Garmin DriveSmart 61 NA LMT-S with Lifetime Maps/Traffic, Live Parking, Bluetooth,WiFi, Smart Notifications, Voice Activation, Driver Alerts, TripAdvisor, Foursquare

This is a welcome upgrade from my old TomTom XXL that I used for years. Although smartphone GPS accuracy has gotten much better and bigger since 2005 days, I still prefer a dedicated GPS and the largest screen I can get to make driving to unknown places easy. I personally mount it up on a vent mount near my steering wheel highest on my dashboard to be legal so it is in my field of vision so I never have to take my eyes off the road. Wow, this touch screen is responsive and such a welcome improvement from my TomTom XXL. Data entry and menu navigation is so snappy and responsive. On my old device, I would constantly select the wrong search result because it would pop in a different item by the time I selected or it registered. This is a breath of fresh air. The screen is huge, is fairly thin and lightweight overall, and turns on very quickly. It even has decent (limited) voice commands that is always listening for the wake word (which you can even change). I'm really happy with mine. MAP UPDATES: I was impressed by its apparent real "lifetime" map updates support compared to what happened to my end-of-lifed TomTom with "lifetime" maps. For one, it comes with only half its storage space used to start with. But more impressively, when it runs out of space for map updates, it is supposed to give you a choice to an SD card, or select a region and install less. My TomTom XXL updates now just get a notice that they no longer support map updates on my device because of storage limitation, and offers me a new TomTom at only 30% off full price. I figure I can do better on sale, and did when I bought this Garmin instead! BATTERY: The battery does (or doesn't?) last long. On a full charge, I got to and from work 20 minutes away, powering off in-between, and got a low battery warning as I pulled into my driveway. But later the battery indicator is green and shows 4/5 full. The screen is huge, was on the whole time, WiFi turned on, Bluetooth turned on and communicating with my phone, and it doesn't weigh like a brick to load it with batteries. My TomTom hasn't held a charge in years, so the Garmin wins anyway :) . Just plug it in. It comes with a power adapter for your car. SETUP & UPDATES: It works out of the box (after charging). But it says to go to their site to register and setup for the first time, which in turn tells you to download software to sync with it, even though you really shouldn't have to because it is WiFi enabled. It is easy to connect it to your home computer or smart phone (needed for live traffic). A tiny problem I had at first was until it got a GPS signal for the first time, it thought I was in Florida, so the time was way off (not even just for time zone difference), and finding the first place to navigate to was difficult because auto-suggestions, WiFi updates always said "failed to connect to server", and every single time I turned it on it re-asks me the language and to accept terms. But after first real use, it was all corrected. MOUNTS: It starts off with the most important piece, the adapter for the back of the unit that snaps onto what seems to be a very universal ball-joint type of mount, the kind you find on nearly any other phone mount. So you will not really need to buy a mount specifically designed for Garmin or DriveSmart. I just popped off the phone holder from my favorite vent mount, and popped this onto that, and I was up and running with a vent mount. Same for my CD slot mount. The actual dash/glass-mounting portion it comes with isn't very universal because it will only work on glass or a flat surface (not textured like my dash). But there are plenty of mounts out there for vents, CD slots, cup holder, or even textured surfaces (with a reusable sticky kind of suction cup) for any kind of device that you should be able to match with this as long as the ball joint is universal. They may not even state it, but you might have good odds it will work (all of mine do).

fantastic! wonderful! Brilliantly designed! That is my impression of the Garmin 61 NA LMT-S! After using a Garmin Nuvi for several years I decided to upgrade. What an upgrade this unit is!!I While I don't actually travel interstate much anymore after being retired for 26 years, I and my wife do love to just meander around the countryside. With a good GPS unit there are few if any surprises and no unpleasant surprises at all. Just so you know, I spent most of my adult life driving from coast to coast in the USA and Canada. What a blessing a tool such as this would have been had such been available in my time on the road! It would have saved me the inconvenience of carrying two suitcases full of city maps and adding to my collection almost weekly! One can't help but note some of the reviews complaining about how hard it is to set up this unit. I beg to differ. While the menu is lengthy it's really simple if one will just take the time to read the instructions ... it's a breeze! If one is unfamiliar with note books, computers, smart phones, and so on then do please take the time to absorb the instructions. You can do it if you have any aptitude at all for this sort of thing! And you will find the time you spent with the instructions most rewarding. The large display make the street names easy to read even for my old eyes! The audio and visual notices [school zones, curves, speed limits, and so on are great tools! But they are there if you like them and easy to disable if you don't care for them. Customizing the display to one's personal likes is easy ... read the instructions. [I know fellows ... reading instructions can be so ego deflating ... but if you get off by your self and read 'em no one will ever know!] One accessory I would recommend would be a good friction type dash mount. Great addition! It allows the unit to quickly and easily be removed from sight while leaving no telltale marks on the inside of the windshield! Well worth the small additional expense. BTW ... I have absolutely no financial, familial, or emotional connections to Garmin at all. My only interest is my fascination with the excellence and functionality of this unit.

