Hi all,

Since the Garmin 1490T seems to be the best fitting hand-held GPS for the FL2, I thought I might mention that JB-HiFi have them at 15% off, so coming in at $295 AU. Also, they have a promo to get the topography maps of australia on micro-sd card for $1, which is good since they retail for >$250. I haven't tried the topo maps, but they have dirt trails and national parks and stuff marked in there. You might want to check you can get the promo before buying since they only have a limited number of the packs apparently and the salesman tried to dodge giving me one until he magically found one when I decided not to buy from him!

I am looking at doing an install similar to egipp this weekend (egipp's gallery here), but might also take it to Gold Coast Car Sound to see if they can do something special with a surround.

My first impression of the unit is that it seems quite well thought out. You can modify the splash screen to show a Land Rover logo, it turns off automatically within 30 seconds of the ignition going off, turns on when the ignition comes on and has bluetooth for phone calls. I liked the look of the higher res models with capacitive screens, but I don't know if they will be as automated in turning on and off etc.


Cheers,
Whytey 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

How do you make it display the LR logo splash screen?

b_o_b_o wrote:

How do you make it display the LR logo splash screen?

save the LR logo picture in the garmin photo folder & set it as display pictures.



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Thanks!

Hi whtye, The Topo maps at $1 are a real bargain, just be aware that when they are installed you need to 'de-check' the urban maps and 'check' Topo in the map information screen otherwise the Garmin defaults to the urban maps. You then need to reverse the sequence to get back to urban mapping. I'm interested in your comment regarding higher resolution models with capacitive screens - what are they please?
Cheers, Graham

Dick Smith have the 1490T on special at the moment for $249.

Might be time to think about replacing my cumbersome carputer.

egipp wrote:

Hi whtye, The Topo maps at $1 are a real bargain, just be aware that when they are installed you need to 'de-check' the urban maps and 'check' Topo in the map information screen otherwise the Garmin defaults to the urban maps. You then need to reverse the sequence to get back to urban mapping. I'm interested in your comment regarding higher resolution models with capacitive screens - what are they please?
Cheers, Graham

Hi whtye, Thanks for that information, agree with you about the bluetooth and phone linkage - totally gave up on using it as anything but a GPS and, as that, I'm very pleased with it. On the mapping side, you have to select 'either or' topo or metro; if you check both boxes the unit defaults to metro maps. I found the information that Garmin supplied with the topo card useless. Like you, I assumed the unit would select the best map for the job, but after much frustration I spoke to Garmin who confirmed that you have to deselect metro maps for the topo to appear and than reselect metro when you are back in town. Unnecessarily cumbersome in my view, but still, the topo maps are a huge improvement off road and, oddly enough, seem to work OK in town but without the same backup information such as speed limits. When you do use it off road you need to use the 'zoom' facility to get the full range of details - I was amazed at how many dried up creeks are mapped!
As an aside, you may not be aware that on the Garmin web site you can download a users manual for the 1490, much more informative than the 'quick' guide provided.
Cheers, Graham

djwhyte wrote:

The bluetooth on the unit is terrible though. I have tried with numerous phones and had little to no success. The Internets are rife with people in similar situations to me.