help deciding on GPS unit

 

We are going to be purchasing our 1st gps unit & need some advice on which one to get.

Initially, I was all for the 680. I really like the MSN service - the gas updates, the traffic info. We live in Hampton Roads, VA. I have heard that the updates may be about 20min delayed unless in the DC area. I can't believe that the MSN cable is over $100!! I think that's ridiculous!

Anyways, now I'm considering the 760. But, I don't know which would be better. I'm a little bummed that it doesn't have the MSN cable. But, I like the multi-route capability. I haven't seen this one in the stores yet, but did look at the 680.

So, what advice would you all have to offer???

We moved to this area from the FL panhandle & I seem to be constantly getting lost!! It's crazy - I can't seem to get my bearings at all!! I know I'm directionally challenged, so I really need a good unit!

Thanks for all your suggestions!

deciding on GPS unit

I think it pays to cater to the most important part of a purchase first.
Since the 700 is the top of the line for the job of finding yor way around a new location, it makes sense to go with that one. All of it's other attribures, or lack will become secondary.

Thanks! That's a good

Thanks! That's a good point!!

How does the internal antenna affect reception vs the external one on the 680?

Thanks!

Antenna

FlashF15 wrote:

Thanks! That's a good point!!

How does the internal antenna affect reception vs the external one on the 680?

Thanks!

I have the 750, and the antenna is NOT an issue. Reception is great! Moved from Fl panhandle to where?

Joel

--
"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I wish I had remained a virgin". Lillian Carter (Mother of Jimmy Carter)

i have the nuvi 360 which i

i have the nuvi 360 which i just got from costco.com for $399 and i love it...

i am comparing a 670 vs my

i am comparing a 670 vs my 750 and the internal antenna makes no diff at all

--
nuvi 755t

Well, 1st we were in Fort

Well, 1st we were in Fort Walton Beach for about 3 years and then in Panama City (Lynn Haven) for 4. This VA area is totally different than the back roads I was used to! smile

Yo

Are you an Eagle driver?

BTW, the 760 is probably available on-line at TVNAV.com, or at Circuit City (in store or on-line).

Joel

--
"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I wish I had remained a virgin". Lillian Carter (Mother of Jimmy Carter)

I have the 660

I have the 660 and love it, it does everything that I need and has more features than I will ever use

Not exactly

My husband is smile He's stationed at Langley with a desk job right now.

I would kind of like to see the 760 in person though before purchasing it.

We did consider the 660, but thought it might be better to get the 680 with the MSN cable & 1yr subscription. Prices are coming down on the 600s, but I think we're leaning towards the 760.

Thanks!

Nuvi

Bummer on flying the desk! Been there and done that, and it's all a part of "upward mobility"...

Try Circuit City for a hands-on with the 760. I have the 750 and love the "routing" ability of the unit. You wouldn't be sorry with the 760. For an idea of what it will do for you, go to Garmin.com/on the road and pull up the Nuvi 760. On the top right of the screen, click on "manuals" and download the users manual for the unit and look it over. I think you will be quite surprised at all the features.

Cheers....... Joel

--
"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I wish I had remained a virgin". Lillian Carter (Mother of Jimmy Carter)

My two cents

My advise would be DO NOT try to go cheap, you don't want to hear after you bought it "your unit is not capable of that" the unit above can do it...

I love my nuvi 360 and eTrex Vista HCx they do everything that I expected and more.

--
Garmin Nuvi360, Nuvi760, eTrex Vista HCx, Oregon 300

RE: My Two Cents

I would have to agree. I know several people that bought a unit only to find out after the fact that it would only announce the approaching turns and not the actual street names, so whatever you decide pay special attention to the features of the unit you're considering.

I have a 660 and absolutely love it, but the routing features of the new 7xx's and the locate me features would be well worth it if you can afford the steep price tag. I will say that the old saying you get what you pay for applies perfectly to GPS units.

Now I just have to convince my wife that I NEED to upgrade and I'll be golden. smile

Almost Like Being In Person

The link below is to the review of the 760 by GPS magazine. The screen shots and explanations for each screen are great. I learned a couple things that didn't come to light in a couple of weeks of using the unit.

The added comments at the end are worth reading as they correct a couple of incorrect things in the review.

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2007/10/garmin_nuvi_760_review.ph...

Bill

--
nüvi 880 - nüvi 760 - nüvi 660 - StreetPilot 2620 - Portland, Oregon

i recently purchased the

i recently purchased the nuvi 650 and its a pleasure driving around with it. the gas and traffic updates are great to have but personally, i dont have much of a use for it. the nuvi 650 was on sale for only $300 the other day at costco.

Thanks everyone for posting

Thanks everyone for posting your comments!! We really appreciate that!

We are definitely not going to go cheap on this purchase! I think we are probably going to get the 760. From everything that we've read so far I think we like it best. But, still have to go look at one before purchasing it!

Anyways, thanks again!

routing is an important feature to me

So, a year ago, I bought the 2720. Guess it all depends on how you use the unit, but for me, when I'm taking it on specific trip, part of my trip planning is to make custom routes and download to my unit.

