Garmin nüvi 760 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Automobile Navigator Reviews

• Better than the nuvi 660

  
  By A3U92S6FG6G17B on 2008-03-12
  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

  
  By A2MZZP3ZU9B5JS on 2008-04-27
  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

  
  By A27NQVP4LVLFAB on 2008-03-23
  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.

  
  By A2F1U1FLM931IW on 2008-05-19
  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

  
  By A3HBU7LC2MR8C8 on 2007-10-30
  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.
  
  
  
  
  
• Simple to operate and works great!
  By AP96RGLY1KVZS on 2007-11-22
  I've never written a review but this item caused me to take the time. I've owned a Magellan Meridian Platinum for years mainly for geocaching. Great handheld unit but not user friendly. When I decided to get something for my vehicle I found the Garmin Nuvi 760. What a great unit! Simple to use out of the box, very user friendly, not intimidating at all and works as advertised. Very bright display even in the Arizona sun. The vehicle mount is the best design ever! Easy to pop out and put in your pocket and pop it back in when you return to your car.
  Yesterday I needed to go to 3 places in Tucson I had never been before. Normally I would print out maps for each place and try to find my way through traffic while glancing at them. With the Nuvi, I simply entered each address and drove from one to the other without any problems even though downtown Tucson is a mess with all the highway construction. Nuvi simply kept recalculating new routes whenever I encountered blocked roads etc. Amazing gadget and while expensive, if you need to get to where you going as fast as possible, like me, worth every penny!
  
  
  
• Highly recommended and full featured
  By A2GH6WGOW3WGL2 on 2007-11-26
  Pros: Multi-stop routing, easy Bluetooth connection, ease of use.
  Cons: Smaller speaker than the 600 series, price could be better.
  
  This unit replaces a Garmin 650. The 760 is incredibly easy to use and set up (even easier than the nav in my wife's Infinity) The first time satellite acquisition took about 3 minutes. Be sure to do your initial setup in an open area, no tall buildings. Also, before you initialize, connect the unit to Garmin's site and make sure you have the latest firmware version. Easy to do and mine didn't. Haven't seen any of the delay that some others have complained about. I would guess that anyone having satellite issues either is not running the latest firmware or never initialized properly.
  
  Bluetooth connection to my phone took less than 30 seconds, transferred all my phonebook, easily connects to numbers. Suggest you get a cheap $10 external mike as the only complaint is an "echo" effect on the receiving end. Transmission through my truck radio was very clear using the inclusive FM xmitter. Set up a sample sales route that had stops in Orlando (3), Oviedo and Ocoee in cental Florida. Took about 4 minutes, but you can save the route to use later, saving time. The 760 optimized and plotted the route in 35 seconds. Navigation voice is very clear. Checked the traffic on I-4 in Orlando and the unit let me know where there was a delay and even how long.
  
  My wife just went out and set up a destination and even placed a call without ever looking at a manual. She can't even do that in her car. Easiest unit I've ever used. So far, absolutely no unpleasant surprises. The fact I can set up the keyboard as a QWERTY was a nice discovery. I would enthusiastically recommend the nuvi 760 to anyone using the unit for sales calls, pickups, deliveries, etc. As a sidenote, the unit registers the max speed driven, miles driven, time of stops, and also will give you a breadcrumb trail of where it's been, useful for keeping track of employees and billing customers.
  
  UPDATE: Since purchasing this unit, I've had the chance to research both this device and it's closest competitor, the TomTom 920. Both are excellent devices, Top of the line, but in some areas, the nuvi 760 really outshines the TT920:
  Let's see. The Garmin 700's use sirf QuickfixII, can display position accuracy, use the new MSN2 services, can easily do a screen shot of the map to give to your GPS-less friends, can navigate to any set of coordinates within the map if the address if not known, will verbally announce what side of the road your destination is on, has stable support for Mac-based computers, offers tru multi-stop route optimization, warns you when exceeding the posted speed on U.S highways with posted speed limit icon on the map, includes Auto_tune to assist in finding an open FM channel for broadcast,can use topo maps, displays trip statistics such as time driving, time stopped, max speed, etc., uses a single integrated cable for both power and US traffic, can store 10x the favorites, and uses a active mount so that nothing has to be plugged into the nav itself. NONE of these features is available from it's nearest competitor, TOMTOM. Garmin has also been great at adding new features, supposedly reserved for the new 800 series to the 750, 760 and 770.
  With the new enhancements from Garmin, I'm even more impressed with the 760.
  
  
• First Impression
  By A1ERWR5A8OVLDH on 2008-01-25
  First Impression. I spent considerable time researcing all brands and models. I already own a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx so I'm not a newbie. The Garmin 760 is my #1 choice over everything currently out there, at the time of this post, based on features vs. street price. Don't worry one second about buying this navigator. It will serve you very well and I expect you'll be very happy with it. Hopefully you've already done your research and know a lot about this unit so I won't repeat. Here are my first impression highlights based on my first hour of use.
  
  Pros:
  Beautiful large colorful display, no bad pixels, Jill's voice is loud enough and she is easy to understand, unit knows what side of major streets you are traveling on and took me straight to my test destinations. The Garmin 760 suction cup mount works well but I ordered a bean bag mount anyway. The find my car that is lost in a huge parking lot function worked perfectly.
  
  So so: You can charge the unit with the furnished USB cable so you don't need an external charger. Garmin did a pretty good job with the menus. My unit came with the latest production map and the 2.10 operating system.
  
