Garmin NÜVI 670

...way since then. Enter the Garmin Nuvi 670, purchased from Amazon for the rather pricey sum of £380. This device has, so far at least, convinced me that Sat-Nav is finally a viable prospect

I bought this particular model for several reasons:

- It's relatively compact with a generous screen size.
- it's got a built in battery that's good for nearly 7 hours.
- it includes maps of Europe and America.
...
...all the things your new Garmin is capable of (but that you need to buy as extras). Not forgetting the two orange bits of paper that have essential licensing information on, which is necessary to enter on the Garmin website to "activate" your unit (for which you must connect it to your PC with the supplied USB cable and visit the Garmin website).

Setup is a doddle. Stick the windscreen mount on your windscreen, plug the power ... more

4 years ago, I bought a sat-nav system that was based on a iPAQ. It had wires all over the place and kept trying to take me down roads that didn't exist. I got fed up with it pretty quickly and ended up reverting to the trusty road atlas after yet another journey of mis-direction.

But that was 4 years ago and technology has moved on a long way since then. Enter the Garmin Nuvi 670, purchased from Amazon for the rather pricey sum of £380. This device has, so far at least, convinced me that Sat-Nav is finally a viable prospect

I bought this particular model for several reasons:

- It's relatively compact with a generous screen size.
- it's got a built in battery that's good for nearly 7 hours.
- it includes maps of Europe and America.
- it's a brand I trust.

but most importantly:

- it takes live traffic information into consideration when planning your route, and can even divert you around severe delays.

You see, I spend a LOT (too much!) of my time on the M25 which more often than not suffers terrible delays and closures. The theory then is that the Garmin's ability to detect problems and divert around them will make my time on the M25 less of a frustration.

So I bought one. There's not much comes in the box - the unit, a USB cable, dashboar/windscreen mount (with power cable and FM antenna), a CD and a leatherette carry-case. Oh, and a stack of leaflets in a multitude of languages that advertise all the things your new Garmin is capable of (but that you need to buy as extras). Not forgetting the two orange bits of paper that have essential licensing information on, which is necessary to enter on the Garmin website to "activate" your unit (for which you must connect it to your PC with the supplied USB cable and visit the Garmin website).

Setup is a doddle. Stick the windscreen mount on your windscreen, plug the power cable into your cigar lighter and clip the unit to the mount. It turns itself on as soon as there's power and you get a (customisable) splash-screen. It takes about 15 seconds to load the maps, whish seems like an age, but considering the extent of map coverage isn't all that bad really. After accepting a disclaimer that Garmin aren't responsible for your rubbish driving you're at the main menu.

And here's where this review could get very long and tedious, for this device does a tonne of stuff. In all honesty, it does way more than I've used it for, so I'm going to guess that it's way more than most people will use it for. As this is my opinion, not a regurgitation of the manuals, I'll only talk about the bits I've used...

From the main screen, you can set a destination, view the map or open yout "travel kit". The first two are obvious, the last one contains all the features I haven't used (MP3 player, picture viewer( who should be viewing their photo album while driving?!?!?!), calculator, language guide etc, etc - many of which you need to buy additional SD cards with dta on to make real use of).

But you primarily want to use a sat-nav to get somewhere and the Garmin gives you plenty of ways to find a place. Address, points of interest, intersections, cities, by browsing the map or by entering coordinates(!). You can also set a home location to give you one-touch return to home.

My most frequently used method has been by entering an address. First step is to enter the country you're in - just type the first few letters using the keyboard displayed on the touch-screen and it will give you a short-list to pick from. Next step is to enter a full post-code, then a house number. then it's simply a case of pressing "GO". Or you can view the map to fine-tune things, or save it to your favourites.

