I have just returned my 8th copy of a Garmin Nuvi 1490T. Is there a known issue with these? I ask as I have bought all these from 2 different costco's. All have had the same issue, turn off and on repeatedly. Even after the firmware and software updates. I see the solution is to send the unit in for repair with an RMA. That is laughable, buying a product, then having to send it in for repair almost immediately. Is this affecting a certain serial number batch? If so, what serial numbers are not affected, that way I can go to Costco and buy one that I know works. Wonder if that is why they are selling them for $349.....
I planned a trip from france-> morocco by car through spain, so treated myself, so i thought to 1490tv, morocco maps, and lifetime updates.
couple of weeks after purchase, before we set off, tested unit on route of 45km to rennes, was playing with tv and unit shut off in the car and would not come back on until the following morning back at home. Hummm, I did know my own way back from there though.
I did a full update of software and maps and haven't been able to repeat this full shutdown of death since.
across the spannish border it left me driving in the middle of nowhere, maybe new updates were available i dont know, i didnt bring pc lead with me.
I'm now in morocco, the unit got me here ok, it may be that is because i didnt get to fes via autoroutes, as all my problems seem to occur on the autoroutes.
First big trip out to casablanca via rabat by autoroutes was ok, coming back to fes, the unit was constantly restarting, wouldn't get to show me route on the screen. frustrated i left it off. Once at home, unit seemed fine.
Today, a shorter trip by autoroute to meknes, exactly the same thing happened, got me there ok, coming back, unit was restarting constantly.
Tried power cord, no power cord, reseating mem card, couldnt get to point of changing route on unit as restarts before then.
Felt like throwing this thing out of the window,
buyer beware :(
I bought a 1490T and Ecoroute HD on November 28, 2010. Everything seemed to be fine for the first month. I updated the firmware and maps using My Garmin about a week ago.
After that, the trouble started. A few days after the update, I noticed the bluetooth link from the Ecoroute HD became sporadic. The guages or MPG data started to freeze for a few seconds at a time, then catch up rapidly. Then, a few days ago, the 1490T started not to connect to the Ecoroute HD. According the the diagnostic LEDs on the Ecoroute HD, it seems to be communicating with the CAN bus in my truck OK; just the 1490T isn't detecting the Ecoroute HD.
Now, as of yesterday, the audio quit working. If I do a master reset by holding my finger in the lower right corner of the screen while powering up, perhaps after four or five tries, the audio might work, but then the audio will quit again after powering the unit off the next time.
The porblems seem to be related to the version 4.7 software update or the loading of the updated maps. I wish there was a way to go back. I don't see any improvements in the software and the map data for my area doesn't seem to contain any corrections for new Interstate interchanges that have been built in the last few years.
I bought the 1490T becuase it had been on the market for a while, so I figured the bugs would be worked out. I guess I was really wrong! What a turkey device it has turned out to be.
Same problem with the 680 on two different units. Run the update and the unit froze. Would not reset or connect to the PC. Garmin replaced the first one but refuses to replace this one. I always had good luck with Garmins before that. Very disappointed. I now have a worthless unit thanks to their updates.
I wish I had checked this forum before I updated my software. My 1409T was working fine since Oct 09. A friend updated his software for another model and told me it sped up his unit's start up time. I downloaded the new software yesterday and now I have the "Loader Loading" screen of death. Have been searching for answers online and found this Garmin site filled with upset customers. You would think they would read this.
I purchased a Garmin 1490 LMT from GPS Central and took it on a road trip to Florida. I updated the firmware prior to departure. It rebooted about 6 times(over 3 days) on the way down but on the way up must have rebooted about 20 times (over 1.5 days)including 2X right in Detroit. That really sucked.
nuvi 1490 i KP1 V5 LC 2GB Software Ver 4.70
Contacted Garmin they recommended replacement. I sent the unit back into GPS central and had a new one within several days.(was within 14 day period from receipt). Good service on this
Nuvi 1490 i KP1 V5 LC 2GB Software Ver 4.90.
(when I go into software versions it shows GPS 4.30, Text 4.9, Audio 2.7, Bluetooth 1.73)
So far so good although my longest trip was about 3 hours. Blue tooth is working fine pulling up my contacts list from my Blackberry Bold.
Update June 30/11 Garmin 1490 LMT - Since I received the replacement unit I have had no problems until I updated to firmware version 5.30(about 2 weeks ago). Unit is now shutting down during use. Will be contacting support. I did find a youtube link where someone had posted that when on the map page and clicking on speed and then holding your finger on the center of the speedometer it calls up a diagnostic page with the dates and details of the crashes.
6.2 now. Haven't had a chance to try it out on the road, but this particular unit has always been pretty solid. We've had this one for about 2 years now. No random restarts, though occasionally the little traffic icon will not appear for quite some time, usually when turning the unit on in Northern San Diego County. Maybe there's an issue with the FM traffic signal there? It always seems to bring up the traffic info right away around home (Ventura, CA) or in LA.
Other than that it will occasionally recalculate for no apparent reason, usually while following a freeway transition road. It then will sometimes take a couple of recalc cycles to sort itself out.
