Garmin Nuvi 670 GPS Review

Introducing Garmin’s Nuvi 670 automotive GPS

Building upon the wildly successful 660 model that came out in 2006, the newer 2007 Garmin Nuvi 670 gps system has all the features that made the 660 system a success; as well as adding some new 2007 age features, additions and tools such as European maps for the overseas travelers to vamp up everyone’s favorite system of 2006.

You can expect to see the Bluetooth connectivity, TMC traffic capabilities through its FM receiver, the super bright widescreen, and all the other great features that quickly made the 660 model more popular than the 3xx series.

Main Menu on the Garmin 670 interface

When you turn on the Garmin Nuvi 670, your first impression is a very user friendly menu system. It’s pretty straight forward. I like having the wide screen so there is more space for everything making it less congested and easier to navigate than say the 370. Simple taps of the touch screen navigate you through the categories. Everything is well labeled and neatly organized for you to easily find the feature you are looking for so the manual isn’t even needed to figure out most things. The interface is extremely efficient and simple to use which is very important when most of its use is in the midst of traffic and driving. I had it all figured out in no time at all.

Navigating and Driving with the Nüvi 670 GPS

The core of the Nuvi 670, the display of your route and travel is very easy to read with multiple 2d, 3d, day and night modes, with a simple yet extremely efficient routing with different colors of roads and object symbolizing different things. Turn by turn instructions (in voice, visual or text), easy to zoom, and with data such as how much further to arrival, the estimated time and conditions of your route to arrival, and much more make navigation and driving through even the most confusing and foreign places pretty simplistic and mindless. Having the voice telling you where to go is wonderful for when the road requires your full attention and you don’t have time to really look at the screen.

Accuracy and Route Control on the Nüvi670

Without too much personal use of the Nuvi 670 from Garmin, I had to check out what others had to say to extensively test the accuracy and route control. The response I found was that this device was highly accredited as having some of the best accuracy, range and speed of data delivery out there. Powered by a ultra high-sensitivity WAAS GPS receiver by SiRF, even missing a turn (you must be sleeping) will result in a mind blowing recalculation of the new most efficient and quick route, at much greater speeds then one would even notice they have gone of course manually. Most other devices will tell you to make a U-turn and get you back on the same path which can result in a huge waste of time. Accuracy was rock solid when I tested this in various separate driving conditions and regions, and forum chat and customer Garmin Nuvi 670 reviews all seem to agree that this unit is rock solid and leading the pack in terms of accuracy, speed, reception and reliability in both the US and Europe.

Traffic Data – FM TMC Receiver

The Garmin Nuvi 670 receiver also has the ability to display and integrate traffic data into your routes for more accurate timing and route selection. In the US the service costs $60 a year but when you start up the device for the first time it’s preloaded with 3 free months.

Receive alerts of possible unfavorable traffic conditions, accidents and holdups, and then simply tap your beloved Garmin touch screen to steer clear of the problems and beat your boss to work. I wonder if these things are banned from the Amazing Race, it just wouldn’t be fair.

Garmin’s Nuvi 670 Portability/Design

The design of this device is very slim. It’s about the size of its widescreen and less than an inch thick which makes it very portable. It fits in your pocket nicely if nothing else is in it if you’re using it to walk around. The suction cup to attach it to the windshield is very easy to mount it and if you’d rather have it on the dash the dash top friction mount 010-10908-00 works well and is quite cheap.

MP3, Pictures, Calculators, Language Conversion Dictionary and More

The MP3 player is outstanding. It plays well through the built in speakers and the FM transmitter can send the signal through your car radio.

The picture viewer is great for checking out pictures you’ve taken so far on your trip although it’s not really designed for looking through a huge amount of pictures and larger pictures take a little more load time which is pretty common with these type of picture viewers.

There’s a plain calculator and also a currency exchange calculator which is very handy if you’re traveling around Europe like this model is intended for.

Other very handy features for traveling Europe are the language conversion dictionary and different plug adapters.

