📅 2021-Jan-02 ⬩ ✍️ Ashwin Nanjappa ⬩ 🏷️ gps navigator ⬩ 📚 Archive
I have been using the Garmin Drive 61 LM GPS navigator since I bought my first car in 2018. Most folks use a smartphone, but I intentionally chose a GPS navigator so that I could have a dedicated device that would not be distracted by calls, text notifications, mobile OS problems or battery problems. I also chose the model with the biggest display - this one is 6-inch, so that I could see the roads and surroundings clearly. All these motivations have proven themselves over the past 3 years and the Drive 61 has become an integral part of my car. I have been using it both for long drives outside the city and also for short drives inside the city to unfamiliar locations.
Install: This unit came with a windshield mount that is easy to attach and remove. I leave it attached to my windshield at all times. I just click in the GPS navigator unit when I drive and remove it to avoid theft when I am done. During the hot months, if the windshield gets hot the attachment slips down - the solution is to take it off and fasten it again.
Use: Using the unit is straightforward: type in the name or address of a location and choose it to be guided there. On peeve is that less-known locations in other cities are not searched by default even though they might be in the map data. The solution for this to change the current location to the destination city and then search the location there.
Update: The best part of this GPS navigator has been the software and map updates that Garmin has been pushing diligently for it. To update, you need to download and install the Garmin Express software. After that, plug in the unit to your computer using the USB cable it came with. After the unit is detected by Windows, Garmin Express can check for updates and update the software and the maps. For example, for my unit the software was recently updated to 6.2 and the maps to 2021.30. Note: The strange thing was that Garmin Express would download the maps update, but fail installing it to my unit for a year. After that this bug was mysteriously fixed and my maps got updated!