Garmin nüvi 1490/1490T 5-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Factory Refurbished)
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The large screen nÜvi® 1490T offers multiple-point routing and lane assist with junction view to help you manage busy highway interchanges. It also has subscription-free traffic alerts for most cities, hands-free calling, pedestrian navigation options and ecoRoute™.
Features
- Factory Refurbished
- High sensitivity GPS receiver with Hot Fix; Voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions
- Preloaded with City Navigator NT for North America
- Easy-to-use 5 inch enhanced touchscreen interface
- Bluetooth wireless technology; Lifetime traffic; Lane assist; Junction view; EcoRoute; Public transit mode; Pedestrian navigation
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 5 x 3 x 1 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
Best GPS I’ve owned
I’ve been the owner of 3 Garmins, the 750 Nuvi, the 265 Nuvi and the small square one whose number I can’t recall, as well as a Magellan that I hated. This Garmin blows them all away. The free lifetime traffic is a great feature and has saved me from waiting in long traffic delays 3 times already in the past month. The speed limit is posted right on the large screen and if I exceed that limit, it happens, the sign turns red. It has the latest maps too.
Beware what you are ordering
I believed I was ordering a Garmin GPS 1490T with lifetime traffic. The chart accompanying this refurbished item lists the 1490T, stating it has lifetime traffic, and compares it with other models, but not the 1490. The 1490 DOES NOT have lifetime traffic. I ordered this item and was sent the 1490 WITHOUT LIFETIME TRAFFIC. I called Garmin and they confirmed this because the actual GPS unit is labeled on the bottom as “1490″, not “1490T”.
I am returning this to Amazon and ordering 1490T from Best Buy for the same price. Even though I have to pay tax and shipping, the lifetime traffic will pay for itself in just a couple years.
I am really surprised at Amazon. I have had great luck in ordering with this website until recently.
Great unit . Easy to use.
This is my third garmin gps and it work very well. It’s very easy to use. The direction instruction is clear.
You can find your location by using few different option.
The gps also calculate you car mpg, how much it cost for each trip. Many useful feature.
The ad is kind of annoying but since it kind of small, it’s not that bad and it will go away when you drive.
I update to the current map without any issue. No need to spend 1500 – 2000 for the car factory GPS.
I don’t understand why there are so many negative review about this gps. I am very happy with it and highly recommend.
GPS
I like the GPS for the most part; use it for a long road trip last weekend. What I don’t like much is the keyboard function. It’s hard to make some of the letters and other keys near the bottom work. I may send it back if it does not improve with use.
keeps getting better and better
My third Garmin and it’s the best. Has new, usable features and is still easy to use. Only one small negative. The favorites now has catagories. I do not find this usfull and adds one more step to setting destinations.
Shipping from Amazon was quick and the product was packed well.
No problems with my reburb 1490T
I was at first a little reluctant to purchase this unit after reading some of the reviews of the non-refurb 1490T here on Amazon and elsewhere. It looks like Garmin had some serious problems with early units and had a lot of these returned. I assume that those units are the refurbs being sold, one of which is mine. In my opinion, Garmin have done a good job updating the original units to function without problems.
So I rolled the dice and ordered one. This is my third Garmin GPS and it replaces the full featured 2720 which is big and bulky but does amazing things. Ironically, I sold that one for $220 and bought this one for $[...] with 2 day shipping. What a bargain!
The 1490 doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of my older unit (most had to do with the customization of the map display on the unit) but fits in my shirt pocket when I run into a customer or Walmart.
I have been using it for a month now and it has been flawless. No problems, no reboots. None whatsoever.
Upon unboxing of the unit, I plugged it into my computer and went to [...] I was told I qualify for a new map which I downloaded for free. I had also saved over 400 favorites from my 2720 as a .gpx file – mostly customers. After loading the maps on my PC I imported the favorites to the 1490T with no problems and I was back in action – now I can add the phone number to the customer’s POI and dial them from the unit.
