Garmin nüvi 1390LMT 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates

Price : $135.99
You Save : $164.00 (55%)

Product Description

Edition: 1390 - Bluetooth, Lifetime Maps ; Traffic
Amazon.com Product Description
nüvi 1390LMT packs big features--including free Lifetime Maps and Traffic--into a slim design. This thin navigator also comes with lane assist with junction view, pedestrian navigation options, hands-free calling and ecoRoute to calculate a more fuel-efficient route.

The nüvi 1390LMT packs big features into a slim design.

Traffic information is updated constantly, and map updates are available up to 4 times a year, with no subscription, fees, or expiration dates.

Travel tools include JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.

EcoRoute calculates the most fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more.
Affordable, Widescreen GPS Vavigator With Lifetime Map and Traffic Updates
Includes Free Lifetime Map and Traffic UpdatesWith free Lifetime Map and Traffic updates, you always have the most up-to-date maps, points of interest and navigation information available at your fingertips. Traffic information is updated constantly, and map updates are available for download up to 4 times a year. Both features are ready to go, right out of the box, with no subscription or update fees and no expiration dates.
Know the Lane Before It's Too LateNo more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist with junction view guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation. Lane assist with junction view is available in select metropolitan cities.
Navigate City TransitWith its enhanced pedestrian navigation capabilities, nüvi 1390LMT is the perfect travel companion for getting around town. Download optional cityXplorer content to help you navigate city public transit. Know where to walk, where to catch the bus, subway, tram or other transportation, and how long it will take to get there. nüvi 1390LMT easily fits in your pocket or purse. cityXplorer maps are available for select cities throughout North America and Europe. And with prices as low as $9.99, you'll have money left over to spend in the big city.
See MoreWith nüvi 1390LMT's widescreen display, you'll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3-inch (10.92 cm) display is easy to read, from any direction.
Get Turn-by-Turn Directionsnüvi 1390LMT's intuitive interface greets you with two simple questions: "Where To?" and "View Map." Touch the color screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. It comes preloaded with detailed City Navigator NT street maps, nearly 6 million points of interest (POIs), 2-D or 3-D maps and the speed limit for most major roads. Its digital elevation maps show you shaded contours at higher zoom levels, giving you a big picture of the surrounding terrain. With the 1390LMT's enhanced user interface, you can slide your finger to conveniently scroll between screens. You also can upload custom points of interest (POIs). And with HotFix satellite prediction, nüvi calculates your position faster to get you there quicker.
Make Hands-free CallsFor hands-free calling, nüvi 1390LMT integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker. Just pair it with your compatible Bluetooth phone and talk hands-free through the 1390LMT while staying focused on the road. Simply dial numbers with nüvi's touchscreen keypad to make a call. To answer calls, just tap the screen and speak into its built-in microphone. Enjoy convenient one-touch dialing for contacts and points of interest.
Go Beyond NavigationNavigation is just the beginning. nüvi 1390LMT saves you gas and money with ecoRoute--a green feature that calculates the most fuel-efficient route, tracks fuel usage and more. The 1390LMT includes many travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. With photo navigation, you can download pictures from Garmin Connect Photos and navigate to them. With its "Where Am I?" emergency locator, you always know your location. Simply tap the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. The 1390LMT features Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and is compatible with our free Garmin Garage where you can download custom voices and vehicles. Enhance your travel experience with optional plug-in microSD cards.
What's in the Box
nüvi 1390; Preloaded City Navigator NT North America (U.S, Canada); Lifetime Maps and Traffic; FM Traffic Receiver With Vehicle Power Cable; Vehicle Suction Cup Mount; USB Cable; Dashboard Disc; Quick Start Manual
nüvi 1390LMT features FREE lifetime map and traffic updates.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 5.3 x 2.6 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B003ZX8B1E
• Item model number: 010-00782-0C
• Batteries: 1 Lithium ion batteries required.
  