  Cons: I cannot say the following too loudly. It is almost criminal that Garmin didn't include a complete operating manual! You have to download it from Garmin or read the 760 review at gpsmagazine dot com to learn operating details. While Garmin provides a web updater program on their web site to bring your 760 operating system up to date the updater connection to Garmin is very flaky. Too many users trying to hit Garmin's overloaded server is likely the problem. To get a proper update you have to run the updater repeatedly until you get everything right. There are lots of foreign language downloads available but most of us can skip those.
  
  See Amazon discussion below the reviews for my comments on the Bluetooth function.
  
  
  
• Works great with a few flaws
  By A21ICDZDQKMHVT on 2007-12-02
  I have been using the Nuvi 760 for about 2 weeks and I love it. It does what it is supposed to do very well, telling you where you are. It is stylish and the user interface is easy to use. Has tons of features such as "Where am I" feature which tells you your current coordinates, nearest address, nearest intersection as well as nearest Hospitals, Police Stations and fuel. The only thing I noticed with this is when you try to find anything that is near to you it uses nautical miles to find places. Some other neat little features are that you can change the vehicle icon (very minor but fun). One feature or features I found to be very handy so far is the ability to look up a business and be able to call them at the touch of a button with the Bluetooth feature. When I was looking at the Nuvi it was a toss up between the 750 and 760. The 750 is much cheaper so I asked the sales associate. He told me that the 760 not only has the Bluetooth but a faster processor.
  I have had some very minor issues with the Satellite signal. Sometimes I get it immediately and sometimes it take s a minute. Another a bit more major issue is the directions it gives you and the addresses are a bit off. For example, I live in Birmingham, AL. I have a Walmart about 3 miles away, It had the store in the middle of a main road about 1 mile short of the actual location. Another was a recreation place we take our son, it had their address 5 miles away. It also had my house on the wrong side of the street, no biggie, I know where I live. The other flaw with the directions was when we were going to downtown B'ham to the McWane Science Center. I live 10 exits away, it kept taking me off the highway wayyyy to soon to take back streets all the way there when it was easier and faster to take the interstate. It has a setting where you can change from shorter or faster, neither helped. I have found from talking to several people that have GPS units that this is common with a lot of them.
  The map is very detailed. I was recently deployed to a small, tiny town of Delta Junction in the very interior of Alaska. It had the town and all the streets so the map is great. The only thing I wish they added was a button to go straight back to "View Map" when you are deep in the menu.
  Overall I like the Nuvi 760. Many great things you can do with it. Several ways to charge it such as vehicle adapter through the windshield mount (included), USB or AC charger (not included but I bought a Blackberry one which works from Target). I have not used the traffic since they do not have it here. The FM turner is garbage. One last thing that I think is great, depending on what time of day it is the screen changes background color. During the day the background is a bright easy to see white. At night it changes to a easy to see black background. The setting you can change to always white, always black or to auto.
  
  
• AVERAGE (for the money),
  By A25EYW5R8U72KL on 2008-01-11
  Many reviewers seem to be in awe & at the same time, point out some deficiencies. I have used an earlier version of Garmin (2720) which had less # of features but was vey good. In most areas, the 760 is pretty good. However, here are some shortcomings:
  (a) the earlier unit (not Nuvi) from garmin gave a scale when viewoing a map. This was very useful in a pinch and one could (in long trips) visually approximate the distance to reach a certain town without reprogramming the device
  (b) earier version displayed the block number of the street as you went along. This is great since in the night, you need not squint to find out house numbers in dark areas -- not till you are very close to the destination :)
  (c)FM antenna is pretty lousy
  (d) MSN is not included - read the fine print
  (e) Traffic service (free for 3 months) is very average. Has very outdated performance in Dallas metro (outdate by hours smetimes).
  For $350, it would have 5 stars. For about $600, I would be hardpressed to give more than 3.
  
  
• Not the greatest
  By AWASLZ63WKIOR on 2008-01-26
  I am a brand consumer. Garmin is all I've ever own since the eMap (monochrome display) first came out. After reading the glowing review in PC Mag, I recently decided to upgrade from my 60CX for the larger display (getting older) and it IS great.
  
  However, that's about as far as it goes. Here are my complaints:
  
  (1) You cannot sort your Favorites by e.g. alpha/numeric, they only display nearest to your location (in miles) Bogus! So, if you have 300 favorites you have to scroll and guess when to stop.
  
  (2) There is no audible "DING" when you arrive at your turn, causing you to keep your eye on the map. Bogus! -driver safety compromise.
  
  (3) You cannot customize data fields to display (e.g.) time in m/h to next turn or favorite, time of day, etc. while in map view.
  
  (4) The sound from the single speaker is very bad. My bluetoothed phone sounded like crapola. A cheap speaker phone and nothing more.
  
  (5) To use the FM transmitter to hear from the car's speakers, you have to tune to an FM channel with static!!!!! The instructions even say so. Triple BOGUS! Who wants to drive while listening to nothing but static so you can hear the voice prompts.
  
  (6) Even when using the FM transmitter, mp3's sound terrible through the car speakers.
  
  (7) Only the Quick Start guide was in the box. To my surprise I found the full instruction manual on Garmin's website (still made no diff on my experience).
  