Worth mentioning – two things that made me pick this unit were the bluetooth and traffic – my 2720 did neither. Maryland has just outlawed speaking on a cell phone unless it is hands free. I drive a lot and use my phone a lot. The Garmin works great, pairs with my Palm Pre withing 30 seconds of turning the 1490 on, and even sucks my contacts from the Palm Pre so I don’t even have to touch the phone. Great!
The traffic works on FM ad is a lifetime subscription. To function, it needs an FM radio station that broadcasts the special required signal. Where I am in Baltimore/Washington it works great – I imagine if you live in the sticks, it won’t. It will try and route you around major traffic jams such as accidents.
The 1490T is a slim 5″ LCD unit with lots of features – I didn’t even mention the lane assistant
These units have no doubt been scrutinized and updated by Garmin during the refurb process. Mine works flawlessly.
Recommended.
Garmin 1490T works great.
The Garmin 1490T works great. It is very easy to use. I really like the 5″ screen. I recommend this product to anyone traveling. I just used it on an 8 state trip. As far as I can tell it did not make any wrong turns. I typed in some addresses that I knew I would need and saved them to the favorites folder. Then I would pull it up from the favorites folder as I needed them. Very quick and efficient.
Didn’t Even need the manual
This is a great little gps……wait, did I say little? This is the biggest, brightest gps out there and it is very easy to use. And for the price ($200 refurbished) it was a bargain. I should qualify my praise by stating that it is also my first gps, so maybe I am easy to please.
WOW! I am impressed…
The larger screen is a nice feature and the operation is exactly what you would hope for. Programming is easy as with all Garmin units. The traffic alert has already saved me one big traffic snarl and probably an hour delay in getting to my destination. The advertising that comes with the traffic alert is not intrusive. I really like this unit better than any previous Garmin I have owned. Very happy with the purchase. I bought the lifetime map updates so there was no problem with the reconditioned unit getting updated as others have reported.
The bluetooth synch with the phone is easy but the sound quality has been reported as very noisy by the people I have talked to using this connection. I can hear fine, but they seem to pick up a huge amount of static hiss. Not sure why since the car is quiet and the unit is mounted on the sandbag base provided by Garmin which is sitting on the dash so it should be insulated from engine noise.
Fixed firmware makes this refurbished Nuvi the very best of the best!
OK … First things first. When the 1490 was first released in 2009, the firmware was so buggy that the unit even suffered from spontaneous reboots … IN MID ROUTE! Occasionally it would not even restart again without the 10 second hold on the on button. THOUSANDS of these units were returned to COSTCO who got the original release. In fact, so many were returned that Garmin actually released this product again … as a refurbished unit. The only change being loading new firmware and packing it in a white box.
So now … for under $200 you can get a new … almost … Nuvi with the best form factor, feature set, and … now … rock solid firmware on the market.
Here is what to do …
1. Buy this unit … just get it.
2. As soon as it arrives, scan the Amazon paperwork … you’ll need it for step 4
3. Log on to [...] and attempt to register the unit (you will need the S/N)
4. If you cannot register the unit … you likely cannot … call Garmin support (excellent USA based support) and tell them you cannot register your refurbished unit. They will ask you to send them proof of recent purchase … immediately email the Amazon paperwork scanned in step 2. They will make an entry on the spot and you can register right away. Also explain that you want new maps. They can hook you up with a download of the newest maps since you are a new owner.
5. Download and install Garmin’s free Webupdater program. You will need that to get the latest firmware updates. Latest version was issued May 10, 2010 and is version 4.10.
6. Finally … install in your car and enjoy.
I know, all this takes time. The new map downloads alone are 2 hours, and the scanning thing … well, just know that it is worth it. The 5″ screen is awesome and since the resolution is unchanged, everything is bigger and clearer. Audio is louder and clearer on this model. Battery life is better. Bluetooth now works very well. The eco info is very useful and the traffic is perfect now … in this latest firmware. Lane assist is ‘da bomb. And don’t forget about the little extras like an awesome photo viewer and available micro SD slot (I put in an 8 Gig card and Nuvi had no trouble reading it.)
