- No option to enter address by zip code. You have to go through the whole country, city, state process every time.
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br /- Software feels less advanced than the TomTom, with fewer customization options.
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br /For example, one nice thing on the TomTom was the option to customize which information was displayed on the main screen (speed, estimated time left, etc). Although the Garmin has a nice big screen, there's no way to adjust the information displayed, and getting additional information requires tapping on the screen, and then tapping back to return to the map.
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br /I'm strongly considering selling this and switching back to one of the newer TomTom devices instead.

This device it's amazing all the features work really good.
The only negative note is on the map's graphic which happens to be a little low defined, but after a little bit you get used to it.

Functions well , clear directions, need some experiance to fully benefit of all the options.
Good help on hi way travel

I used the Nuvi 670 in Germany and found that it was very accurate in navigating in downtown areas and performed as advertised. I would highly recommend the product.

The 670 is easy to use and has easily moved among our cars. I have noticed that the maps seem to be a little out of date compared to some new roads that have been built in our area. Overall the device has been a real help.

This is a great product. The Bluetooth and MP3 player work flawlessly. I have found that I can be confident in the route given by the GPS. I'm sometimes confused as to why it will choose a long route to get from point A to point B. However, it always gets me where I'm going.

For 11 trips to Europe, I have used a Garmin e-trex connected to my lap top with a RS232 to USB converter, a Y plug in the cigarette lighter to power both the laptop and the e-trex, and Mapsource software on the laptop. A lot of gear, hard on the navigator (laptop on the lap is hot and uncomfortable) but very clear maps and some neat features (like saving tracks easily, making slides out of screen prints to really annotate my trips, etc. Finally decided to upgrade, picked the 670 because the screen size to price ratio was the best I could find, and it had European maps included.
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br /The really good:
br /Arrived early; booted up right out of the box and found satelites faster than the e-trex, pretty intuitive interface (although I did eventually read the manual on disk,) mounted easily in the car and worked very well on a test drive in the states. Maps were old; went on line and got a USA update free - took a while to download but no problems. Didn't try to update the European map. I have read that I maybe could have gotten a free upgrade, maybe not, but I was very aware that Garmin had already discontinued the model and wanted to see if old maps were a problem. More in a minute. The device took up a lot less room than my old setup in my carry-on, leaving more room for a change of clothes and some necessities - which I needed but that has nothing to do with Garmin -
br /When we got to Milano (Nuvi recognized Milan, but did better with Firenze than Florence) booted right up and found satelites in 30 seconds without being told we weren't in the USA anymore. Navigated us out of the airport and for the first half of our trip beautifully. Initially set the voice to Italian (my wife and I are both reasonably conversant) but quickly changed back to English - no reason to make the driving harder.
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br /Trip time estimate was really good, directions were excellent; a little harder to set a more scenic route than the old set-up but quickly learned how to add an intermediate point to get a route off the autostrada when we wanted to. Incidentally, suction cup mount stayed on for thirteen days without a problem. Got to Bergamo, then Firenze, through Firenze's complex streets to the stadio to seek tickets for a soccer match (couldn't get them but again not a Garmin issue) then down to Val d'Orcia without a single glitch. Very, very happy.
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br /The Good:
br /Day trips all around Tuscany with no problems. Didn't do great with finding our kind of restaurant (menu only in Italian, no-one outside hawking tourists, local food, no pizza for pranzo) but no worse than most guide books and we did eat very well on our own. On a very foggy day in the hills/mountains of Tuscany took 40 seconds to find satelites and accuracy was a little off - a couple of times went 3-4 hundred yards before finding out we were on the wrong road - the right one having started out parallel but heading up hill not down. Although U-turns on winding roads are not fun, this was only occassional and we did fine. Had recorded about four gigs of music on an SD card - two problems: Rhapsody does not recognize the NUVI as an MP3 player so demanded money to allow a download to the card. This could be worked around but was irritating. The other is that playing music through the Nuvi speaker is an ear hurting experience. Playing through the FM worked but the FM antenna was in the rear window and it was never great sound. Acceptible, and we enjoyed the drives none the less.
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br /The OK:
br /Back to Firenze fine, but Firenze to Bologna was where the old maps were a problem. Lots of new construction near Bologna and the Nuvi got terribly confused. Finally shut the voice off and just followed the signs. Once off the Autostrada it was fine, but I couldn't figure out how to get it accept the track we had taken as an acceptible route for the several times we traversed this area.
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br /The not okay:
br /Marked the location where we parked outside the old part of Bologna, then used the Nuvi to get back to the car later in the day. If there's a way to get it to set a pedestrian route I couldn't find it. Walking the "wrong way" on a one-way street caused the voice to exclaim "re-calculating" every block, much to the amusement of the other pedestrians. I would think that bicyclists and hikers would want a non-auto function. Finally, nothing on the Garmin site gives a clear answer on how (if possible) to get the Nuvi to interact with my MapSource software. Making the device much more user friendly is great, but I could do stuff with my old set-up that I can't do (yet) with the Nuvi. There should be a difference between easier and dumber.
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br /Overall, a great upgrade. I'm home now, and going to see what I can do about upgrading the European maps. If I can get it free, great. I knew when I bought it that I might have to pay, so I won't be too upset if I have to. I'd get the same model again without hesitation.
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This (nuvi 670) is my first GPS. I love it. It directs me to most places. The reason why I gave it a 4 is because the map on my GPS is old and it does not have some of the new highways ( I bought it 4 months back). However it has directed me very well in cities like Boston, NY, CapeCod, St. Louis etc. However it is not very good on rural street roads because the map is old. It does not stick to my windshield. But this is not an issue. I am happy with it, it directs me pretty well. In St. Louis it directed me in the opposite direction on a one way street. But when I did not go on it, and went the opposite way it "recaluated" and directed me to the highway (which is what I wanted). When ever possible I back it up with printouts form mapquest. But I have yet to use these backups. I am happy with it.
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For a GPS unit the Nuvi 670 provides a great screen, clear voice guidance, and excellent routing. If you plan on using the Nuvi for hands free bluetooth, it is a neccessity to have a AUX input on your car stereo to plug the Nuvi into. While the built in speaker has good volume it does not work well at freeway speeds with the additional road noise. The headphone output on the Nuvi allows you to plug into a AUX stereo input to give you good sound through your car stereo. The FM transmitter is useless... way too much static. The MP3 player is a nice feature and I use it all the time when I get tired of listening to the radio commercials.