  I could go on and on. I'm giving 2 stars just for the display. All those that glow about this product are probably new to gps/mapping technology so they don't know how high the bar was previously set by Garmin. Only thing left for them to add now is a stupid useless vanity camera!!! Shame Garmin!
  
  
• Great GPS - Although not the Magellan killer reviews suggest.
  By A3FZKKKI62G0Q on 2008-03-27
  I have been using the Magellan 4050 GPS for about a year, and decided to "upgrade" to a full featured Garmin unit. In some ways the upgrade was significant-first COST! Honestly, there are some features on the Garmin that the Magellan didn't have, and I love it for them but is not a clearly superior GPS. One is the built in MP3 player that allows the unit to be your music player. When you do this the Nuvi will automatically mute the music for routing instruction or bluetooth calls just like a factory installed Nav system. Of course, this is not without fault. The built in FM transmitter is too weak to be used so the only other option is to use the headphone jack to route to your stereo system. This means plugging a headphone jack into the unit every time you use it (the cradle has a mic jack for the phone, and a power jack but no duplicate line out). The other problem is that there is no bluetooth phone volume, and when running through your car speakers the phone is insanely loud to the point of distortion (with no way to turn it down). When using the FM transmitter the phone is perfect and similar in volume to the other sources, but not through line out. STRIKE 1
  
  The second feature I appreciate that was missing in my Magellan is the ability to create routes on your computer and upload them to the Nuvi. This means you can actually plot your own route, as carefully as you'd like, and then let the Nuvi guide you. Magellan are fools for not seeing the value of this.
  
  Now on to the major gripes. As stated, the FM transmitter would be ideal but is too weak to use reliably (making it nothing more than a sales tool). What's worse, the built in speaker sounds like a pair of headphones turned up too loud. tinny, and very distorted (and hard to hear at highway speeds). The Magellan had a fantastic speaker that was both loud and clear always. I'll miss it.
  
  Also, the map screen on the Magellan was more detailed. the Garmin looks prettier, but doesn't show as much useful information. The Magellan had all street names clearly labeled, making it easier to learn your way around unfamiliar areas while following routes. You can see all the roads around you and take note. It's hard not to like the little car icon on the Garmin, but I'll be missing my Magellan's more useful map display.
  
  POIs were way better on the Magellan too. The Garmin says it has more, but can rarely find what I am looking for. Not only that, while POI searches were like lightning on the Magellan, they are slower than molasses on the Nuvi. I wonder why? They should have similar processor capability. On the Nuvi you can add POIs downloaded from the net, but you'll have to buy Garmin's software to do it. That's a feature I'll grow to love (since I can add favorites like Cracker Barrel and Costco to my database easily)
  
  The Garmin is also too menu-centric. When listening to MP3s you have to make at least 3 button presse just to skip to the next song. Why not make a small forward and backward button on the map screen for this? To adjust volume you have to back out of the map to the menu screen, then touch a volume icon. The Magellan had a very unubtrusive icon right on the map screen. The less screen interaction while moving the better. Magellan seems to know this. Garmin has yet to get a clue. The interface needs some streamlining indeed!
  
  Magellan had better options too. You could display time left, miles left, or arrival time on the map screen. Garmin only shows arrival time. You can see miles left, but only after touching the screen and enetering the data mode, which can be dangerous while driving. Routing was also easier on the Magellan thanks to their predictive text system, and ability to use zip codes to instigate a route. Also, it helps that Magellan says the letter you press as you do it (unlike Garmin) which makes typos much less likely.
  
  While driving routes, the Magellan alerts you ahead of time as to the next maneuver, gives you a second screen showing a more detailed image of the maneuver, and then a ding sound at the moment of the event. The chatty Garmin just keeps repeating itself. In .5 miles turn left on 1st street - turn left on first street - turn left (all in 25 seconds). Teh voice will start to annoy you. Maybe selecting the computerized Australian voice will spice it up a bit! ;)
  
  Another feature I'll miss from the Magellan is that it told you both the road you were on and the road of the next turn on the map screen, in addition to an icon indicating the direction of the turn. The Magellan just tells you the next turn in top of the screen and that's it. It has no auto split screen mode, no road currently travelling, and no indicator of the direction (other than the track on the map). The Garmin does automatically zoom out at highway speeds to show more of the map and upcoming maneuvers. This is a feature I like!
  
  As far as satellite reception, the Magellan KILLS the Garmin. It always got full signal within a few seconds of being turned on. Even with the 2.60 update the 760 is slow to get a lock, and even then the signals seem much weaker. Not as good of an antenna. This could be a problem in big cities. Routing engine seemed equivalent to me, and traffic is equally useless whether it's Magellan or Nuvi. The mount is much sturdier on Magellan too. the Garmin mount allows the unit to swivel too easily, so it moves the screen when you try to interface with the touch screen.
  
  So why am I keeping the Garmin if the Magellan beats it in so many ways? I love the MP3 feature, and the ability to create routes. The voices are much better at reading street names, and the updates are much more frequent. Also, the support is reputed to be great unlike Magellan's which is a travesty. The Garmin is the "cool" gadgety GPS while the Magellan is the utilitarian, ultra functional yet less slick looking device.
  
  If you don't care about MP3 support though, and you don't plan on running the GPS through your speakers it is hard for me to recommend the Nuvi over the Maestro series. The Magellan does a lot, better than the Nuvi and at about half the price. If you want features you may not use, and you want to have the same brand as most of your friends the Nuvi is still a great device despite its' flaws. From a pure functionality standpoint I'd say the Magellan wins overall. The lower price is just bonus.
  