Technical Details

• Sunlight-readable, 4.3-inch backlit TFT color touchscreen display with 480 x 272 WQVGA pixel resolution
• Preloaded City Navigator NT North America (U.S. and Canada)
• Free lifetime map and traffic updates for the most up-to-date maps, POIs, and navigation info, along with constantly updated traffic information
• Advanced navigation features including voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, lane assist with junction view, fuel-saving ecoRoute
• Integrated Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker for hands-free calling

 

Garmin nüvi 1390LMT 4.3-Inch Portable Bluetooth GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates

 

Customer Reviews

I've used this GPS for several weeks now and when it is fully charged it is absolutely great. The voice is loud and clear, the maps are accurate and detailed. It acquires satellites quickly, even in less than optimal circumstances with trees overhead or tall buildings nearby. It is easy to program and the onscreen menus are convenient. It is thin and reasonably light and portable and the screen is big. But it has one major problem: the cigarette-lighter charging system does not supply enough current to charge the GPS while it is turned on. It is unbelievable that Garmin would allow their unit to be sold under these conditions.
When I received the unit I completely charged the battery (by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable which Garmin does not supply, but I happened to have one anyway). Then I used it in my car, always plugged into the cigarette lighter. It turns on automatically whenever you start the car, and it turns off automatically when the ignition switch is turned off. However, over this two week period the battery slowly discharged (without my knowledge) until it reached a point where the unit would no longer turn on, even when plugged in to the car charger. Assuming the unit was defective, I called Garmin and (after 20 minutes on hold) learned that the car charger is not up to the task, and that the GPS will slowly lose its charge when it is turned on, even if you have it connected to the cigarette lighter adapter. I believe this means that if you have a long drive, perhaps 8 hours or more, then the unit may not even remain operational throughout the full trip. Other people have made similar complaints about some of the other Garmin GPS units.
The tech support people explained how to recover from the low battery situation: you do a "soft reset" which simply involves holding down the on/off button for 10 seconds. Then the unit will turn on, but the battery will need recharging. I was told to do this by connecting it to my computer using a USB cable, which Garmin does not supply with the GPS (fortunately I already had one), but I assume you could do the same by connecting it to the car charger and making certain that the unit is turned off while it is charging.
What a shame that Garmin has produced a superior product with a fatal defect. I will keep mine for now, but I'm going to investigate other charging solutions. Perhaps after reading this review, the wizards at Garmin will redesign the charging system for this GPS.
Update (Aug 1/09): I discovered the reason for these charging issues: In the User's Manual, under "Troubleshooting", Garmin states that the Nuvi will not charge if it is in direct sunlight or if the temperature is more than 113 degrees F (45 deg C). Since I had my unit attached to the windshield, and since I only drive during midday, it is always in sunlight. This charging rule applies to many other models as well; for any given model you can download the manual from Garmin, turn to the Troubleshooting section, and see whether or not they describe a similar charging rule. (The rule is meant to avoid overheating the battery: lithium batteries can occasionally catch fire if they are severely overcharged or overheated.) I think this explains why some people have encountered charging problems and others have not: it depends on whether or not the unit is always in direct sunlight while you are driving. Some people use the friction mount and their Garmin sits on the console. Others drive later in the day or at night.

