My only issue with the device is that the bluetooth doesn’t support my phone, a Blackberry 8310. Bluetooth capability is one of the reasons I bought the phone. So, I’ll wait patiently while Garmin resolves this – however, you need to check the compatibility list on their website before purchasing.

As soon as I received the 670, I ordered the free update CD with European maps and loaded them on my Garmin. I thought I was all set.

Then I went to google maps and preloaded many locations, including hotels where we would be staying.

Our first dissapointments came during our arrival in London. Leaving our hotel on foot, I set the Garmin for walking and selected a destination that was nine-tenths of a mile away. The Garmin identified its location but did not show any streets. We got a taxi. I thought, oh well, it’s not set for cities but will be ok on the highway.

I also had to reset Garmin’s clock to local time. There are many European cities listed but none in the United Kingdom. There are a few in the continent, but London is not there. So my garmin was set an hour off.

We hired a car and set out for Braintree. The Garmin was confused right off the bat. It was no help, constantly “recalculating.” We kept stopping and asking people for directions to the highway leading to Stansted where we found signs that led us to our destination.

At Braintree, we purchased a map.

To make a long story short, the nuvi 670 never worked. I had many destinations preloaded. The garmin would recognize the distance and direction, but was unable to show most roads. If we were on major highways like the M4, the road would appear on the garmin, but our car would look to be floating to the left or right of it, as though we were the Starship Enterprise. And then, as we drove, the voice would start . . . recalculating . . . recalculating . . . recalculating . . . driving us nuts, to the point that I would have to turn it off. My Garmin was bewildered. We were lost.

It is difficult to drive in England and I had such high hopes to make efficient use of my driving time. But no, we were often . . . Lost in England . . . and the Garmin was no help.

While the Garmin was helpless in giving directions, it was indespensible in an unexpected way. England is loaded with speed cameras. They are on major highways and in small villages. There are warning signs posted but it is easy to speed through before you realize it. The garmin was a lifesaver (or I should say, a money saver). Every time we approached a speed camera, the nuvi warned us. At $50 a speeding ticket, I’m sure it saved me hundreds of dollars. Some of you may be asking why I think I saved money because after leaving the country, how would the authorities get anyone to pay speeding fines. Well, I did not always have the garmin turned on . . . and you guessed it. I received a letter from Avis, informing me that my credit card would be charged $50+ for a speeding ticket. (It’s in the rental agreement)

So if you want a GPS to warn you about speed cameras in England, get a Garmin. But if you want a GPS to provide directions, you’d better look at Tom Tom or some other brand. My experience suggests that Garmin does not have the mapping platform for the United Kingdon.

I’m not surprised that the nuvi 670 has been discontinued. It did not perform as it should. Perhaps it works better on the European continent, I don’t know. But if you take a nuvi 670 to England, before you head out for your destination, I’d suggest that you purchase a good road map.

My only criticisms of Garmin are that I think it is ridiculous that they don’t offer free updates to BOTH the North American and European maps on the x70 units that come with dual maps. I also think Garmin GPS units have been overly “dumbed-down” since I bought my first Garmin several years ago. I used to be able to get elevation, the ability to pan out and see the entire route on one screen and many other features. Maybe you still can, but since they don’t provide a detailed manual, who would know?

General features are OK. Was familiar with lower-range Garmin models that AVIS rents with their cars.

Setup and base configuration were easy.

Main “quirks” found so far:

- sometimes has phantom exit/entry while on highway – inexpicably asks you to exit then re-enter.. one learns to avoid these after awhile

- hard to specify routing options (quickest time, shortest distance, avoid highway, etc). these are buried deep in the menus

PRO: good value (got it on sale), easy-to-use, compact size

CONS: phantom errors, route customization not simple

I was dissapointed to find that the traffic info was subscription based – and at a rip off price at that.

I was also dissapointed that the maps seemed to be out of date right from the get go, and they expected me to PAY for new ones!!

RX sensitivity never seemed to be as good as my older Garmin units or the Pioneer AVIC unit I installed in one of my other cars. Slight overcast skys or clouds seemed to kill the GPS satellite reception.

The internal battery crapped out on me in less than a year. It lasts for about a minute before shutting off these days.

I tried to nav from San Jose to an address in Petaluma today. No joy. The audio kept going into distortion and then cutting out completely. After a while, it stopped giving me any audible directions at all. No amount of powering off/on made any difference – the thing is toast. Of course, there’s no warranty on it any more….

Overall, I’m not a happy customer. Will seriously look elsewhere (i.e. not Garmin) for my next unit. All in all, I feel like I wasted a grand on this one. Better luck next time.

This product worked flawlessly right out of the box….it’s loaded with Bluetooth, FM tranmitter, picture viewer, and mp3 play in addition to the terrific GPS features.

The only minor negative is that the FM transmitter on the U.S. model 670 has rather low power, but once a satisfactory FM channel is found with a relatively close car antenna it worked great. I automatically pauses the MP3 when the GPS wants to talk and likewise when the phone rings with bluetooth.

Overall a terrific buying experience.