the GPS works fine ,but i had a problem with amazon promising me that the nuvi 670 had the newest map programs in it. that was incorrect .by contecting garmin customer service , i was able to down load the newest us and European maps at no charge.if you looking for friendly ,patient,and knowledgeable people,go buy a garmin.--------p.s.the only problem i had with the navagation was ,when it came to your designation point the nuvi some times made a mistake between left or right side of the street for your arrival .the other problem was it did not have the routes and streets that had been constructed 3 years ago.i am sure garmin will correct these minor program problems.-----paragon Pete

Since the 670 is a discontinued model the price reduction on Amazon was tremendous. For less than $320 you get the following features
br /- Spoken street names (although they often indistinguishable via computerized voices)
br /- Bluetooth cell phone reception (with a bluetooth phone which works very well)
br /- FM traffic monitor (of limited usefulness)
br /- US/Canada European maps (relative up to date; for the latest maps you get one updated map free and the other must be purchased)
br /- Car a separate home recharger
br /- Front Window mount
br /- Close to 6 million POI's
br /- Car/Truck/Motorcylce/Walking modes
br /- One way point before end destination
br /- Old style flip antenna (instead of built in)
br /- Very bright screen
br /- Speaker could be louder
br /-
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br /I took the unit on a recent trip and it was at least 90% accurate with recent (within the year) roads and freeways often not given. Highly recommended.

