new garmins!!!!!! (coming Oct 15, 2008)

Free traffic huh... wish i lived in a place where I was free of traffic!!

I have a short commute so I don't really care about the traffic, but the new interface looks like the navigon, 3d view, building view, some pretty cool features. I hope they incorporate these changes into the zumo line, I really want an excuse to upgrade my 340 to a zumo, but that 775t looks pretty good to me!

Am I the only one that thinks Garmin needs to thin out it's Nuvi line? There has to be 20 different models these days!!

With the much faster processor and memory in the new models plus the lane features just might get me to upgrade to the new 765T in the first half of next year. Prices seem to bottom out around May-June.

Supposedly the screen refresh rate will be 10 times that of the current line plus greatly accelerated routing calculation speed. Should make for a very smooth navigation screen.

I don't like the way Amazon show the MSRP as $50 higher than Garmin lists on its website. They try to make it look like you're saving money ordering through them.

I want to know if the lane assist is live or just a static image or the interchange like Navigons show. It would be great if it was live, otherwise, it may be a distraction to be reaching to change screens as you need to be changing lanes.

Thanks I will be checking the 765T out

I like the hotfix, when leaving a parking garage, it would be nice to have a much faster sync. Lane guidance would be great, especially when in heavy traffic in a city I'm not familar with.

But, I still want more intelligent routes - an AI of sort that can make time / distance trade-offs.

From this picture http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/cat-1...
"Lane Guidance" is live on the top left of the screen, while "Junction View" http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/cat-1... looks more like a static 3D representation of the interchange.

As for the number of Nuvi models, the table at the end of the 775T that lists 25 models is not even complete; it's missing all the new 2x5T models. We'll need someone to code a wizard to find the device we need/want.

Simon

I like the new screen layout with your current speed and the area's speed limit. That's one thing that annoyed me when I drove down in the States last summer: the highway's speed limit kept changing, and the speed limit signs were far apart.

I might have imagined this, but I felt that here in Quebec, the speed limits are more consistent and there's a sign after each incoming ramp, which I did not see when driving in the East Coast States.

Back to the new units, I guess none of these new features will trickle down to an old 260. They want us to upgrade already.

Simon

does the new 880 have these new features?...can it be updated via the internet?...seems more like a software issue then hardware.....also I always wondered when you pull out the battery in the 880 does that reset the security code? b/c that would obviously negate it

The 880 does not have the "new" features if by "new" you mean the lane assist, highway signs and 3D buildings. The 880 does have the TTS with real street names and voice recognition (which is excellent and very useful in my application).

I will have to test the battery/security code question but my guess is that the security code info is stored similar to "favorites" etc. which do stay intact when the battery is removed.

According to an article I read at one of the GPS review sites Garmin was asked that exact question about the 800 series and Garmin said that they will not be able to have the features of the 7x5 series. Part of the change that allows the new features is in the hardware with a much faster processor and memory and the screen refresh rate is supposed to be 10 times as fast as the current models to allow some of the changes and that is not available in the current 800 series. Garmin already said that they have no plans at this point to update the 800 model series to 8x5 that would allow the features of the 7x5 new models.

Well, I'm still quite satisfied with my "old" 260W, and won't salivate over the great new ones. Well, maybe a little...

security stays if you pull the battery

I am still waiting with my discontinued 340! but maybe just maybe..........

I like the new features of the 7 series...but functionally I still think the 880's ability to do voice recognition is more valuable...the real image and the lane feature would definitely help but won't be as big of a difference maker as the voice recognition while driving...I'll keep my 880...although I wouldn't have mind the faster refresh rates

They are moving to free traffic service because it will be ad supported. Small pop-ups will periodically appear. I have not heard how big or how often the ads will appear.

Hopefully this would prevent people from missing turns when they are misdirected by the receiver. My receiver asks me to take Exit 256B, which is actually Exit 256A and numbered Exit 256A, but which the receiver marks as Exit 256B. The first time I took the announced Exit 256B and it immediately said "recalculating." With lane guidance, this may be mitigated since it will show where I should turn irrespective of the numbering.

Hi
I have the 255W which presumably has same new processor/engine. It may be faster than my lost 370, but the difference is hardly huge. Sometimes sat acq is great, sometimes terrible.

Neal

... There's Montana... And there are highways there with no speed limit

Besides... I'm a kind of guy who usually wears stuff out before buying a new one. Seems to me the consumer craziness is not fit for my lifestile.

i like the new models. looks promising.

buh-bye red light warnings....

I'm a little disappointed in Garmin. It seems that they have no problem rolling out new Nuvi models with "free" traffic when the rest of us that have older models still can't get Garmin/Microsoft to fix the current problems we are having with ours. Are they gonna take our old models in trade to upgrade to "fix" our problems? I think not!

Whats going on here! Are we that easy! We should be forcing them to fix the current problems/software glitches before we start sending them money for new units.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 650, 660, and 680 models, but I think it's time Garmin quit abusing us in the new model game and fix the problems with its core users. That's what is gonna make me buy a new GPS from them. Show me that you support us and our current problems.

Thank you for your time, and your support, we'll leave the light on for ya!

Gsapatka

thanks for the info

the thing I like about lane guidance is while riding a motorcycle you do not always have the same time to react as in a car, if you slow down on a bike you get run over, in a car you have a better chance. I experienced this 2 weeks ago with my 340, I had to let the exit go because I couldn't react fast enough without risking my life! If I was able to get a visual I could have positioned myself better in the lane to get over. Here in NY and NJ, you have to act fast sometimes!!!!

