Garmin - Nuvi 680

The Garmin 600 series has earned rave reviews from consumers and experts alike and the new Nuvi 680 is just the latest in this series. Continuing with design innovations that allow a 4.3 inches display screen to be fitted into a slim, sleek device that can go easily into your shirt-pocket, the Nuvi 680 also comes with many new navigational features that provide advanced location-based services.

Features

The most compelling addition to the Nuvi 680 is the MSN Direct capability that makes it possible for you to receive all the services of MSN Direct on your GPS device, customized for your current location.

The main MSN Direct services that are supported on the Nuvi 680 are real-time, updated information about traffic, weather, fuel prices and movie listings. The data is based entirely on where you are located currently, though as far as weather is concerned you could get information for other cities as well.

Traffic updates allow you to receive alerts as and when there is any traffic related incident on your route. If you need to, the device will assist you in configuring another route bypassing the trouble zone. Weather conditions shown are by default those for your current location. You can view all the details such as the expected high/lows for the day, wind speeds and of course, if there is any chance of rain. The other service of fuel prices lets you view the nearby fuel stations and the prices they are quoting for unleaded regular gas. However, only those gas stations that mention their prices will be included in this list. If you would prefer to have a complete list of nearby gas stations, you will need to search through the points of interest database. Finally, the movie times service offers you the convenience of quickly searching through movies by title or by theater. However, again this list may be incomplete because only those theaters that provide live data may be included. If you would again like a complete list of movie theaters close to your location, you are better off using the points of interest database but there is no way of knowing if the movie you want to watch is being screened in any of those.

The Nuvi 680 includes the data receiver for these services in the power cord itself, thereby enabling the power cord to supply both power and real-time data to the device. Further, there is even a back-up battery that allows you to use the receiver for about two days even if the device is unplugged. This is a great advantage because then real-time data is still being received and stored in the receiver, which means that the next time you plug in the device up-to-date information will be made available to you on your device.

The Nuvi 680 is thus an improvement on both the Nuvi 660 and Nuvi 670, both of which offer live traffic updates but do not offer extended real-time information through MSN Direct. Nuvi 680 is thus no longer a mere navigation device but steps closer to becoming an inseparable travel companion.