Garmin 1340

[hymer1942]

Hi All, anyone got a GARMIN 1340 and if so is it any good and would you buy it again. Barrie

[Guest JudgeMental]

http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/gps-navigation-devices/garmin-nuvi-1340/

 

gets a good enough review here...

 

I have just got my new Nuvi 775T (replacement for dodgy 770) what a cracking bit of kit...interface much improved and it has bluetooth.

[hymer1942]

Judge really open minded obout what to get as long as its a garmin, my old Nuvi 6 something is 5 years now and in need of replacement. Might have a look at the one you have. Barrie

[Guest JudgeMental]

hymer1942 - 2010-12-03 4:57 PM

 

Judge really open minded obout what to get as long as its a garmin, my old Nuvi 6 something is 5 years now and in need of replacement. Might have a look at the one you have. Barrie

 

775 only necessary if you go to the states as full Euro and USA mapping. If you just want Euro its the 765T I think....

[Wanderbirds]

There was a thread on this Nuvi in July.

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=20304&posts=9

[Don Madge]

hymer1942 - 2010-12-03 1:18 PM

 

Hi All, anyone got a GARMIN 1340 and if so is it any good and would you buy it again. Barrie

 

Hi Barrie,

 

We invested in a Nuvi 1490T earlier this year and it is brilliant. Nice big screen and has full European coverage including Turkey.

 

Don

[hymer1942]

Hi Don and hope all is well in snow cave, might have a look at that as greece or Turkey is the agenda for next autumn. Barrie

[Don Madge]

hymer1942 - 2010-12-03 6:41 PM

 

Hi Don and hope all is well in snow cave, might have a look at that as greece or Turkey is the agenda for next autumn. Barrie

 

arrie,

 

This is snow Cave my drive is like a 90 metre ski jump

[hymer1942]

Hi Don, Look on the bright side you dont have to go to the alps. I have had a look and will probably go for the 1490T that you have, can you tell me did you buy it with lifetime updates or not, and does it come with a sucker stand for the top of an A Class dash. for obvious reasons the windscreen is to far away. Barrie.

[scramblers]

hymer1942 - 2010-12-04 2:42 PM

 

Hi Don, Look on the bright side you dont have to go to the alps. I have had a look and will probably go for the 1490T that you have, can you tell me did you buy it with lifetime updates or not, and does it come with a sucker stand for the top of an A Class dash. for obvious reasons the windscreen is to far away. Barrie.

 

Hi Barrie,

 

I've had the 1490T for 12 months now. Bought it from Amazon with the European mapping and free lifetime Traffic Alerts then purchased Lifetime Map updates from Garmin. You can also purchase annual Speed Camera updates but I think thery are expensive. Has an excellent 5in screen and Bluetooth with microphone for handsfree mobile phone use.

 

I also purchased micro SD cards maps for New Zealand/Australia and USA/Canada/Mexico from eBay. Used it on a 3 month tour of New Zealand (hired a motorhome) and California (hired a car).

 

The 1490T performed brilliantly in Europe, New Zealand and California, it's ideal for touring anywhere. The only drawback is that (in line with all other SatNavs) it can take on shortcuts that are not ideal for a motorhome.

 

Sucker stands are available from Garmin and many other retailers eg Amazon.

[Brian Kirby]

The machine will last several years, and the maps will, by definition, be out of date, even if there is a free map upgrade with it.  (Inevitable lag between road works, mapping, and subsequent distribution.)

Personal view.  Get the Nuvi that gives, as a minimum, lane guidance at junctions, lane assistance, and full European maps.  I've just had a play on their site and selected the ones with Europe maps, Lane guidance at junctions (huge benefit at complex motorway intersections), Lane assist (tells you in advance which lane to take), Lifetime traffic (warns of hold-ups ahead, useful, where it works!), and eco-route (enables you to prioritise the most fuel efficient route - in theory, but what harm can it do?  :-)).  What emerges are the 1390T, 1490T, 1490TV and 3790T.  With any luck the comparison can be seen here (too many various parameters to run through) http://tinyurl.com/37zrfuf  However, should narrow the field a bit.  I'm not that convinced the larger screen is worth the extra dosh, you need fair eyesight to drive, after all.  The 1390T appears without a price in the table, but is listed elsewhere at £169.99, at which price it looks a good buy.  None of the prices include lifetime map updates.

