nuvi 765T hands-on

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to put this together; It's really informative and will make for much better informed consumers.

Thanks again

Where did you find out that someone else got the rights to that? I use that feature everyday, as most of the time I do not drive with "routes", but "map view" mode.

Thanks for spending the time to write up your thoughts, most appreciated.

Daniel

I seem to recall reading of this "rights" issue regarding the upcoming street display in another forum or review but I don't recall exactly where. Regardless, they are simply not displayed any longer while just navigating in "map view" mode. This was a big letdown for me as well...

When I am driving with my 765T in 3D mode, just driving and not on a route, I see upcoming street names, such as exits and interstates.

I have only had mine for two weeks, and maybe I am not recalling this correctly, but I am almost certain that I see them.

I will make a point of trying it out at lunch today, and reporting back on this thread.

NOTE: I believe that I am at firmware version 2.30, or whatever it was out of the box, as I have not updated to 2.50 via Web Updater

Please verify this for 3D mode as I'd hate to be giving out incorrect info & I no longer have the units to check. I only briefly used 3D mode but did not notice one way or the other so you may in fact be right. I have verified this though in 2D mode...no upcoming street names/cross streets were ever displayed, regardless of being on a route or not. As previously mentioned, firmware v2.50 was used and all updates as of Nov 28 2008 were applied.

It's very meaningful to me as I was just about to pull the trigger on a 765T. Perhaps I'll just stick with my original game plan and grab a 760 instead. Some of the things you mention would be a real turn-off for me.

Thanks again, Mr. Nimrod!

I am also considering the 765t. I appreciate the time you took to let us know the problems. I may go with the 760 ($199 at Costco) and save some money too.

I bought a nuvi 760 last wed for $249 from buydig.com. Amazon was at the same price then as well. You just have to look at taxes and shipping...

Daniel

The 750 is $199 at Costco. The 760 was priced at $249. Has this changed?

Thx.

Still a good buy though.

the 765t has the free lifetime traffic services. don't know if that is worth an extra $200.

Thanks, DorkusNimrod for your review.

I haven't used a 760, so don't know what I'm missing, but fairly happy with the 765, and it doesn't feel sluggish to me.

You didn't mention anything in your review about Bluetooth. Did you test this? I find the volume from the speaker woefully inadequate while I'm driving, and would like to hear your thoughts.

I tested Bluetooth very briefly on the 765 since I do not use it on my 760. As I mentioned in one of my edits above, I could not use voice dial with the RAZR/765 combo but it worked fine on my 760. When I did test the 765/Bluetooth (as I mentioned, very briefly), I -did- notice the phone's volume level through the 765 to be considerably lower than the 760s volume level. I have also heard/read in other forums of this lower Bluetooth/phone volume level.

You've likely already tried this but if you haven't, check the volume level in the audio mixer settings and make sure it's all the way up.

I'm pretty sure the changelog for v2.50 had a listing for Bluetooth volume/performance corrections.

you were correct...NO upcoming street names

I guess I was recalling being in route mode which I have been in, the vast majority of the time during my three weeks of ownership.

I have learned my lesson, and will be more careful before challenging a post...I certainly don't want to confuse anyone.

I apologize for any confusion I may have caused.

Jim

Thanks very much for your Bluetooth review. Yes, the volume seems pretty low even compared to the 755 I returned for this unit.

With my Alltel Samsung SCH-U520 I originally got voice dial, but no phonebook, call list, etc. When I downloaded the update even the voice dial originally disappeared, but later when I turned it on, I got it back, with the phonebook, call list, etc. so am happy about that.

...did the text size of the alerts increase?

or haven't you set any of those yet?

apparently, they are smaller than on previous models.

I read somewhere, that there seemed to be a vague mention of text and proximity in the optional updates.

the text is the same size as the ads that appear with the free traffic.

Thanks for bringing this up as I forgot to include it in my initial review. I have since edited my post regarding the POI alert box. I also did really notice the text being any bigger after the update.

