Apr 132015
Garmin nüvi 3597LMTHD 5-Inch Portable Bluetooth Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and HD Traffic
- 5.0″ high resolution display, with “pinch and zoom” capability
- Detailed maps of North America with free lifetime updates
- Free lifetime HD Digital Traffic -the fastest, best traffic solution from Garmin
- Smartphone Link compatibility allows nuvi to use your Android phone’s existing data plan to share information and to access Garmin Live Services, useful real-time information such as traffic and weather
- 3-D Buildings & Terrain depict landmarks and the natural landscape in North America
Crisp, High Resolution Display nüvi 3597LMTHD has a 5.0″ high resolution display with “pinch and zoom” capability, so you can quickly get a closer look at any onscreen information. Dual-orientation capabilities allow you to use nüvi 3597LMTHD either horizontally or vertically. Detailed Maps with Free Updates nüvi 3597LMTHD arrives loaded with detailed maps of North America. With free lifetime¹ map updates, your routes are sure to reflect the most up-to-date maps, POIs (points of int
List Price: $ 349.99
Price: $ 335.00
The Retina-Like GPS. Superb, Lightweight, Just Great!!!,
I have been using GPS units for years and just upgraded to the new Garmin flagship GPS, the Nuvi 3597. What a joy this unit is. It is like an iPhone 5… svelte, lightweight and simply gorgeous. It (like the iPhone) can be slippery and slip out of a case or your hands.
I like this new hardware design. It has a MUCH better on/off switch. It’s actually a button on the back that is so much easier to use than the old small button at the top of the unit. That had always been a frustration for me. Not this one. So much easier to find and use.
The windshield mount is magnetic. What a great idea. The unit just gets pulled into the right position and you are good to go. Much easier and simpler than the 3590 I replaced. And the mount is powered so no cords to plug in. Just take the unit and move it within range and it locks into place. Wonderful design.
The user interface is also much cleaner and simpler. The new voice prompts sound like a good (female) friend giving you directions. “Turn right at the traffic light.” “Turn left at the end of the street.” The voice itself is much nicer sounding and the street pronunciations are much, much better. Garmin calls this “Real Directions, with Real Voice.” The screen itself is less cluttered and less colorful which makes for an easier experience. The speed limit sign is now towards the bottom left corner. And the actual speed you are driving is close by. If you go over the limit the box gets a red border. At night it is a bit more difficult to see when it turns red.
The screen is simply great. I liken it to retina display (as in Apple fame). What a nice crisp screen. Very nice.
Lane assist is still there and as before very useful. My only mild complaint is that the proper lane is now a white arrow and the other lanes are grayed out. It is a bit more difficult to see with the background, especially when in night mode. The voice prompt now says stay in the second lane from the right, etc. Nice touch. And in some cases there is a rolling roadway showing your proper lane in a nice highlight that moves as you are moving and goes poof when you are done with that maneuver. And photoReal junction views are still wonderful with real road signs. This continues to expand on this great feature.
One new addition is the name of the road you are on at the bottom center of the screen. That is a great new feature. The next turn info at the top of the screen has better info and does a much better job at letting you know what is coming up in a crisp interface.
The prior interface had the option for you to set up three shortcuts on the screen, something I liked using…. mute, detour, traffic were my picks. And I found them helpful. No more shortcuts always on the screen, but now though you can add a number of them and access them with a touch and then choose which one you want. Upcoming gas, food or other options is a great option. This involves a two-step process as opposed to the one step one before. But you have more choices. I would have still liked to have a few always on the screen, especially the mute button. To mute now would require three touches.
New now is the ability to link to your iPhone (and Android) through the Smartphone Link app. You can access weather, road cameras, parking, etc. This is I believe the first unit to have the ability to link to your iPhone. Nice feature. You can purchase upgrades, like advanced weather with radar for about $5.
I have not been able to access much traffic info (lifetime digital traffic and map updates are included) since I have been at the outer edges of reception. Since it uses the same cable as the 3590 for HD traffic I imagine it would be similar. In the past I haven’t had many complaints about traffic, other than the coverage. Hopefully coverage is getting better as the months go by.
Any issues??? Well, I mentioned the hard to see lane assist arrows… white with grayed out lanes, and more difficult to see at night in night mode. The red border when going over the speed limit, more difficult to see at night is another issue. I have found it takes a bit longer than I would have expected to get to the next screen once you hit the `Where to’ portion of the screen. More lag time than I would have thought. I will have to test it out some more and see if it’s just at start up. Speaking of start up, this unit got connected to satellites very fast.
All in all, this is really a great step up. I highly recommend it. I wasn’t sure it would have been a major upgrade from the 3590, but I am pleasantly surprised that it is and more. Your smartphone map app or GPS app can’t compete with this beauty.
You will enjoy using this new flagship unit from Garmin.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Garmin giveth, Garmin taketh away,
So I’ve had the 3597 for almost four days, but I’ve used many a Garmin before, going back to the GPS V. (I’ve also owned the 3490, 3790 and 1695) As usual, Garmin decides to update the new model year with some new features (Active Lane Guidance and Real Directions are the main ones) but then remove others (user updatable speed limits and dashboards come to mind). I really like this new model, but would only ask for a couple of features to return to make it outstanding. All of my cons could be considered nit-picky, but they’re still cons in my book. All told, I would still recommend the 3597.
