Garmin nuvi 760 Portable GPS Automobile Navigator

Garmin nuvi 760 Portable GPS Automobile Navigator

Garmin’s nuvi 700 series brings two exciting new features — multi-destination routing and, “Where am I?/Where’s my car?” — to its popular pocket-sized GPS navigator lineup. As with all nuvis, you get Garmin reliability, the fast satellite lock of an integrated high-sensitivity receiver, a slim, pocket-sized design with a gorgeous display, an easy, intuitive interface, and detailed NAVTEQ maps for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest. All of the 700-series navigators also feature a rich array of features including spoken directions in real street names, MP3 player and photo viewer, and an FM transmitter that will play voice prompts, MP3s, audio books, and more, directly through your vehicle’s stereo system. The nuvi 760 and 770 add integrated traffic receivers and Bluetooth capability for hands-free calling. The nuvi 770 adds maps for Europe. The nuvi 780 adds enhanced MSN direct content capability..

Which nuvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators

Garmin’s nuvis pack top of the line features into a slim form factor.

Wider screen lets you see more of what’s around. Compare these actual size views of a 3-inch (diagonal) screen

and a 4.3-inch diagonal widescreen

New Features — Where Am I? Where’s My Car?
The nuvi 700 series is the first to answer two common questions: “Where am I?” and “Where’s my car?”

At any time, with a single tap of the screen, drivers can display their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. And to help drivers find their car in an unfamiliar spot or vast parking lot, all nuvi 700s automatically mark the position in which they were last removed from the mount.

New Features — Multi-Destination Routing
This lets you enter several spots into the device (day care – supermarket-cleaners – office – day care, for example) and it will plot the fastest route. And once you’ve found the best router, the “Route Planning” feature lets you save up to 10 different routes, Garmin touts the feature for providing, “the most efficient route for errands, deliveries and sales calls.” The feature also makes this an instant essential accessory for anyone who shops garage sales (you know what we’re talking about).

A trip log provides an electronic bread crumb trail of up to 10,000 points, so you can see where you’ve been on the map.

See Better, See More
The super-bright, 4.3-inch (diagonal) touchscreen display gives is anti-glare for ease of viewing during the day and automatically changes its color profile for easy viewing at night or in dim light. It offers 2d or 3D perspective views.

The widescreen format gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.

First Rate Map Data
All nuvi 700s come preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT road maps for the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. This map database features nearly six million points of interest (POIs), including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions. Garmin gets its map data from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping.

Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.

Hands-Free Calling
In more and more places, it is becoming illegal to use cell phones while driving without a hands-free kit. WIth Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker, you can match your nuvi to any bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial the phone number with the nuvi’s touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible phone. To answer an incoming call, just tap the screen and speak into the built-in microphone. Making and taking calls on the road has never been easier, or safer. In addition, Garmin makes it a breeze to look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or even tap into your cell phone’s call history log.

Integrated FM Traffic Receiver

Steer clear of traffic with an integrated FM traffic receiver designed to receive alerts from TMC Clear Channel about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you’ll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you’re forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nuvi’s sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time.

In most areas, TMC Clear Channel traffic broadcasts are continuous — there’s no waiting for scheduled traffic news updates or random alerts. Because traffic broadcasts are received via a “silent” FM data channel, you can still listen to music or news programming on your car radio without interference from incoming FM traffic data transmissions.

A 3-month subscription to TMC Clear Channel’s Total Traffic Network is included with purchase of this device. For more information on subscription fees, coverage in individual cities, and traffic data networks in the United Kingdom and Europe, check the Garmin website.

Garmin Lock
Garmin’s patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location

Easy To Use Interface
Garmin’s interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.

Beyond Navigation

Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer.

A handy MP3 player lets you play songs stored on SD memory cards.

nuvi 250W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger.

Navigation is just the beginning. All nuvi 700s feature travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, MP3 player, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.

They are also compatible with optional content plug-ins available via SD card, such as the Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize your nuvi for all your travel needs.

Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.

Trick Your GPS Ride

Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS.
See more icon options

All nuvis support configurable vehicle icons. These fun, customized car-shaped icons come in a variety of colors to add a personal touch to your vehicle’s position on the map.

What’s in the Box
nuvi 760, Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America, FM traffic receiver with vehicle power cable, 3-month subscription to TMC real-time traffic services, Vehicle suction cup mount, USB cable, Dashboard disc, Quick start manual

Notes

Optional software for language translation, detailed travel guides, and savings programs allow you to customize your nuvi to fit your travel needs
The FM transmitter feature is only available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
This nuvi comes with a free, three-month trial for MSN Direct services.
Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nuvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.

Which nuvi is Best for You?
Note: All nuvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

	Screen Size inches (w x h)	Included Maps			Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi- Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
	Screen Size inches (w x h)	Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico	AK and Canada	Europe	Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names)	Traffic	Bluetooth	Media	FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system)	Multi- Point Routing	Battery life (hours)
nuvi 200	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 200w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 250	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 250w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 260	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 260w	3.81 x 2.25							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 270	2.8 x 2.1							Photos			up to 5
nuvi 350	2.8 x 2.1					FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 8
nuvi 360	2.8 x 2.1					FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 8
nuvi 370	2.8 x 2.1					FM (receiver included)		Photos, MP3s			up to 8
nuvi 650	3.81 x 2.25					FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nuvi 660	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nuvi 670	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nuvi 680	3.81 x 2.25					MSN (receiver included; 1-year free); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 7
nuvi 750	3.81 x 2.25					FM (with opt. receiver); MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nuvi 760	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included); MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nuvi 770	3.81 x 2.25					FM (receiver included); MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nuvi 780	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver inc.; 3 months free) receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 5
nuvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nuvi 850	3.81 x 2.25					MSN-enhanced (receiver inc.; 3 months free); FM (with opt. receiver)		Photos, MP3s			up to 4
nuvi 5000	4.5 x 2.7					MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with opt. receiver)					external battery only

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User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars disappointing
We bought this unit, and tried it out on a couple trips. On the first trip, it got us LOST! It kept trying to make us turn on a street that ended in a parking lot, with no other way out. Luckily, we sort of knew the area, and were able to get ourselves out of the mess.