After using my friend's Nuvi in Scotland last year I said I have to have one of these! It worked great and saved us many lost hours while effortlessly assisting us through hundreds of poorly signed round-abouts. He had a basic but very reliable Nuvi without many features other than direction finding, which is the main idea. I wanted a reliable Nuvi but with a few of the more interesting features. After reading reviews I eliminated the 700 ; 800 series because of all the reported freezes. I eliminated any with bluetooth functions for the same reason. After a lot of reviewing I went with the 1350T. I wanted lane assist and I wanted cityXplorer mapping because we go overseas a lot and I wanted to have enhanced pedestrian capabilities. I live in a rural town so free traffic alerts wasn't too important but I do spend time in Phoenix, San Diego and LA occasionally so it was a plus.
I ordered the unit just prior to a trip from Phoenix to Sacramento. I'm a manual reader so I printed a copy of the instructions from the Garmin web site and read them thoroughly before messing with the unit (the quick start instructions included with the unit are worthless). Before doing anything else I bought a USB cable so that I could connect to my computer. Everyone should have the cable and it's ridiculous that Garmin doesn't provide the cable with the unit because you need it to register and get current software. Once I had the cable I connected to Garmin's web site and registered the unit and updated the maps and firmware. It's a little tricky but not too difficult...and I'm not very technical. I also purchased and downloaded radar detection software because Phoenix, Tucson and much of Arizona is loaded with scum-sucking radar detectors. I also did the screen calibration on page 47 of the manual because several reviews indicated that it made the touch screen interface much more reliable. I wanted to take some out-of-the-way highways on my trip so I programmed in some "via points" to use along the way. These are points that allow you to divert to another location or highway while keeping the same ultimate destination programmed. The night before the trip I was playing with the unit checking out the "browse map" function. It seemed to be a worthless function and it wasn't responsive with the screen being too small to be useful anyway. Just as I was about to get out of the browse mode the screen went dark. The unit was fully charged but I could not turn it back on again. I tried with the car plug adaptor, the USB cable, the on/off button...everything. The next morning before my trip it still wouldn't start. I sent the unit back and requested a replacement. After getting the replacement I went through the same processes again as outlined above except that I won't use the "browse map" function again. I took the unit on a trip from No. Arizona to Orange County then San Diego and back again. For the most part the unit worked very well. It did freeze once and the screen went dark again when I was programming in a location. I waited about 10 minutes and to my great relief it did restart but I was about to toss it out the window if it didn't restart. One time in a very complicated freeway interchange in San Diego it lost position and started "recalculating". If I had not known where I was going I could have easily taken the wrong offramp.
While traveling through Riverside, CA the Garmin indicated that there was some traffic ahead. I touched the screen to see the traffic map and the screen indicated the length and time of the potential delay. It was a short delay so I continued on and it turned out to be very accurate. I was impressed but another time in San Diego it indicated a short delay and there was no delay at all. So, just be aware that it's only as good as the information it receives from the reporting station.
For fun I also wanted to load some thumbnail pictures for my home and family destination "favorites". I could find no directions on how to do this, even in the full manual printout so I called Garmin. It's easy to do. Just connect your Nuvi to your computer, double click the Garmin icon and open the Garmin folder. There is a jpeg folder in the Garmin folder. Drag your jpeg photo and drop into the jpeg folder. Then eject and disconnect your Garmin. To add the picture to a "favorite" select "favorite"; "press for more"; press "edit"; "change photo"; select a photo and you're done.
I noticed that when going to a location and returning the directions to and from are not always the same. It sometimes sends you slightly out of the way either coming or going. I think that's because it seems to have a penchant for giving you right turns instead of left turns when starting out from a location. For instance, when departing from a shopping center it might have you make a right turn leaving the center, rather than making a left turn, even if it's slightly out of the way. It's not a big deal but I find that curious.
I know a lot of people don't want to read the long manual but in my opinion it will save you a lot of early aggravation and will help you use all of the nice features this unit has. I have also found that if you take your time and don't start pushing functions before the unit has made a calculation or transitioned to another screen the unit is more reliable.
Pros:
1. Volume works great. I'm hard of hearing and 70% is plenty loud.
2. Satellite response time is quick and recalculating time is generally very responsive
3. Lane assist is a great feature especially on major thoroughfares and freeways.
4. Speaks street names clearly and is surprisingly close on correct pronunciation. (Spanish street names can be fun though). Male ; Female voice available.
5. Shows posted speed limit and actual driving speed which is a great feature.
6. Turn list viewing is a nice feature especially in unfamiliar areas with a lot of turns ahead.
7. I like the time or distance to destination feature. The time estimates to a destination have been quite accurate. It's a nice feature especially on long legs.
Cons:
1. No USB cable included
2. No manual (you must print from web site and it's over 60 pages).
3. May lose power and not restart for some time (or not at all as with my 1st unit). This is the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.
4. Even though I made the screen calibration, when typing in addresses some of letters don't response as easily as they should.
5. Browse Map feature glitchy and worthless.