USing Nuvi 760 w/o DC adapter- questions

No memory effect to be concerned with on Li-ion batteries, but there is a definite number of charge cycles (maybe as few as 350) before you are faced with a very difficult/expensive replacement. If you are using the unit on a daily basis, I think you are making a big mistake.

I know that I can get several hours on my 660 if I reduce the backlighting and turn off BT (big drain) and WAAS (don't think you have WAAS). If you do a search, you'll find a lot of discussion on this subject.

I agree with bentbiker. Definitely turn off the bluetooth if running on the batteries. This (as with all electronics with BT) is a battery drainer. I have used my 760 with and without the cord for several months now with no signs of shortened battery life. But I'm not constantly draining the battery. Throughout this site, you'll read of many people who have problems with their individual units that others haven't had. Eventually the battery will go. When is the million dollar question.

As far as the traffic service, I live in Phoenix where the service works. I've found though that it is only slightly helpful. Most of the time, the info is either not there or is still there hours after the traffic problem has been cleared up. It is only as good as the person entering it. Don't get me wrong, it does work but it is not the end all be all of traffic reporting. I would suggest that if you live in a service area, try it out. If you really like it, Garmin now offers a lifetime subscription to the service on their website for the original price. The other option is to buy a power cord for your 760 without the traffic receiver built in. You'd have to price them and see which would be cheaper.

If you're willing to spend about $18-$28, you can purchase the Garmin Vehicle power cable which will power/charge the unit.

Garmin site:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=1371

Amazon reseller:
http://tinyurl.com/7uqj6g

It does NOT contain the FM Traffic circuitry of the cable that came with your unit. It may be an interim solution for you until you decide to activate your trial subscription. I'll also agree with the other comments here that it's not a very good idea to be constantly running off the unit's battery...it may just fail on you at the time that you really need it.

Thank you all so much for the info. I was assuming that with current battery techology, I'd get more cycles than that, but as you say, it's not worth the risk. I will look in to the non-traffic power cord option.

Why not apply the $20 toward the lifetime traffic subscription.

As you said, if you can power your nuvi through USB, you can get a USB charger which get feed through cigarette lighter.

I believe the OP would be better off just using a Garmin non-traffic power cable specifically made for the 760's integrated/powered cradle. Powering the unit from the USB connector requires one to constantly plug/unplug the cable when removing the unit. Using the powered cradle/cable allows for very simple removal of the unit.

Is this true?? I've been under the impression that you've got to do the update (via G Communicator) before the TRAFFIC would go active. I just got a 760 last night and have been using the supplied DC adapter. I did not touch any of the traffic settings and saw no evidence of any related activity.

Thx.

Yes. Connecting the traffic receiver to the unit will automatically start the trial subscription with no user intervention, *as long as you are in a valid traffic reception area and are receiving the traffic signal*. If you can't receive the traffic signal for some reason, the trial subscription won't start until you do.

The only time you need to enter anything is if you purchase a subscription...you need to enter that code into the nuvi to enable it.

Uber,

There are two lighted 'slots' on the power plug, green and yellow. Check your owners manual or online for which is which but one indicates power the other tells you whether the plug is receiving a signal from whatever radio station in your area is sending traffic information.

You won't see any activity on the screen until you're driving and there's some sort of incident ahead on the road you're traveling. Typically you'll get a heads up several miles in advance along with information about what kind of incident is ahead. It might just be slowing or could be a major pileup.

If you don't live in or near a major metro area you may not even have the service available. Check Garmin's website where you'll find a map listing cities where Clearchannel (gag) is providing the traffic tips.

BTW as you've no doubt noticed, your 760 didn't come with an instruction manual. Go to Garmin's site again and download one. It isn't terribly informative, more like a 'quick start' brochure than a manual but you'll at least learn some basics.

Cheers

I've checked my unit and it does appear it's been activated as of yesterday (I see the green lights on the connector and there is a screen in TRAFFIC that shows an expiration date of "4/11/200") I'm about 8 miles from the nearest interstate and was hoping I might be out of range I wanted to save the subscription for a major road trip later this year so I could decide if it was worth spending the $60 for - - - 99% of my travel is in suburbia/exurbia.

Thanks.

Battery life will depend on current drain of course. To maximize the life reduce as much as possible the drain by turning down the display backlight and turning off the Blue Tooth.

A Li-ion battery's life expectancy isn't dependent on the number of charge/discharge cycles like most other rechargeables. It depends on the battery's age from the time of manufacture and the environment it is used in. Try to keep the battery temperature between 32 and about 100 degrees F. Storage or use outside of those temperatures will greatly reduce the life expectancy.

Jack j

If you mean that it is not AS dependent on the number of charge/discharge cycles AS most other rechargeables, I will agree. However, no chemistry can withstand infinite recharges without a loss of capacity. Specifically, very controlled testing at a 1C charge and discharge rate resulted in a 15% loss of capacity over 500 cycles. At a 3C rate, there was a 67% loss over only 350 cycles. And under real-world environment conditions like a GPS encounters, these numbers get much worse.

You could very well be right but everything I've found points to the battery's age as being the determining factor in the loss of capacity not the number of charge/discharge cycles the battery has undergone. This is assuming that the cycles happen at about 70 degrees F and the battery isn't subjected to storage at extremes of temperature.

Jack j

surprised to see the 760 doesn't have some of the battery saving features found on my 360. Specifically, you can't dim the screen in the 15 sec, 30 sec, 1 min and 2 min increments.

Uber,

The 760 does have a backlight brightness control It's under tools/settings/display/brightness.

Cheers

thanks. I've seen that setting but it's not quite as nicely done as the 360 series. On that unit you can set the screen to go nearly dark after a specified time period. The screen returns to the baseline brightness when you need to make a turn. It's quite nice and I think it's the only way somebody is going to get the 3 or 4 hours of time.

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