.jpg)
Review of Garmin nüvi® 760
More, better. The 760 is a substantial improvement over the nuvi 360
Noticeable Differences on the Outside
The plastic box gone, replaced by metal casing with rounded edges. The push-on/push-off button has been replaced with a more reliable slider switch. The awkward flip-up antenna is replaced with a highly sensitive internal antenna. The new design of the case feels more durable like a cell phone. It is about as thick as a cell phone but bigger overall, and heavier. It sticks out the top of most shirt pockets, but slips in the back pocket of blue jeans faster than a wallet.
Like its 600-series predecessor, the display screen of the 700-series is wide and bright.
Significant Differences on the Inside
The most significant improvements to the 700-series are the advanced navigation features, including automatic sorting of multiple destinations and pre-defined routes. Other niceties, include tracklog recording, Where Am I? and Last Position feature.
Advanced Navigation
Routes
Heretofore, nuvis only allowed you to insert one via point along the way to your destination. Now you can plan a more involved itinerary by programming routes. You can build routes from your saved locations or from new locations. You can also import routes from those you have created using Garmin's MapSource software. Note that the routes you create in MapSource do not automatically show up under the routes menu after transferring data from your PC. You must use the "My Data" tool to "Import Route from File"
Did you know there is a very inexpensive version of MapSource software that you can use to for route planning on your PC and transferring routes to your nuvi? Click here for more information on MapSource Trip and Waypoint Manager.
One of the most powerful advanced navigation features is auto sorting of route points. You can manually set the route order or you can let the nuvi do it for you, calculating the most efficient route between multiple destinations. Perfect for the traveling salesman, package delivery service, pizza guy, and figuring out how to visit all your relatives on a trip back home.
Trips (for lack of a better term)
The nuvi 7xx is able to provide guidance along pre-defined routes such as sight seeing tours. These trips are typically provided by 3rd-party developers (see for example MAD Maps below) and are distributed by means of a digital download or on SD memory cards. I call these trips to differentiate them from routes because they will not appear under the nuvi's "Routes" menu, instead they will be found under "Extras"
MAD MapsGarmin sells MAD Maps as an extra for your nuvi 700-series. MAD Maps is a 3rd-party developer of recreational maps and data. Garmin has partnered with MAD Maps to market their US Regional Touring and Get Outta Town road trip series. MAD Maps are downloaded as Garmin Point of Interest (.gpi) files and (.unl) files which contains other information about the product.
Here is a mini review of the MAD Maps I acquired in conjunction with this review of the nuvi760. MAD Maps: Get Outta Town - Atlanta, GA is a collection themed road trips that can easily be completed in a day from Atlanta. MAD Maps: Gulf States - Part 4 Alabama, Georgia are longer excursions, regional in extent. The routing for both of these products is well planned and several points of interest (POI) are included. While the POI content is text only, no audio or images, the descriptions are informative and at times humorous. However, the POIs are not all programmed to alert when driving in close proximity, which may cause you to miss the point (pardon my pun) of the trip. Another problem I found was that the GPS guidance feature is only along the prescribed route. If you activate the guidance by pressing "GO!" on the trip description screen, you are told to "Drive to highlighted route." If you are far away from the start of the trip, or if you are zoomed in too close, you will not see the highlighted route and will have no clue as to how to get to the beginning to the trip.
GPS-guided sightseeing tours are not new. Providing GPS data for leisure travel and recreational activities, is what we have been doing a Travel By GPS since the turn of the century. What is new is that it Garmin is finally producing car navigation devices that can be programmed to provide guidance along a prescribed route - not simply a calculation of the shortest or quickest route, but a route that passes by a pre-defined points of interest. Check out Travel By GPS (tm) Maps and Tour Guides
Other Niceties
Tracklog Recording
The bread crumb trail is back. Tracklogs are familiar to backcountry navigators using handheld GPS, but until the 700 series Garmin left this feature out of the nuvis. You won't see it displayed on the device. In order to view the data you must transfer the data from the nuvi to Garmin MapSource. Tracklogs are great for analyzing your travels, keeping track of business milage, and knowing exactly where to create waypoints for locations you have visited.
Did you know there is a very inexpensive version of MapSource software that you can use to transfer and view tracklogs from your nuvi? Click here for more information on MapSource Trip and Waypoint Manager.
Where Am I?
At the touch of a button, find the closest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection. This is a useful feature for finding help and communicating your location to emergency responders, or during a crisis - like when you are about out of gas!
Last Position
When you remove the (powered on) nuvi 7xx from its cradle, it stores its GPS coordinates in memory. This is handy if you need to find your car when returning to a vast, crowed parking lot.
nüvi nüisances
Audio integration / FM Transmitter
The built-in FM transmitter used for integrating the nuvi760 audio to the vehicle's sound system, is weak. I was not able to get this feature to work reliably in the Atlanta metro area. Garmin recommends that you tune your radio to find a low frequency with a lot of static, but it seems that all the frequencies in Atlanta are receiving broadcast signals more powerful than the Garmin's FM transmissions. So, the best way to integrate the audio is still to use the external audio connector connected to your vehicles MP3 input. Otherwise the nuvi's internal speaker are fine for the voice prompts but music is not faithfully reproduced.
Bluetooth Connectivity
I could not get the nuvi remain connected after pairing with my Windows Mobile cell phone. It could be operator error or my phone settings, but whatever the case it was a problem.
Battery Consumption
On long trips you will have no choice but to use the 12-volt adapter. I ran out of battery power before I ran out of a tank of gas. Save on battery power by disabling the Bluetooth feature.
Bottom Line
I highly recommend purchasing one of the 700-series nuvis. "Nuvi 700-series is the first line of GPS devices from Garmin that incorporate advanced navigation features heretofore missing in dash-top technology - point-to-point navigation along a prescribed route. The ability to communicate routing along with location-triggered multi-media presentations, gives travel guides, interpretive rangers, tourism directors, and other publishers of location information an improved technological means to deliver their message in a consistent and reliable way, assuring that their clients, visitors, and subscribers will have the desired experience."