I bought this device as it came with the North American and Western European maps. I've used it Colorado, and the Canary Islands. I like the screen, the accessory functions, and the voice prompts. The device does have the limitations of the breed -- sometimes pins you to the wrong, but near-by street, maps are not quite up to date as I would wish with regards to the status of streets (one-way....) Battery life as advertised is fantasy. The mp3 player playing with coordination with the voice prompts through the FM radio is a high point.
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br /Cheers
br /Bob

I bought the nuvi670 from Brazil and it was delivered 24hs latter to my wife while she was traveling in US, excellent service.
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br /It is very simple to use and usefull on the road, you always know where you are, you can load your favorite songs (mp3 files) and use it as hands free mobile phone with excellent sound quality and safety while driving.
br /
br /I got location precision up to 4 meters on the road. Now I have to buy the Brazilian map to be able to navigate within Sao Paulo and other major cities.
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I'm French and I used this GPS in US and in Europe.
br /First don't use french translation in US. Abreviations are not correctly interpreted: Examples Dr = Doctor, St = Saint ...
br /The large screen is very good and acces to the different functions is very simple.
br /I have a MIO 230 GPS with European maps. On the MIO, it is possible to define which information I want on the screen, and I can customize a lot of automatic functions. With NUVI 670 it's not possible.
br /Conclusion : a good simple GPS without sophistigation.

I had the Garmin 660 which was subsequently stolen out of my car in the DC Metro region. My advice is to use the Garmin Lock utilizing the PIN code. A minor inconvenience but if the unit is ever returned to Garmin, you might get it back.
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br /The Garmin 670 is identical in form and function to the Garmin Nuvi 660. The 4.3" widescreen is helpful for improving visibility. Although the external antenna is cumbersome, the reception is good enough to operate the unit inside my house (with an open floor plan and large windows). The features include an MP3 player and Bluetooth capability. Projection of sound through the mono speaker is less than adequate for audiophiles but functional. Depending upon the density of radio stations in your area, the FM broadcast feature through your radio will be spotty in densely populated areas like Atlanta, DC, New York.
br /
br /Voices for guidance can be adjusted to various languages, and include American male and female voices, Australian male and female voices and British male and female voices.
br /
br /Acquisition of satellite signals can take up to a minute depending upon when and where you had your unit on last. Navigation is intuitive and various favorites, including home, can be set by address or POI.
br /
br /The unit comes with North American Maps and European Maps. When you register, you can upgrade one or the other. I opted for the North American DVD ROM update given the duration of updating through the internet.
br /
br /I bought this unit for my mother to travel in town and for the family when going to unfamiliar destinations. There is a wealth of Points of Interests (POIs) that this unit has. However, some of the big chain stores, like Staples, was not in the unit (How Strange).
br /
br /For navigation, you can view the map in 3D, North up or Track up. From that same screen, you can get turn by turn guidance with map, a turn by turn summary, and even features like speedometer/altimeter/odometer/average speed.
br /
br /The unit accepts an SD card for MP3s or for pictures.
br /
br /Traffic information is only useful in major cities where the FM transmitter is available. If you are in a Non-metropolitan area, this feature is useless. Unfortunately, the traffic subscription counter starts when you start the unit and you have 90 days.
br /
br /The unit is relatively easy to use and has some quirks but overall, this is a solid system for the current price.
br /
br /The unit includes a leather case, dashboard mount, front window mount, AC and DC charger (separate cords), so for the money, it is hard to choose between the newer flashier units and a well equipped older model like this.
br /
br /Aside from various drawbacks, I still recommend this product.

I replaced an iQue 3600 with this GPS. I did not use the Palm features of the iQue so switching to a nav/gps only unit was not an issue for me. Naturally, I purchased the 670 because it has the European maps. This unit is extremely user friendly. Accuracy is more than adequate. I can think of nothing negative to say.

