Reviews for Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Great piece of equipment

Strengths: Good map detail, touch screen makes it easy to navigate. Auto dim feature makes it nice at night.

Weakness: Since it is made for on-road use only, if you get off on a side road running parallel to the road on the map, it will not show you off of the main road until you are about 300 ft away.

I shopped and researched for 3 months before buying this unit. I never needed the instructions. After downloading the maps, I took it out, set up some routes to known destinations (just to test it) and let it direct me. It did an awesome job. I have been using it in both my truck and my GoldWing. This is a way cool, practical device.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Many options available: nearest hotels, entertainment, restaurants, gas stations & more. Has touchscreen with a remote control. Very fast, accurate and acquires satellites very fast. Great 4 new route

Weakness: None Noted at the moment

The Garmin 2610 is one of the best GPS Navigation units out there! I purchased a 1GB Compact Flash card to hold about 1/2 of the US Map. This unit gives you the option to add and remove maps on your PC and then select & save them to your Compact Flash memory card. The firmware is upgradable. This Garmin GPS unit acquires satellites very fast and reroutes automatically. It is very compact and movable between different cars. It is accurate about 98% of the time and does a great job in getting to its destination. There are many options available like nearest hotels, entertainment, restaurants, gas stations, etc. The touchscreen is great and the remote is even better! I have used both the Hertz Neverlost System and also own the Garmin StreetPilot III. I can tell you that in comparison, the Garmin 2610 beat both of them all the way. This is great for finding the best route to your destination & never be lost again!

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Compact, ease of use, remote control, touchscreen

Weakness: doesn't have the absolute latest maps, but can be updated

My dad owned the older StreetPilot III so I got the newer 2610. It is nearly better in every way except the screen is smaller (making some fonts a bit harder to read). The remote control is terrific and inputting addresses is very easy due to the touchscreen (no more need for predictive text). The unit has a fast cpu and it is very compact. A much better buy than the Magellan unit which I've also played with (who wants to hook onto the vents??? and who wants a big bulky carry case???). The off-route updating is much faster than other units I've played with.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Durable, excellent display, and quick redraws and route calculating, pretty user friendly menu. Water resistant.

Weakness: A little off on the distances to turns, Voice prompts could be a little more detailed. Funky connector on the back.

This is an excellent unit. Rugged and easy to operate. I was looking for a GPS unit for my motorcycle (Harley Davidson, Electra Glide), and needed one that was rugged and water resistant. The StreetPilot 2610 fit the bill. I also wanted to have the whole U.S. loaded like the 2620, but didn't know if the hard drive card would stand up to the vibration, so I bought the 2610 and a 2 GB compact flash card and was able to load the whole North America on the CF Card. Now I have a 2620 for less than what the 2620 would have cost. The display on the 2610 is brighter than I expected that it would be in bright sunlight. I doesn't wash out as much as I thought it would. Great buy, great little GPS unit.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Compact, easy to read.

Weakness: Small memory card comes with it.

Garmin packs a great thing in a small package. This thing picks up satellites really quick. It senses the lighting conditions so it'll be brighter during the day and dimmer at night. Too bad it's only good on-road. It only comes with a 128 mb CF card, but you can replace it to fit more maps on the device.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Functionality; Fast satellite acquisition; Ease of use

Weakness: MapSource software doesn't load readily onto laptops; Need to type exact address; No battery; Limited 128 Mb compact flash

I'm very pleased with my purchase of the Garmin 2610. It's very easy to use with intuitive menus. The routing is pretty quick and has been quite accurate so far. It's portable in the sense that I can transfer it between vehicles. However, it can only be used in vehicles and not as a handheld unit because it is powered through the car power outlet and has no provision for battery power.

One weakness I encountered was during set-up. I only have a laptop and had difficulty loading the MapSource software onto my computer. I contacted customer support, who promptly responded and acknowledged that there were issues with loading the software onto laptops. Customer support overnighted another set of CDs to me. The installation still did have issues because I got an error message in changing from the first to the second CD but the installation did finish with the new CDs. Also, the transfer from the PC to the compact flash in the GPS unit took more than an hour with a 512 MB memory. The unit came only with a 128 Mb memory and is not big enough to store the maps I intend on using, so I had to purchase additional memory. As far as using the unit itself, I found that you have to type in the exact address or it would not recognize the address. For example, "South Boulevard" does not necessarily bring up "S Blvd" and vice-versa.

Overall, I find the multi-functionality of the unit to be outstanding and I continue using my GPS without much trouble.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: The 2610 is easy to use and the menus are fairly intuitive. Navigation is very easy. The navigation instructions are understandable and for the most part timely.

Weakness: No way to store phone numbers (Waypoint names are limited to 10 characters). Using the internal antenna, ocassionally lost satelite signal.

Although, I have only had the unit for two days, before purchasing the unit I did have the opportunity to borrow a friends unit and test it fairly extensively. Firmware upgrades are easy to install. I also recommend the Mapsource V6.3 free download.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Screen size, screen options, touch screen, menus, on screen and voice instructions during routing, removeable compact flash card to store maps, ability to find local places to eat or stop.