  If Garmin would add a blutooth volume, increase the FM transmitter to a useable volume, and reduce the menu depth or add some shortcust on the map screen it'd be a tougher call. With Garmin's frequent updates, some of those things just may happen.
  
  Oh yeah, I though the Garmin's Maps labeled NT 2008 were newer than Magellan's map date 1st quarter of 07. Not the case, only the name is different. They are both 1st Q 2007 Navteq maps.
  
  
• Very Nice GPS
  By A2T3WUJFKI10KM on 2008-06-01
  With 80+ reviews and the Garmin nuvi video, there's not much left to say, except....
  
  I'd never had a GPS before, and even having done my research, I still purchased and returned four other GPSes before I finally settled on the 760, which meets my needs very well.
  
  The features of the 760 that I really love include the wide, anti-glare screen; text-to-speech; QWERTY keyboard, and multiple route points. I didn't think I'd use Bluetooth much if at all, but I couldn't find a 750 and thus purchased the 760. Bluetooth has turned out to be a very convenient feature, and the 760 paired easily with my Motorola Krzr1m phone.
  
  I'm very disappointed in the FM transmitter, however. It has no noise reduction, so I get to listen to "fuzz" until the GPS speaks. The MP3 and Audible player is OK, but the sound isn't good enough to drown out the static. The 760 does have a 3.5mm audio out, so if your car stereo has an AUX in, I recommend buying a cable and using that. If not, pick up a noise-reducing FM transmitter like the Kensington Universal FM Transmitter for MP3 Players (Black). This transmitter provides a very clear sound and no static!
  
  Bluetooth works great on my end, but callers have consistently complained they can't hear me. My solution was to get the Garmin External Microphone for StreetPilot C550 (010-10804-00). Since I've been using this microphone, I've had no more complaints from callers.
  
  The 760's cradle is much sturdier and easier to insert and remove the nuvi than those of other GPSes I've used. Still, I prefer not to mount the GPS on the windshield. My solution was to get a beanbag mount, which lets me place the 760 to the left of the steering wheel. I picked up the Garmin Portable Friction Dashboard Mount for Nüvi Series and StreetPilot I Series, C530, C550 and C580 GPS Navigators, which works great. This mount allows me to use the 760's well-designed cradle without the need for suction cups or sticky foam pads. It stays put and yet is easy to move out of sight when leaving my car.
  
  The nuvi 760 comes with no case, but as my first GPS purchase/return happened to be a Navigon 2100, I'd also purchased the matching Navigon 3.5" Protective Hard Shell Case. Fortunately this case happens to fit my nuvi 760 snugly and allows me to toss the GPS my purse without worries of scratching the screen.
  
  Also note that this GPS comes with no AC charger. As I have a number of devices to charge and I don't always want to charge the GPS in the car, I chose to simplify by getting the Gomadic Universal Charging Station - tips included for Garmin Nuvi 200 many other popular gadgets. Standard miniUSB chargers put the Nuvi into "computer connect" mode. But Gomadic's nuvi tip (#73) has the correct pinout to allow the unit to function as a GPS while charging.
  
  Can the nuvi 760 be improved? Certainly. (1) Dump the FM transmitter or add noise reduction. (2) Increase the volume range (and quality of) the nuvi's internal speaker. It's just not loud enough, and as I increase the volume, the speaker distorts. (3) Include some accessories with the unit. A GPS at this price point shouldn't require another ~$75-100 in accessories.
  
  Although my nuvi 760 came with the 2008 map, I'd purchased it within Garmin's "free map upgrade" window. I've noticed that the 2009 map has updated/corrected POIs, a few addresses and roads have been added and others corrected. Also, speed limits have been updated, too. (We went from 55 to 70 here in Michigan.) Firmware, voice and other updates have been quickly released by Garmin and are easily installed.
  
  I'm happy with the 760 and am eager to try it on a longer trip. Still, the 760 is very useful when just driving around town.
  
  
  
• Bullet List of What Isn't Good
  By A2GOHNFBHUU3UI on 2008-07-25
  Lots of reviews here that cover the bases. So I'll limit this to a bullet list of some items I found annoying:
  
  1. Hands free calling is not as good as my BlueAnt gizmo. Callers on other end said my voice sounded muddy and uneven. When I tried the Garmin 670, callers on the other end preferred it. But overall the Blue Ant was best.
  
  2. The speaker on the 760 is tinnier than on the Garmin 670 and annoying. The 670 is a thicker model, and I suppose they were able to fit a better speaker. If you're just using maps and guidance this is not a big deal. But if you use hands free dialing, it is terrible.
  
  3. I disagree with another post about the font. I think the font on the 670 is sharper and easier to read than on the 760 model. Much of the time (not always) the font is larger on the 670 model.
  
  4. The MP3 on both models is rudimentary at best. The playlist function does not work very well.
  
  5. The supposed ability to play sound through the FM is a joke. Neither unit works well enough to use...ever. Sometimes nothing comes through. When sound does show up, it is scratchy and irritating beyond belief. If Garmin is going to list this as a feature, they need to go back to the drawing table. As of now, the implementation of this feature is pathetic.
  
  6. Both the 760 and the 670 lock GPS about the same speed...perhaps the 760 is a touch faster...but not to the extent anyone would really notice.
  