The new toy for my wifes Christmas has done more than expected. We havent had a chance to try in Europe but here in states it does fine. Have had it not know some new roads etc but usually does fine and immediately gives alternative routes.

Wow! We've had a GPS unit in an auto for a couple of years and needed a portable unit for an upcoming European trip. The 670 has both US and European maps. If the maps of Eurpoe are as good as what we have seen for the US, it will meet all of our needs. It is very easy to use. Navigation commands are clear and timely for driving. The displayed maps are easy to read and to change scale. Overall, this is an excellent unit and is much more capable that the fixed unit in the car.

This navi system is easy to use and fantastic. We used it here and in Europe.

I purchased this product on the advice of a good friend who has a similar model. I'm sure that all the 600 models are relatively similar, but I could not have been happier with the purchase. I would recommend it to anyone and couldn't recommend it strongly enough. Was in Wash DC in Spring 2008. While there was able to find restaurants, attractions, shopping centers, WalMart and Target...then not having to worry about finding my way back to the hotel!

I selected this Garmin nuvi 670 primarily because it comes with maps of North America, Europe and Australia which is a great feature when you travel a lot. I also wanted a wide screen, 4.3". This GPS is very simple to understand and to operate, it offers large and clear instructions and, so far, the map data seems very accurate. A good choice at a reasonable price.

Having had the nuvi 670 for a bit over a month, I'm very happy with it. Directions seem to be clear and the map very readable. Also, I'm very glad I got the wide screen.

I'd like to be able to turn the volume up a bit higher than the current maximum, for noisy situations, and I've seen a few cases in which the directions given can be improved on by someone with local knowledge - for example in approaching a hotel near LAX off the 405 - but overall I'm very happy.

Ordering the optional dash mount make excellent sense, as I'm based in California (no window mounts allowed) and it's more convenient, and probably safer, than laying the unit on the passenger seat when I drive a rental.

Looking forward to trying it out in Europe and, with the right maps loaded, in Australia.

Next purchase is a Garmin Colorado for hiking!

This is a great product. I bought one for myself and loaned it to my wife and I had to buy a second one
for my car. I travel for a living and found it comes in very handy at the end of a trip when you are
looking for a paticular address you haven't visited before.

This product was purchased because we went on vacation and borrowed a smaller version of this product. We then researched and noticed this particular product had everything that the other did and more. This thing is absolutely great. You also get a free update that is redeemable once. It is definitely worth its money. I would recommend this to anyone that travels.

Simply awesome. A great GPS for a great price. I really love it. Very easy to use.

This product has more features than I'll ever use but those that I have used perform very well. Purchased for 4.4 inch screen and European maps. The 'voice' of the unit is very clean and understandable.

This is the first gps that I own. I went to the US and to drive around I used de Garmin Nuvi 660 and liked it a lot. So I had to get one for myself for back home in Europe. Needless to say I am very pleased with this product. I had to buy de Nuvi 670 instead of de 660 because its the one that already comes with maps preloaded for all of Europe.
br /I was kind of doubtfull on how precise these maps would be back in Spain. So as soon as I could, I went for a spin to tryout the new GPS. I was completly astounded as I saw that it had all the major roads with all the names correctly situated and not only that, it also had al the little back roads with names and all. I was very impressed with the quality of the maps. It was definitly a good buy. I definitly recomend it to anyone who plans on making a trip to Europe. You can drive around all Europe map free just with the help of your nuvi 670 and it also alerts you were there's a possibility of a radar. Simply Great. I use it all the time now.

We found the Garmin 670 to be extremely user friendly and fun to use. It it right on so far and we've had it now for a month. We'd purchased a Magellan prior to this purchase and took it back because it seemed awkward and difficult to use. The Garmin is easy to view, understand, and finding other places of interest is a snap. We highly recommend this product, especially the Garmin nüvi 670 4.3-inch widescreen along with the portable mount sold on Amazon. We haven't yet had the chance to use the bluetooth feature ... it's coming tho' ... ;-)

it is a good Navi device,
br /and it has north us and Euro maps,
br /which i believe is a v good travel kit.

