Garmin nuvi 1390T Ultra Thin GPS DeviceReview

Featuring live traffic capabilities, excellent lane assist with junctionview, free traffic alerts, pre-loaded North America maps and aneffective user interface, the nuvi 1390T is one of thebest GPS unitsonthe market. The Garmin nuvi 1390T follows the same design features as the rest of the nuvi range — a simple yet stylish glossy black finish with a matteblack bezel surrounding the display. Despite the large display, the nuvi1390T GPS unit remains ultra thin and the included window mount iscompact and easily clipped on and off. The Garmin nuvi 1390T's user interface is simple but very effective.Menu items are accompanied by either large boxes with text or clearlylabelled icons, making this GPS easy to use even for the novice. Wewould have appreciated a Bluetooth icon on the home screen to saveus having to access the tools menu, but this is a minor issue. The Garmin nuvi 1390T's map screen is clear and straightforward. Mostimportantly the touch screen is responsive and doesn't skip a beat. Wewere very impressed with the speed of this GPS; not only is browsingthe menu zippy, it’s also one of the quickest units at finding a GPSsignal and rerouting when you take a wrong turn.Garmin's pre-loaded City Navigator NT maps aren't as detailed asthose used by some competing units, but there is an option in thesettings menu to display more detail (backstreets are the maininclusion). Importantly, street names are clear and safety alerts arepre-loaded (they trigger an audible alert and voice warning but thenotification on the map screen is small). Enabling "more map data" inthe settings menu places four boxes on the right side of the mapscreen that display information including distance and time todestination, current time, estimated time of arrival and speed.Garmin uses Whereis maps for itsautomotive GPS rangeand they arefairly accurate in most instances. The nuvi 1390T warn you of all theknown red light and fixed speed cameras you pass, but like most GPSunits, it has a tendency to prefer main roads to the back streets thatare often much faster.Garmin's Real View advanced lane guidance is the best seen on anyGPS unit. It displays an image of the road and its surroundings in 2-Dor 3-D, along with road signs identical to those used in the real world.