Garmin nuevi 760 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Automobile Navigator | 
| Brand: Garmin
List Price: $599.99
Buy New: $242.00
You Save: $357.99 (60%)
New (101) Used (7) Refurbished (4) from $225.00
Rating:  356 reviews
Sales Rank: 4
Color: Gray
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Display Size: 4.3
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 4.8 x 0.8 x 2.8
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: Nuvi 760
Model: Nuvi 760
UPC: 753759072391
EAN: 0753759072391
ASIN: B000UX9YJ0
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 4.3-Inch Diagonal Touch Screen Color Display | | • | 480 X 272 Pixels, Wqvga Display With White Backlight | | • | Preloaded With City Navigator(R) North America Nt | | • | Bluetooth(R) Wireless Technology For Hands-Free Calling | | • | Speed Limit Indicator Displays Speed Limits For Highways & Interstates |
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| Accessories:
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| Similar Items:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Loaded and wide, nuevi 760 has it all ? advanced navigation features, a widescreen display, preloaded maps, an FM transmitter, hands-free calling, traffic alerts and more. Like the rest of the wide nuevi 700-series, its premium navigation capabilities, like route planning and a handy locator, give you peace of mind on the go. Save up to 10 routes, and specify via points and preview simulated turns on the 4.3 widescreen, or enter your via points and let the nuvi 750 automatically sort multiple destinations for an efficient route Hands free calling with Bluetooth phones A trip log of up to 10,000 points keeps a record of where you've been on the map for easy reference Speed limits for all major highways and interstates A high-sensitivity internal (non flip-up) antenna keeps the unit sleek and compact while the rechargeable lithium-ion battery allows you to use the unit in and out of the car for up to 5 hours MP3 playback with Audiobook player (subscription to Audible.com required), JPEG picture viewer, and currency converters Built-in FM transmitter allows you to listen to your music, audio books, and gps voice prompts through your car's stereo] Route avoidance (avoid highways, tolls, etc.), Route setup (choice of faster time, shorter distance, off-road), Auto re-route (fast auto-recalculation when you take a wrong turn or want to avoid traffic), and Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest) FM traffic alerts (3 months of service included) Optional MSN Direct, and Garmin Lock (an anti-theft feature) Interfaces - USB, Audio line-out (headphone) Unit Dimensions - 4.8w x 3h x. 8d Weight - 6.2 oz
Amazon.com Product Description -- January 8, 2008
Garmin's nA vi 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 nA vis, 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 nA vi 760 and 770 add integrated traffic receivers and Bluetooth capability for hands-free calling. The nA vi 770 adds maps for Europe. The nA vi 780 adds enhanced MSN direct content capability.. Which nA vi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators 
Garmin's nA vis 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 nA vi 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 nA vi 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 nA vi 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 nA vi to any bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial the phone number with the nA vi'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 nA vi's sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time.
In most areas, TMC Clear Channel traffic broadcasts are continuous a 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.
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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. |  nA vi 250W accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger. | Navigation is just the beginning. All nA vi 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 nA vi 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 nA vis 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
nA vi 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 nA vi to fit your travel needs
- The FM transmitter feature is only available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
- Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nA vi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.
Which nA vi is Best for You?
Note: All nA vis 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)
| Cont. U.S.,
Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico
| AK and
Canada
| Europe
| | nA vi 200 | 2.8 x 2.1
|  |
|
|
|
|
| Photos
|
|
| up to 5
| | nA vi 200w | 3.81 x 2.25
| |
|
|
|
|
| Photos
|
|
| up to 5 | | nA vi 250 | 2.8 x 2.1
| | |
|
|
|
| Photos |
|
| up to 5 | | nA vi 250w | 3.81 x 2.25
| | |
|
|
|
| Photos |
|
| up to 5 | | nA vi 260 | 2.8 x 2.1
| | |
| |
|
| Photos |
|
| up to 5 | | nA vi 260w | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
| |
|
| Photos |
|
| up to 5 | | nA vi 270 | 2.8 x 2.1
| | | |
|
|
| Photos |
|
| up to 5 | | nA vi 350 | 2.8 x 2.1
| | |
| | FM (with opt.