This is my first GPS unit and I have been very happy with my purchase. We have owned our Garmin 670 for 4 months now and have used it in our hometown and on two out of town trips. When using it in my hometown it has calculated the most logical route. We have used our GPS to drive from Texas to Colorado and back and from San Jose to Carmel and then on to Berekely. It is so nice not to "mapquest" every potential trip prior to vacation. Just plug it in, type the desired address and GO! The combination map on the display with turn-by-turn audio directions make navigating very easy. When driving, we have also planned our meal breaks based on Garmin loaded restaurants along our route. It seems to include most every restaurant, not just chains. I have found that the maps load very quickly. My only criticism is that no manual was included for a first time user. It is fairly self explanatory, but it has many features I would have preferred to read about in advance. Instead I have been discovering the features myself in the car. I would buy this unit again.

I bought the Garmin 670 for my husband who can't find his way out of a paper bag. :) He loves it and found it very easy to use. I ordered it for his birthday in September(he was going to be out of town for his birthday and it came so fast he was able to take it with him out of town.

The Garmin Nuvi 670 is a great product! I bought it for my wife, and she was able to use it successfully immediately after opening the box and charging it. It is quite small and easily carried and stored. She now takes it everywhere, and it has not disappointed us at all. Satellite reception is good anywhere in the car.
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br /We have a Garmin Street Pilot, and quite using it because it was too much trouble to set up and not that easy to use. This model is much, much better.
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br /I have a navigation system built into a Toyota Camry, and the Garmin provides much better route selection and more useful information than the built-in system, despite being much smaller.
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br /I highly recommend it!

Our family makes several trips to unfamiliar areas every year; and, while there, we like to travel by car. A relative bought a Garmin GPS for such purposes and found that it was very beneficial, even in her own city. After much research we decided upon the Garmin Nuvi 670, since it had the European feature. We used it while in the Yellowstone National Park area and were sold on this system. Later we found that it worked very well as we traveled to various cities in Germany. Our German friends decided that they wanted to purchase this same system for their travels in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Therefore, we left our GPS with them and later purchased this same item when we returned to the USA.
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br /We enjoyed the various features of the Garmin Nuvi 670. Also, we purchased the Portable Friction Dashboard Mount and found that it was a great accessory for our GPS. All of our purchases were made via Amazon, and we were very pleased with their prices and service.
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We used this Garmin to explore the UK and it was very accurate and easy to use. We undoubtedly saved lots of time finding our way without having to use printed maps or stop to ask directions. "Hartley" (yes, people name their GPS devices) was a life saver in those famous roundabouts. Have also used it driving to and walking in Chicago (last minute passport scramble)and it was great on both levels. Very 'green' device, no more need to print maps.

I have only had the unit a few days but so far it is excellent. The 670 came with older maps and Garmin updated both the N.A. map and Europe map for free. Europe was updated online and took a few hours to download with my slow internet connection. Garmin customer service sent the N.A. map DVD via mail which took 3 or 4 days to receive. Hold time for customer service was about 2 minutes.
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br /The unit locks the GPS signal within seconds both indoors and out. Routing has been accurate and re-routing is very quick. You can in fact add stops along the way to a destination. Spoken directions are clear and precise.
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br /One issue that I had initially was that turns were announced way too close to the actual turn. However, after updating to the latest N.A. map that issue is not longer present. Turns are announced far enough in advance of the turn. I also think that more announcements are made as a result of the update.
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br /I highly recommend this GPS. Garmin customer service seems very good also.