Weakness: Maps not always accurate, only runs on DC not AC so must be plugged into car, PC map software can be confusing and not intuitive, sometimes have to stop to reacquire satellites.

For me, I can get lost getting out of my driveway. I bought this unit to tell me how to get around. I really like it, but it takes some getting used to. The unit itself is great, but the PC mapping software that comes with it is not perfect. I found the software confusing at first but once you get used to it, using it to help plan trips is great and downloading to the unit is easy. Unfortunately, the maps are only as good as what the city planning commissions have given to the government as to where the streets are. For instance, the mapping software thinks my street is a continuous street but it is a dead end. So when I plan a route I have to manually put in waypoints so the unit will not route me through streets that aren't there. Also, you have to know the address you are going to precisely because it will give not be able to find it or it will give you a lot of choices if the address street is a more common name. I got lost once using the unit when I asked it for a street with "road" instead of "blvd". It also does not have every public building available, so some you might know about may not be in the database. Some newer streets and restaurants are not even in the database, and to get a software upgrade you need to buy the software again.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: - short satellite acquisition time - bean bag mount - small size - automatic rerouting - the 128mb CF memory, included with the unit is suprisingly sufficient for most users

Weakness: - future map updates are pricey (thankfully, maps last a few years without needing to be updated) - the unit is expensive, but relative to what you're getting, it's a bargain

I've owned several laptop based GPS solutions before and I shopped around before picking this one. The features of this unit that really shine is its automatic rerouting, which comes in handy whenever you stray off course, and the touch screen. I'm surprised at how quickly you can just hop in the car, plug in the unit, and go. However, to make the most out of the unit, you should really plug in waypoints of places you're most likely to visit. This makes finding sites breeze.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Easy to use. Intuitive menus. Very good database of stores, businesses, points of interest, etc. in the included software. Good bean-bag dashboard holder. Uses standard compact flash.

Weakness: I have not encountered any real weaknesses thus far, other than the software takes a long time to download from a PC to the compact flash card in the GPS unit.

Thus far, I am very satisfied with this product. The reason that I bought the Garmin StreetPilot 2610 is that I have used the Hertz Never Lost system in rental cars, and I have found the 2610 as good if not better than the Hertz system. Highly recommended!

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Waterproof

Weakness: power cable

This a a great GPS product that can be switched between vehicles. I've been using it in the car and I plan on using it on my motorcycle, also. Only the Quest and 2610 were recommended by Garmin for motorcyles. The flash memory is more vibration proof than a GPS with a hard disk.

It requires a power source to operate, so you can't use it on it's own. The power attachment to the GPS is a special flat plug that you need to slide in carefully. It would be better if this was a more simple plug type connector, but I suppose it's needed because the voice output is in the plug that goes into the car's 12v source. The MapSource software is pretty good - lots of detail for services, food & drink, etc. Pretty cool when you can search for a name of a restaurant you want to go to and hit route and it gives you turn by turn directions to get there.

When driving in the big city, it loses satellite reception when between big buildings. I was still able to follow my route by manually moving the map around to see where I should turn until I was in an area open enough to pick up satellites again.

The 128MB compact flash memory will get you by for an entire state, but if you want to travel between states, you'll need more memory - I upgraded to 512MB and can get about 1/2 the US maps downloaded (note, the basic map in the GPS has pretty good detail for all the major roads, but doesn't have the gas stations, sites, etc.).

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: EASY TO USE. Comes with handy booklet. Helped me alot when me and my family went for the march roadtrip.

Weakness: Since our family has big van. and the GPS console has small screen.i have to take my eyes and concentration of the road and look at the screen for what i want.

Well its pricey. I dont know much about this new technology but so far it has helped me out and hasnt failed on me yet.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: works as described, #1 in my book

Weakness: Should come with more memory

It was simple to set up ,It is very easy to use my wife
should never get lost again, I also find it great for trips,Hotels ,motels,fuel & food . Oh ya great for finding home addresses also.....Gary

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By member: yikes - Jan 4, 2005

Now that the new ones are out, grab this outstanding...

Strengths: robust construction, cool remote, well lit screen, very visible, good voice guidance, loads of features, easy to setup, uses cheap and fast CF cards, great visibility, and extremely informative.

Weakness: small screen, only 256 colors, the bean-bag dash mount is not secure enough, interface takes time to get use to and could be a lot more user-friendly, could be better. UPDATE: replacemnt received.

I compared this with my brother's Magellan 500 and it is at least on par if not better.

1. Installation is easy. No need to mate/register your CF card to the unit like Magellan or Tomtom do. Which means I can send data to the CF card via much faster USB 2.0 reader.
2. It displays a lot of useful information like estimated arrival time, reminder to turn with distance, time, and voice. And they are all very accurate.
3. It tells you if the address you are looking for is on the left or right.
4. Good map, relatively accurate.
5. Acquires Satellites real fast. The fastest one so far.
6. comes with everything you need.