FUNCTIONS Bear in mind this is a large GPS and it is user preference how big you want it. I am comparing the GPS to both iPhone and car. My new Garmin works great and I love “voice command” function which my IPhone app does not have; the GPS built into my 4Runner is just terrible at the voice thing. The best part about the WAZE app on phone in traffic and police locations and red light. Supposedly that works in the Garmin for traffic; but I am still trying to figure that out. Traffic is far more intuitive on the free WAZE phone app. MOUNTING - the Garmin GPS includes a suction cup mount; again with such a large unit, it is nice to try to mount it a little lower and towards the driver. I also bought a friction pad mount; but that actually places the GPS higher on the dash blocking more of the windscreen. The best solution for me was to use my large extra long cell phone holder putting the GPS closer to me and then lower down over the edge of the dash. I bought that mount from Amazon as well. It is called the “AboveTEK Long Arm Universal Car Phone Mount Holder.” This Garmin is a little thick but is still held firmly by the holder. CASE/CARRIER - the one recommended by Amazon is really a good choice. It is for the 9” units. Very nice for the money. SUMMARY - if you can figure out the traffic on this and you need traffic, this is a good choice. Otherwise the free WAZE iPhone app works better. If you don’t care about traffic, this is a great unit; big and easy to read. I am still working on the traffic issue and will update this later.

Garmin is hands down the best GPS in the market. My new car came with some hokey gps solution that if running on your phone it would run in the in car screen....but it doesn’t work well so I decided to give this one a try. A beautiful 7” screen, easy to use, WIFI downloads, and Bluetooth connectivity to your phone are all great. If you run the app from garmin you can get live traffic and some other related stuff but that means opening the app each time you use the gps. So I paid for the traffic power cord and could not be happier. I tried a few different mounts and found a good solution. This was worth the price and was cheaper than anywhere else. Mapping works great, route choices great, all good. Oh, don’t listen to those who says gps units are no longer viable....this does the job well and would not travel without it. Using my phone uses more battery life than a charger can keep it charged up and opening apps and all that is time consuming. I leave this garmin plugged in and it turns on and off with the engine being on and off, is always ready to be used, and I use it going everywhere for the traffic feature.

Upgraded from an older Nuvi 265 unit. Of course the screen is bigger and very easy to see even from an angle. Called support about transferring my old favorites to the new unit. The lady who helped me, I believe her name was Ruth, was very knowledgeable and helpful. If all tech support was this good, the world would be a better place. Used the Garmin Express app to move the destinations over. It worked flawlessly. I had a medical appointment that was around 60 miles away and since I had the unit for only few days and hadn't really tested it, I put my Nuvi in the glove compartment as I knew it worked and had taken me there before. The new unit acquired the sats faster than the old. Since I had updated the maps just the other day, I found that the new unit got me there about 15 minutes faster. I don't do a lot of route planning and such, mostly just point A to point B, this unit is pleasure to use. I used GPSes on boats for years and this unit on land is easier to use. Don't hesitate to buy this product. Extremely user friendly and accurate.

I travel for work. Phone GPS is ok, but sometimes you can't get data or even a signal. You can't afford to get lost anywhere. This GPS is excellent. Keeps me from getting lost in lots of places. Used it in the US, Canada, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Qatar. The Aussie Woman's voice is excellent. Told my wife I would leave her in a second if I could ever find her. The American woman's voice sounds like she mad at you. Sometimes it takes it a bit to find a signal. As a veteran sometimes I want to visit a local base that is close to my travel route. It's not good at keeping track of gates that are open versus those that are closed. Sometimes it wants to take you through a delivery gate. Not a good idea. I like that I can alternate my route around closed roads even when overseas. Like in Doha in January where there is a lot of construction going on. I hate that I had to buy a separate cable for traffic alerts. Don't be cheap Garmin, include the proper cable. Or at least say somewhere in your description that we are too cheap to include a cable so you have to buy your own. I don't like that not all cables will charge your Garmin when your in the house and not in the car. But sometimes the device will say "wrong cable" but charge it anyhow. One time I forgot my car power cord and used a car usb port and a usb cable to run it. Sometimes the screen changes to "please say a command" or something like that for no reason at all. As much as I like the voice. I like it when she talks in that lovely voice and I don't have to. Updates are easy. Garmin Support is excellent. Even with these small issues, I like it. Garmin is the best.