Thanks also for verifying the lack of displayed upcoming/cross streets in 3D mode. This can be a real deal-breaker for some users such as myself.

Mr. Nimrod, do you see the 760 as a logical "step up" for me (Nuvi 360 owner)? I see you have the Nuvi 350. I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on that. Will it be that much of an "upgrade". FWIW, I absolutely luv my 360...it's an amazing device.

Thanks.

I would not hesitate in the least in recommending the 760 to you. The screen is much nicer/larger and it's GPS performance tops even the 3xx series with it's "high-sensitivity" receiver along with it's "Hot-fix" ability which makes satellite lock extremely quick. It also adds creating routes on the unit itself along with a tracklog option. If you have not had the chance to actually try one, I would definitely do so at a retail store like Best Buy or Circuit City before buying to make sure it's what you want.

Be aware though that there are some features missing on the 760 compared to the 360 like screen touch-tone disable, the ability to disable voice-prompts, the North pointer and a few others that I can't recall offhand. Also the new 7xx units (even the new 7x5) will never tell you when the battery charging has completed...a long standing Garmin bug or "feature" depending on who you ask. The 3xx/6xx series has always had the ability to display that the battery has been fully charged.

Garmin has a very good track record of removing useful features from units to make room for "new" features which are sometimes simply useless and questionable.

I had a lot of the same feelings and went from a 755T to a 750. I don't like the sliding screens and slow screen, dual-layer redraw. I'm going to wait another year and just enjoy what I have. I don't like bluetooth and may just get the MSN for traffic later.

Great write-up, thanks!

I really do appreciate your comments.

That makes a lot of sense about trying it out in the store to see how it feels prior to laying out $$$. I know these units all have their pros/cons.

Cheers!

i am on my 2nd nuvi 765t in a month , problems have appeard on 2nd unit since the firmware got updated to 2,50 now it has all kinds of problems with the screen , recalibrate has come on twice for no reason,touch screen is out of sync, brings up the wrong screen, lost sound while putting in a route , then the mp3 player froze, i removed the card shut off the unit for 5 mins then turned it back on, all the songs that are on the sd card are still playing on the mp3 player , how can this be as they were not downloaded to the unit,garmin would not let me register the new unit without updating the firmware first, , wish it had not done that,now its a complete mess, bluetooth froze also. it is just not worth the hassle, i tried calling garmin today and all i get is amessage telling me the wait is about 1hr to get to speak to someone, so i think i am done with garmin , will look at the tom tom or magellan units, what a pity as the lane assist is very good

If you can't wait an hour, do not get a magellan. Read: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/4862

Most of us have found that Garmin will take care of problems. Personally I would rather wait 2-3 hours and talk to someone who will solve my problem that just pass me off.

Daniel

While Garmin might not be quite perfect, they're vastly superior to Magellan's most woeful effort

I'm in 3D mode all the time and see upcoming/cross streets usually, whether I'm in route mode or map mode. Could it be that I'm in a rural area?

Anyway I have to go into town tomorrow and will check it out some more.

when I did my test at lunch yesterday, I was in a dense urban part of Pittsburgh, and I did not see the cross streets...but I could have sworn I had seen them before in 3D map mode as well...I will also retest in a suburban area, where the streets are farther apart, and see if that makes a difference

Today I took out my 765T to the main city around here (population 19,000) about 25 miles away. Unfortunately I had to use it with batteries in my wife's Civic instead of mounted in 4x4 because as soon as I drove out of the garage a wheel was sticking and putting me sideways through the snow.

I did use it in both 3d and 2d view, with a route and with just maps. It notified me of every cross street I came across in both the city and the highway back to my house.

Is it possible yours could be set to a zoom out mode or something like that?

Very odd...I never saw cross street names being displayed on the green info bar at the top of the screen (that IS where you're seeing them, correct?) any of the time that the unit was in use, regardless of any settings.