Here is some more information on those ads:

http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2008/09/garmin-l...

I would much rather pay for a subscription than have ads appear on my GPS. I will not be buying any GPS device with ads. Also, the 3D buildings look infantile.

Amen.

The subscription price is not unreasonable for TTN and it has worked fine for me in Phoenix where there always seems to be freeway problems.

I like my 680 better all the time.

shoot, I just bought a nuvi 250... I'm very happy with it though

I don't feel special anymore.

Top prices there. But I'm happy with mine being I have no need for the bluetooth or voice.

I too would not pay for any device that displays ads. I also do not advetise for car dealers on my license plate frame and I am happy to pay for satellite radio to avoid the advertising. There's nothing like a little "spam" for your GPS served up with a "new features carrot".

The new features are nice, but for me to purchase a GPS that displays ads, there would have to be an "opt out fee" option to continue subscription based traffic that does not display ads.

Bill

Where did it say about ad supported? I guess I missed that.

Thanks

Having driven many of the Interstates in Montana, I can tell you that they HAVE speed limits (and troopers happy to issue you a ticket).

What Montana, and most other western states and provinces don't have is traffic reports. My nuvi 660 came with a traffic receiver but only provides reports for major urban areas. I broke the receiver and was tol it would cost $100 Canadian to replace it... no thanks!

It is completely understandable that Garmin and MSN would focus on the big cities, but traffic and lane reports is not a selling feature for me.

For those interested:

http://tinyurl.com/5pq6ze

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum here, but Garmin have made the conscious decision to abandon customer loyalty in favor of selling new product. I and many others remember when they used to constantly improve their stuff via software updates, now they won't do so unless it is a blatant problem. I remember when somebody from Garmin was on here for awhile, I mentioned that on the 660 that when renaming and saving a found location it would not automatically capitalize the first letter if the one that is in there is not caps (ie, a number in an address), the guy said 'thanks for finding that, we'll fix it in the next release!'. A year later, nothing. Everyone was screaming for QWERTY on 6xx, then it magically appeared on the 7xx, I'm pretty sure it would have been no big deal on the 6xx to add. And on and on. I like my 660, it does a good job, I refuse to get suckered into their marketing strategy until something truly revolutionary comes along. And it may or may not be a Garmin.
Sorry for the rant.

A few years ago i bought a 2005 honda accord, every year they made a new ones. They didnt even offer me any free upgrades, this is so unfair. wahh

dont you think they have to pay people to make the upgrades, and then give it out for free, im sure you get paid for the work you do, im sure mr gary and minny or what ever would like to get paid too, its not like their stocks are soaring.

a nice compromise even would be to offer the upgrades at a small price, but im sure people would complain about that too nation of whinners

I wonder when Dell and HP and Gateway will start offering upgraded hardware to customers at "small price"?

; )

Not talking about major upgrades obviously. But in the past Garmin would make minor software enhancements as a matter of course. And other manufacturers do it as well. Apple does it with the iPod. PC component manufacturers do it all the time; printers, routers, etc.
It's not a matter of whining, it is strictly a customer loyalty issue. Garmin has made the decision to focus on new sales. We're not talking $50 software package here. $600, $700, $800 and more GPS' should have more retentive value, I feel. That said, I do agree that a good compromise would be to package a bundle of software enhancements at a reasonable price, I would gladly pay that to extend the functionality of my 660. $30, $40, $50. I think it would be worth it.
It may just be they don't have the resources to develop new products and enhance older ones at the same time.

Sorry, the Honda comparison is ludicrous.

i mean with some things you know what your getting when you buy it, so if thats the way it is you cant complain, one example is the 660 not having qwerty.
yea i know we all want everything in one unit, thats not going to happen, when we shop we weigh pros and cons for all units, and accept a decision we ourselves made.

ibviously qwerty wasnt that important then, so why wine now, that they should change it for free, when you the one that bought something without it.

should we all be able to upgrade our old cell phones to have cameras, color screens, no

I've never said Garmin should add new features to existing hardware. But they should be able to fix existing bugs in their hardware. And anyone who disagrees is a Garmin shill.

Look at the latest software updates for the 7xx series. Versions 3.0, 3.1, and 4.0 all introduced new bugs into the units!!! Is it too much to ask for a company to not screw up my unit?

And lately, Garmin has been outright lying to people. For example, this latest 4.0 update on the 7xx series. Garmin has known for over a week that you cannot roll back to an older version once you have installed 4.0. And yet, they continued to tell customers that they could reinstall 3.1 to fix their problems. Sorry, but why lie to your customers. Just tell them the truth.

Maybe I'm expecting too much from companies nowadays. Individuals are no longer expected to act honorably, so why should companies?

Read the post. I said minor software enhancements, which does not fall in the same category as cell phone cameras and color screens.

And, yes, I did buy it without QWERTY, and I'm still alive and the earth is still rotating. But the fact that a lot of people were asking for QWERTY to be added to the 6xx, and it wasn't, instead came out on the 7xx, was kind of irritating, especially in light of the fact that in the past Garmin used to do things like that.

I noticed that they are providing free traffic data from Navteq Traffic, not Total Traffic Network like they are now. I wonder what the future holds for their relationship with TTN. It is interesting to see that they use the same GTM 20 receiver for either service. I suppose older units like my C550 could be switched over to Navteq Traffic with a simple firmware upgrade.

Here is a review of the new 755T at pcmag.com. Looks pretty good. I can handle the ads for free traffic.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329347,00.asp

I wonder if the 765T is worth the extra $100. Description says it has a larger audio amp. Better sound?

Patiently waiting for more reviews...