Garmin Nuvi 1690 unboxing (photos)

A Garmin Nuvi 1690 connected GPS device has landed on my desk. Let's see what's inside of the box.

Antuan Goodwin

Nov. 18, 2009 11:13 a.m. PT

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What's in the box?

A Garmin Nuvi 1690 connected GPS device has landed on my desk. Let's open this baby up and see what's in the box. View Local Inventory

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Paperwork

It appears that we've opened the box upside down, because the first thing we saw was the paperwork package, which contains the user's manual, a safety info sheet, and an accessory guide. There's also an adhesive disc for dashboard mounting with the suction cup. We tossed this aside and pressed onward! View Local Inventory

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Power and sync cables

Next, we pulled out the 12-volt power adapter which features a Mini-USB connection. Also in the box is a short Mini-USB sync cable for connecting the Garmin to a PC or a Mac. View Local Inventory

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Vehicle suction cup mount

The vehicle mount comes in two pieces: the cradle itself and the suction cup mounting arm. The two pieces pop together with a ball joint. View Local Inventory

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Car mount assembled

Once assembled, Garmin's car mount is still one of the best on the market with good articulation on the cradle and a strong suction cup that's easy to place and remove. View Local Inventory

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10-pin connection

At the base of the cradle is a 10-pin connection that comes in contact with a proprietary connection on the base of the Nuvi 1690. View Local Inventory

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USB power connection

On the back of the cradle, there's a Mini-USB connection for the 12-volt power cable. This means that the Nuvi 1690 can be placed on and removed from the cradle without fumbling with the power cable when exiting the vehicle for short periods of time. View Local Inventory

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Behold!

At last, we come to the 1690 itself. The unit keeps the "touch screen in a frame" design that nearly every GPS device utilizes. View Local Inventory

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Shiney

However, this Nuvi gets a new frame design with a gloss black bezel with a chrome edge. Also barely visible here is the smaller microSD card slot, which replaces the full SD card slot of previous Nuvis. View Local Inventory

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Connections

Along the bottom of the unit, we find the 10-pin connection for the cradle and a Mini-USB connection that's used for syncing with a PC or a Mac, but can also be used in a pinch to charge the device, should your cradle be lost or damaged. View Local Inventory

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Power button

Older Garmins featured a power slider with a screen lock function, but the Nuvi 1690 uses a power button. Tapping this button calls up brightness adjustment buttons and lock screen soft key. Holding the power button for 2 seconds turns the Nuvi on and off. View Local Inventory

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Power up

Upon booting the Nuvi 1690, we're greeted by the standard disclaimer screen that essentially states that Garmin isn't liable if you drive into a lake while following the turn-by-turn directions. It's sort of a shame that such a screen even needs to exist... View Local Inventory

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Home screen

The home screen receives a visual refresh but is immediately familiar with large icons for View Map and Where To? and secondary icons along the bottom edge.

The top status bar is where we find the largest change with status icons for GPS signal strength, Bluetooth connectivity, navigation mode (driving, walking, or bicycle), the current time, the current temperature, nuLink signal strength, and battery state. Since we've not yet set up the unit, some of these icons are still missing. View Local Inventory

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Map screen

The map screen is also rather familiar to the Nuvi line of navigation devices. The only immediate change I was able to notice is the movement of the Menu button to the bottom left corner of the screen, instead of the large bottom center Menu button of previous Nuvis. View Local Inventory

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That's all, folks!

And there you have it: everything that one can expect to find in the box of the Garmin Nuvi 1690. Stay tuned for the full rated review. View Local Inventory