This seems to be a product that divides opinion. Yes, I recognise most
of the criticisms that have been made by other reviewers, but I also
believe they can be overcome to a large degree. For example:
1. Buy a dashboard mount: I find this invaluable, providing
somewhere to tuck spare wiring, as well as making removal from the car
that much easier.
2. True, the touchscreen can be frustrating at first, but with practice errors become much rarer.
Of course, the simplest way to use a SatNav is just to put your
destination in and let the SatNav take you there, but we all know the
difficulties that can create, when the SatNav thinks that impassable
track is a great short cut, avoiding the need to take the main road
miles further. The great advantage of the Nüvi 1490 is that you can use
it away from the car to plan and simulate routes. If you think the
SatNav is wrong you can always change the route by adding Waypoints.
As with human beings, it cannot be expected to respond to
information it hasn't received, so if there is no FM signal or no
information available, you may still be stuck in a queue. However,
whilst driving from the North East to the Midlands recently, I twice had
reason to be grateful for its ability to re-route in the face of
traffic problems up ahead, so this is a useful feature, despite its
limitations.
Finally, the Nüvi 1490 is not just a SatNav for the car. It's
light-weight and its pedestrian mode means you can continue to us it
when you have left the car, enabling you to avoid getting lost in town.
So, all in all, this SatNav may not yet be the answer to ALL our dreams, but it's still the best I have come across.
