Garmin Nuvi 1490T

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 31 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 7 stars

  Works as Advertised - Easy to use and update

  by hnavp66 on November 26, 2009

  Pros: Crisp, clear display makes maps easy to read. Voice announcements are clear and easy to hear, and adjust. Unit fires up and shuts down quickly . Garmin website tools now make units easy to update.

  Cons: Unit required extensive software and firmware updates out of the box, requiring a 2GB download.

  Summary: I read the 2 previous reviews and I have to say had I read them first I would not have purchased this unit. However, with that said Garmin must have ...

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  Summary: I read the 2 previous reviews and I have to say had I read them first I would not have purchased this unit. However, with that said Garmin must have issued several fixes as I've not come across any of the issues experienced by the other reviewers.
  
  Be sure to load your firmware and software updates before putting the unit in use. The Garmin website now makes this much easier to do as the downloads are basically automated and just require time.
  
  The unit comes on quickly, the touch screen isn't overly sensitive and is a QWERTY keyboard, making typing more intuitive. There's also the option for a straight a-b-c layout if typing isn't your thing.
  
  Once on, the screen is bright and easy to read, but also adjustable brightness so the screen doesnt dominate the car. The suction holder is firm on the winshield. No fear of dropping off while driving (had a unit a while back that did that). When the power cord is removed the unit gives you the option to keep the unit on, or shut down. Later on, shutting the unit down is a quick button push for immediate shut off.
  
  I have not used the bluetooth connection yet. The unit also has a screen shot function that I'm a little confused about right now, since it's not a camera unit. Perhaps to save a map copy for some reason.
  
  When the map is up you can manuever around using a finger swipe. Zoom in and out shows quite a bit of detail. Unit will do a quick recalculation when you turn the 'wrong way.'
  
  Good GPS unit once the updates are installed. Shop around on this one though. I bought at Costco for $340, and then 10 minutes later at Best Buy saw the exact same unit for $500.

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  8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Works great

  by ahensel149 on March 27, 2010

  Pros: Previous GPS Garmin 650t. Larger, clear screen readable in all light conditions. Very quick to locate satellites. Route planning intuitive. With old unit I would often pass a street physically before the GPS would indicate the passage.

  Cons: Took reviewers advice and updated firmware and maps first. Tricky to find where to update firmware on Garmin site. Took six tries before map update worked. Bluetooth coordination with cell, thanks to virtually no documention, not easy.

  Summary: Setup, as explained, not that easy. I hoped for much better documentation; the manual with hand held hiking units were a 1,000 times better. Garmin assistance only available weekdays ...

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  Summary: Setup, as explained, not that easy. I hoped for much better documentation; the manual with hand held hiking units were a 1,000 times better. Garmin assistance only available weekdays and not after 5. I can see why some reviewers found the setup overwhelming. At one point in the map update if you did the wrong thing you could have pooched your unit - according to the on screen warning. Easy to miss if one is in a hurry. Once the somewhat unpleasant setup was over I took the 1490T for an extensive drive. It worked great. The faster processor meant that changes in direction, such as sharp turns, was instantaneous. I haven't had to use the traffic alert but it must have been working because I did get unobtrusive advertising at the very top of the large screen. The POI feature was far superior to the 650T. Using bluetooth was a piece of cake and the clarity and volume of calls was great. All in all, an excellent unit. If it hadn't been for setup hassle I would have given it 5 stars.
  
  Updated on Mar 31, 2010

  My use of the unit for a week has changed my opinion drastically. It's route planning is ludicrous. In "going home" it has me driving past the road leading to my side street and go about a mile and a half to come in a back entrance and then tells me to turn right, when I should be turning left. On another route, it had me going south when I should have been directed to go north. My old GPS routing was clearly superior. It is off in it's placement of my actual location by 200 feet most of the time. Bluetooth volume to me is good but the other party thinks I am fading out all the time - this when I'm sitting in the car with the engine turned off. For those still wishing to buy, turn off ZoneAlarm (if used) before doing the map download. I was very disappointed to learn that Garmin is Taiwanese owned and the auto units are now built there. Tech help was American and good. My new rating is 1.5 stars. My unit will go back.