Once you've hit GO route calculation happens pretty swiftly - usually within 5 seconds - and your first instructions are spoken in a calm, even but authoritative tone. The map can display either heading up, north up or isometric view and your route is highlighted in pink. The maps have a good level of detail, rivers, parks etc and as you approach junctions, the map zooms in to show you exactly which exits to take (or avoid). The unit uses GPS to calculate sunrise/sunset times for wherever you are and automatically changes between daytime and nighttime colour schemes, so no more glaring white maps lighting up your whole car at night.

Should a delay appear on your calculated route, a little yellow warning triangle will appear on the display telling you how long the delay is likely to be, and adjusting your ETA accordingly - which is handy if you need to let someone know if you're going to be late. The Garmin continually monitors the delay and as soon as it finds an alternative route that it thinks will be quicker than the current (plus delay) it will divert you. Or, if your spider-senses are tingling, you can manually force a diversion. It's as easy as that. And most of the time, it works well. I've enjoyed several diversions so far, most end up being slightly quicker than the previous route plus delay.

I've only encountered one situation where the Garmin gave up and that was when the M25 got closed and then the A10 (which I got re-routed along) got closed as well. The poor Garmin just gave up, and had me sitting in traffic with no ETA. So I headed off into the countryside without instruction, and it wasn't long before the Garmin had figured out a new route that avoided large stretches of the M25. So the moral of the story is not to become over-reliant on the instructions... particularly in bad jams, it can benefit from a navigational "nudge".

Of course, you don't always have an address for where you're going. On a recent trip to Leeds, I needed to get petrol before the return leg home and didn't fancy paying motorway prices. Not knowing where any local petrol stations were, I went to the "Food, Lodging..." option of my Garmin and searched for petrol stations. It lists the closest and who they're operated by so you should be able to maintain any brand preference. Oncy you've picked one, just press "GO" and you're off. This works for all manner of things. Food (chinese, burgers, chippys etc), Banks and cash-pioints, hotels, shops, parking, entertainment, attractions, hospitals, transportation. I've used this feature several times now and have been impressed every time. Just checking through the list of local petrol stations for this review, I did notice that some are out of date - particularly small, independent petrol stations that have closed down. But I'd guess that sticking with a big name provider shouldn't see you wrong. Amazingly, all of this works across Europe and the US too - a HUGE amount of data is literally at your fingertips!

Oh and, of course you can subscribe to Speed Camera databases from all countries that allow such things, at a reasonably modest price of £30 a year. The speed camera warnings are direction and speed sensitive so don't get too annoying (unlike some other warning devices).

It comes with all the usual configuration options; change the language, change the voice, set the volume, set preferences for avoidance (toll roads, u-turns etc). It also includes Garmin's "Garmin Lock" technology, which should see the device rendered useless if stolen. Basically, you set a 4-digit PIN that needs to be entered every time you turn the device on. You must also take the unit to a "secret location" that you register with the Garmin Lock. After 3 incorrect PIN entries, the device locks completely and can only be unlocked by taking it back to the "secret location". A neat idea - just don't set the secret location to "home" or something really, really obvious. Or somewhere that you might not be able to get back to (like the middle of the English Channel on a ferry).

It supports Bluetooth so you can use it as part of your in-car phone system to dial numbers etc, but I don't believe in using a mobile when driving (even hands-free) so haven't tried this. Nor have I tried the MP3 player - you can get music on to the device by loading it on to an SD memory card and plugging it into the expansion port on the side. If you do use it for playing MP3s you can get it to play them through your car's stereo by making use of the built-in FM transmitter, which can work on a huge range of frequencies. The neat thing about this is that it will speak directions louder then your music (rather than the more usual situation of music being louder than the directions).

Thre's probably a load more I could tell you but I'd be reciting the manual and there's no real value in that... Suffice to say that I am more than happy with the device and have had no hesitation in recommending it to colleagues. So I've no hesitation in recommending it to you, dear reader.

If you are in the market for a richly featured, slimline Sat-nav system that can automatically re-route around traffic jams and covers the whole of Europe and North America then you can't do much better than the Garmin Nuvi 670. 

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