This GPS has everything - great screen, the latest Garmin guidance maps updatable free for life, free traffic for life with your phone app or a GTM 36 traffic receiver/power converter, Voice Command that actually works, warning when you come to a speed camera, and optional backup camera with the separate camera kit and power/receiver unit. Garmin has re-programmed the school, railroad crossing, and warning ribbons so they slide back after giving the warning, overcoming the objections of early adopters who complained that the warnings covered up street names. If you get the back up camera kit, have a professional garage install it. Costs about $200 for installation. The back up camera works very well. However, the backup camera's wireless GTM 30 receiver/power cord that replaces the standard power cord for the GPS unit in the car will not pick up traffic. And the receiver/power cord that does pick up traffic - the GTM 36 - won't pick up the wireless signal from the back up camera. So you have to use your phone to get the lifetime traffic feature if you also want a back up camera. If you buy this GPS, get the Charger City 9055 GPS Vent Mount to go with it and mount it on an air vent on your dash. It stays on more solidly than the windshield mount that comes with the Garmin DriveSmart 61 NA LMT-S. [The Garmin vent mount doesn't work on many cars - it has gripper arms that are too short for many vent blades.] Mounting the GPS on the air vent nearest the right side of the steering wheel puts it where you can see it, and it's much safer than sticking it on the windshield.

DOCUMENTATION. First, no written manual is included with the device. It only can be accessed two ways -- online and within the device itself. Referring to the manual using these methods would be neither safe nor convenient while driving. Second, the flow of the manual is illogical, starting with setup instructions. In my career, I wrote documentation for processes and functions. If I had produced this work, I would have been fired. Within the first couple paragraphs it directs you to refer to different pages to accomplish different steps for initial setup. Good documentation would include those steps within the initial setup paragraphs in order to flow correctly. Leap-frogging around a manual is off-putting and confusing. ADVERTISING. This is called, “Garmin DriveSmart 61 NA LMT-S”. L = Lifetime. M = Maps. T = Traffic. The “L” and “M” are true; the “T” isn’t. Apparently, traffic isn’t “a thing” on this device as sold, unless/until you spring for a special cable OR use in conjunction with your smart phone. But why would you? A phone’s traffic is much better than a stand-alone GPS. Just use the phone. Not exactly Truth In Advertising. LOAD / UPDATE MAPS. The maps loaded easily via USB-laptop connection. It took a couple hours, but there were no glitches. I will update via wi-fi in the future. When I received the unit, I entered all the main destinations for an upcoming trip. All were found except one -- a major hotel in an area that’s been a tourist/shopping Mecca for many years. No worries. I knew it would find it once I loaded the current maps. It didn’t. I re-entered the destination, first by hotel name, then the address, and neither was found. Two free GPS apps using open source maps found it immediately. Cellular Google Maps found it immediately. CUSTOMER SERVICE. I’ve contacted them a few times for guidance. Even though responses haven’t been consistent as to information provided, I have to say that everyone I spoke to was top notch when it came to courtesy and patience. I prefer to avoid interstates/freeways. On a twice-weekly trip to a nearby town, I never take the interstate, but drive a parallel road -- a state highway. The route is only five minutes longer than the interstate. Beginning my little test trip today I selected the option for alternate route, and it said there are no alternate routes and that the interstate is the only way. It isn’t. Soon we’ll be taking this baby for a spin on an east-coast road trip. At the end of the trip I’ll be more familiar and will be able to give a more informed review. UPDATE - 9/1/18 On a week-long trip from Knoxville, TN, to Buffalo, NY, we tried to use this device exclusively, but had to resort to Google often for traffic congestion information, and destination locations. The 7” screen is great, allowing us to see all information clearly. Glare wasn’t a problem. (My sister, the driver, calls the screen “a delight.”.) Screen is completely smooth and seems it could be vulnerable to breakage. I wish the edges were like our old Nuvi 255W, which had a beefy built-up plastic edge that seemed to provide more protection. I thought the little ding when exceeding the speed limit could be annoying. The driver actually appreciated that as it gave her fewer things to think/worry about while driving. So … a good thing. Speed limits shown were accurate. We used in conjunction with the $60 “Garmin GTM 60 HD Digital Traffic Receiver”. For our trip, it wasn’t valuable, as HD coverage didn’t begin until we hit Pittsburgh. When checking traffic every half-hour, the on-screen message was that it may take “several minutes” to get the traffic information. In our case “several minutes” = about 540 minutes. At that time, a message popped up that “there are no delays ahead”. I can see the usefulness of this if/when HD coverage becomes more prevalent. Until then, it’s too spotty for long trips. If commuting often within an HD area, then it’s worth it. I was told that if in an area without HD coverage, LMT SmartDrive would provide at least minimal Garmin traffic info, but it didn’t, as far as we could tell. Regarding using an adapter/splitter in order to use USB simultaneously with the HD cable, Garmin reps had told me three different things: (1) You can’t and still have enough power, (2) you can, and (3) maybe. I ordered the “Garmin High Speed Multi-Charger”, which you plug into the cigarette lighter, then plug the GPS device into that. It powers the device and two other USB devices. We used the GPS and kept two cell phones charging, and it worked perfectly. Even though I updated maps when I got the device two weeks before the trip, some locations were missing and we used Google. In 2010, Our old Nuvi would send visitors coming to our house to a farmer’s gated field 100% of the time. I did notify Garmin of the incorrect directions then. I tested this with this new SmartDrive; it still takes people to the gated field. (Depending on who’s coming to visit, this wasn’t necessarily a problem -- a “feature and not a bug”?) Still, it’s not accurate. I give it three stars. Minus two for: (1) traffic not actually included, even though it's implied -- perhaps dancing on the edge of false advertising; (2) less-than-great documentation; and (3) locations not being as dependable as Google Maps. Using as a typical GPS, it’s good. DriveSmart’s larger screen, visual lane information, and speed notifications are great. For basic functionality I could’ve updated maps on my eight-year-old Nuvi and it would’ve been fine, but that’s expensive. We’ll keep this, and will keep the HD traffic cable, as there’ll probably be better coverage area in the future. We didn’t use with bluetooth for phone, traffic, etc., as we wanted to test as a stand-alone device.