receiver) |
| Photos, MP3s
|
|
| up to 8
| | nA vi 360 | 2.8 x 2.1
| | |
| | FM (with opt.
receiver) | | Photos, MP3s |
|
| up to 8 | | nA vi 370 | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | | FM (receiver
included)
| | Photos, MP3s |
|
| up to 8 | | nA vi 650 | 3.81 x 2.25
| | |
| | FM (with opt.
receiver) |
| Photos, MP3s |
|
| up to 7
| nA vi 660
| 3.81 x 2.25
| | |
| | FM (receiver
included)
| | Photos, MP3s | |
| up to 7 | nA vi 670
| 3.81 x 2.25
| | | | | FM (receiver
included) | | Photos, MP3s | |
| up to 7 | | nA vi 680 | 3.81 x 2.25
| | |
| | MSN (receiver
included;
1-year free);
FM (with opt.
receiver)
| | Photos, MP3s | |
| up to 7 | nA vi 750
| 3.81 x 2.25
| | |
| | FM (with opt.
receiver);
MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver)
|
| Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5
| | nA vi 760 | 3.81 x 2.25
| | |
| | FM (receiver
included);
MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | | nA vi 770 | 3.81 x 2.25
| | | | | FM (receiver
included);
MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | | nA vi 780 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
|
| MSN-enhanced
(receiver inc.;
3 months free)
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | nA vi 850
| 3.81 x 2.25 | | |
|
| MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver) |
| Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | nA vi 850
| 3.81 x 2.25 | | | |
| MSN-enhanced
(receiver inc.;
3 months free);
FM (with opt.
receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | nA vi 5000
| 4.5 x 2.7 | | |
| | MSN-enhanced
(with optional
receiver);
FM (with opt.
receiver) |
|
| | | external
battery
only | END
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 351 more reviews...
 Better than the nuvi 660 March 12, 2008
J. Yin
1023 out of 1029 found this review helpful
I own both the Nuvi 660 and the 760, I'm writing this review for people having trouble deciding between the two as the price difference between the two products at the time of this review is about 100 dollars. I'm not going to focus on the feature differences, as that information can be easily obtained from specifications and online reviews. The 660 was a fine product back in 2005-2006, but the new 760 outdoes the 660 in practically everything, but there are some key usability fixes that make the 760 a better buy for the frequent user.
1. 760 has much better fonts for street names than the 660. This may seem like a trivial update to some, but the 760's fonts greatly improve visibility. The 660 uses all capitalized text for street names on the map, and the font is incredibly cartoonish and unaligned, something like the scribbling Comic Sans font on the PC. The 760 uses your standard Verdana-like font with street names in capitalized and lowercase letters. The fonts on the 760 are smaller, cleaner and surprisingly much easier to read while driving. The maps end up looking professional, and not some cartoony children's video game.
2. 760 has better rendering in 3D map mode than the 660. In the 660 when you are zoomed in under 3D map mode, the roads close to your car are displayed incredibly large, so large that they run into other roads, making the zoom function essentially kind of useless for dense roads. The 760 does not oversize your roads just because you zoomed in to view smaller roads in detail. This fix is very nice for those who drive in places with dense roadways, like New York City.
3. No antenna on the 760 makes hooking up your Nuvi to the cradle one step easier. On the 660 you need to flip up the antenna before attaching the cradle. For people who park their cars on the street overnight, removing the GPS from the cradle for storage in the console or glove compartment is a must, and it's a lot easier hooking up the 760 to the cradle than the 660. It's hard to aim the 660 to its cradle in the dark as you have to align both the bottom edge and the charge port under the antenna. In the 760, the charge port is directly on the bottom of the unit; you can attach it to the cradle with one hand in the dark easily on the 760.
4. It takes the 660 a good 45 seconds on average (sometimes longer than 2 minutes) after boot up to locate the satellite on a cold start. If you have firmware 2.6 installed on the 760, the satellite acquisition time after boot up is between 10-20 seconds. After the firmware update, my 760 also holds a stronger lock to the satellites than my 660, I can get satellite lock inside my house with the 760, whereas I can't get a lock with my 660 (adjusting the antenna does very little).