Wanted help to reach several sites in quick order. Time was the factoer and I could not miss a turn. Bought the 670 for now and future Europe travel and it did the trick. Hit the rent a car lot -- turned it on in a strange town and it got me to that destination, and the next 4 over a 3 day weekend. Also got me to my hotel every night. Plus I loaded a batch of JPEGS to share with the family and friends as I arrived.
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br /Best thing I like about this portable model is you can set your destinations and favorite in the comfort of your easy chair away from you car and its dashboard.

Very good GPS with good maps for USA, Canada and Europe. Easy to use, easy to read or to hear. Thanks.

I love this Garmin! It's so easy to use, even for me (who's challenged with my cell phone). I never get lost anymore. Great if you're searching for realestate, yard sales, or any group of addresses in an area. No more printing out pages from MapQuest. The hands-free cell phone option is wonderful with clear connections every time. It can play audio books and music, and has a number of other options available. It's portable and holds a charge for a long time so you can travel with it or carry it with you when you're sight-seeing by foot. The only semi-negative thing I've noticed is that although it always gets you where you want to go, it sometimes takes you the stangest way to get there. With that said, I do love it! It's actually one of my favorite new gadgets and I use it every day!

Bought this for my wife who will be in Germany for a year. It is preloaded with Europe and all of the North American maps. It is also Blue Tooth capable. This is the fourth Garmin GPS I have purchased and it is by far the best. Sure the maps aren't perfect but they are certainly the best available. Previous Nuvi models hid the instructions on the Nuvi itself. This one actually has the instructions on the CD in the box plus it is on the built-in Nuvi flash drive. All you have to do is charge the machine, read the instructions and you will be on your way to almost perfect destinations. All of my military and medical friends use Garmin equipment. As to the Blue Tooth - - - it is easier to pair with my cell phone than my Blue Tooth ear piece. This thing is fantastic. Hopefully I will hear positive feedback from my wife when she gets to Germany in about 3 weeks. After checking the Garmin website for a few icon updates (my wife liked the Black Pearl Ship icon best). I tried to borrow the Nuvi 670 but my wife has a habit of changing the subject. Oh well that's life.

We bought this product as a gift for our friends to assist them in their 40th anniversary trip to Europe. In their return, one of the first things they said was "how practical and how useful" their GPS was in Europe, especially in England.
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br /Apparently, at practicality and ease of use departments it beat the in-dash product that came with their luxury automobile.
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br /Sounds like we picked the right product for the right purpose...
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First of all I am generally a big Gamin fan. I am also an engineer.
My experience:
I have a garmin GNS430 in my Airplane, Another Garmin in my boat, I have GPS in my corvette and now I have the Nuvi 670. I have used the Hertz neverlost system extensively in USA and Europe, and have Microsoft streets and trips with a deluo transducer on my laptop.

- Cannot configure the time of arrival display (UNBELIEVABLE!) typical GPS allow you to change this to provide ETA, ETE, miles left etc..
- WILL NOT PROVIED LAT and LONGITUDE (UNBELIEVEABLE!) anybody with mulitple gps devices will want this... (It does appear to let you INPUT lat and long. to find a location)
- in any mode (ESPECIALLY "pedestrian") it does not provide a compas heading in degrees.... (only North or NW for example)

Great so far but the suction cup does not hold the unit. Disappointed that I spent this much money and they took a short cut with the mounting.

Excellent product. I do a lot of travelling and will not go anywhere without it. The traffic feature is great and it is very intuitive. GREAT GREAT GREAT product.

it is a good device. I used it quite often. But only one time, it took me to a different city. Finally it realized the problem and asked to do a U-turn and back to highway. The Suction Cup Mount makes me crazy sometimes. All in all, it is a good joy.
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This is the Best darn GPS on the market I tried the Garmin 3600 iQue and this is better by far. easy to use touch screen and it works like a charm. I also like the bluetooth hands free compatibility with my cell phone when I'm on the road.
We plan a trip to Europe and this GPS has European Maps. I mark this GPS a 5 star buy

I used this Garmin Nuvi 670 just for a short time but I do like the features it has and just for the few times I used it I like it allot.
I tried the navigation, the hands free bluetooth technology and the FM transmit. in my area the traffice control does not provide service at the momement so i can not tell much about that.