I wonder if locale has anything to do with it...I'm in SoCal.

If so, I wonder what Garmin's criteria is when it comes to when the cross streets are actually being displayed. As I mentioned before, I never had a problem with this on my 7x0 units.

I, too, tested this today. While routing and while not routing my 765 displayed all cross streets

I will continue to test with my 765T as well, and report back.

I would have done so this morning, but I encountered a glitch with playing mp3's while having a proximity alert play (also an mp3) when I reached the coordinates.

As was reported in another post, there is a glitch that causes the alert to fail to play, and at the same time, it stops the play of the current track, and advances to the next one...never does play the audio alert, although the screen displays it.

It actually froze mine up...had to power cycle it....which is why I didn't get to further test.

I was hoping there would be more positive talk about the 765. I think that I will wait a while to upgrade to the 7x5 model.

would just like to say, i don,t think anyone should have to wait even 1/2 hour never mind 2-3hrs just to talk to a rep, garmin is a big enough company that maybe they should employ more people to handle calls,if they had the choice to give them ones phone # to call people back thats a whole differant matter but they dont offer that

I called Garmin tech support at 1-800-800-1020 yesterday afternoon and I only was on hold for less than a minute before I was connected to the support person.

No, I think I got mixed up with what you said. I'm seeing the cross streets on the map as I approach them.

The display is fine with me, but I didn't have an older model. I do know the angst though when they take features off a newer model, it can be frustrating.

DorkusNimrod, my 750 shows upcoming streets in the top bar when just in map mode in 3D view. I just tried a simulation in 2D mode and the next cross street pops up on the route. I've been using 3D view this week to try it and I really like the next street showing because I can see that faster than the sign or if a big truck is blocking my view. Also, nice having the speedometer in the lower right. In navigation modes...next street just goes to next turn and the speedometer goes to arrival time. I'm in SoCal too. Could it be software?

I agree....some of the things missing in the 760 are simple things that make a noticeable difference in user interaction. It would be nice if we could tweak the easily tweak these settings ourselves...

But it's nice to know someone has already tried out the new 3-d building layout from the 765t and found out "it ain't all that"...

OP: Thanks for the great review. It sounds like I am not missing anything by not having the latest and greatest!

Great write up!! For now happy with my $249 760 but the 765T sounds very nice. My friend just bought one so i'll be able to compare mine vs. his over the next few months.

When I mentioned that cross street names are not being displayed on the 7x5 series, I mean that they are not being displayed on the -green info bar at the top of the screen-. The 7x0 series (750, 760, etc) always displays the next upcoming cross street name on the green info if you are not navigating a route.

The 7x5 series does not display upcoming cross street names on the green info bar. Is this what you 7x5 users are seeing/not seeing?

I do not see upcoming cross streets in the green bar on my 765T. While that does bother me on principle, in that I assumed that if I liked the 760 that I borrowed prior to my purchase, then I would get it and more for the extra cost of the 765T, for my use, I would gladly trade that feature for the new indicator in the upper left corner while on a route, that shows not only the distance to the next turn, but which direction it will be, and which lane to be in if there are multiple ones.

NOTE: do not confuse this turn indicator with the new Lane Assist feature. While similar, the Lane Assist view of the actual overhead signs on an interstate for example, shows a large arrow pointing to the necessary lane change for the exit. This has not been all that fully implemented at this time, though part of my purchase of the 765T, is that I assume this will be more fully integrated in future map releases. I have actually only seen it pop up once around my daily journeys around the Pittsburgh area. I expect to see it much more when I travel south on the interstates over the holidays, and I will report back after I return.

But that directional turn indicator is very nice.

In my experience with the nuvi line, you always lose some useful features when "upgrading" to the latest & greatest. It's quite annoying but very true. You'd expect to get all of what was in the previous model in addition to the new features of the new model but sadly, this just is not so.

