Garmin Nuvi 2699LMTHD GPS System

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Product Specifications

6” glass, pinch to zoom display with dual-orientation
FOURSQUARE - Search million of additional new and popular restaurants, shops and more with Foursquare
Direct Access - Simplifies navigating to select complex destinations, like malls and airports
LIFETIME MAP UPDATES - Businesses open and close. New roads are built. Be confident your routes reflect the latest map data available. LIFETIME HD Digital TRAFFIC - Free lifetime HD Digital traffic avoidance, no ads or subscription fees
Bluetooth with Smartphone Link Capability and Voice Activated Navigation

Product Description

Size:6 in. | Style:Bluetooth, Voice Control, HD Traffic | Product Packaging:Standard Packaging Nuvi Advanced Series automotive navigators do not rely on cellular signals. Nuvi is available with your choice of 5”, 6” or 7” display. All models feature maps of North America with lifetime1 updates and traffic2 alerts. Spoken Garmin Real Directions guide like a friend using landmarks and traffic lights. Foursquare helps you find new and popular restaurants, shops and more. Direct Access simplifies navigating to select complex destinations, like malls and airports. Up Ahead lets you easily find places, like food and gas stations, without leaving the map. Nuvi displays current street, speed, speed limit and arrival time. Also gives school zone alerts. Optional features, available on select Nuvi models only, include: Bluetooth technology for hands-free calling3, voice-activated navigation, Smartphone Link4 compatibility and HD Digital Traffic, the best traffic avoidance available from Garmin.

Product Reviews

Don’t worry about reflections

I just returned from a two week trip in which we covered about 2500 miles across 4 states. I must say the 2589 lmt performed admirably the whole trip. In my opinion it is the perfect screen size for a vehicle GPS. Big enough to give you lots of info. yet small enough not to be in the way. Other reviewers mentioned the glare from the screen being an issue. I did not find this to be an issue at all. Not once did the reflection from the screen effect what I could see or do with the Nuvi, a total non issue. This is a big point because I almost let that reflection issue sway my decision on whether to buy this one, or one with a non-reflective screen.

Screen is hard to see; very frustrating

Screen is very reflective. I have two older units, one still working very well but limited to the SE. The older unit can be seen at any angle. I bought this unit to use on vacation in the SW. It was very helpful but it was hard to see especially in daylight. This unit acts like a mirror when viewed straight on. I have to tilt it quite a bit to avoid seeing a reflection of myself. If it weren’t for this one problem, I could give a much higher rating, but this problem is really important. This unit covers most of the country and gives voice directions which my wife says make more sense and easier to use, but the reflection and need to tilt is very annoying: around home I may use my older unit. I may return this unit if I can’t find a way to decrease the glare and reflection. I will investigate antiglare protective covers. Any suggestions? I will take some photos and edit this review later to show the reflection on the screen. I can’t believe this passed product development testing.

