Garmin nuvi 760 GPS

Garmin Nuvi 760 Review

Posted May 22, 2008 - I have been using Nuvi 760 for about three weeks now. Nuvi 760 is a compact and very refined GPS unit with useful navigation-related core features such as street naming and speed limit posting; Bluetooth capability is very important as it allows a hand-free mobile phone operation during driving (this is the cheapest 7xx series Nuvi with Bluetooth capability). With the firmware update (available on Garmin web site), the unit picks up satellite signal quickly. Even though the price of Nuvi has come down to a more reasonable level recently, it may not be the cheapest GPS compared to other GPS units with comparable functionalities; however, in my opinion, the refinement and enhanced user experience of this unit is worth the premium. Compared to more basic Garmin units (such as Nuvi 250W), the operation of Nuvi 760 is more refined with very useful additional features such as Bluetooth, street naming, and speed limit posting. Other non-essential extra features are very nice as well. I enjoy using this unit over built-in GPS in Mazda CX-9, which costs substantially more. I find the adapter with built-in FM antenna (for traffic information) rather long and cumbersome - it would be better if the adapter were more compact. The traffic information service is rather expensive after the free first month trial. The map update is free of additional charge only for the first two months. I was lucky that a new map was available within a month of my purchase. After a large sized file download (more than 2GB), I was able to successfully install it to the unit; the installation took a while even with my latest laptop (Intel Core Duo T9300 with 4GB of memory) - so be patient. Even though the unit does not come with a carrying case, one can easily find various options and good deals on the web. In addition, I would recommend Garmin portable friction mount (another small extra purchase) as it provides a surprisingly sturdy support without the need to struggle with either the windshield mount or fixed dash mount which will be difficult to remove at later time. Overall, I would recommend Garmin Nuvi 760 highly. Together, the refinement and genuinely useful core functionalities enhance the user experience of this unit greatly.

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Garmin 760....great but not perfect

Posted Mar 13, 2008 - I had read some very positive reviews on this product and was very excited to get it. Unfortunately, having set high expectations set me up for a couple of let-downs. But it's a very good unit, with a few areas for improvement. Starting with the physical unit, it is sleek, compact and quite portable. The antenna from the 6XX series is gone, which is nice. If you are looking for a case to put it in, it is the same size as a Nintendo DS, so I got a hard, zippered DS case that fits it perfectly. It comes with a dashboard mount, windshield mount, USB data cable for upgrading and transferring files to/from a computer, and a cigarette-plug power cord with integrated FM traffic, with a 90-day trial. The subscription after that is $60/year. The windshield mount is very secure and easy to install. It's the best one I've seen on a GPS unit. Once I power on the GPS, it usually only takes about 30 secs. for everything to get initialized. The traffic info is usually up to date within a couple minutes. A couple of cool features...if you take the GPS out of the car, it remembers where you parked...a nice feature if you get lost in the parking lot. Also, you can lock the GPS with a PIN, making it useless to a thief. But if you forget the PIN, you can set a location where it will unlock automatically, allowing you to reset the password. Once the unit is powered up, you can either just look at the map, or do some navigating. The database is quite large and comprehensive. I wish it was easier to find things. You can search by name or by category, but not both. For instance, if you want to find a restaurant, you can specify the type of restaurant only. It will list the restaurants of the specified type, in distance order. If you want to find a specific restaurant, you have to search by name, but it will list every single thing (gas station, restaurant, store, etc) with that name. Also, I wish that it would predict what you are typing. If you want "Cafe Adobe", but type "Cafe Abobe" by mistake, it will let you type it in, even though there is no such place. Routing is quirky, but navigation works well. I work on the other side of town, and there are 4 ways to get there. Even though I set it to take the fastest route, it takes the slowest route. First, from my house it picks a more direct way that is slower due to traffic lights, vs. a slightly longer route that is mostly highway. Traffic lights must not be in the database, because it assumes you will go nonstop on the shorter route. Then the highway splits, and for some reason it picks the road that is 3 miles longer than the other road, even though both have the same speed limit. As soon as I take the way I know is faster, it recalculates the route, and sure enough, it even acknowledges that it's quicker. On the plus side, it takes into consideration traffic problems. If there is a slowdown, it shows the delay in minutes. If there is a major accident, it will detour around it. Also, it "locks" onto the road very well, and can figure out if you are turning or ignoring the route very quickly. As you approach a complicated interchange, it will automatically zoom in and show you more detail. That's the good part, the bad side is that there are too many zoom levels and the zoom level you choose doesn't stay put very long. It shows the speed limit of major highways which is handy. Voice directions are good, and it converts road names to speech surprisingly well. The speaker is a bit tinny sounding, but adequate. The FM transmitter is very weak. If your radio antenna isn't within a couple feet the GPS unit, it isn't going to work. My antenna is in the back, so it doesn't work at all. There is a stereo plug in the unit, so I hooked it up to my radio using a cassette adapter. If you can get it to work with your stereo, you can hear the directions much better, and use the GPS as a MP3 player and speaker phone with your cellphone. It supports the newest Bluetooth profiles, allowing downloading of your phonebook, voice dialing (if supported), and you can call places in the GPS database. I had problems pairing it with my Treo 755p initially, causing my phone to reset and crash. Garmin emailed me a fix, so it works now. There are a ton of other features that I don't use, but others might find handy, such as multiple destination sorting, speedometer, compass, currency converter, language dictionaries, audio book player, picture viewer, additional maps, tour guides, etc. It's a very full-featured GPS. A little expensive, a little quirky, but pretty easy to use and enjoy.