  7. 760 is thinner and doesn't need to open the antenna. So it is much easier to use in pedestrian mode. On the 670 with the GPS antenna up, it's tough to fit the unit in your pocket. So pedestrian mode isn't realistic on the 670.
  
  8. Garmin got ridiculously cheap on the 760 with respect to accessories. NO AC Adapter; no disk for PDF Help file; no case. All three are standard on the 670 model.
  
  Garmin's Maps and POI are both great. The guidance works very well. So bottom line, is that it is the hands free phone use, playing sound through FM and MP3 that I'm critical of.
  
  
• Terrific GPS with solid features.
  By A247ZMLWOG8XFV on 2008-07-06
  My wife and I have been using Garmin C320 GPS in each of our cars since 2005. It was time for an upgrade. I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 760 and we love it. Here is a little overview about how I decided what to get and some of the key features we had to have.
  
  My "must haves" in the new GPS were "Text To Speech", Traffic, Bluetooth, no flip out antenna, and a 4.3" screen.
  
  I did a lot of research on Magellan, TomTom and Garmin models meeting my "must haves". My conclusions were as follows: The Magellan incorporates AAA and that I feel is a really nice touch. The TomTom's come pretty loaded but seem a bit more complex. The Garmin's interface hasn't changed form the C320 but Garmin has added a slew of additional features in comparison to my C320.
  
  Since the new GPS wasn't only for me but for my wife, I decided to keep the learning curve to a minimum and decided I would choose another Garmin model since we are both experienced with them. Now, which one? I looked at all Nuvi units. I narrowed my choices down to the 255W, 760, and 780. Each of these include 4.3" screens, "Text To Speech", Bluetooth, no flip out antenna, and are Traffic ready. The 255W does not include either the FM TMC Traffic or the MSN Direct power adapter. The 760 includes the FM TMC Traffic power adapter while the 780 includes the MSN Direct power adapter.
  
  When I started to check pricing I was noticing that the 255W is the same price as the 760 but did not include any Traffic power adapter. I also noticed the 255W power is connected directly to the unit. More on this in a moment. I decided it was off my short list and my choice was now between the 760 and the 780. I decided on the 760 since the price was more that 100 dollars cheaper then the 780. I can always ad the MSN Direct power adapter later and I will have the FM TMC Traffic power adapter as well.
  
  Another reason I decided against the 255W is that the power is connected directly into the unit and not the mount. It is so much easier to remove the unit from the mount and not have to worry about disconnecting the power cord as well. Convenience is another key factor I should have mentioned.
  
  The first thing I did once I got the 760 was register it at the Garmin web site. Once I did I was able to update the unit's software and Maps. Garmin has a "Web Updater" software download on their web site. Connect the 760 via the supplied USB cable and run the Web Updater Software. The software will check for the latest version of system firmware/software and update the 760. That worked very well I might add.
  
  The 760 came with 2008 Maps but the 2009 Map update is available via Garmin's web site. If you buy the 760 now you can call to get the 2009 Maps free if it does not come with them. Garmin uses NAVTEQ Maps and from what I have read, are more accurate for the USA. The web site was telling me to buy them but I made a quick phone call to Garmin and verified my purchase via email with one of their support staff. A few minutes later I was able to either download or get a DVD with the 2009 Maps. The DVD is $10 and that is for shipping. I opted for the download. The 2009 Map file is large, around 2 Gigabytes so it took about 20 minutes to download via my cable modem. Once downloaded I ran the setup and it updated my 760 to the 2009 Maps. It was pretty easy but including the download it took about an hour. I also created a DVD with the 2009 Map file for safe keeping. The map is the Complete North America Maps. On the C320 the maps had to be uploaded and not all of the USA would fit. The 760 is fully loaded with the USA and Canada. Very nice!
  
  While I was online I looked at the Garmin "Extras" available for download and decided to add a few new Vehicles. Pretty cool.
  
  Once I finished updating the 760 I took it to my car and mounted it. The mount is just a couple of pieces and the 760 mounts securely in seconds. The power cable connects to the mount and not the unit so that the unit can be removed from the mount easily with no wires to disconnect. The mounting is excellent. I also purchased the optional "Portable Friction Mount" which sits on the dash. I highly recommend this so that you can easily hide the 760, mount and all, on the cars floor. Very easy as compared to the supplied suction cup mount and doesn't leave that suction cup ring on the windshield. Seems thieves love to smash and grab navigation units so the Friction Mount is great as it leaves no evidence visible you have a 760 in the car.
  
  I am amazed at how quickly the 760 acquires Satellites. When I did the software/firmware update it installed SiRF Star III Quick Fix. This allows the 760 to acquire satellites very quickly. So far every time the unit has been off to powered on it has acquired satellites as soon as it is booted up. Total time from off to "Ready to Navigate" is about 30 seconds.
  
  The Nuvi 760 has a beautiful, bright, and crisp looking 4.3" display. The fonts have been updated and the graphics are much better than my C320. I really like the new Automatic Zoom in and out based on distance to the next turn and destination. You can see the destination Checkered Flag and Via Point Flags are Orange. A nice touch is that your Personal Addresses display on the Map.
  
  The 760 speaks street names "Text To Speech". Nice feature instead of turn right in 200 feet. There is no maneuver Ding like on the C320 but I'm not sure it is needed with the additional spoken information.
  
