Garmin’s new flagship adds a premium edge to classic portable navigation

After years of reviewing PND after PND, it’s hard to get excited about a GPS device’s physical form. However, the Nuvi 3597LM has managed to capture my attention with its glossy, black face and slim chassis.

The Nuvi looks slimmer than it actually is thanks to tapered edges that visually shrink the device’s profile and make it easier to slip in and out of a pocket. Strategically placed black panels on the top and bottom edges also aid in visually slimming and classing-up the silvery metallic device. However, at its thickest point, the 3597LM is about as thick as the rest of this class of portable navigation devices.

The hardware On the face of the Nuvi 3597LM, behind a capacitive glass panel, shines a crisp 5-inch TFT screen that is gorgeous. The 800 by 480 pixel resolution isn’t as hypersharp as today’s Retina-class smartphone displays, but its brightness and clarity are better than on nearly every other portable navigation device that I’ve ever tested. Being capacitive, the glass can register swipes and pinches as well as taps, and the Nuvi’s interface takes advantage of these new input types. Just to the right of the screen, you’ll find a pinhole cut into the glass bezel for the Nuvi’s microphone.

The Nuvi features an internal accelerometer of some sort and its display can rotate between portrait and landscape orientation for the maps and menus.

Along the bottom edge of the Nuvi 3597LM is a small slot where a microSD card can be inserted … [Read more]