Garmin 010-01681-02 DriveSmart 61 NA LMT-S GPS w/Smart Features (Renewed)

I have been using this GPS unit for 4 weeks and it has met or exceeded my expectations in nearly all departments. The touch screen is large, very responsive and absolutely gorgeous. Directions are accompanied by voice instructions as well as driving lane suggestions that are quite helpful. I connected the unit to my home wifi and updated the maps while the GPS was in the vehicle with the vehicle parked in the driveway - no need to pull the unit out of the car and plug it into a computer to update the maps. The most stunning thing about this GPS is the absolutely unreal capability with speech recognition; I can operate the GPS by voice commands without having to take my eyes off the road or my hands off the steering wheel! It recognizes the voice command and the address very quickly and nearly perfectly on the first try. I have never seen any device with such excellent speech recognition - just miles and miles ahead of anything else in my opinion. I have a South Asian English accent and that hasn't thrown the speech recognition off at all. I downloaded the Garmin Smartlink application on my Android phone and paired it to this GPS so I can get traffic data and alerts also. The Garmin Smartlink application does use the phone's battery a little aggressively but I can turn the application on/off as needed, so I only turn on the application on the phone when I need traffic data for the GPS function. The GPS naturally works very well even without the traffic data (i.e., if you don't install the Garmin Smartlink application on your phone or leave the application turned off after installing it on your phone). But with the benefit of traffic data, the GPS provides very precise arrival times at the destination. With the GPS paired to my phone through Bluetooth, I can see text messages etc. on the GPS. Since I have my phone paired to the vehicle also through Bluetooth, when there is an incoming phone call, I get the option of receiving the phone call through the vehicle or through the GPS. I like to take the calls through the vehicle's Bluetooth connection and in this case the GPS doesn't interfere with the phone call; it simply shows that a phone call is in progress.There are 2 things that I would mention that are less than perfect though. The map indicates my home street to be a one-way when it is not - it makes the GPS loudly complain that "you are going the wrong way" every time I leave home in one direction on the street! This is not so much a flaw with the GPS unit but the map data. I wish there was an easy way for consumers to inform Garmin about such map imperfections so they could be fixed through "crowd sourcing". The second less than perfect experience occurred when the GPS unit started rebooting endlessly on its own. I suspect this happened when it tried to do a GPS software update (not a map update). I thought that I would have to get Garmin to help me or replace the unit under warranty. But I tried to do the software and map update on the GPS unit over a USB connection through a computer to see if that would correct the issue … and it did! So far, the issue hasn't reoccurred.UPDATE (Dec 30, 2018): I have been using this GPS for several months now and it has continued to meet or exceed my expectations. Every now and then it still surprises me with a new feature that I hadn't discovered before. E.g., if you are driving without a break for a long time (perhaps 2 hours), then it automatically proposes a stop and suggests the nearest places where you could stop for a short break - nice! When going to the airport or a public destination (instead of a private address), it suggests nearest parking spots as you arrive at the destination. I continue to recommend this product without any reservations.

What a nice unit. Arrived in a box with all the original accessories (GPS, 12V power, USB cable, suction mount, manual) and looked like new.I recommend charging the unit for at least 15-30 minutes before starting. Mine was really slow to power up initially and I attribute it to a almost completely drained battery.Once initially charged I'd then suggest you update the unit's firmware and map. You can do this by either installing Garmin Express on your PC and then connecting the GPS with the supplied USB cable -or- setup WIFI on the GPS itself and go to the update function within it's menu. Just be aware the update process can take anywhere from 30-150 minutes so be sure if you use WIFI that the unit is connected to an external power source.Note the paper manual supplied is pretty pathetic. There is a software version of the manual available on the GPS itself -or- you can go to Garmin's website and they have a PDF manual available.Once charged and updated this unit is awesome. I previously used TomTom and I like this unit much better. The screen is very easy to ready and has most every feature most people will want. There is nothing here I would say absolutely needs to be changed so I'm not going to get into any more detail.What I would like to talk about is the voice command which works well, OK really well. You can control the GPS by voice commands by first saying "voice command" (which you can customize the phrase to something like "hey Garmin") at which point a menu pops up showing you all the commands that can be vocalized. You can also say "up" or "down" to navigate up/down the menu or "exit" to exit out of voice command mode. Commands include "find address", "find place", "find intersection", "find city", "weather", "traffic", "view map", "time remaining" and so on. In total I would guess there are about 20 or so commands. They work well. The unit consistently recognized what I wanted it to do the first time. Very nice.In order to get traffic you'll either need to use your cell phone -or- a GTM 60 HD Digital Traffic Receiver (not included). Note Garmin sells a GTM 36 Traffic Receiver which should work but offers less coverage and retails for the same amount as the GTM 60. At the time of this review I'd recommend the GTM 60.To use traffic via your cell phone you'll have to install the Garmin Smart-phone Link app which is available in the appropriate app store. Once installed you'll then need to turn Bluetooth on your phone and pair with the GPS by having the 2 powered on right next to one another. I'd go through the steps but the process was so seamless it seemed to happen automatically. I literally installed the app, turned on Bluetooth, selected to pair with the GPS and everything just seemed to work.I think the refurb version of this is the way to go. Very reasonably priced for something no one will ever be able to tell if I purchased new or not and saved almost $100 in the process. It really is like what I said in the title:Wow, when things work this well it makes you want to use them more. Yes, I highly recommend.

I’ve had this unit for about a week. The touch screen works well and the directions aren’t bad. I personally use the road ahead feature a lot. One con I have is that the voice command is about useless unless there is absolutely no background noise and you talk perfectly. Updates take a long time to install. The suction mount doesn’t really work on any surface besides glass and even with glass I had one incident of the mount failing.

Product arrived quickly and was well packaged. Came in a Garmin box that clearly stated it was a refurbished unit. Product itself was flawless in appearance. (no nicks, scratches, etc) and was indistinguishable from a new unit. Battery was dead upon arrival, but charged to a full charge using the enclosed usb cable and a wall adapter of my own. An update was needed and downloaded via wi-fi. (this took about an hour ...was a 6 gb download) Set up was easy and the wi-fi & BT connected and paired without a problem. Very pleased with this purchaseUPDATE 8/20/18 ..This GPS is awesome ... The sound is clear and LOUD ...can be easily heard in moving vehicle ...has many features not on other Garmin GPS' ...Tells you if there is a curve coming up on the road (great when in an unfamiliar area on a dark road) ..also tells you when RR tracks coming up ...when you are doing over the speed limit ...even connects to your smartphone for additional features. ...also informs you of "camera lights" ...great GPS at a great price ...

This large screen is many times better than the one just an inch smaller. It is easy to see without having to lean forward to read it. Make sure the one you buy has "GARMIN" clearly showing in the picture of it. The first one I bought was a terrible knock-off from China. It was horrible with many problems. Buying a real Garmin is the only way to go.