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Nice little GPS

Posted Feb 8, 2008 - This GPS is one of the best Nuvi line products I have looked at. The 4.3" widescreen gives a large view of the map so you can see names easily. Despite the large widescreen size, it is fairly portable and fits in my coat pockets easily. I was comparing on buying this model and the 680 and this unit is quite slimmer than the 680. The Text to Speech is also a nice added feature and for the most part, the changeable voices are easy to understand over the units speakers. This unit also acts as a portable media player (MP3 player, picture viewer, also currency converter, languge guide, etc.), but I already have an IPod for that, so I can't comment on the media player. There is not a lot of memory to store MP3s though, so don't plan on using this unit as a main MP3 player, but it does have the option to used a SD card. My main complaint, which I knew when I bought this receiver, is that it is a little expensive (price has gone down to about low to mid $500's). I would have liked to have seen it come with the MSN Direct receiver for the price like the 680, but you can always buy the receiver later if you would like. The unit does come with an FM Traffic receiver however with a 3-month free subscription, but I have yet to use it. There are also times when it may take a little while to acquire a satellite signal, sometimes up to 30-45 seconds even though my location is in an open urban area with no tall buildings (this is with the Firmware update) Overall, I really enjoy this unit. I owned a Magellan Maestro unit before and believe the Nuvi line is quite better IMHO of course. This unit has helped me around parts of the city I am unfamiliar with, and the "Where Am I" feature is quite nice where it tells your exact location and can save it in case you ever want to go back to that location. If you don't care about the bluetooth function, I would go with the 750 since they are significantly cheaper, over a $100 difference.

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GARMIN HAS ANOTHER WINNER!

Posted Nov 16, 2007 - Had my 760 a few weeks and first observations 1. My screen is really bright and I like it.No problem seeing it even at night. Seems brighter than the 680. 2.The mount seems improved also.Locks the Nuvi on better and has a quick release button.Easy to use. 3.Signal is great! Mine picks in 15-20 seconds after I turn it on.It is between 11-17 feet accuracy. 4.Love to be able to sort routes, That is what I bought it for and it works great so far. 5.The voices are good but the speaker is smaller than the 680 so they are not quite as loud but still very good. 6.Re-routes quickly when you go offtrack. 7 Road lock does not seem to be a problem, have not run in to that scenario yet. 8.Really like it being thinner than the 680. Put them side-by-side in Best Buy tonight and you could really tell. Fits in my pocket better.Best Buys 760 unit was Solid Glossy Black, Mine I like better it is Matt Black nice finish with a silver stripe in the middle Really glad so far that I updated from the 680. Traffic works fine with the cable provided but I miss my MSN so I ordered a cable and am going to probably end up selling the GTM 20 on ebay sometime. Also I emailed Garmin about a Mapsource CD and they emailed back "it's on the way to you free". Great service.Will write more as I use the unit more.

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Garmin Nuvi 760

Posted Jan 28, 2008 - This is my first GPS and it was a great choice! The unit picks up satellites very quickly. Directions are great - very detailed voice commands. The FM traffic works ok in the Norfolk area, but I think the information is delayed. Still a nice feature to have. A lot of fun stuff - plays mp3s, audio books, pictures. I prefer the unit's speakers to using my car's speakers, but the option is nice. Garmin has done some firmware updates which have improved the unit. And, the POI database is pretty large. GREAT GPS - I would recommend it to anyone!!

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Garmin nivi 760

Posted Nov 13, 2007 - The nuvi 760 allows me to be running late and still get my directions after leaving the house on the fly. I no longer waste time looking at computer maps and ending up with the paper clutter pintouts create. Unit has excellent graphics.