5. The ability to set multiple ad hoc viapoints on the 760 means it's a lot easier creating alternate routes (very handy to avoid a specific interstate or a high traffic road). Whereas the 660 gives you just one viapoint.
 Experienced GPS RoadWarrior not impressed with Garmin April 27, 2008
Ronald Epstein (NJ)
352 out of 425 found this review helpful
I was probably among the very first consumers to own a GPS unit when they first appeared
on the market several years ago. I was completely turned on to them thanks to renting an
AVIS vehicle with their included "never lost" GPS unit. I ended up buying the Magellan Roadmate
700 because it so closely resembled the unit in the Avis vehicles.
Over the years the RoadMate 700 has become less reliable for me due to the fact that it takes
about 15 minutes for it to acquire a satellite signal. Other than that, I have completely loved
the GPS unit despite the fact that Magellan is a difficult company to deal with when it comes
to upgrading and customer support.
I work in a job where I am constantly on the road and need to find my way to new destinations.
You can imagine how much I need to rely on a GPS unit. When I had enough of the RoadMate
signal problems, I decided to look into purchasing a new unit. After all, that Magellan GPS unit
was about 7 years old.
Everybody says Garmin is the better GPS unit. The reviews on consumer sites such as this are
glowing with raves about how accurate Garmin directions are and how accessible upgrades and
customer support are. Well, thanks to reviews like those, I bought into the hype and purchased
the Garmin 760.
I don't know if most of these people ever had a GPS unit prior to their Garmin, but as a person
of "experience" I think this a huge step down from the Magellan brand.
SETUP
Out of the box, the Garmin is easy to hook up and immediately use. On the plus side, the unit
acquired a signal (and continued to do so) within a few seconds. The included suction cup is
plenty strong. I feel confident it would serve well on the toughest road conditions. On the down
side, Garmin skimped on including a case, AC charger and manual for this product. When you are
paying $400 for a GPS unit they should give you everything.
ENTERING AN ADDRESS
Entering an address on the Garmin 760 has been completely mismanaged. Most GPS units will
blank out letters and numbers as you complete the address entry, making the user feel more
secure that they are entering a reliable destination. This is not the case here. Sometimes I had
to type out an extremely long street address before the Garmin had it confirmed within its database.
The entire process is done so much better on the Magellan series.
MAPS
The one thing I really like about the Garmin units is its more "catoonish" map which you can
customize with a vehicle of your choice. Your selected vehicle (be it a tank, motorcycle or dude
on a sled) coasts down the designated road. This is a nice step up from other GPS units I have seen.
I had the opportunity to use my Garmin over the past few days on local roads that I knew. I was
a bit dismayed that the GPS tried to put me on toll roads rather than take back roads that would
have gotten me to my destination in the same amount of time. This made me feel rather uncomfortable
about the reliability of this unit to give the best directions.
Worst of all, I programmed the unit to take me to a local Post Office which I selected from its enormous
POI database. When it told me I had arrived at my destination, there was no Post Office to be seen. I had
to actually stop in the bank and ask for directions. The Post Office was actually .5 miles further down the
road. The Garmin was not able to lock onto a simple highway address accurately.
On several other occasions, it also told me my destination was on the LEFT when it actually was on
the RIGHT.
I was fortunate to be using this GPS on local roads that I knew. I am petrified to take it out in the
real world and have to rely on its accuracy.
BEWARE! BEWARE!
I knew about this in advance of buying my Garmin, but I wanted to see how bad it was for myself...
There is no chime to indicate you are at a turn. This is the worst omission that a GPS unit could
have. So many times during its use I missed my turn. Though the unit warns you of an upcoming
turn, its distance is not correctly shown. The little moving car on the map is further away from the
turn than you actually are. It's incredibly easy to go past a designated turn.
I know many have been complaining to Garmin for years about the lack of turn chimes and all
these complaints have seemed to fallen on deaf ears. I even wrote a letter to Garmin customer
support and got a standard reply of "we are forwarding your concerns to management."
Another HUGE problem here is that unlike the Magellan GPS units, the Garmin does not split
the screen at turns and show the actual route maneuver. You have no idea how useful such
a function is until you don't have it anymore.