Got ours (760T) in July 2008 from Amazon, whose price was good, and who separately notified us of the recent (August 2010) recall for a new battery to be installed.  The unit is registered with Garmin, essential for the map updates, and we were notified of the recall by Garmin, but it was the notification from Amazon on an item bought two years earlier that most impressed me.

Current price of lifetime updates is around £80, for which you get up to four map updates per year.  That gives some idea of the rate at which the maps are being changed so, if you can get the lifetime updates bundled with the Nuvi for less than £80, I'd say it is well worthwhile taking, and is, IMO, even worth taking at the current £80.

With the updates you should get a programme called Garmin MapInstall.  You connect the Garmin to a PC to be taken to the map download site, and will download MapInstall as part of the process.  Once MapInstall is on your computer, because it is a MapSource product, you can download a free upgrade to MapSource, that will allow you to view, and use, the maps on your PC, including running routes.  So a double bonus.

You can also transfer routes from the PC to the Nuvi, although my experience of this is that it can give some quirky results, because the routing logic of the Nuvi, and MapSource, are not quite identical.

[Don Madge]

hymer1942 - 2010-12-04 2:42 PM

 

Hi Don, Look on the bright side you don't have to go to the alps. I have had a look and will probably go for the 1490T that you have, can you tell me did you buy it with lifetime updates or not, and does it come with a sucker stand for the top of an A Class dash. for obvious reasons the windscreen is to far away. Barrie.

 

Hi Barrie,

 

I don't bother with updates I just buy a new sat nav, they are improving all the time and the prices are coming down.

 

It comes with the sucker stand and I have a couple of them if they are any good to you.

 

Regards

 

Don

[Brian Kirby]

The machine will last several years, and the maps will, by definition, be out of date, even if there is a free map upgrade with it.  (Inevitable lag between road works, mapping, and subsequent distribution.)

Personal view.  Get the Nuvi that gives, as a minimum, lane guidance at junctions, lane assistance, and full European maps.  I've just had a play on their site and selected the ones with Europe maps, Lane guidance at junctions (huge benefit at complex motorway intersections), Lane assist (tells you in advance which lane to take), Lifetime traffic (warns of hold-ups ahead, useful, where it works!), and eco-route (enables you to prioritise the most fuel efficient route - in theory, but what harm can it do?  :-)).  What emerges are the 1390T, 1490T, 1490TV and 3790T.  With any luck the comparison can be seen here (too many various parameters to run through) http://tinyurl.com/37zrfuf  However, should narrow the field a bit.  I'm not that convinced the larger screen is worth the extra dosh, you need fair eyesight to drive, after all.  The 1390T appears without a price in the table, but is listed elsewhere at £169.99, at which price it looks a good buy.  None of the prices include lifetime map updates.  All take micro SD cards: very useful for storing POI's.  All come with a suction windscreen mount, and an adhesive disc than can be stuck to the dash, to which the suction mount will attach (and stay attached for days on end if necessary), and from which it can easily be removed.  The disc doesn't come off once on, though, so be careful where you stick it!

Got ours (760T) in July 2008 from Amazon, whose price was good, and who separately notified us of the recent (August 2010) recall for a new battery to be installed.  The unit is registered with Garmin, essential for the map updates, and we were notified of the recall by Garmin, but it was the notification from Amazon on an item bought two years earlier that most impressed me.

Current price of lifetime updates is around £80, for which you get up to four map updates per year.  That gives some idea of the rate at which the maps are being changed so, if you can get the lifetime updates bundled with a Nuvi for less than £80, I'd say it is well worthwhile taking, and is, IMO, even worth taking at the current £80.

With the updates you should get a programme called Garmin MapInstall.  You connect the Garmin to a PC to be taken to the map download site, and will download MapInstall as part of the process.  Once MapInstall is on your computer, because it is a MapSource product, you can download a free upgrade to MapSource, that will allow you to view, and use, the maps on your PC, including running routes.  So a double bonus.  (However, if this facility is important to you, check the current situation because they will fiddle around with their bits and pieces!)

You can also transfer routes from the PC to the Nuvi, although my experience of this is that it can give some quirky results, because the routing logic of the Nuvi, and MapSource, are not quite identical.