So if I was in the market, I would be looking hard at the 7xx series, whereas, I have not been interested in other Nuvi's.

--
___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t

Nuvi 750

If bluetooth is not important the 750 does just about everything the 760 does, and at a cheaper price. You can add either a MSN cable or other traffic receiver of your choice.

Don't hope for great traffic coverage

First off, welcome to the Tidewater area, even though you're up on the Peninsula .

I've been using the traffic services in the Tidewater area since I could get my hands on a GTM10 to use with my 2720. The service in this area is marginal at best, and my experience has been that it is much worse on your side of the water. That being said, if you do travel to other areas (i.e. DC, New York, Orlando), I've found the FM Traffic works much better. Even if you come from your side to the SouthSide here, it'll help you out.

Definitely get a unit before you come to the SouthSide, where streets change names as you cross intersections.

Joe

Another question ...

Thanks for the welcome to VA!

Have you tried the MSN traffic service in this area? I had heard that VDOT updates this area like every 20 min or so, but was better around DC & stuff. That was why I was more interested in that vs. the FM Traffic. But, we'll try the FM traffic for the 1st 3 months & see how it goes.

And, bluetooth is important to me! Here's a new question about that ... I have a bluetooth capable LG phone (just got it this summer), but it's not listed on Garmin's bluetooth phone list. It should still work, right??

Thanks again everyone!

Bluetooth Compatibility

FIrst off, I can't comment on the MSN traffic service here, but maybe someone else can.

Regarding Bluetooth (BT) compatibility, my first phone pairing with my 660 was with an HP IPAQ which was not listed. The phone worked through the Nuvi, using the Nuvi as a speakerphone. Other capabilties (loading the entire address book automatically) did NOT work. I could manually transfer contacts via BT, and I did with some of them.

My current phone is a ATT/Cingular 8525 (aka HTC Hermes), and it has full compatibility with the Nuvi (address book synchronization, phone status, recent calls, etc). I don't know if this phone is listed on the Garmin site as to compatibility status. But it works.

My money is on the fact that you will get some functionality, how much is unknown.

Joe

Phones

And, bluetooth is important to me! Here's a new question about that ... I have a bluetooth capable LG phone (just got it this summer), but it's not listed on Garmin's bluetooth phone list. It should still work, right??

I bought a c550 and have been using a Motorola (ATT/Cingular) and it works fine. The address book and all other functions are accessable (I do NOT text). I think that you will not have any problems with your phone unless you are using Verizon. Do a search of the archives and look at those posts. No one in my family or I know has a verizon phone so I have not been able to test it.

daniel

--
Garmin StreetPilot c580 & Nuvi 760 - Member 32160 - Traveling in Kansas

Verizon?

Why Verizon? What's wrong with them or do you just not have any knowledge of their functionality with Garmin & Bluetooth.

Of course I have Verizon! Imagine that smile

Hopefully, I will at least have the speakerphone capability! I'd like to have full capability, but something is better than nothing until we change out the phone. I don't text either, but it would be nice if my phonebook will transfer - we'll see.

Thanks!

Coworker has verizon and it

Coworker has verizon and it works fine with her 550, she has a razr.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Verizon

FlashF15 wrote:

Why Verizon? What's wrong with them or do you just not have any knowledge of their functionality with Garmin & Bluetooth.

Of course I have Verizon! Imagine that smile

And you should keep it too! It is the best cell network in the country. I have traveled from coast to coast, and NEVER found a place that it wouldn't work. Must have that flat-top guy and his crew in the back of my van (grin)....

Joel

--
"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I wish I had remained a virgin". Lillian Carter (Mother of Jimmy Carter)

yeah, I love verizon as

yeah, I love verizon as well. I go into some backwoods places in NC and TN and I get reception MOST of the time, but have experienced some blackouts.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

I have a C580 and a Verizon

I have a C580 and a Verizon LG VX8300 and the bluetooth works fine even though Garmin doesn't list it. It automatically imported my phonebook etc. too. I don't know why so many bad mouth Verizon cuz it works great for me.So far MSN Direct works well here in Massachusetts too. I added another 6 months for $9.95.

Good Luck,
Ray

--
Garmin Streetpilot i3, Streetpilot C580 and Nuvi 265WT

Thanks! I'm so glad to hear

Thanks! I'm so glad to hear that your phone worked!! What a relief!

I really appreciate everyone's input into this purchase!

Thanks again!

off topic re: Verizon

raybonz wrote:

I don't know why so many bad mouth Verizon cuz it works great for me.

Verizon routinely cripples the capabilities of phones in order to force users into using their value added services exclusively so they make more money....while other providers don't....that's why people are down on Verizon.

That said - I'm glad your phone works for you as desired....maybe you have a "broken" phone where things are enabled that usually aren't?? smile

--
*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

[routinely cripples the

Quote:

routinely cripples the capabilities of phones in order to force users into using their value added services exclusively so they make more money....while other providers don't

What about the deal with iPhone & AT&T???

