Nuvi 660 differences between UK and US

univ0298 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2006 Posts: 7

Hi

Can someone please help me work out whether I should purchase a nuvi 660 in the UK or the US. I live in the US but my family is in the UK and that's where I am now and over xmas/new year. I'd like to get the 660 here so I could start using it, but I have some concerns..

a) Seems like the UK 660 has no FM transmitter (and this is a hardware limitation, not firmware)
b) Seems like the UK traffic alerts hardware won't work in the US
c) What do I need to get to add US maps?

It would be good to have someone confirm a) and b), and let me know if there are other differences please.

For c)... well the Garmin websites are terrible and I haven't been able to ascertain which map products and/or updates I would need. Would I need an SD card? Would I need a DVD? Can I get upgrades? Do I buy the maps in $ form the US site or from somewhere else?

Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for any help!

Richard

swing · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject:

I can confirm that the UK model doesn't have the FM transmitter capability (irrespective of how Garmin achieved it, it doesn't work). Ironically, the GTM21 European traffic hardware will work fine in the US, although you would need a subscription to the US traffic service (which you need with the US version too - in the US you only get a free 3 month's trial to the service, as opposed to the UK where you can get a lifetime subscription).

The reverse is not true - I would not expect the GTM20 to be good enough to work in the UK.

To get US maps, you'll either need to buy the US SD card, or the US MapSource DVD (and then load the relevant maps onto a blank SD card).

The advantage of the latter is that you can then add mp3s and other files onto the SD card too (although if you want all the US maps loaded, it's likely it would fill up most of the SD card).

The Garmin website suggests the SD card costs $199.99 and the DVD $139.27 although both prices are for "domestic US market only".

However, you might want to compare the cost of the 660 itself - you may well find that a US version with European map addon (SD card or DVD) is better value - although you do need to factor in the costs of traffic if that is something you will also want.

univ0298 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2006 Posts: 7

Thanks this is great information. I didn't realise that the UK traffic receiver (GTM21?) would work in the US, but that the US one (GTM20?) would not work in the UK. Getting a lifetime subscription to the UK and only missing out on 3 months in the US isn't a big deal.

I still can't fully figure out adding maps... if you can buy a pre-loaded SD card then presumably you get no backup (if you wipe the SD card you've lost your maps). But if you buy the DVD and then copy that data to an SD card, don't you end up with the same thing you'd have got if you bought the SD card? Also, why can't you add MP3s etc to the SD card that you buy from Garmin?

And what about updates to the maps... can you update them with patches better/more easily with the either the SD or DVD?

As for price differences... Well buying in the UK works better for me as it would be a gift from a UK based relative. And I think I could then personally get the US map addons at the 'domestic US market' price.

univ0298 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2006 Posts: 7

Just to clarify... I meant that missing out on the US 3 months traffic is no big deal, especially when it means getting a lifetime of UK traffic instead.

This whole adding/updating maps gets more confusing the more I read the Garmin website (which, I repeat, is awful). Can I add maps to the device's internal storage? If so, how much space do I need? What about the pre-loaded data that was on the device? Can I copy that off the device to elsewhere? Can I edit/update it?

Sorry for all the Qs!

swing · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject:

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