Garmin nüvi 660 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

I was traveling for almost two months. My nuvi would often would try to take me on forest service roads. Fortunately, only one time when I actually followed the GPS's directions, was potentially life threatening (no cell service, on a forest service road out in the middle of nowhere).

Also, it told me to turn the wrong way (left instead of right, for instance) several times - crazy! In short, this product is dangerous,
and not worth buying, because of the possibility that it can get people
lost or stranded in remote areas. Also, it is a gas waster, when one is trying to get back on track.

I soon figured out that I had to check the map and/or ask directions.

Garmin asks people to note the exact time & place when the GPS commits errors. Who will really do that? Who is even aware that this is a requirement. Not practical. Garmin probably doesn't really want to know about the products' faults.

I bought the Garmin Nuvi 660 2 years ago, which was the latest and greatest at that time ($750 on sale, $1000 retail). After all this time, I use it nearly every day and am not itching to buy the latest and greatest. It's small enough to take with me in a friend's car or on trip in a rental. However, I won't give it a 5 star since there is room for improvement:

1. Battery life drops over time (I've already switched it out under warranty by the end of the first year). This is not a big deal if you leave it plugged in all of the time, assuming you have a spare light adapter in your car. The GPS is not really that small and portable anymore when you have to bring along the long power cable.
2. The bluetooth capability is not great, but I'm happy with my Jawbone that I can use in and out of my car anyway, so this is not a deal breaker.
3. A monthly membership is required for traffic updates (a small fee, but it's not quick and reliable, Google Maps with traffic on my iPhone is much better AND free). This is not necessarily a deal breaker, but then my GPS cannot give me alternate routes then.
4. For traffic updates, the charger must be plugged in at all times, which does eat up the battery life.
5. There is no option to force the GPS unit to give me alternate directions, but I can start driving a different way, so it will eventually give me another route. There is an option to avoid freeways, in case I want it to take the beach roads, like PCH.
6. It cannot give me a point-to-point directions, meaning it can only give me directions starting at my current location at that time.
7. The map updates are not free; this is not a deal breaker, but it's annoying when I'm trying to find a new place. At least I can save the next nearest major intersection or the exact xy-coordinates with the new location's name for future reference.
8. The suction cup does not work well to mount to the window or my dash, so I ended up buying the bean bag holder, an accessory through Amazon.
9. This is good for being portable, but the downside is that it's not integrated with my sound system, meaning my car's radio volume does not decrease when my GPS unit is giving directions. I usually have the volume turned off anyhow and just read the directions.
10. The GPS unit does not include traffic when providing an estimate on the travel time, so I consider it as minimum travel time if I wasn't driving in LA traffic.
11. This unit does not have voice recognition, meaning I have to punch everything in on the touch screen.

So what do I like about it?
1. Options for viewing in plan view or 3D.
2. Option to be pointing north always or in the current direction.
3. Records time, speed, and other stats, which has proved to be good by resetting it before handing my car over to a valet guy and then checking my GPS when I get my car back to see how far and how fast my 350Z was driven.
4. Visibility of the number of miles until my next turn, so that I don't have to merge into the slow lane until I really need to.
5. Knowing the minimum travel time, assuming no traffic, but I wish it did account for traffic as I mentioned earlier.
6. I can save my favorite locations with phone numbers.
7. Good maps as of January 2007 when I first got it, so now I call up 411-Google for new phone numbers to call for directions while I'm driving or look it up in advance on Google Maps and then save it to my GPS.
8. Load your favorite photos (and MP3s, but I haven't tried) via a SD card.
9. Value Card for $50 per year to get local discounts but I never used it, so it was a waste for me.
10. The contrast and lighting look good in day and night.
11. Large display is easy to read.
12. Have a bunch of places, such as restaurants and as stations, at my fingertips, so I have more freedom to go anywhere I want!
13. Easy to use and fairly intuitive. I rarely had to read the manual.
14. Repair fee is a flat fee regardless of the problem, and I think Garmin just gives you a refurbished unit anyway. I could not tell a difference except for the fact that my favorites were gone and that my special screen protector was not there.

These are in no particular order, because some of these may be show stoppers for you or some may weigh more in terms of importance. The price has decreased by more than 50% and this model is still worthy as it was 2 years ago. Garmin is a reliable brand in general. I'd recommend it to friends, family, and strangers AND I'd buy it again.

There is a reason this gets such good reviews, it works very well. While on occasions is takes you on different routes that are not the fastest way, it will get you to your destination. The voice directions are very helpful and will tell you which side of the road your exit is on. It also comes with a wall charger, car charger, and dashboard mounting hardware(easily an 80 dollar value).

This is my third GPS that I have purchased. You can't help but love the features, and the accuracy. However, I only wish that the traffic alert (which works EXCELLENT) came with free lifetime access. I have been seeing that with other Mfgrs. But since I have no desire to look at any other than my 660, I guess I will live with it.

Great product, meet's expectations. Only problem was that the bluetooth was not compatible with my blackberry 8320. The connection kept dropping.