Voice commands from the GPS were very good with great text to speech accuracy. The
big problem is that the volume is fairly low compared to other units. I could not play my
radio loud and hear the GPS unit at the same time. The speaker is very tiny and the volume
will not rise above a noisy vehicle.
BLUETOOTH
Setting up bluetooth was simple. I was able to instantly pair the 750 with my iPhone. It also
stayed paired whenever I got in and out of the vehicle or was away from it for a few days. My
iPhone database never seemed to upload to it.
The calling function is pretty bad. I called my answering machine to test it out and upon
playback, it sounded like I was in a tunnel. This is not the perfect solution for those wanting
hands-free calling in their vehicle.
CONCLUSION
I am not particularly happy with this Garmin product. The problem is, there is no perfect GPS.
Magellan truly has the better GPS functions, but their customer support and product upgrades
fall far short of Garmin. I also continue to read complaints about Magellan products acquiring
satellite signals in a reasonable amount of time.
That being said, I would risk going back to Magellan for several reasons. First, it seems that
their accuracy of destination is miles ahead of Garmin. The fact that you get a chime that alerts
you at the point of turn is something no GPS unit should be without and I promise you that this
Garmin will cause you to overshoot those turns. Finally, the split-screen turn maneuvering on
the Magellan is a godsend to have. The Magellan Maestro is also cheaper by a $100 or more with
the same features as the Garmin plus a case and AC adapter in most cases.
Recommended over TomTom 920T and Magellan 4250 March 23, 2008
R. Kodama (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
339 out of 341 found this review helpful
I feel a great amount of sympathy for consumers shopping for a portable GPS systems or any sophisticated electronic product for that matter. There is such a dizzying array of models/brands/functions that it is both a blessing and a curse. I am very tech oriented and enjoy researching and evaluating new electronic gadgets. After a few days of reviewing GPS brands and models, I narrowed my selections down to the Garmin 760, Garmin 680, TomTom 920T and the Magellan Maestro 4250.
I am not going to dive deeply into the features and benefits of each model because many of the reviews on Amazon and other websites do a great job of that. However, I will summarize my thought process for finally choosing the 760 as the best GPS for me. Let me start by stating that there is no perfect GPS system and therein lies the challenge. Every model that I looked at had strengths and weaknesses and there wasn't a product that made it a clear cut decision. What I did (and recommend) is to make a priority list of the features and functions that are most important to you and to pick the model that best fits your requirements. This sounds like an obvious approach but it was a lot harder than it sounds.
The single most important aspect for me was the accuracy and capability of the routing engine. That seems simple enough but when you throw in the all the other features offered in today's GPS models the decision making process becomes much muddier. In staying with my original strategy, I determined that the Garmin 7xx series had the best routing engine for North America. My conclusion is based on consumer and professional reviews, discussion boards, and my own testing. With that being said, the 760 is not perfect and I have experienced a few quirky directions but nothing that was of great concern.
How do I like the 760? For the most part, I am extremely pleased with the performance and functionality of the 760. Like most people I do have a list of my personal improvement and enhancements for the system but they are not deal breakers. When I first received the unit, I tested it on a trip to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. The directions to and from the Park and Palm Springs were flawless and the GPS recognized all the main roads within the park. We actually encountered some road construction on one of the main highways and the traffic receiver recognized the jam but gave us a strange recommendation. It directed us to go down the off-ramp and immediately get on the next on-ramp. We did this twice and it actually moved us ahead in traffic. I'm not sure how effective that strategy would be in other similar situations. The speaker volume could be louder but I could easily understand the commands traveling at 80 mph. I have also tested the system on several routes throughout Southern California and the system performed very well. All of the main features worked as published with a few exceptions noted below. The user interface is very well designed and I was able to operate 80% of the functions without reading the manual. In addition to the 760, I also purchased the Garmin Friction Dashboard Mount which I believe is superior to the glass suction mount provided.
So why did I only give it 4 stars? The one big annoyance for me was that if you directly input the POI name, the search can take a long amount of time (greater than 5 minutes)if it goes outside of your vicinity. This is extremely slow compared to our in-dash GPS system. The touch screen could be more responsive and is not that sensitive especially with the browse map option. The 760 bluetooth pairs consistently and quickly with my Motorola KRZR phone but the receiving and transmitting sound quality is very poor. The FM transmitter is unusable.