  The 760 includes Bluetooth so I was able to pair the wife's phone in about a minute. Really simple. The Phone Book from the Phone transfers to the 760 along with Recently Dialed, Recently Received, and Recent Missed calls. Very cool. Once you start populating the 760 with your "Favorite" destination addresses you can manually add Phone Numbers to your Favorite addresses if needed. This is very nice since you can touch the Favorite you want and touch the little phone icon and dial that number. You can talk "Hands Free" via your 760 and I was pretty happy with the voice quality. I read a few instances where people say it doesn't work well or sound good. This isn't the case for us as I find it to work very well and sound really good. A valuable and convenient feature. On our first trip together we needed a certain item and we were able to pull up stores we thought would have it and simply touched the phone icon and called them to see if they carried what we needed. Once we found the store that had what we needed we were able to easily navigate to it. Very convenient and easy to use. I recommend the 760 with Bluetooth. Very nice.
  
  Searching for any of the included 6 million Points of Interests is easy and the POI Search displays Names and Addresses in the results. The additional address is a nice touch to see just how far away a result is if you know the town and how far away it is from you. The keyboard can be set to QWERTY and that makes typing so much easier if you are familiar with a PC keyboard. And who isn't now a days. Another nice feature is there is a drop down that will allow you to access and insert recent Searches without having to retype them since they are remembered by the 760. Another nice feature.
  
  Another very nice feature is you can create multiple destinations and have them automatically sorted for the optimal route. You can keep adding stops or via points and you can even remove them. You can manually reorder them to your liking or let the 760 automatically reorder the best route for you. Great if you need to run some errands at two or three different stores. The 760 will get you to each in the most efficient way.
  
  The 760 has a "Where Am I" feature that is very nice. It will show you Hospitals, Fuel, and Police stations that are near to where you are at. It will also indicate the nearest Address and nearest Intersection. This is great to see just where you are and can be provided to law enforcement in an emergency or to tell someone exactly where you are in an unknown area. Your Elevation is also indicated.
  
  As you drive there is an icon that will display the Speed Limit for the road you are on. A little reminder to check your speed and keep it safe.
  
  Maybe one of the best features are the Real Time Traffic updates. The 760 comes with the FM Traffic power adapter. The Traffic adapter is in place of a regular power adapter so the only thing different is it is it has some LED's and it is a little larger where it gets plugged into the car's power. Of course you need to be in an area that is covered by FM Traffic. If you are in a covered area than it can take about 10 minutes to get traffic data. Once data is in the 760 it will display on the map and on a separate Traffic screen. One bad thing is once power is lost so is the traffic data. It may take another 10 minutes or so the acquire traffic data again. Traffic issues are displayed on the main map screen with different colors and an appropriate traffic icon on your route as you approach them. An icon in the lower right will also show you how much time traffic is causing your delay. This time is automatically added to your current route. If the traffic is deemed too much then the 760 will recalculate a new route almost seamlessly to divert you around the traffic. There is plenty of traffic related detail on a separate screen if you want to access it. You can also touch the "Avoid" or "Detour" to force the 760 to reroute around traffic. The included FM Traffic comes with a 3 Months free Trial then it is $60.00 per year. Worth it if you are on the road a lot and your travels are within the covered areas.
  
  I think I am going to get the MSN Direct (separate power adapter) after the 3 month trial expires. The MSN Direct includes Traffic, Gasoline prices, and Weather alerts. There is more to MSN Direct but these features make it more worth it to me. Another nice thing about the MSN Direct is that you can opt for a one time lifetime payment and you're done.
  
  These are all the features for us that make the 760 a really nice GPS unit. There are many pluses and only a few drawbacks. Two drawbacks are; no House AC Adapter and no Carry Case for storage. But, if you have a USB cell phone then you can probably use your AC charger for the phone as I do.
  
  I recommend the Garmin Portable Friction mount for the dash. Easy to put in place and hide on the cars floor. I also recommend getting the Garmin Carry Case.
  
  I was able to shop the web and find the 760 for about $350.00. The Portable Friction Mount and the Carry Case were another $50.00. So for about $400.00 I got a very nice Navigation unit. For us the 760 is a wonderful GPS. It is beautiful and sleek. The features it includes are a valuable addition and make traveling even short distances easier and more enjoyable. I highly recommend the 760 to anyone looking for a new personal GPS unit.
  
  
  
• Overpriced
  By A1SO0CBN3IGRL3 on 2008-01-07
  I have Nuvi 770 which is the same as 760 with the addition of Europe map. It is an overpriced unit that is not much different from its much cheaper sisters. Long satellite acquisition time. Bluetooth is not reliably usable. No software to plan your trip on home computer. Does not accept an address from search engines like TomTom and Google. The interface needs work. For example, there is no simple menu button to take you to the menu during certain applications and you have to keep pushing back 5 or 6 times which becomes bothersome after a while. No dead reckoning. Very slow when searching for points of interest beyond 5-10 miles which tells me something about their processor speed for such an expensive unit. What about accessories? Shouldn't they at least include a carrying case for this top of the line unit? My brother in laws older Nuvi does some of the same things with slightly faster speed! Save your money and buy a cheaper Nuvi or a TomTom.
  