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  7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 10 stars

  Great GPS! I don't understand the complaints!

  by Baby_Doc on December 7, 2009

  Pros: Larger speaker with clear voice output.
  Larger, brighter 5.0 inch touch screen.
  Easy to use interface.
  Uncluttered 3-D perpective maps -easy to use and follow.
  Lane assist and junction views - very nice!
  Blue tooth works.
  Hotfix to satellites.

  Cons: 3-D map does not show name of street upon which you are traveling.
  Points of interest not visible on 3-D maps. In 2-D must zoom to 200 ft or less to see POI.
  Takes a minimum of 2.5 hours to update maps. ONLY first update is free.

  Summary: This is my first gps purchase. I, too, bought it on black Friday for $249 at Costco. At that price it is a good value. It works as it should. ...

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  Summary: This is my first gps purchase. I, too, bought it on black Friday for $249 at Costco. At that price it is a good value. It works as it should. I love the big screen and clear voice directions. The blue tooth works great, too!
  
  Some people have complained that they have had problems with connecting to satellites. I did not experience this except with the first cold startup of the unit. According to Garmin, during the first cold startup, the unit gathers data of the satellite positions that it then stores in an almanac for future use, enabling almost immediate connections when you turn on the gps the next time. The gathering and writing of that new almanac of satellite postions sometimes needs an open clear unobstructed view of the sky with the gps in a stationary position. This can take 5 minutes the first time you use the gps. This almanac should not need to be rebuilt often, unless you haven't used the gps for a long time, or you had flew to a distant location and then tried to use the gps again.

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  6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  Big screen but has big issues

  by wwwXpert on January 20, 2010

  Pros: 5" Screen, Free Lifetime FM Traffic, Geocoding

  Cons: No POIs on Map while driving, Intermittent Blank Screens when driving, Intermittent System Crashes, Usability issues when Panning Map with Touch Screen, Inaccurate Satellite Triangulation (sometimes off by 1 city block)

  Summary: The Garmin nuvi 1490T offers a great screen and free lifetime FM traffic but delivers poor value in usability, reliability and customization. I tested this new unit over the course ...

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  Summary: The Garmin nuvi 1490T offers a great screen and free lifetime FM traffic but delivers poor value in usability, reliability and customization. I tested this new unit over the course of three weeks in Northern California and New York City. The system performance degraded over time where the Map display goes blank intermittently and calculation of routes takes several minutes. So if you're driving and make a wrong turn, expect to be lost because the unit becomes unresponsive while it recalculates the route which takes several minutes; and when it's done, it's not where it was previously and has to recalculate again and again. Also, Garmin removed all POI display on the Map when driving with no manual override to display POIs. As a consumer who's driving, you will not be able to see different POI categories like gas stations, coffee shops, parking, etc... Bottom-line, stay away from the Garmin nuvi 1490T.

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  3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  Garmin Nuvi 1490

  by rfr88 on May 18, 2011

  Pros: Good maps. Fairly good directions. Not so good at redirects.

  Cons: Garmin claims this unit is Bluetooh compatible. They do not note that it seems to be comaptible with phones other than those that my wife and I, or our 3 kids own. It is NOT compatible and does not work with MANY current models of Smartphones. I have the

  Summary: Garmin may be a fine GPS, but it a very poor Bluetooth unit. I feel that Garmin is falsely advertising their Bluetooth compatibility. They should state that it is only ...

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  Summary: Garmin may be a fine GPS, but it a very poor Bluetooth unit. I feel that Garmin is falsely advertising their Bluetooth compatibility. They should state that it is only compatible with some cell phones.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  I have used this for 2 weeks and find it very good

  by destevenson on October 30, 2010

  Pros: Like the screen size, the ability to instantly change from compass to altimeter or clock. This is the first unit I have had that could find my home in the country. Most lead you down dead end roads.

  Cons: Like everything about it at this time.

  Summary: An overall good GPS unit. Only time will tell if it will lead me astray in the future.

  Summary: An overall good GPS unit. Only time will tell if it will lead me astray in the future.

  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 10 stars

  Outstanding experience

  by mannishboy on September 11, 2010

  Pros: extremely intuitive, screen is easy to read and bright, accuracy is very good overall, fast start-up and shut-down, comes with a nice mounting bracket, fit and finish is very good, updates for 60 days.

  Cons: will likely need a micro-sd card immediately for updates as there is very little built-in memory available. Battery life is minimal. (neither of these are deal breakers).

