Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates Reviews

Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates

Features a Lifetime Map Update Gift Card
Twenty-five percent slimmer than other nüvis, you can take the ultra-thin 1390T anywhere.
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn.
For hands-free calling, nüvi 1390T integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker
Steer clear of traffic with nüvi 1390T’s integrated FM traffic receiver and free lifetime traffic updates.

nüvi® 1390T bundle with nuMaps Lifetime packs big features into a slim design. The ultra-thin navigator includes lane assist with junction view, preloaded maps for North America, free traffic alerts, hands-free calling and ecoRoute™ to calculate a more fuel-efficient route.

Slim Down. Take It With You
Twenty-five percent slimmer than other nüvis, you can take the 1390T anywhere. It easily fits in your pocket or purse, and its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot.

Know the Lane Before It’s Too Late
No more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane assist with junction view guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making

Rating: (out of 16 reviews)

List Price: $ 329.99

Price: $ 249.88

6 comments

Mary Ellison says:

August 29, 2010 at 4:21 am (UTC -5)

Review by Mary Ellison for Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates
Rating:
This is my second GPS from Garmin. Both have been for automobile use. The first was a Garmin StreetPilot 2610, which I have had for about 8 years. While not completely dead yet, after roasting under 8 summer suns and freezing through 8 cold winters, it has finally started to present intermittent screen display problems. Not wanting to get caught without a working GPS, I purchased this unit. I originally was leaning toward the 1350T, but opted for the 1390T instead because the price included 4 map upgrades per year for the life of the unit, and since I tend to really get my money’s worth of use from these things, the price difference for me was a great deal over spending money for each upgrade separately.

I’ve had the 1390T Nuvi for a little over a month now. In that time, most of my traveling about has been in my local area, with only a couple of trips out of the area. During the time I have had the 1390T, I have identified several positive and negative observations about it. These are presented in no particular order of importance.

Positive Comments:

1. After initial acquisition, satellite reacquisition is very, very fast.

2. The intersection view showing the highway signs and the proper lanes to be in is very useful when traveling on highways you are not familiar with. Just be aware that you won’t see this screen unless the highway has multiple lanes that fork in different directions. This view is not displayed for standard cloverleaf exists.

3. Screen resolution on the Nuvi is great. It is bright, clean, crisp, and easily viewed in full daylight. Button functions, for the most part, are obvious and operate smoothly. Audio quality is excellent with good volume control.

4. The map can be displayed as a standard 2-D map or as a 3-D map, and you can switch between them at will. Which you use as your primary map display will depend on your preferences after experimenting with each.

5. I like the fact that the USB connector port is on the back of the unit, rather than on the mount.

While the general functioning of the Nuvi appears to be excellent, I do have a few

Negative Comments:

1. When indoors and plugged into a wall outlet with no satellite reception, the 1390T will not allow me access to its functions EVEN when the correct password is entered.

2. Documentation for my toaster oven is better than that which is available for the Nuvi. To put it plainly, the Nuvi documentation, which has to be downloaded separately from Garmin’s web site, is almost worthless. I somehow made a change to the display that wasn’t in the owner’s manual and could not reverse that accidental change without doing a system restore to factory settings. That really pissed me off.

3. When I touch the top of the screen to display the intersection where I am to turn, the display only remains visible for between 3 and 4 seconds. That is not enough time to really be certain you have seen what you wanted to see. It should be displayed automatically when I approach the intersection and should remain visible until I press a return button of some kind, or until after I have executed the turn or the cloverleaf exit.

4. No map scale is displayed continuously. Some times it is displayed, and sometimes it isn’t displayed, and when it is displayed, the font size is too small to be of much use. Since I often refer to the map scale, I would like to see it continuously displayed in a font size to make it easily recognizable.

5. When following a route, the 3-D map has a habit of zooming in on every intersection I travel through, even though no turn is indicated. I find this annoying. If I want to zoom in on those areas, I would prefer to do it manually.

6. When I go off route, this unit will recompute a new route. But – if I have moved to a road that is not on the current map, the unit will simply tell me to return to the marked route. It gives no indication of where that marked route might be or what direction I should drive in to get back to it. That’s not so bad in an area I know something about, or if I am not too far off the route, but outside of my area and way off route, it could be a bit problem.