  
• Device is inaccurate - invents road names
  By A2HJQX5TUDUUPI on 2008-02-16
  This GPS device is unreliable. I got it as a gift for my parents, but it's not reliable for giving directions.
  
  the first thing we with the thing was to have it map directions from my house to theirs, a short 20-minute trip. The directions included fictional road names. This is amazing inept, because these are all old, well-travelled roads that have not changed names in decades.
  
  so we tried mapping a couple of other routes, same problem occurred on one of them. that's very poor obviously.
  
  customer service so far has been useless. I'd like to either have them provide better mapping software or give me a refund so i can get my parents a better device from a different company, such as Magellan. So far it has been a runaround.
  
  So save your money, don't waste hundreds of dollars on the Nuvi 760.
  
  
• Garmin is cheap, Amazon is now evil
  By A1CBYUE2SE2S04 on 2008-09-02
  My step-son ordered the nuvi 760 as a gift for my wife's birthday at the beginning of September. We were about to meet him in Alaska for Summer tours of Denali, Prince William Sound, Anchorage, and other places. We reasonably expected to use the Garmin during the trip. Nope....
  
  It arrived with the tip of the combination car power cord/traffic receiver broken off. The shell of this critical part is made of flimsy, inferior plastic, is less than 1/16" thick, and broke off at some point while lying in the package from the pressure exerted by the fuse spring. If that isn't despicable enough for an indispensable part of a nearly $400 appliance, Garmin has since told us that a replacement for the power cord/receiver costs about $240!!!!
  
  I have been buying things from Amazon for years, and I have occasionally had problems with a vendor. I have always been able to depend on Amazon's customer service to promptly handle these problems, and replace defective merchandise quickly.
  
  WHEN DID AMAZON TURN TO EVIL?!
  
  Since we are in Texas, where the unit was shipped for my wife's birthday, and the step-son is in Alaska, I went to the Amazon return page, and completed the process to return the defective unit through the "received as a gift" option. I got a return authorization and shipping label. While I was preparing to return the defective package, I got an email from an Amazon representative, saying that he had cancelled my return, because the original purchase did not appear under my email address! I couldn't return the gift, he basically said, because I hadn't ordered it myself---"received as a gift" apparently wasn't on his instruction card...As if this wasn't infuriating enough, he communicated this to me via a no-response email address, so I couldn't directly respond to explain this.
  
  The step-son in Alaska next arranged, using his email address, to obtain a replacement unit and have the defective one shipped back via UPS later, since we were scheduled to leave for Alaska in a couple of days. He received a return authorization and a printable shipping label. We expected to return from our trip in about 10 days and find the house-sitters had found the replacement from UPS and taken it inside.
  
  WRONG! It was obviously never shipped....I guess we should have asked for a tracking number, but we were busy, and didn't expect this from Amazon.
  
  He called and finally got through to somebody at Amazon by phone (for those of you scoring along at home, this will be the THIRD time they will agree to ship the replacement and provide shipping for the return). Amazon told him they would ship the replacement to us and get UPS to pick up the package, which, again, they obviously never did. This was last week, before the holiday weekend, and I believe the last few days of our 30 day return period to send the unit directly back to Amazon, which I'm guessing was their intention all along. There is no tracking number, no explanation, and no evidence that Amazon actually shipped the replacement unit, or ever intends to.
  
  After two angry emails using their well-concealed contact page, I finally got a response from another representative, which I will quote so that no one thinks I'm making this up:
  
  "Thank you for contacting Amazon.com regarding this matter.
  I've researched your account; it appears that one of my colleagues has already resolved this issue creating replacement order for the defective item which you received as gift. I do apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail inquiry."
  
  Whether it will ever be possible to obtain a replacement or refund from Garmin for the busted part is to-be-determined. But Amazon won't be getting another chance to let us down.
  
  As for the Garmin, I did manage to test the GPS itself, after charging from a USB port, and found that it performed basic functions and linked to a satellite with several bars from my living room. Note that Garmin is so cheap that they won't include a $3 wall cube charger with this nearly $400 piece of equipment. I've already expressed my opinion of the $240 power cord/receiver.
  
  While on our trip, we used my brother-in-law's Garmin---I think it was the somewhat bulkier 660---mostly around Anchorage, since Alaska has about six contiguous roads outside of cities that go anywhere. It worked okay, except that it fell off the windshield at least twice. The giant suction cup isn't especially reliable.
  
  I'm not completely sure that I wouldn't have been far happier printing off maps from Google and MapQuest. Since I currently can't use the GPS in the car except while the >non-replaceable< battery holds up, I probably won't have any choice.
  
  UPDATE (8-6):
  The day after I wrote this, I got an email from Amazon, saying that the replacement had been shipped (this time, with a tracking no.), and that I needed to realize that it would take several days to arrive. UPS tracking data showed that they picked up the package last Sunday, almost a week after they agreed for the third time to send the replacemnent. The replacement arrived intact, and gift wrapped---whereupon I realized that the original shipment wasn't gift wrapped, although it had been ordered as a gift. I guess I will have to re-rate Amazon as only kind of evil....
  
  I have tested out the nuvi 760 locally, with only one glitch, and a wrong street name. When I couldn't find the software to make routes from the PC and load them to the GPS, a Garmin representative promptly answered my questions by email, and shipped me the installation disk---although it's a mystery to me why it wasn't included in the package to begin with.
  
