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First impressions DriveSmart 61 vs 65
I decided to get myself a DriveSmart 65 because.... Not really sure. I guess because I wanted to give the 61 to my wife, or perhaps just say, keep it in the van whereas I generally drive the Subaru.
I have only used the 65 once to go to the grocery and just simulate, but I like how when I'm coming up on a turn it zooms in much closer in autozoom than the 61 did. In a downtown where lots of side streets are close together, it was a struggle with the 61 to make out on the map where to turn. The car symbol could cover several streets. The 65 zooms in much closer. That's good.
I also like that most of the on screen data is in larger type sizes. My older eyes were, I use reading glasses for closeup stuff, can make out the data better.
I hope the lane assist arrows show up more often than on the 61.
I'll post more observations as I use the 65 more but just the better adjusted auto zoom makes the upgrade worthwhile...assuming I don't discover something that i like on the 61 that Garmin got rid on on the 65.
I have only used the 65 once to go to the grocery and just simulate, but I like how when I'm coming up on a turn it zooms in much closer in autozoom than the 61 did. In a downtown where lots of side streets are close together, it was a struggle with the 61 to make out on the map where to turn. The car symbol could cover several streets. The 65 zooms in much closer. That's good.
I also like that most of the on screen data is in larger type sizes. My older eyes were, I use reading glasses for closeup stuff, can make out the data better.
I hope the lane assist arrows show up more often than on the 61.
I'll post more observations as I use the 65 more but just the better adjusted auto zoom makes the upgrade worthwhile...assuming I don't discover something that i like on the 61 that Garmin got rid on on the 65.
Comments
I have upgraded to a DS65 from a well loved Nuvi 2597. I share the same about the larger fonts as I'm on the wrong side of 50.
I've not used the DS65 much yet, but appreciate the improved features I have observed to date.
Things I observe are:
1, Speed camera warnings are nervously late at about 400m
2, Garmin Drive app for traffic won't allow google map locations to be pushed to the DS65 like the Smartphonelink app did to the Nuvi.
3, I'm based in New Zealand and weather radar images for here are said to be sourced from an Australian provider (BOM) that actually don't provide weather radar coverage for NZ.
My phone connects to my car so that I have txt messages read to me by the car and I can respond with the 12 canned answers hands free.
I still need to kill the Junction view file though. I think it interferes with lane assist.
For mine, traffic and weather info is only available via the GarminDrive app, where as traffic was available through both the power cable and the SmartphoneLink app on the Nuvi.
I use the Bluetooth for smartphone connectivity during work to have my personal phone connected to the DS65 and my work phone connected to the vehicle audio system.
Personally, I still think the DriveTrack 71 is the coolest Garmin automotive device I've ever owned. :)
http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/31309/the-drivetrack-71-garmin-s-coolest-model-you-ve-never-heard-of/p1
One thing I like about the 71 is the smaller POI icons. But if you like BIG text, maybe you wouldn't appreciate these? Does the 65 have the big icons like the 61 or small ones like the 71?
I also set the Trip Data field to stay open on the right side of the screen where I've set the 3 fields to show arrival time, time to destination and miles to destination. They may not be larger but appear easier to read.
But the big thing is that with the 61 autozoom never zoomed in close enough on turns where there are many side streets or complicated intersections. The 65 autmatically xooms in much closer so I cam better see were to turn.
It shows "This PC\Garmin DriveSmart 65" if I type \.system I get an error.
Is there a way to make it show up as a lettered drive?
This has been discussed extensively in the forums, here's a 9-year-old post that includes the following.
http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/comment/165763/#Comment_165763
"2. Start NUVI by itself and go to Volume Screen.
3. Press the upper right hand corner of screen for 10 seconds.
4. The Developers Screen will pop up
5. Scroll down to MTP SETTINGS
6. Change from AUTO DETECT to MASS STORAGE"
3: "Configuration and Settings"
4: MTP Settings
5:Check "Show .system"
The .system folder all of a sudden showed up in Windows Explorer without changing the unit to mass storage and without setting Explorer to show Hidden Files/folders or to unhide the system folders.
I did change the name of the JVC file.
MTP Auto Detect
Mass Storage
Mass Storage Single Session
But does yours also have a "Mass Storage" option? If not, then maybe they just changed the name of "Mass Storage" to "Show System"?