SW Version 2.60
Thoughts that come to mind:
Pros
+ The 5-inch display is very crisp and clear, but can be reflective depending on how you position it in your car. Love the big screen!
+ More street names are shown on the map than previous models, roads not on your route are more frequently labled at all zoom levels
+ Voice activation works well for me, even with windows down
+ HD traffic (included) works well for me in San Diego; however see below for comment around traffic with Smartphone App
+ Advanced lane guidance. While not included for all junctions, it’s useful to know exactly which lane you should be in as you approach tricky junctions/intersections
+ Current street shown
+ Volume with speaker mount is very good. With windows down I only have to boost the volume to 60 or 65 to hear directions.
+ Magnetic mount – bring the unit close to the mount and it just snaps into place by itself, much improved.
Cons
- Lack of dashboards, or specifically of more data fields. I really miss having more than two data fields. One being current speed (cannot be changed) and one other. I miss being able to view time to destination, arrival time, and distance to destination all on the screen at the same time, like any of the previous models. Hopefully this will be changed in a SW update…? By the way, you can include trip data in the “sidebar”, but those are limited to Direction, Max Speed, Moving Avg, Overall Avg, Stopped Time, Moving Time, Total Time, Elevation. Why just those “trip” fields?
- I had previously purchased the traffic through the Smartphone App for Android and it’s hit or miss. I can have cell reception on my phone, but the GPS won’t be able to receive data. By keeping the traffic on the sidebar, it can confirm that it will go minutes without being able to update the traffic info. If it connects at startup but then isn’t able to connect, all traffic data goes away until it can successfully connect again. I’m hopeful this can also be updated via SW update.
- I miss the three onscreen shortcuts found in the 3490 – it takes an extra button press to do a “where to” search, or get traffic info. A minor annoyance, but still a feature subtracted from the previous model.
- No user updatable speed limits – a feature removed from previous models. While I understand they’re only included as a guide, it would be nice to change them if they are incorrect.
* Real directions. I’m indifferent to this new feature. “Turn left at the traffic light” versus “Turn left on University Ave” doesn’t really make much difference to me. Though I did run across the downfall of implementing this feature… “Turn left after La Salsa” only helps when La Salsa is still in business. Unfortunately it was not, but I knew where to turn anyway.
* I tend not to use the bluetooth functionality for phone calls, so I can’t answer to the quality on this model.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Great upgrade from 3590,
I ordered this from eBay since I wanted to have it for an upcoming road trip. I received it yesterday.
You can check out my other Garmin GPS reviews but sufficient to say that I’ve had them for over a decade. My last model was the previous version of this model, the 3590. I usually upgrade every 1-2 years depending on what new features are out.
Quick summary: it’s expensive but it’s the best GPS unit I’ve owned so far! The unit is easy to use, quick and beautiful. There are a lot of software/display tweaks in the 2013 line that alone (for me) make the upgrade totally worth it. I had a 3590 and I have no regrets so far upgrading to the 3597.
Pros:
- The unit is actually made of aluminum and feels absolutely solid. This is the highest quality GPS unit I’ve owned from Garmin. The slender metal body and glass screen make it feel like you are holding a large, modern smartphone in your hand. It really doesn’t feel like any Garmin I’ve had before. Big plus.
- The magnetic mount is pretty cool. There is no bracket that holds the unit to the mount, its held to the window mount by a very strong magnet.
- New 2013 software update: the display is the best I’ve seen from Garmin. They’ve finally got the issue of display clutter vs. sparse display solved! The new display shows the current street, up coming street as well as two customizable fields. The new services (like weather, traffic, etc) can be brought up and slide in from the right. One more new feature that I LOVE is that you can add custom shortcuts to the “Where to?” screen. I added one that searches for the nearest Dunkin Donuts from where I am and another for frequent addresses. The benefit of this is that you can initiate these searches or directions with just TWO taps. Great!
- The display really is the best I’ve seen in a Garmin. The viewing angle seems much improved and the display itself feels “tougher”. I know the 3590 is also glass but it doesn’t feel as robust as this glass screen.
- Smartphone link services – really impressed with the weather, it costs $5 extra per year. Can overlay hourly forecasts on the driving map or show an animated radar map!
Cons:
- Expensive
- Mini USB port on the back – Most modern devices use micro USB so I have tons of those cables lying around, this is the only device that still uses mini USB so I have to keep the cable around just for map updates. Just a minor hassle. The 3590 used micro usb so I’m not sure why they reverted here.
- HD Traffic, not impressed – as another reviewer mentioned, I am seeing “no traffic signal” on major highways and cities.
- Real directions haven’t added any value to me so far – The Garmin will try to speak extra instructions for turns, for example. “Stay in the left two lanes”. The reason I have issue with this is that I usually have the radio on so when I hear her instructions, it is so long that I will not hear the first part so the rest doesn’t make sense to me.
- Voice Command – voice activated control – which I love on the 3590 seems a bit over-sensitive on this model. It will pop up sometimes when the radio is on, the 3590 never did this. I will add that VC feature is improved on this model in that you can setup your own magic phrase.
Was this review helpful to you?
|