el gps es muy vistoso ya que su pantalla realmente es grande es algo estorboso de llevar en el parabrisas ya que ocupa un buen de espacio lo que hice es que lo puse en el tablero y me quita menos visibilidad, en cuanto a las funciones realmente es muy preciso me sorprendió que me dijo que iba en sentido contrario en una calle pequeña y si yo iba en sentido contrario hasta la fecha no he tenido problemas me falta valorarlo en un viaje largo, un detalle es que cuando me llego al parecer los de la aduana lo revisaron pero parecía que hasta lo usaron pq venia con manchas de dedos y las bolsas de los cables abiertas, sin dudas es un buen gps y mas que es garmin

It does not work. NO data or power to start the gps

I have had bought Garmin GPS products but the Garmin 61 Drive Smart GPS is awesome. It took myself a bit to learn how to use the voice commands but once I had understood how to use it, the easier it was for myself. The WIFI update is most useful when I drive for a living I can use store that have free wifi or wait to go home very handy because I drive for a living. The blue tooth hands free works well if not in a noisy vehicle like the one I drive for a living. Live traffic using your cell phone link application works well once paired with your cell phone. Four square feature allows you to find restaurants, Banks and etcetera in a four square radius is very handy. Find parking does the same as four square. The Garmin Drive Smart 61 has many excellent features that the basic Garmin GPS lacks. I am glad I decided to purchase this over the basic or truck GPS model.

Awesome GPS. I've been happily using Garmen GPSs for many years in cars and boats. This one is a huge leap forward. The display is huge and clear. With all previous ones I had to use my fingernail on the touch screen. On this one, finger touch works perfectly. It's actually taking some getting used to. I was dissapointed to find out that the traffic function uses my phone's data and I don't have enough data for it. I should rate it a 4 but it is so good apart from that issue.

Tengo grandes expectativas con este GPS, estoy ansioso de ver cómo se comporta el tema de mapas de por vida. Llego rápido a Ciudad de México . Luego les comentaré : Cómo se comporta el equipo en carretera .