I have not tried to use the geocaching capability of this unit, so I can’t comment on the internal compass or on the accuracy of the altimeter. Neither have I tried to use the bluetooth capability. I would also be remiss if I did not point out that the unit I have shut itself off once while it was calculating a new route and would not restart for 30 minutes. It may have been caused my the fact that the software was interrupted by sunrise initiated screen display change just as the computation was being initiated. The only way I could get the unit back up was to hold down the power button for about 15-20 seconds before releasing it, a solution that I could not find in the owner’s manual, but it seemed to me that there had to be a reboot capability. The unit also refused on one occassion to display the roads on the map until I did a reboot. That really sucks.

While the 1390T is more attractive than my StreetPilot 2610, I think the 2610 was more stable and had functions that behaved a little bit better than the corresponding functions in this new 1390T. I like the Nuvi 1390T, but for all the reasons stated here, I can only give this unit a 3-star rating.
Amazonist says:

August 29, 2010 at 5:03 am (UTC -5)

Review by Amazonist for Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates
Rating:
We have been a Garmin user for over 5 years and within these 5 years we have gotten different model and loved it. Unfortunately this particular model that we bought gave us nothing but trouble. We were very excited about the new features it provides. After using it for about 3 weeks this model all of sudden froze and will not load the map. We end up returning this model and exchange for the same thing and again after 3 days this particular model will not load the map and in fact kept rebooting itself. Again we thought this perhaps is a fluke, went back and exchange for another same model. Sadly, this one yet died again and the map will not load. The merchant we purchase the item from suggest us to call Garmin and to my disappointment after sitting for half hour wait their customer service was beyond horrible, not professional and rude. Because of this experience we will not be purchasing another Garmin.
Lunachick says:

August 29, 2010 at 5:53 am (UTC -5)

Review by Lunachick for Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates
Rating:
I bought 3 of these for family members. Within 2 months they all have crashed. Called Garmin, they called it an “endless reboot” and told me there is no known fix for this. Back to the store it goes!!!!
Thomas A. Rabbia says:

August 29, 2010 at 6:13 am (UTC -5)

Review by Thomas A. Rabbia for Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates
Rating:
This unit is awesome. Only one I found from Garmin that has free lifetime map updates. If you live in an urban area this is a must. The traffic is great!
Wendy says:

August 29, 2010 at 6:18 am (UTC -5)

Review by Wendy for Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic & Lifetime Map Updates
Rating:
I bought this Garmin 1390T after much research and noticed these few negative reviews, but noticed more positive and bought one. I loved the Nuvi during the first few weeks around town in NW Ohio and invested several hours in downloading all of the newest firmware, maps, and other other neat stuff from the Garmin site. HOWEVER, on my first extended trip (to Canada – above Minnesota) a 1,000 mile trip one way. The unit died in Wisconsin, about half way to my destination and in the middle of nowhere as far as my personal experience with the area and highways goes.

The unit froze on the map, leaving the impression you are doing fine. Luckily I noticed before my next intersection or I would have really been lost. When I repowered, it just flashed Garmin…Garmin…Garmin and never booted up. After having my daughter at home call the Garmin customer service, after 45 minutes of hold time, they acted like this is something unheard of (see the many other bad reviews here with this exact same problem). They said I should return the unit. Nice, I’m in the middle of the wilderness still 400 miles from my destination and all I need to do is ship this back to the Amazon web site! Hey Garmin … HOW ABOUT EXCHANGING IT AT ANOTHER OF THE HUNDREDS OF YOUR RETAILERS I AM PASSING ON THE ROAD?!?

After rereading the other reviews here who encountered this problem and had the same reoccurrence with replacement units from Garmin, I am NOT exchanging this for another 1390T. AGarmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Trafficnd I strongly recommend you do not buy one. I may buy another Garmin model, but after the customer service experience and the lack of real help while I was lost on the road (the whole reason I purchased a GPS in the first place) I am not sure.
Garmin nüvi 1390/1390T 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS … | via-michelin.de says:

October 3, 2010 at 2:07 am (UTC -5)

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