  
  
  
• A very handy navigation thingummy, but does it work as a GPS too?
  By A3VEVK3RRD6Q54 on 2008-01-14
  See other reviews for the usual stuff. The hardware is excellent, except for the audio circuitry... tinny and quiet speaker, can't deal with full duplex audio when doing phone stuff. The nav stuff is mostly excellent, although there is no documentation on how to overlay your own maps onto the basemap, so I am not even sure if this is possible, which is rather upsetting. I should have liked some topos of particular local areas, whose paths are either not on the basemap or which have no established paths, onto which to overlay tracks and routes.
  
  However, my major gripe is with the complete lack of typical GPS features. No scale on the maps, no information on satellite lock and precision, sky view, etc., no obvious way to measure distances and areas on the map screen, which with a touch pad should be a no brainer, no ability to change datums, no ability to change coordinate systems (doesn't even recognize MGRS coordinates!!!) or input using alternate coordinate systems, no obvious or easy way to record, create or edit tracks (again it is a touchpad!!!), no adjunct data other than x/y evident in the waypoints (elevation, comments, etc.), and so on and so forth. YMMV as to what features you like... but prepare to find that most of the typical Garmin GPS features are missing. And, although I am someone who avoids RTFM until needed, I do not appreciate having to download the manual (doesn't come with one) and then only to find that it is very non-technical and does not delve into how to achieve any of these features which are presumably either missing or well hidden behind undocumented commands.
  
  Prepare to be seriously underwhelmed if you think that this battery-powered device which is designed to be undocked can serve double or triple duty as an on-road nav box, an off-road or even off-the-beaten-track mobile-in-vehicle GPS, and an off-road man-portable GPS.
  
  As an on-road navigation unit though, or even as a cellphone GUI, it rocks.
  
  
• How did I travel without this?
  By A1RCYNI0IIQ0MJ on 2008-02-02
  Pro: Current Maps, accurate directions, ease of use, MP3 capability.
  
  Cons: Only cassette-quality MP3 playback, must frequency-hop to find clear stations in built-up areas, could not find Interstate Rest stops as POI.
  
  After renting a Garmin C550 when driving a rented truck, became convinced this was a useful upgrade from previous traveling strategy. In the past, would visit Google or MSN Maps, type in to/from locations, print results, staple the mess together, then try to read maps while driving route. Very time- and paper-consuming, not always accurate results (which side of the road is my destination on?).
  
  The nuvi 760 fixes all of that. The 2008 purchase has most recent maps of Anne Arundel County (MD), which were not in the c550, including roads constructed in 2005. Simply begin typing destination and nuvi 760 offers close suggestion (to avoid typing entire entry). Hit "GO" and nuvi quickly (less than 10 seconds usually) picks a route, displaying the first turn. I turned off the voice nav because she was grating on my nerves.
  
  The FM transmitter worked great with modifications suggested elsewhere. This consists of plugging any 3.5mm headphones (I used an MP3 male-to-male 8' cord) into the unit and routing it like an antenna (e.g. over rear-view mirror and along headliner/window line). Granted, as you enter larger cities you will have a difficult time finding a clear station; however, playing MP3 for me is a substitute for good local programming, which most large cities provide. On rural sections of interstate the nuvi 760 was welcome in an F150 with no aux. input jack for iPod. The music quality is less than CD, and busy songs (such as Slipknot's "Duality") seem to overwhelm the unit's MP3 capabilities.
  
  I recommend mounting the unit directly below and to the left of your rear-view mirror as in the F150 and other large vehicles lower mounting means that you cannot safely reach the unit while underway. It also provides you with safe, quick way to check unit as you regularly check your rear-view (you're all doing this, right?). Apply moisture to the suction cup to ensure secure mounting.
  
  Other useful features: the hard-drive holds over 500mb worth of files, delete the extra vehicle icons to gain some space (as well as the sample audio and JPEG files) and upload your favorite MP3. Works well with Mac OS 10.4.x, update unit as soon as you get it home. To save your own waypoints, simply touch the screen when you're at a point-of-interest. The black case allows more contrast than the silver models. I haven't opened the manual, everything was very intuitive. Restaurant feature is nice as it gives direction and relative distance.
  
  Turn on route logging to view a blue line that traces where you have been. If you are doing a methodical search of a neighborhood - stalking a loved one or looking for a lost pet, for example - you can track the roads you have already driven. My phone doesn't pair with the unit, so cannot recommend its Bluetooth features. The nuvi 760 gets 4 stars for bluetooth compatibility issues, average MP3 playback, and some moderate difficulty typing the correct characters (larger fingers may miss the intended letter/number).
  
  This unit stands head-and-shoulders above every competitor, based on personal observation (TomTom and Magellan). Don't buy from a chain electronics store; their geek/nerd/dork doesn't own one and has very little product knowledge.[...]
  
  
  
• Garmin 760 software stopped working when I was driving
  By A1U35F6YXH9FT0 on 2008-07-05
  My Garmin GPS 760 is currently installed with nuvi 7 series - version 3.00, GPS SW version: 3.00s, GTM SW version 4.80. The software stopped when I drove. One of my friends in the car noticed this situation. Then I touched the GPS screen to try to go back to the menu but this GPS failed to show the menu. The only thing to get it work is to turn the GPS off and on again.
  
  There are some other points of weakness which the other uses mentioned and I have experienced. For instance, its GTM 20's cigarette lighter adapter is easy to break (I have asked one replacement). It sometimes took more than 10 minutes to acquire satellites even in the clear California sky.
  
  It's my first GPS device. Since its price is not so cheap, I have expected the high reliability, robustness, and performance of this product.
  
  
  
• Worse than the 660