Configuration Settings>
.....MTP Settings
.................MTP Mode
....................................MTP Auto Detect
....................................USB Ethernet
....................................USB Ethernet Single Session
............... Show .System
MTP Auto Detect is set as the dafault in MTP Mode. Not necessary to go in there to get access to the .system folder. Just enable "Show .System"
I guess I was wrong. There is no Mass Storage option unless it's somewhere else entirely. I did browse the other options besides "Configuration settings" but nothing obvious. But there's tons of stuff under .system. Not sure if there are any more hidden folders to open.
I use Smartphone link all the time. I find google search so much better then built in Garmin poi's. I send it to my 61 and off I go. I hate navigating via phone or my $700 built in Sync 3 Ford GPS. That's a pile of crap really. love the 61.
I also have Android Auto and Waze. Both can't compare to DS61 for serious navigating use.
Have never really used Mapsource or Basecamp except as a way to keep a backup of my waypoints especially for when I get a new device.
By the way, I took the DS65 on it's first fairly long trip. The lane assist arrows did mostly show up after the unit gave me a message on the next major turn. I had deleted the JVC file. I have lon suspected byt can't prove that deleting the JVC file makes the lane assist arrows show up more often.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_USB
"There are numerous protocols for Ethernet-style networking over USB. The main motivation for these protocols is to allow application-independent exchange of data with USB devices, instead of specialized protocols such as video or MTP."
Mapsource needs read/write access to the device (but not to the .System folder). Something odd is going on there if it doesn't work. Does Basecamp let you send waypoints/routes? It should be able to directly access the GPS, regardless of those settings.
BTW, MTP mode is just a "Windows thing". On a Mac (and also, I assume, a Linux computer), the device will always mount as a USB disk regardless of those settings. The .System folder will be hidden, because any filename that begins with a dot is always hidden. But you aren't actually locked out of it or anything.
I know the parking thing is well featured to select suitable parking based on cost & availability etc.
And that parking alert sounds even worse. These sound like good reasons to skip the 65 and go for a good price on a refurb Drivesmart 61 if you need a new GPS. ;)
On the DS61 I had it set to alert me only for major delays but on almost every drive I took it would alert me one or two times on things that it estimated as less than 5 minute delay. That Setting never worked.
The DS65 appears to have fixed that.
So Parking vs Traffic delays, I trade one alert for another that I have to X out. But I suspect that parking will not come up on every trip like the traffic alert did on the 61.
As to that school alert. Ya it's stupid. But it doesn't hinder the map very too much.
I didn't much mind orange alerts that appeared on the top bar. They were silent at least. I ended up so immune that I hardly ever noticed them any more.
The DS65 has another new feature. Where it shows the speed limit down toward the bottom left, that data field will turn orange when I am approaching a change in the road's speed limit. I think I like that. There is no audio notice to go with it.
The big thing that I like about the 65 is that autozoom works better at complex intersections/turns. It zoom in much closer. That's a real big plus for me.
I also think that they made improvements to the 65's ability to listen. With the 61 in my new car it had a real hard time with voice command. Hard of hearing. The 65 has no problem hearing me even with the music at a reasonable level which is a surprise.
So Far I'm finding lost of fairly small programming differences. There are pluses and minuses. So far at least the pluses are outweighing the minuses.... for me.
I also just turned off POI alerts and red light cameras. I don't know if that will kill that strange school message I got or if anything can get rid of the parking message I described. I haven't driven to those destinations again since seeing them.
Now maybe they fixed this on the DS 65, so that it completely supresses the alerts? That would be an improvement.
I've gotten pretty used to them during the day, but at night, in a dark car, they can be rather startling. At least they could use a darker color in night mode.
If only they had a way of monitoring how many turn them off they may realise.
If Garmin thinks this is really necessary then, whatever. Just provide a menu option to make it all go away, for those of us who want a GPS and not a Nanny. ;)
So far I like the DS65 better than the 61.
I've had so many Garmins going back to the iQue. My very old Nuvi 750 still works. My DS60, Nuvi 3590, Nuvi 3790 eventually died on me. The DS60 fried in the heat. The Nuvi 3590 was bricked by a software/map update. I don't recall what killed the 3790.
Thanks