The "turn indicator" you mention is integrated within the Lane Assist feature...they are both the same. The turn indicator simply expands when the freeway has multiple lanes at an interchange and highlights which lane you should be in for the next turn.

What you're describing is actually the Junction View feature. The actual view data is stored in the x:/Garmin/JCV folder and is separate from the map data. I'm assuming that the map data does integrate with the views in that it provides WHERE the actual views are located. I'm also assuming the actual views can/will be updated separately from the map data for the very reason that it is separate from the map data.

should make it a bit more helpful for others.

I am still getting the hang of my 765T, so your experience in feature explanation, and the technical part of how they are implemented is most welcome and interesting.

as you say, it is good to know that we may see more frequent updates to the features I paid extra for, sooner rather than later, due to the method used to display/implement them.

I have learned a lot from you already...thanks for all of your help.

It may seem like I'm perhaps nitpicking the small details of the 7x5 but the purpose of the testing and review was to provide info on how it compares to the 7x0 series and if it would be a worthwhile upgrade to 7x0 users. Also to inform those same 7x0 users of the features they will in fact lose upgrading to the 7x5 series. Many (most) times, these small detail differences are not even mentioned as the review will only focus on the actual unit being reviewed and it's "new" features. Like I stated in the original writeup, those 7x0 users who are used to/expecting certain features may be let down as I know I was.

However on it's own merits, the 7x5 is certainly a fantastic unit as others are certainly very happy with it.

Thought I might upgrade to the 765T, but your review pointing out its pluses and minuses has resulted in a net minus for me. Will wait for an improved firmware upgrade, if one shows up.

In many cases, it's those small details that will be instantly recognized by the discerning user. It's becoming commonplace, IME, that these so-called "upgrades" aren't upgrades at all. They're just changes for the sake of making changes when mfrs feel the pressure to introduce "new" product.

Let's face it, any electronic gizmo more than 6 months on the market is starting to look a little "old"

It's the 760 for me!

regarding the elimination of the cross streets display in the 7x5 series of nuvis, I decided to email Garmin and ask about it.

here is the text:

___________

Subject: display of upcoming cross streets on 765T

Message Body:

I have been told that models previous to my 765T, such as the 760, displayed upcoming cross streets in the green bar at the top of the screen, while
navigating in map mode (NOT on a route). I assumed that the 765T being a newer model with 3D buildings and Lane Assist, would still retain all of the features of the older models, and give me new features...my 765T does not do this.

my question?...why did Garmin take away this feature, on a newer, more expensive model?

Reply:

Dear Jim,

Thank you for contacting Garmin International.

I am happy to assist you with this. As it is explained to me, there just was not enough screen real estate to keep that feature and add the new features.

Engineering and design felt the new features were more useful than displaying cross streets.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

___________

I don't really buy the explanation, but I thought it was worth sharing with all of you.

I don't buy it either. Their reasoning is just plain silly. The screen real estate is the same; the green info bar is the same (now displaying what street you're currently on) and the 7x5's processor is what, at least twice as fast (330mhz) as the 7x0's. Why add useless (at least to me) "new" features like 3D buildings which eat up processor cycles and at the same time remove something as useful as the cross-streets display on the green info bar? My reasoning is that they will add it back in the future in a new model which you will again need to purchase.

The cycle goes on...

I just received 755T from Tiger direct and this model has no upcoming cross streets.I just got off the phone with Garmin tech and she confirmed this feature is not on this model.I think i will send it back and pay the 15% restocking fee.I have a 760 and the features on the 755T sure look good,but i would miss the cross streets.

I used a 255W and it has the turn indicator but did not show lane assist.

Yes, very excellent review. I wish I had read this before I bought the 765T. In my case, I went from the 680 the 765T, so maybe I will find it an improvement. I have been very happy with my 680 and primarily upgraded for the lane assistance, 3D buildings and able to save routes, so maybe I will like it. In any case, I only paid $345 out the door, so, if nothing else, I hope it will make a good backup for the price.