Similar Units

§  Step up to the Nuvi 1450LM to add lifetime map updates

§  Or the 1450T to add a lifetime traffic to the 1450’s feature set

§  Going the other direction, the nUVI 1350 drops down to a 4.3” screen and loses junction view and multi-destination routing

§  To see how 1450 stands up to other models, check out my Garmin Nuvi comparison chart.

New Garmin Interface

There are several changes to the Nuvi interface in the 12xx, 13xx and 14xx series. For one, the menu button is gone replaced by the arrow in the lower left corner.

You can now “slide your finger” to move between screens. This comes in handy when planning the map, allowing you to move more than one screen width. But it pretty much falls into the “bells and whistles” category; I certainly don’t give it many points for usefulness.

These new models also allow you to customize the lower left data field on the map screen, a feature we first saw on the Nuvi 7×5 series. Press this field to bring up the options listed below. When not navigating, the options are:

§  Direction of travel (default)

§  Elevation

§  Time of day

When navigating, the options are as follows:

§  Distance to destination

§  Estimated time to destination

§  Estimated time of arrival (default)

§  Direction of travel

§  Elevation

§  Time of day

It is also new for your speed changes to red if you are exceeding the speed limit. It allows you to customize to changes colors at 5 or 10 MPH over the limit, so it is not constantly switching back and forth.

Routing information is now presented in a different manner. When you select POI, address or favorite, it will show on the map.

Several times use this screen to verify the location of the destination during the testing, it found that the information balloons obscured too much of the map.

The most noticeable change is the ability to shift data fields to the right side of the map, as shown below, a feature found only on the 13xx and 14xx series, and not the 12xx series. The top three fields can then be customized with the options discussed previously. This gives you the ability to display two more fields that can be shown in the traditional display mode.