Bluetooth and Hands Free Calling

With a Bluetooth capable phone the Nuvi 670 can be used to make and accept calls. When you receive a call a box will pop up on the screen with the name and number and you just press the button on the screen and you can talk hands free through the device as if it were a speakerphone. To make a call there’s an option on the menu and the touchscreen turns into a keypad. The POI list also has phone numbers for the points of interest incase you want to call ahead. With the FM transmitter you can hook it up so the sound is sent to your car radio and it comes right out of your car speakers.

Points of Interest

Another extensive and useful database, the Nuvi’s travel guide system initial or upgraded travel packs contain just about any entertainment, hotel, restaurant, or other popular destination you may wish to find in the area. Find certain type of restaurant, make a reservation by tapping the screen and dialing (hands free with Bluetooth integration) and get the fastest route.
The Nuvi 670 ships with a pretty vast travel guide database, with most restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions and common destinations being preloaded for more traveled destinations, but if you want absolute coverage of a less commonly traveled destination, you may want to look into getting a travel guide upgrade for that particular region/city.

Visitor Reviews

Rating:
This is the best GPS I’ve used that is on the market by far. I’ve used the Garmin 3600 iQue and the Tom Tom and this is way better. It was easy to use and incredibly bright touch screen that it works like a charm. I also like the bluetooth hands free compatibility with my cell phone when I’m on the road. I’ve heard some people have had problems with answering calls but it worked fine for me…

Rating:

The Nüvi 670 was a great travel companion for me. On my latest trip to England I used the suction cup and cigarette lighter adapter to put it in my rental car. It was priceless in getting me from point to point. I had a tough enough time driving on the wrong side of the road and getting around the roundabouts. The pedestrian mode was very useful in helping me get oriented after I came up from the subways…

Rating:

This is an outstanding GPS, easy to use, very portable and amazingly accurate.

There’s a lot to like about the Garmin Nuvi 670. The number of languages and voices is surprising. Pronunciation of street names in English while in France was rather funny but it was possible to switch it to French and leave English words and directions on the screen so it sounded right but I could still see what it meant in English…

Rating:

After using the Nuvi 670 for a few months I will have to say that it is wonderful. This is the only driving GPS I’ve owned but I’ve used numerous built-in ones and rental car ones. There is much to like about it. The traffic option is good but quality varies by location. The map does appear to be just a bit behind when you’re driving too. I have not had the opportunity to use it Europe, just in the US…

Rating:

I’m probably considered a “soccer mom”. I’m a very smart person but I’ll be honest I’m not the most technologically savvy person and this device is very user friendly. I bought the Garmin Nuvi 670, as an upgrade to our current TOMTOM 910. It’s much easier to carry and attach to the windshield compared to the TOMTOM 910. My Garmin Nuvi only had to connect to my phone with the Bluetooth once. The TOMTOM continually reset. Being a soccer mom this device has probably saved me countless hours by not having to rely on a 10 year old to give me directions to their house after practice…

Video of Usage

I haven’t made a video of the 670 yet but I found this one of the 660 model which is almost identical minus a few features like the Europe maps. Here’s pretty much what you can expect:

Cheapest, Lowest & Best Prices on Garmin’s Nuvi 670

A quick look at all the largest electronic’s stores in my fairly large city told me immediately that offline shopping is quite a lot more expensive then online sales, probably because all online vendors have to complete globally and in close proximity with low overhead costs, thus driving the prices from competition and ability extremely low.

Check Nuvi 670’s Lowest Prices

There are quite a few places to buy nuvi 670 online, but as far as the cheap and lowest prices go, I found Amazon (the largest and most trusted online store since 1996) to offer much cheaper and better discounts, sales and offers then the rest.

You can also check ebay for some even lower prices, but I think if you are not a super ebay nerd you have some riskyness to consider with shady auctions, and after you account for shipping costs, Amazon is probably somewhat cheaper (and a bunch more safe and secure) then EBay.com

Normal List Price:	$999.99
Today’s Best Discount:	$650.99 (65% Discount )
Today’s Cheapest Price?	Check Today’s Best Price