  Summary: I broke down and finally bought a Garmin for my recent trip to NC (775 mi. to a new destination for me). I was immediately impressed with the 1490T as ...

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  Summary: I broke down and finally bought a Garmin for my recent trip to NC (775 mi. to a new destination for me). I was immediately impressed with the 1490T as a user friendly and fast device. I have never owned a GPS unit before and just grabbed one that looked like it would probably work for me. I recommend it. Starts up quickly, acquires position quickly, and processes route quickly. Also recalculates a new route quickly when you miss a turn due to construction or if you take a detour for Starbucks or a rest stop. All excellent features for an auto-based navigation unit. Battery life is low as expected but the chances of not having an available 12v outlet available in a car nowadays is negligible.
  I have no gripes with the resolution. It is perfectly acceptable to me. Very easy to read information on the screen and the voice that comes with the unit is clear and understandable (if not perfectly pronounced). You can, if you wish, load different icons for your car and/or different pre-recorded voices, or use your own voice with software available at the Garmin website.
  All in all, a great purchase. Worked perfectly for me. $199 at WalMart on 9/2/2010.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Great GPS... Go for it!

  by jackbert88 on March 9, 2010

  Pros: Very easy to use and easy to understand. Great features like eco-driving (wich I started to use this week), traffic (wich is accurate in the Montreal area). Bleutooth has many features with POI. Easy to find and call anywhere you're going...

  Cons: Doesn't have an FM transmiter, the first firmware and map update is a bit long but it's only done once. An mp3 player would have been nice to have as well like the Nuvi 765WT.

  Summary: I tried the Nuvi 250W, 265WT and 765WT but I prefer the 1490T with the new features like Lane assist for example. Even though it doesn't have the FM ...

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  Summary: I tried the Nuvi 250W, 265WT and 765WT but I prefer the 1490T with the new features like Lane assist for example. Even though it doesn't have the FM transmiter and the MP3 player, I still prefer the 1490T. I also tried the Tomtom 540XXL but it doesn't come close to ease of use of the 1490T. GO FOR IT... It's a great buy and I haven't had any of the problems mentionned in other reviews!

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 10 stars

  1490T is great value

  by doc9899 on January 31, 2011

  Pros: Size, screen quality and size, ease of use, intuitive, multiple capabilities

  Cons: None so far

  Summary: This is my first GPS and I am thrilled with the 1490T. I resisted buying one only because I thought Google maps would get me anywhere - was I wrong! ...

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  Summary: This is my first GPS and I am thrilled with the 1490T. I resisted buying one only because I thought Google maps would get me anywhere - was I wrong! After misinformation on a trip (due to construction, which would have been avoided if I had the Garmin) I bought this for an amazing $139 at Costco. I was up and running in no time after the 4 hour charge and updates via the excellent website. The PDF manual is excellent. All the usual GPS features are easy to use from the screen menus. The BlueTooth capabilities are a real bonus. I found the favorites menu easy to use, the transfer of my address book from my phone to the nuvi slick, and the hands free communication feature very handy and clear.
  
  I have not experienced any of the problems a few reviewers mentioned. All in all, this is a great product! I highly recommend it.

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  1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  A first-time GPS user's review after 1-1/2 years of use

  by Taz_04Sprinter on January 8, 2013

  Pros: Nice large, bright display, fairly easy to use, very good maps. Bluetooth is very timely and handy. The lifetime map updates is a great feature. FM speed and traffic updates and display are a great idea.

  Cons: Eco-Route is a joke, only one vehicle profile, the touch screen should have better resolution & crisper graphics. The update process takes far too long; see below for more.

  Summary: I acquired my Garmin 1490T as a Father's Day present in June, 2011 and I was thrilled.
  
  After using it almost daily for a year and a half (for ...

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  Summary: I acquired my Garmin 1490T as a Father's Day present in June, 2011 and I was thrilled.
  
  After using it almost daily for a year and a half (for work, family trips both short and long, general driving around for errands, etc.), there are some features I really like and there are others that have been disappointing. It's my only GPS experience so I maybe I expected too much. OK so it sounds like I have a "relationship" with my Garmin and yeah I do - it's part of my daily life so I interact with it alot. So this is my "therapy session" and you have a couch-side seat; let's roll.
  