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Garmin Nuvi 760

Posted Oct 20, 2007 - I purchased a Nuvi 760 2-days ago. If you like downloading ROUTES into your GPS from your computer this is NOT the unit for you. Routes must be built in the unit and this is not very easy and in some cases seems impossible. The 760 will NOT download GPX files from your computer or MapSource as routes. It will only down load GPX's as "Custom Points of Interest" (POI's). You then have to select each POI and try to re-build that route in the unit. This is VERY difficult and time consuming, with a LOT of menu layers and button pushing between the list of POI's and the route pages. Further, the POI's are re-ordered - from the GPX route's original sequence - to list them in order of proximity from your current position (from closest to farthest). So, it is impossible to see what the GPX's routing was originally. This makes any attemt to order the POI's like the GPX's route impossible. As an example, after Downloading a GPX tour of the 17 mile drive of Monteray, Ca, I had to move each POI to hand build a route in the unit. But, even after allowing the unit to do its cool new feature and "optimize" the route, the unit planed a route helter-skelter through Pebble Beach Golf Course and not on the leasurely, logical costal site-seeing tour like the original GPX's route was built. A quick check of the user's manual and GPX's are not mentioned. Another problem is Garmin does not send a CD COPY of "City Navigator North America NT 2008" in the box so you can put it on your computer. Silly really...you bought the license agreement to "City Navigator North America NT 2008" when you bought and powered-up the Nuvi 760. I REALLY HOPE Garmin is not going to ask people to buy the same set of "City Navigator North America NT 2008" map data TWICE! Now that would be inflation... Also, all functions of the unit are not usable when plugged in to a USB. So, as shipped, the only way to use/program the device while charging it is in your car. So, plan on buying the AC adaper if you want to play with the 760 outside your car. No carry case included either... It seems like Garmin stuffed a lot of complex features in this device to try to make it "all in one", But in that process they made it more difficult to to do many things that are more easily done on the computer.

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Great buy!

Posted Apr 27, 2008 - Shipped by FedEX.......got to me by appropriate time. The Garmin is very user friendly. I had a friend play around with it without reading the instructions and she was amazed how easy it is to operate. Great Buy!

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WOW... introduced me to back roads I'd never driven in my own backyard

Posted Jan 13, 2008 - This is my second gps system (the first got robbed from my car). I use the Nuvi 760 to navigate in small towns, where the streets may not be named or have readable signage. It's saved me hours of driving in circles by getting me to my destination with pinpoint accuracy. Amazing. The other functions are quite nice as well... and I find there is no confusion in when and where to turn (my older gps had you guessing every time).

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Garmin Nuvi 760

Posted Feb 5, 2008 - No regrets what so ever in choosing this model. I would definitely recommend it to others. I like the built in antenna and the large screen but still slim design.

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best birthday gift ever @349.99 at costco

Posted 1 year ago - this is prolly one of the most useful things i have ever owned. i do a lot of driving for work, and never knew how much time looking at a map takes up. the bluetooth makes it easier to drive as well, with a big work truck like mine. moving my 760 from my car to work truck is a breeze, and with its 5 hour at least battery i dont even need to bring along my charger during work days. all around a great product, and would recommend it to anyone. was going to get a 350, and then saw the 760 on sale. love the turn by turn w/names on the 760.

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Nice overall but room for improvement

Posted 1 year ago - I have used the Nuvi 760 for a few days and overall I'm satisfied, but there are some areas that need improvement. At this price range $375, it is hard to find a better deal in the market. The software is fast and the touch-screen responsive. Very easy to configure. The display is bright and very visible. The bluetooth works perfect, and instantly saw my cellphone, and good sound quality. The traffic report is slow to download the data, maybe 10+ minutes, in Los Angeles. There are only 2 traffic colors: red-yellow. There is no green, hence you do not really know if no color means no data or no traffic. Still, some times you have no color, and think traffic must be ok, only to realize in few miles that the color is now yellow... At $60/year that's pricey for a sub-par service. Also, MSN direct requires another cable and more subsriptions, so I gave up on the MSN.

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Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS

Posted May 29, 2008 - This is a great GPS device. I got it for my wife who isn't very good with directions. It is very easy to use, program addresses and find locations. I also got it because of the bluetooth function for connecting the phone to the device. By itself it isn't that great because there is an echo for the other party, but if you buy the external microphone from Garmin it works like a charm. No problem with route guidance and directions.

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Great GPS

Posted Feb 10, 2008 - This is my first GPS unit. After an exhaustive search on many websites and in stores, I decided on this unit mainly for the number of features, and Garmin brand reputation. Although I haven't used all of the features yet, it is nice to know I have the capability (i.e. multi point routing, can save multiple routes). I also chose this unit for the bluetooth capability which works well with my phone. Quite happy so far. I would have given it 5 stars if the price were a bit cheaper.

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Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS excellent

Posted Jan 30, 2008 - I bought this GPS to replace an IWay 500 that was stolen from my car. The comparison to the nuvi 760 is night and day. The IWay literally fell into the car cabin regularly due to its huge size. The nuvi touch screen in combination with the search feature makes it very easy to enter new information. So far all the features work great and I'm very pleased.

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