[tonyishuk]

Odd Misc information about Garmin units Here

 

(Also latest Euro and UK Speed Cams)

 

Rgds

[Brian Kirby]

Look out Don, you're surrounded!  How, I dont know!  Apologies for duplication, it weren't me guv, honest!  :-D

[hymer1942]

Thanks to all for the help now its just a question of with the lifetime updates for £199 or without for £156. Barrie

[Guest JudgeMental]

My new 775T has lane guidence, eco route and traffic *-)

 

will get the free for life (of unit) mapping I think...for the last 10 years I have only upgraded maps once every two years, roads dont change that much, and if they do, so what, I have a compass in my head :D

[hymer1942]

Job done ordered from Amazon at £200 including lifetime updates which at £43 seemed a good deal. Once again thanks to all. Barrie

[hymer1942]

Did not make it clear. Thats the 1490T.

[Meadows Engine]

Hi Don

Your comments on the 1490T are tempting me to replace my now aging Garmin StreetPilot 2820.

It has done me great service, originally used on my motorbike, but is now very dated with a limited and fixed storage capacity .

 

When I had my new Ducato based PVC I quickly discovered that the 2820 would not receive a GPS signal in the cab, very frustrating but I tracked the problem down to the heat reflective windscreen coating. Further investigations found a 3inch area of uncoated glass located to the left of interior mirror . I fixed an extension antennae to that spot and the problem was solved.

 

Does the 1490T have an antennae socket? Or do you think that the new generation of Sat Navs now have a greater ability to receive the signals and would not be hampered by the screen coating.

 

I have always used Mapsource to plan my routes and then loaded them into the unit. (instructing it not to mess with them!) Will my existing Mapsource be ok or will I need to down load a new one. I would not want to loose this very useful facility, nor the ability to use actual co-ordinates rather than post codes etc.

 

Sorry to bother you on this but I have been unable to find straight forward answers on the Garmin site

 

John

 

 

[scramblers]

Hi John,

 

The 1490T does not have an external antenna socket, that's the bad news. However modern SatNavs are more sensitive than there older versions. With my previous motorhome - a 2003 Burstner A530 with a large overcab luton - I could not get a Satnav signal on my old garmin (StreetPilot C330) without an external antenna. The 1490T picked up the satellites with no problem at all.

 

I have an old version of Mapsource, and provided you get the free Mapsource updates, and download the map updates to your computer then you can continue Mapsource.

 

The 1490T allows you to input a destination via postcode and co-ordinates.

[Brian Kirby]

If you open MapSource, and then click on "Help", you should find, at the bottom of the resulting pull-down, "Check for software updates.....".  Using this facility should enable you to upgrade to the latest version of MapSource, but will not update the maps. 

As you already have the programme on the PC, and the only check it seems to run is for a compatible MapSource product, I'd suggest upgrading to the latest version (Mine is version 6.16.3) before buying a new Nuvi. 

The Europe set is a single, indivisible, package  (albeit still made up of different sheets - that aren't always quite seamlessly integrated!), so the outdated maps on your MapSource may cause some conflicts if you try to transfer routes to a newer Nuvi that is using different routing logic and different maps.

Getting the lifetime updates bundled seems very good value: I still think it good value at the stand alone price of £80.  I think all pre-installed sat-nav maps are out of date "out of the box", so at least one download will be required to get the latest versions.  Be warned, it is a big download, and the whole process, including installation to the sat-nav, takes a long time: think one hour plus! 

Bear in mind that even the latest map versions are not fully up to date everywhere - we have gaily wandered across the fields on sat-nav, while driving down roads with impressively large weeds in the verge, on more than one occasion!  "Latest" is still out of date somewhere.

The mapping is the core of the system so, without up to date maps, your sat-nav will have limited capacity to pick optimal routes.  Since the downloaded maps are automatically loaded to MapSource (if present) you keep both the sat-nav and the PC updated, and on common ground.

My Nuvi is a 760T and has no problem with satellite reception through the (Ford) tinted screen, and even picks them up from inside the van providing there are no other signal impediments.

[Meadows Engine]

Many thanks for your help the 1490 looks the way to go but I must admit I shall miss my rugged little Streetpilot 2820 that still does “every thing it says on the tin” as they say these days.

 

John

 

[hymer1942]

1490T arrived today will test on the way to new year doo. Barrie