I really wanted to like the TomTom 920T especially with the voice recognition, user updates for maps and a long list of customizations. However, the routing engine seems to produce more inconsistent performance than the Garmin and I could not find enough information on their mapping data to understand how accurate it is today. The two main providers of map data are Navteq and Tele Atlas. Garmin and Magellan use Navteq and TomTom uses Tele Atlas. In the past, Navteq has been considered more accurate and complete for North America but Tele Atlas has made significant updates in recent times. Interestingly the 760 uses Garmin's 2008 North American maps but the source data is 18 to 24 months old which shows there is always a large lag in map information. Garmin has been very good at providing updates more frequently than the other manufacturers. My impression is that TomTom is much stronger with the European maps than the NA maps.
Here is a quick rundown of how I view the models:
Magellan Maestro 4250:
Pros: multi point destination routing with optimization, great address and text input system
Cons: questionable routing engine, outdated map data, inconsistent voice recognition, cumbersome POI interface, poor text to speech quality, poor customer support in US
TomTom 920T
Pros: voice recognition, enhanced positioning technology, map share, excellent customization options, multi-destination routing
Cons: questionable routing engine, outdated map data (although this is somewhat offset by map share), no routing optimization, cumbersome user interface
Garmin 760
Pros: routing engine seems very good, multi-destination routing optimization, good POI database, more map updates compared to competition, great user interface
Cons: touch screen is not very sensitive, outdated map data, FM transmitter is useless, expensive
Garmin 680
Pros: most of the same features and functionality as the 760 but with MSN Direct, louder speaker volume than 760, much better value than the 760
Cons: no multipoint destination, older look and feel than the 760
I have only listed a limited set of the pros and cons for each of the different models but these were the areas that stood out the most to me. When it's all said and done, I probably would have been happy with any of these models but if you can afford the 760 and routing directions in North America is your most important requirement then I would highly recommend the 760.
I have seen questions about whether the 760 comes with the SiRF Star III chip and the unit that I just purchased from Amazon did come with that chip. The SiRF is a high performance GPS chipset that can quickly acquire and maintain a lock onto satellite signals for position information. It is considered the chipset of choice for the higher end mobile GPS devices. All of the models I have described above have the SiRF chipset. I also have seen questions about how quickly the 760 can lock onto satellites. I updated my system firmware to version 2.6 and the satellite acquisition time is lightning fast. I have found in outside environments, my 760 can consistently acquire a signal in under 10 seconds even first thing in the morning.
There are a couple of other useful features that are not described in the instruction manual. If you hold down on the signal strength bar in the top left corner, you will get the satellite acquisition screen which shows the position accuracy. If you hold down on the battery indicator for a few seconds, this will allow access to the diagnostic screen which is where you can identify the GPS chipset among other information.
 A lot is wrong. May 19, 2008
Verley J. Spivey (Atlanta, Georgia United States)
213 out of 220 found this review helpful
I am an experienced GPS user. I have also been a long time Garmin
user.
This product is clearly focused on people who are new to GPS use and ones
who have not experienced one of Garmins earlier superior products. It is
not powerful but very simple to use.
There are some good things. The larger screen is nice and my Nuvi gets a
satellite lock quickly. I also like the portability and small size which
makes it easy to carry on trips.
I have had very good experience with the Garmin map accuracy in
general. This device is no exception.
Unfortunately, for me the rest is downhill. All of the "bell and whistles"
that Garmin has added are close to worthless. If you will read the other
reviews closely you will find agreement that the FM function is poor.
As far as I am concerned it is DOA. I don't see why you would use such a
poor quality device to listen to anything. The bluetooth hands free idea
might have some merit if the speaker and microphone worked well
but they do not.
I can use the device in my Toyota Avalon but not in my Ford 150 truck or
in my RV because the background noise will drown out the speaker. The
speaker is so weak even at maximum volume I cannot hear it if I am
listening to the radio in these vehicles.
