Garmin Launch DriveSmart 65 With Amazon Alexa

[Darren]

Garmin's latest premium satnav, the DriveSmart 65, has just been announced.

Equipped with a 7-inch high resolution screen, the DriveSmart 65 comes with Amazon Alexa built-in as well as Garmin voice control, Wi-Fi connectivity and the ability to stream audio from it to your vehicle via Bluetooth or an Aux cable.

Using the Alexa voice control you can play Amazon music, check weather and traffic conditions and create to-do lists. For navigation Garmin Voice Control allows you to plan routes, find POIs and receive congestion alerts.

Available in Q2 at £269.99.

Source: garmin.com

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Darren Griffin

[mistersaxon]

If, like me, you prefer not to have your navigation interrupted by phone calls, messages and any other non-driving-related trivia that we are now prone to all the time, then a dedicated PND which you DON'T have to tether to get traffic or cameras is a great idea. Also good for cars where the built-in navigation takes the whole screen so you can't e.g. see what music track is playing if you're interested. Navigation should be on the whole time and able to talk over ANYTHING - phone calls, music, radio TP alerts, all of it.

My main gripe with recent TomTom devices (and I have a couple of both devices AND gripes) is that the Go range were underpowered / slow and BOTH of the units I have have required repairs within the warranty period. The new Rider is a good device but MUST be paired with a phone or at least tethered on wifi or there's no traffic. TomTom GO Mobile is STILL not enabled for CarPlay, 2 years down the line and it vanishes whenever the phone rings, requiring manual intervention to fix. CarPlay itself is a single-screen solution like the built-in car navigation options. Apple Maps has no camera warnings and no GPS speed indicator.

So there is plenty of scope for a PND to leap in and save the day if it's a good one.
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<br>
Rich.
Kit: TomTom iPhone WEurope on iPhone6s+ / iPad Pro
w/ Interphone BT headset on a Honda Blackbird (should change this really - the bike, not the headset)

[chas921]

Regarding new devices, I'm having second thoughts now about dedicated vs. just an accessible device?

To be honest my end of range, discounted Tomtom Go520 when I bought it was 'only' £90 when I got it, plus it came with an iTunes music gift voucher. I got the unit home, updated it and its been brilliant ever since.

I did lose sensitivity once with the screen which I was able to replace my self, but when Tomtom decides my GO520 is too old to update and stops providing support, bang goes any thought that devices are supported for life (really?).

They did upgrade me to the GO5200 at £299 but had a charging issue via its mag-mount, so in the end the GO5200 went back, refunded, so an alternative was sourced/require for the new car?

BringGo at £60 was the alternative, but the GO520 still works, its just not supported anymore, no map updates, due to the built in memory limitation.

Even BringGo had issues initially, simply down to the length of the USB cable, so in order to function correctly I have to use a standard apple lightning connector.

I'm sure I binned an email recently, reminding me that our Garmin Nuvi is retiring, through lack of support.

Decisions, decisions.
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Device:TOMTOM START 52 & SNOOPER 3ZERO

Take care, keep your eyes on the road, not the navigator?

chas

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