  I've enjoyed having the Garmin 1490T with me through my daily travels, family outings and as a tool to track my mileage for work. Once you get used to what it does, its quirks and what is "not-as-advertized" it's a very good tool and at times a useful distraction. Hmm, this is sounding more and more like a therapy session...
  
  I think alot of reviewers have fallen for what turns out to be not-as-advertized glitter on the 1490T and the Eco-route feature is front and center as an example. Once you start using it, you realize that even though it could be something so much more, it's really a large farce: its mileage algorithm will for example report that at 45MPH/70KPH you're getting 99% fuel efficiency - but you're stuck in second gear so your engine is revving at 3500RPM! Or you can be slipping along smoothly in overdrive at 70MPH/100KPH with the engine at a reasonable 1900-2000 RPM and it reports that your efficiency is only 72%. Really?? 3500RPM going 70KPH is more gas-efficient than 100KPH at 2000RPM? Please explain the math...
  
  Add on the optional doo-dad that plugs into your OBD2 connector and you can get actual readings from your engine's computer: intake temp, oil & coolant temps, engine RPM, etc. I bought it (at a hefty $100) because I thought it might improve the Eco-route's functions, give me more insight into my engine's operation and integrate it more with my driving experience. The gauges it now displays are very customizable and really cool - BUT the Eco-Route doesn't actually USE the info from your auto's computer!! It STILL sticks to its useless algorithm!!
  
  The Eco-route feature could have been so much more if Garmin had made it actually useful instead of the marketing tinsel that so many reviewers have fallen for without actually using it.
  
  Some of other let-downs:
  
  - One vehicle profile. Really Garmin, you think I'm going to buy a separate unit for each vehicle?? CLUE: you made it portable, so it's gonna "port" with me between my two family cars. They are very different: one's a Sprinter and the other is a Sedona. It would be a REALLY nice touch to be able to have the unit support more than one vehicle. This would also confirm that Garmin gave some thought to how the buying public will actually use it.
  
  - The "Routes" feature is great, enabling selecting common runs you might use often but allows for only 10 Routes. Maybe my life's a little more complicated than Garmin imagined but only 10 really cramps me.
  
  - the input screen for addresses is at times slow and sometimes doesn't pick up your selection. This can be frustrating when you need to input an address on the fly (DON'T do this while driving!!)
  
  - trying to move around the map by dragging your finger across the touch screen is a frustrating experience.
  
  - I should be able to set my city/locality as a "default" somewhere so that I don't have to include that with each address I have to enter.
  
  - Sometimes I get home but on the GPS map I'm still a block and a half away, or in the green space behind my neighborhood. Not sure why, as there are times when it shows me actually parked in my drive way.
  
  - The SD card can actually only be used to display pictures, not store data. Uhh... this is a *GPS* Garmin, used when in motion - when will I show *pictures* while I'm driving - and to whom?? Fellow commuters?? I do like that I can have pics with me yes, BUT to limit the GPS capability to use the SD storage ONLY for pictures is a travesty.
  
  - the Battery SUCKS!! At the beginning it was useful for about 3-4 hours but quickly dwindled to barely last an hour and a half, sometimes even less. Sure you can plug it in - if you remembered to bring the adaptor with you!!
  
  - there is a known issue with the USB connector; it will fail internally and then your GPS will get stuck in a "data connection" mode when plugged in to your laptop (for charging while on the road) and therefore be useless as a GPS. Per Murphy's law, his will happen at the most inconvenient time.
  
  In closing, Garmin has made a very nice GPS with the 1490T model. I use it daily for work and family life and is both a useful tool for work and play, and a fun gadget to have. It keeps the kiddo's from asking "Are we there yet?" - ok, asking it less often, on long trips and they enjoy telling me where to turn next ("258 Km from now Dad, take the exit... and you're 3 KM's over the speed limit.."). Yup, I'm a good Dad. My wife now has another source of confirmation that not only did I miss the turn but I'm also not following its directions.
  
  The Eco-Route farce and the list of let-downs put a damper on my overall GPS experience. I haven't gone looking at the market so I can't say how it compares but all the online reviews say I've got the best navigation gadget on the market.
  
  Open up this model to the Open Source community, let the geeks create enhancements and this unit would absolutely take off and Garmin would be several notches up in its market.
  
  I know, I know, I hear it coming: "The next model will have...". Since I have what I have and it does what I need, I'll not be "upgrading". But I will entertain improvements, from Garmin and the Open Source community as well!

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