A very good replacement to the old 3790LMT

Had the Garmin 3790LMT, which was a 4.3 inch unit , was the slimmest PND (at ³⁄₁₆ inch) and Top-Of-The-Line back in 2011. This Unit has been thru frigid weather in Alaska, humid and desertic Mexico, as well the East Coast, West Coast and never failed. One of the gripes of this unit, was that after a complete shutdown, it would take about 2 minutes to find the satellite. The other gripe was Traffic Function was seriously impaired unless you had a 2.5mm Antenna Extension Cable hooked to the traffic receiver. Overall a 3.5 Star Product.The first thing that caught my attention after migrating, when I plugged the 2599LMTHD to my computer and ran Garmin Express to update the maps, I noticed that GPS arrived with the Internal Memory at 1.8GB free and 75% full. After updating to the latest map and other recommended updates, the unit ended with 1.7GB free and 77% full.The old unit, after 3 loyal years of service was almost full as well, but I eliminated all the unnecessary languages and keyboards and extras, I managed to squeeze out 2.2GB free and 70% full.Perhaps the reason for the internal memory to come almost full, is that the maps are much more detailed and shows much more information, including WHAT STREET you are DRIVING on CURRENTLY. Also noteworthy is the WHATS AHEAD function, which is customizeable to show Banks, Fuel Stations, Restaurants, in your desired order.Positives:1) 5 inch screen is much adequate at showing relevant info of the surrounding area around you. It gets the same 2 hour stand-alone operation without charging as the older 4.3 inch unit, specially useful when plotting your next set of destinations at the hotel, without cables tangling you.2) Spoken Directions are much more natural and sounds less robotic even at higher volume, thanks to a larger speaker (which by the way adds to the overall width of the PND at ¹¹⁄₁₆ inch)3) Clean and intuitive user interface (classic Garmin advantage over many brands I have used), highly customizable screen and functions.4) Foursquare app, where you can get reviews of fellow people, so you dont get punked at the wrong establishment at an unfamiliar location.5) Pinch to zoom capability instead of tapping a + sign at the corner of the screen and re-centering the screen manually.6) I specifically like this new function: you can point anywhere in the screen, and the unit tell you the exact address (specially useful when the address is sometimes off by tens of yards, typical in foreign addresses, OR when the address doesnt match that of google maps). In the old unit, you could only see the location you specified, and if you wanted to know what was the name of the next street and touched the screen, all you got was zoom in the map.7) Finally you can choose what type of format you want your coordinates to be shown, I personally like the same format as google maps, which is:h ddd.ddddd I was very frustrated by the different formats my old unit and google had, often times leading to different map outcomes. Now I can just input Google Maps coordinates, and the two outcome maps are the same.8) Smartphone Link Capability also allows your GPS to communicate with your smartphone, albeit at a cost, to send Google Map coordinates directly to your GPS, as well as other functions such as advanced weather and traffic.9) Fast link to satellite, around 15-20 seconds.10) No more ads with Traffic Service.11) Same great map coverage: USA, Canada and Mexico.Negatives:1) Mini USB vs Micro USB in my old unit, with the need to pack 1 more cable during your trips.2) Since the power cable is attached to the GPS at 90 degrees, rather than the mounting base as the old unit (adding to the overall width of the product), I find it much harder to detach and re-attach the unit.3) No RECALCULATING message, they are useful in lonely highways, where the next exit might be 10-20 miles ahead, so someone can hear the warning without having to drive way too far before realizing they overshot their destination by many unnecessary miles. This is a contentious feature, as probably 50% of people love this feature, and the other 50% find it annoying. Hey Garmin?? Why not let people decide if they want to hear or not this message? Then everybody would be happy camp…4) The internal memory arrived almost full (with internal memory very cheap, Garmin should address this), but with todays low cost of the micro-SD cards, it is a minor gripe. I suggest you buy minimum an 8GB class 6 or above for this matter.For having much more positives than negatives, and for advancing the User Interface as well as new useful features, all in all, a solid 4.5 Star product.Hope this Review helps potential fellow buyers.

Great GPS, but doesn’t always take me the fastest route

I drive for a living and have used this daily for a few months now. I purchased this gps because of the touch screen and screen resolution. When you compare this to the old style matte screens, it really is much better. The only negative is that there is a glare sometimes, but it does not bother me as I used to use my smartphone for gps. I would say the screen is almost as nice as a smart phone, just not as responsive. The 6” is really a sweet spot for the size of a gps unit. The interface is really easy to use. The voice address input works well half of the time. It it’s an easy street name then I use the voice activation. If the street has a hard pronunciation or the address has more than 4 numbers, I don’t even bother anymore, I just input in manually. The biggest problem I have with it is that half of the time it does not take me on the fastest route. I will be on a route that I know already is faster, but the nav wants me to take another route that is slower. It will tell me to turn left and display, lets say 40 min to destination. The I ignore it and continue straight and right after the intersection the nav will shave 10 min off and display 30 min to destination. Why would it take me on a route that is 10 min longer. It will also have the audacity to verbally tell me that I am on the fastest route, which clearly I am not! Maybe a software update will fix this issue eventually. Overall, I do like the unit and I think for the price it is probably the best out there now. I do like my cell phones navigation better, but I don’t have an unlimited data plan and if I use it as my primary gps, I burn through 1gig in a couple days and at $10, it’s not very cost effective. The traffic update is okay, but once again, my phone is better at that too. Maybe Garmin can take some pointers from Goog..Maps.