All and all, you score big as a result of Garmin’s short sighted decision to release an unfinished product too early. But now that the firmware is fixed … WOW!!!
nuvi 1490T
Pro: I like the product, overall. It is fast and easy to read. Con: The touch screen is glitchy. When you touch a button it often does not respond correctly. Acts like you were touching the map and the screen jumps around. Also it is near impossible to drag the map to another location. I have a 255 and I can drag the screen much better.
Routing is not accurate
Not satisfied with the performance of this item, route that it chooses for you is not accurate. I live in northern Virginia area and drive to DC, traffic updates are limited and often too late to do anything about it.
Didn’t work
Never got my Nuvi 1490T to work. It could never access the satellites. Wouldn’t order another one because of all of the bad reviews of them.
Nuvi 1490t
Very happy with my Nuvi however being a refurbished unit it was already registered by someone else and I had to work with Garmin to change into my name and give me my free update. Garmin’s customer service is outstanding, as has always been the case, and it was handled very well.(And their agents are actually in this country…..Yea!)
Love the big screen
I’ve been using a Nuvi 255w for some time now. It was a refurb also. I got this for my wife and she just loves it. Thought I could talk her into trading … fat chance after she played with it for awhile.
Big screen rocks … eyes not what they used to be.
Acquires satellites real quick … and I thought the 255W was good.
Easy set up, easy to change anything.
Yeah, it makes errors, haven’t seen a GPS that doesn’t … but it does really good.
I really like the change lane feature, once missed a turn with the 255w.
Don’t know why anyone wouldn’t like the refurb, same warranty as a new one. This unit certainly looks brand new, there are no marks on what so ever. Easily updated the map to the current one.
Did I mention that I just love the 5″ screen?
Good GPS with reasonal price
This GPS does what it is supposed to do. However, some of the addresses in the point of interest no longer exist after I updated the map although I know for sure that the addresses do exist currently. Nevertheless, this GPS helped me find the location I wanted to go. The Bluetooth works great after I paired it with my cell phone.
beware-they say it’s new but really refurbished
I thought I had ordered a new device but when it came it turned out to be refurbished. It worked will for a few weeks, then I had to return it. I did get another refurbished model. But at least this time I knew it was and could expect malfunctions. So far it has worked fine. There are a few features that could be improved upon. But overall, I like it, it has a nice big display and tts is easy to understand. Although the maps even after updating are not really up to date, I can still find my way
amoung the best
I purchased the 1490T and received on the 29th of April. I removed from the box, snapped it on the mount and plugged it in. The menus were straight forward and easy to navigate through the primary setup. Entered my first address and was on my way without even the smallest problem.
After I got to my destination I took another 10 minutes and setup the blue tooth and connected my phone. I really liked the hands free part, I have owned a few other hands free phone units that you couldn’t hear, or they were just to inconvenient to even operate, but the 1490T was simple and quick to set up and it even displays my entire phone book so I could see who I wanted to call.
That night I logged on to the Garmin site and connected the 1490T to the USB and the site software opened the unit and downloaded the needed information and then opened a second page for downloading a new (Free) Operation software update and a new (Free) map update. The Operation update was fairly quick but the 2.27Gbite Map Update took a couple of hours over a DSL connection, I did it after 10pm so I just went to bed and it was done the next day.
I have only had the unit for two day but if it keeps working like it has, this it going to be a long happy relationship. Hope this helps you on your decisions.
USELESS
IT DOES NOT WORK RIGHT AT ALL I HAVE HAD AL MY LIFE USING GARMIN PRODUCTS AND THIS PRODOUCT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ALL THE REST , YOU HACE TO TYPE LIKE 20 TIMES FOR JUST ONE LETTER TO BE ONE YOU WHERE TRYING TO TYPE. I FOUND IT IMPOSIBLE TO USED …
THIS GAMIN REFURBISHED PRODUCTS ARE COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY.
Good GPS
Other than the bigger screen its pretty much the same as the other gps.
the traffic control is decent but it only tell you the Expressway and highway traffic.
the screen is nice and clear.
I LOVE IT!