I love this GPS! It arrived just in the nick of time after I had it expedited. This one does so much. There's still accessories for me to buy.
br /Be careful if you put it on the FM transmitter option. You won't hear sound out of it's speakers which might make you think it's broken. Just go back and find the setting and switch it to auto output and select internal speakers to get your voice/sound back.

Terrible Mac support...

Mac's must use Internet Exlorer to access many links... unavailabe after January 31, 2006,according to my research...

We took the GPS to Germany and Italy and we ended up buying a map. the GPS had NO reception 90% of the time and one of the roads it suggested taking (after we set it on fastest way) once it did work ended up taking 1 hour longer than the rout we found on the map. Over all it was a very BAD experience especially since this is one of the most expensive ones on the market. Maybe it works better in the US.

So many features can sometimes mean too complicated to use, but not with the Garmin 670. The CD of instructions was helpful and once you got the just of how things work you can easily figure out how to utlize all of the other features. I plan to go to europe in the fall so I can not comment on the europe map quality but I am sure it will be excellent.

First time buyer of GPS device and I certainly do love how the capabilities of Garmin Nuvi 670, from giving directions to accurately pin point the exact locations that aren't even listed, as long as you know the exact address it'll get and give what it's capable of, compared my Garmin to people I work with their Tom Tom doesn't even do much what Garmin has. I never regret paying so much for a device. Delivery is a success also, I didn't wait for a long time to receive it.

I have had other GPS before this one. This holds all the US and Europe maps, has an incredibly bright and big LCD display, is multilingual and extremley interactive and easy to use. I LOVE this one, and I will take it now to Germany with me.

The good: Lots of bells and whistles; Bluetooth, mp3 player, custom points of interests.
Nice options for pedestrian and bicycle mode. Although I am not sure it's waterproof
enough if you get stuck in the rain.

The bad: For what you get, Garmin could have done a better job. Driving on the freeways in
southern california, don't expect to hear the navigated directions with the window down.
Same goes for trying to use the bluetooth in making phone calls. That's even with the
volume cranked all the way up. I can hear the radio just fine with the windows rolled down.

Although it's a nice thought of adding custom POI's, such as for safety cameras out here.
The directions almost require you to have a technical degree, to upload them.

Garmin if you are reading this, make it easy on the novice and test your products better.
If someoone wants to add a custom POI, make it easy by having an icon that will automatically
log the location you are at as a custom POI.

Also do a better job of testing the products for volume controls with the windows up and down
in various traffic areas, conjested or not.

I pick this one by the size of the screen and the fact that has the European map. We travel a lot and we go also to Europa so i'm hoping to use it there.
Buying thru Amazon i did get a better price than thru other online stores.

I looked at all the Nuvi models. Unless you love gadgets and can deal with complicated add-ons there is no reason to buy anything more expensive than the Nuvi 650. No blue tooth, no crappy MSN and no FM radio (how stupid).

The 650's processor, GPS receiver, screen, case & battery are IDENTICALL to all of the more expensive Nuvi 6XX series.

Hey I love gadgets folks but we are not helping the people who read these reviews for some common sense answers to basic questions if we do not point out which models for basic functionality.

Originally I even questioned the larger 4.2" screen - Why?: because you should not be looking at the damn thing when your're driving. Set your destination before you start and just listen to the excellent voice instructions.

For those who just want a very good GPS navigator spend no more than what the 650 costs.

PS: I thought everyone already had a bluetooth headset for the cell phone?

Garmin nüvi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

You will not get this.

I ordered one and received a "can't ship to your address" excuse.
BAIT and SWITCH.

BEWARE !!!

My second Garmin and the second to fail within a year or just after. Garmin won't repair without paying them. Go with Magellan