Other reviewers have also mentioned other features that Garmin had on
previous models that are now missing. For example, none of the Nuvi
models can block
a specific street or section of street as I could some of my previous
Garmin units (this is very useful in a city where street improvements
block streets regularly) and the detour function does not work as well
as the one on my old Garmin 2610. The 2610 is one of the first
"spoken directions" units Garmin made and is my oldest GPS. (I have
two Tom Tom Gps devices and three other Garmin devices.)
As an aside, I find the The Tom Tom maps inferior to the Garmin maps.
Overall I am disappointed in the device. It really feels like an attempt
to market poor content with lots of marketing fluff about bluetooth
and FM. The traffic function has also been of very limited use to me as
I am in usually in the traffic before the information about it becomes
available. As explained above I also mourn the loss of several of
Garmin's best navigation functions.
I solved the speaker problem by buying a portable battery powered
external speaker but I am not happy about having to do this or to
have to figure out how to do it. It is also cumbersome.
I expect better products from Garmin. I liked their earlier products
so much that I made assumptions about the quality of this product.
When I buy another GPS I will not again assume that Garmin is the best.
Garmin could greatly improve this device (and the Nuvi line) by
offering a windshield mount which included a better speaker or
speakers and a better microphone. Then their
vision of the Nuvi as an audio device as well as a GPS might work.
My advice would be try other devices to insure this one is right and if you
buy a Garmin skip the FM and bluetooth features. I really don't think
they work well.
If you have a vehicle with very much background noise you should
check to see if the speaker volume on these units will work for you.
Highly Recommended October 30, 2007
Road Warrior (Vista, CA USA)
197 out of 201 found this review helpful
Nuvi 760 Software Version 2.10 / 2008 maps
This unit is replacing a nuvi 360, which is going to my sister. The nuvi 760 is still a bit hard to find. I found one in stock at a local SoCal retailer on 28-Oct.
Overall, I like the new compact form factor. There have been concerns expressed in various forums on the sensitivity of the internal antenna. So far, it seems to be sensitive enough. Side by side, signal strength and accuracy of the 760 are maginally better than my old 360 with the pop-up antenna. I'm getting 21 foot accuracy inside an office, a few feet from East facing windows. Attaching my external antenna to the MCX connector gives 9 Foot accuracy with 10 satellites at full signal strength.
The wide screen display is much brighter than the 360, readable in direct sunlight. The interface refinements are generally improvements, cleaner, more logical. I like having a choice of a QWERTY keyboard, better editing with retained history for the search field. Based on limited testing, the routing engine seems to perform identically to the 360, which was excellent. I've noticed a few updates to reflect newer roads in the 2008 maps. POIs are much improved in the San Diego area.
"Where am I?" works well and is quite useful displaying nearest address, major intersection, nearby hospitals, police and gas stations. "Where did I leave my car" is a bit clunky since you have to go into setup and change the Navigation to "off road" and then select "Last Location" from Favorites.
I've found two bugs so far in the initial firmware:
1) Start guidance with GPS active on a stored route with a distant starting point, decline "Navigate to Starting Point", nuvi will crash and delete the route.
2) Bluetooth dialing of "Home" phone number is truncated when using "Call Home" from the Phone screen. Dialing the same number from the "Home" entry in Favorites works.
Bluetooth paired easily with my Motorola E815 phone. Call history and phone book are loaded into the nuvi automatically. The sound from the built-in speaker is just OK. You may want to run it through your car speakers using the FM transmitter or Aux jack. If you use the phone a lot, buy the optional microphone and clip it to your visor... people will hear you better.
Garmin do not provide an AC charger in the box. They will sell you one. Using a generic USB charger (I used on from a Blackberry) places the nuvi in Data Mode. It charges just fine, but you can't use it while it is charging.
Still no selective route avoidance. The 2008 maps actually have a road near me that is not yet open. The nuvi always wants to take it to get to the freeway.
Haven't tested the traffic functionality yet. The nuvi comes with a 3-month subscription, then it's $60/yr.
The FM transmitter is less than useful with the crowded spectrum in SoCal. Hard to find an open channel, need to change it periodically. Often get a bit of static. I'm using the Aux input on my car stereo instead.
All in all, a great evolution of the nuvi line. I'm sure the firmware glitches will get worked out over time. If you are in the market at this price range and can find one, buy it.
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