On the bad side. I would prefer a much bigger screen. It is really small. The bean-bag dash mount is not good. During sharp turns of if the the road is very bumpy, it will slide/fall off. You better have quick hands to catch it. And its on screen interface can and should be refined. it is not intuitive at all. It took me a while to figure out how to load in waypoints.

Overall, a great unit. $$$ well spent.

UPDATE: After using it for all this time, I have come to love it. I have compared it to other portable auto navigation units, and none comes close to it.

1. When no routes planned, it displays current street, house #, direction of travel, and upcoming street. Awesome.

2. At first, its screen does not appear to be impressive. But I found it to be extremely visible at all light conditions. It appears to have anti-glare coating, so it is very readable under direct sun light. It has built-in light sensor, so it can automatically adjust level of brightness as needed. Other brands only use internal clock to do it.

3. Its map is very good. Mine is the newest version 6. I have enter an address that it can not find. The same can not be said of other (read my next GPS review, soon). But its POI database is not as complete as it should. It did not list my local library. And once it took me to an IKEA store that had been closed for a year.

4. The voice prompt is frequent and clear. Well, sometimes, I can get annoyed by its frequency. But if I going to an unknown place, it is re-assuring.

5. I found the removeable double-tape adhesive dash mount useless. I can not mount it at all. So it is back to bean-bag for me.

Sure, it is not the prettiest looking one out there, physically. But it is the best at what it does!

UPDATE #1: Just last week, we experienced the full force of the Southern California summer with temperature of over 100 degrees. The unit was sitting on the dash during this period for a couple of days. Now the touch screen is not functioning properly: 80% of the area is not responsive anymore. I can only use it via the remote control now. I will need to contact Garmin regarding this matter. As a result, my rating of this unit has dropped to a 3.

UPDATE #2: I wrote and complained to Garmin, finally got a brandnew replacement. Now it is working great. Surviving the "dog days" of the summer heat here in CA with flying color. I start to like it again. Back to 4 stars.

Oh, by the way, after close a year of use, 3 days ago, it finally failed me: I input an address that it could not find. It is not a new address either. Hmm....

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: talks, find feature

Weakness: initial memory card is too small

This is so much better then any of the built in units that are available in cars. You do not even have to know the address, you can just put in the name of the store and it will look it up.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Super navigation.

Weakness: Cannot use batteries.

This unit is really the BEST on the market. It has a lot of features that the other brands do not have. It is extremely easy to use. The bean bag friction mount is much better than the windshield mount that other brands offer because your unit is much closer to you when it is right on your dashboard. The whole unit can be completey removed and put away easily when you leave your car in a parking lot. The touch screen and remote control really make it easy to enter information.

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By member: JCONDE - Feb 24, 2004

Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: accuracy,size and reputation

Weakness: screen size and voice.

I have not had this unit long but it has been a joy. I get lost a lot and I am hoping that will not happen anymore. It could use a bigger screen but the touchtone is nice and the fact that it fits in the cubby of my Infiniti G35 sedan is a huge plus.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

I have tried the StreetPilot III and recently the StreetPilot 2610 and the 2610 shines. Here are a few reasons why I like the 2610 off the top of my head...
* Routing is much faster than the III. (When I drift off route, the rerouting is nearly instantaneous.)
* Finding places is much easier (ability to type in the name using the touchscreen or the remote is a delight - no more scrolling through the letters).
* The remote control is a real nice addition
* On-screen display is better (you can see the map through the directions - nice)
* The screen automatically adjusts for ambient light
* The 2610 is smaller than the III, and the antenna is inside the unit (you can add an external antenna easily).
* Works off car 12V and 120V at home; takes Compact Flash so it's cheap to get more storage.
* Contains several languages already, so you can get your directions in German, for instance, if you want; or in US English or British English, for variety.

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Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Portable Navigator

Strengths: Fast mapping.

Weakness: Cannot use battery.

I have tried the StreetPilot III and recently the StreetPilot 2610 and the 2610 shines. Here are a few reasons why I like the 2610 off the top of my head...
* Routing is much faster than the III. (When I drift off route, the rerouting is nearly instantaneous.)
* Finding places is much easier (ability to type in the name using the touchscreen or the remote is a delight - no more scrolling through the letters).
* The remote control is a real nice addition
* On-screen display is better (you can see the map through the directions - nice)
* The screen automatically adjusts for ambient light
* The 2610 is smaller than the III, and the antenna is inside the unit (you can add an external antenna easily).
* Works off car 12V and 120V at home; takes Compact Flash so it's cheap to get more storage.
* Contains several languages already, so you can get your directions in German, for instance, if you want; or in US English or British English, for variety.

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garmin streetpilot 2610

Garmin Streetpilot 2610 receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS score of 0.85 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #131 navigation GPS of all time. The overall rating represents an intelligent balance of features, value as a function of price to features, and a summary of reviews from a variety of sources. The TopTen REVIEWS' formula gives a picture of important consumer features, market value, and a...

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