My first in-car GPS unit was a 2000 BMW. For the time, especially compared to other manufacturer’s units, it worked pretty well and had a nice big color screen, as well as a CD unit in the back which was updated every year. Unfortunately, mine broke down, and to get it replaced - $2500! Ridiculous. So, although I wasn’t thrilled with the idea with an aftermarket windshield stick-on unit, I realized that in 2006 they were probably a heck of a lot more powerful and cheaper than the old-school BMW unit.

Luckily, at about that time the Garmin Nuvi 660 came out, so I picked one up for about 1/4 the price it would have cost to replace the BMW unit. Not only did it have maps, but unlike my BMW unit it also could pronounce street names, had the choice of 3D or 2D view, the entire US rather then a handful of states, bluetooth handsfree, and could even play MP3s and had *way* more ‘POIs’ (Point Of Interest).

In short, I love the unit. Since purchasing the Nuvi, I have also purchased one for a friend, a 50-yr-old building inspector who still did not have a GPS unit. I mean, this guy was driving all over his coverage area with maps and writing down directions to every site he had to inspect - he found it a godsend.

Without going into detail about all the features of the Nuvi, I will touch on some of the major points which impress me about he unit - stuff I actually *use*, vs. some of the more esoteric functions…

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1. The windshield mount. Wow. I am really surprised at how well the windshield mount works. It is a very solid clamp-style suction cup, with a snap-on snap-off connection for the Nuvi. The mount sticks SOLIDLY to the windshield, and I have actually removed the mount and re-applied it several times and it always sticks like a champ. I have one in my wifes car as well and switching it from car to car is a non-issue - snap on, snap off. In fact, its so portable I threw it in my suitcase for a week-long business trip to California, where I would have a rental car - it was great!
2. The touchscreen. The touchscreen is very bright and can be read easily in any light. Controls are large and easy to select, and extremely well laid out (more on this later). Menuing and scrolling of maps is very snappy and there are never slowdowns or glitches - it ‘just works’ all the time.
3. The bluetooth handsfree. I have owned a couple of bluetooth headsets, and never use them, but this one is a no-brainer. You get in the car, and the nuvi automatically pairs with your phone - AND it mirrors your address book so you can dial from the screen, which is just outstanding. When you call up a point of interest, like our local pizza shop, there is a button right there to call on your way, so we can order a greek gyro salad and pizza on our way over.
4. The street pronunciation. I didn’t think this would be this big of a deal, but it is. The text-to-speech of this unit is the best I have ever heard, and it even has multiple voices in multiple dialects. Of course, like any text to speech application it doesn’t get everything 100% right, but its always close enough, and usually right on the money. In addition, when you type in your own point of interest, it will pronounce the name you give it as well. So, when we go to our friend’s Bob’s house, when we reach the destination, the guys says ‘Now arriving at Bob’s house’ - it always makes us laugh.
5. The audio output choices. It has an FM transmitter, a built-in speaker, and a 1/4″ jack. All of them work just great for navigation - the speaker is perfect for driving directions. The system has MP3 capabilities, but you would only want to use the FM transmitter or preferably the 1/4″ jack (to say, a cassette adapter) for MP3 use. The MP3 features of this system work fine, although we usually use our iPod in the car. The system takes SD cards, which are pretty cheap, and the system isnt picky about how you load them - again it ‘just works’. However, its hard to beat 40-160GB iPods.
6. ‘Go Home’ and ‘Favorites’. When I had the BMW unit, I was incensed that it didnt have a dedicated button on the unit to ‘GO HOME’. 50% of the time, you are going home - or to work - 2 dedicated buttons would have been nice - or maybe even three! A destination you use that often is way too important to be scrolling through your favorites list alphabetically to find. The Nuvi answered this simple prayer with the ‘Go Home’ button, which immediately routes you home. Nothing is better then when they get the simple stuff right. Another thing I like is that the favorites are not listed alphabetically, but by distance, which makes more sense. (A note for MP3 player manufacturers - there is no reason to start the album listing alphabetically at ‘a’ - ‘a’ is no more important then any other letter of the alphabet, and users would probably appreciate being able to start off at a random location or maybe even the middle of the alphabet for convenience - although I am sure bands like 311 and Abba appreciate the current scheme)
7. The scope of POI’s. Compared to the BMW unit, the POIs in the Nuvi are off the chart - it is a savior when trying to find parking in NYC, for example - or an ATM or gas station from the freeway.

So, thats about it in a nutshell - the top things I love most about my Garmin Nuvi. From what I understand, it is a very popular Christmas gift this year as it has come down significantly in price, especially for the smaller 350 and 360 models. If you wanted one for Christmas, I hope you got one. If you didnt, Amazon has some really good deals on them for your well-deserved after-Christmas Christmas present to yourself - you deserve it!