The lack of features on this unit makes its high price a real puzzler. The old maps are unacceptable. It sometimes takes 10 minutes for the thing to find a satellite, and we are in an urban area. It doesn’t always “speak” the needed route in time to keep up with the exits you need, especially in downtown areas where there can be many exits packed into a short space. It takes it too long (a minute or two) to “recalculate” when forced (by construction or new roadways) to take a route other than the unit’s recommended route. I expected it would have a button on the front you could push to request to look at alternate routes, preferabley several at once. It could not find restaurants that had been built just 2 years ago.

4 Stars Garmin Nuvi 760
My experience with the nuvi has been mixed. I purchased the Garmin Nuvi based on a long string of glowing reviews of other Garmin products, and after previously owning a TomTom. I wanted the most accurate directions and the different form factor (4.3″ vs. the 3.X”)offered by the Garmin Nuvi 760.

After ordering the Nuvi 760 with the belief that it used the SiRFStar III chipset as had earlier Nuvis, I read several reviews and user posts debating whether the new nuvi actually had the SiRFStar III, and whether it mattered. Again from other posts it seems that some 760s have the SiRFStar III chipset and some do not, with no way to know which is which before purchase.

It would seem that Garmin has moved away from this SiRFStar III chip/system to a proprietary system of their own (when I pressed down and held on the battery icon to reveal the chipset info, I didn’t see any reference to SiRFStar III). Some users reported that the new system used by Garmin (doubtless at lower cost to Garmin) was late in updating map location and turn directions. After limited use I have found this to be my experience as well, especially while moving briskly on the freeway.

While the screen quality, brightness, and maps are excellent, and the routes selected are generally ok, the location of my vehicle on the map seems slightly delayed from where I am actually located. This has caused confusion/late notice on when I was supposed to turn on more than one occasion in areas where I really needed accurate directions. Posts on other sites have suggested this relates to the chipset…

In conclusion, I will still give Garmin 4 of 5 stars based on overall feature set and quality, and on the presumption that part of the problem could still be operator error. That said, I probably would have gone with another product at a lower price point had I known I wasn’t getting the SiRFStar III chipset. I srongly urge Garmin’s product development teams to consider a return to SiRFStar III. After all, product excellence and reputation are part of what keep any company and product competitive (short of a lower price), and I would expect the competition to heat up once the i-Phone and i-Touch add the TomTom upgrade module to improve on their Google Maps. Just my 2 cents…

2 Stars very dissapointed
The unit freezes whenever I miss a turn and it tries to reconfigure the route. Then I have to power it down and up to get it to work. It often tells me my stop is on the opposite side of the road when obviously it’s not. The voice could definitely be louder. Can barely hear it at full volume in my work truck.

5 Stars This thing saved our okoles in Hawaii!
Greta (our Garmin 760) was a life saver on our recent trip to Hawaii. I am actually from Hawaii, but each time I go home the traffic is worse and the streets are crazier. Greta was able to get us everywhere we wanted to go. Initial start up is a bit slow. We had to acquire the satellite before we got going each time, but once on the road the signal rarely was lost and came back quickly. Recalculations of routes was very smooth. Great POI database. Found all my favorite restaurants, which of course is why I go back to Hawaii, aside from family. Got us around

Waikiki and downtown Honolulu flawlessly. I didn’t try out the traffic reporting function very much. I’ll do that here in Atlanta. So far Greta is a welcome addition to the family—we have a kid who anthropomorphizes everything.) We will be adding Europe maps at some point for an upcoming trip.

2 Stars Tons of bugs
I bought a brand-new 760 after reading all the positive reviews on Amazon.com. When I received it, it wouldn’t turn on – it said “software missing”. Apparently this is a relatively common problem. I had to spend 60 minutes on the phone with Garmin customer service (50 mins of which were spent on hold), put it in pre-boot mode, and download a software fix before the thing would even turn on.

Then, I tried to use it while driving. I live in the middle of San Francisco and wanted to use it for a drive down to Palo Alto. After inputting the destination address, which was easy to do, it said “trouble locating satellites,” which means that it didn’t know where I was. Which means that it couldn’t figure out the directions. It stayed like that for at least 15 minutes, after which point I turned it off in disgust. There is no way that there isn’t satellite coverage in San Francisco; moreover, I wasn’t downtown where there are tall buildings that might obstruct the satellite signal. Down in Palo Alto, I wasn’t sure where to go (since I didn’t write down the directions…since I thought I would have a working GPS system!), so I turned it back on and crossed my fingers. It miraculously started working after I had to manually zoom in on the local area, and gave me turn-by-turn directions for about one minute, before again saying “trouble locating satellites.” So, now I have to call Garmin and wait AGAIN to sort out this second problem!!