Aren't they doing that as well?

JMO

I am with Verizon as well on

I am with Verizon as well on a Samsung U410. Their phones are all loaded with the Verizon's own software which imho cripples the phone manufacturers into making half-featured phones. I used to use another Samsung with bluetooth that was able to transport files, pictures, mp3's, anything you loaded in it it could spit back out to another bluetooth phone (I was with T-mobile), but once I switched to Verizon hoping for better reception, the phone is my number 1 problem now. No files can be transferred via bluetooth, only contact files. Verizon is ... forcing their customers to buy their tramp stamped Verizon phone services. my 2 cents.

Another thing a Verizon rep

Another thing a Verizon rep told me kind of reminds me of the dumbed down Nuvi interface. Notice how they're all basically the same for core features? Same thing with Verison putting the same OS on all their phones. They get to cheap out and it's MUCH easier for their tech monkeys to provide tech support since every darned phone is exactly the same. I don't like that policy, but I've never had any problems with my service and I get an employer's discount, too.

--
Newest to oldest... Nüvi 660, Street Pilot 2720, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Lowrance Global Map 100

help deciding on GPS unit

I would strongly suggest you buy the Garmin c530 which can be bought for around $225 with shipping. I bought one on eBay for $210 plus $20 shipping and I see Amazon has them for about the same price.

I find my c530 to be very accurate and with the POI files I have loaded it is a big help on the road. I have loaded over 3,000 POIs by mistake (loaded rest areas twice because of a POI file name change) and was amazed to find it would hold so many. I have the civil war battlefields, all major highway rest areas and all amusement parks poi files loaded and it totals 1,927 locations.

In the mountains

asianfire wrote:

yeah, I love verizon as well. I go into some backwoods places in NC and TN and I get reception MOST of the time, but have experienced some blackouts.

I have cingular and in the mountains it is terrible, some locals up in them thar hills told me that verizon is the only one that has good coverage so if anyone is thinking of coverage this may help.

--
Jerry...Jacksonville,Fl Nüvi1450,Nuvi650,Nuvi 2495 and Mapsource.

No

FlashF15 wrote:
Quote:

routinely cripples the capabilities of phones in order to force users into using their value added services exclusively so they make more money....while other providers don't

What about the deal with iPhone & AT&T???

Aren't they doing that as well?

JMO

No, not the same. The iPhone retains the full functionality built into it by Apple. It's just that AT&T is the only company that provides the iPhone. For now, hopefully.

Verizon severely limits functionality on ALL of their phones so their tech monkeys have an easier time helping people since they don't have to learn each and every OS interface. Also, Verizon forces customers into paying for services the "native" phones would have done for free. All in all, their service and coverage has been fine for me and I don't use all the "extras".

--
Newest to oldest... Nüvi 660, Street Pilot 2720, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Lowrance Global Map 100

4-5 years others may carry the Iphone

buffettck wrote:

No, not the same. The iPhone retains the full functionality built into it by Apple. It's just that AT&T is the only company that provides the iPhone. For now, hopefully.

I believe that they have a 4-5 year contract with ATT where they solely can sell service with the iphone. By then, who knows what else will be out on the market.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

Bye Bye Verizon

My son has the same phone on Verizon as I do on at&t, but his is 'dumb' and mine is full featured. After patiently waiting for his contract to end, he is now changing to our family plan. He will also benefit from the rollover at&t minutes rather than just losing unused but paid for minutes each month.

They are losing him forever and that is dumb on their part in my opinion.

Bill

--
nüvi 880 - nüvi 760 - nüvi 660 - StreetPilot 2620 - Portland, Oregon

Only if...

asianfire wrote:

4-5 years others may carry the Iphone

I believe that they have a 4-5 year contract with ATT where they solely can sell service with the iphone. By then, who knows what else will be out on the market.

...Apple comes out with a non-GSM version of the iPhone as that is the only technology the iPhone supports...

--
*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

Why do you need the mns

Why do you need the mns cable with the 680? I thought the receiver came pre-installed with that unit.

680 MSN Receiver

gerrydrake wrote:

Why do you need the mns cable with the 680? I thought the receiver came pre-installed with that unit.

No, the unit does not have it pre-installed. It does however come with a cable that plugs into your cigarette lighter that has the FM receiver. That's the only way it will work is through the cigarette lighter.

--
Larry - Nuvi 680, Nuvi 1690, Nuvi 2797LMT

Choosing your GPS

FlashF15 wrote:

We are going to be purchasing our 1st gps unit & need some advice on which one to get.

Initially, I was all for the 680. I really like the MSN service - the gas updates, the traffic info. We live in Hampton Roads, VA. I have heard that the updates may be about 20min delayed unless in the DC area. I can't believe that the MSN cable is over $100!! I think that's ridiculous!

Anyways, now I'm considering the 760. But, I don't know which would be better. I'm a little bummed that it doesn't have the MSN cable. But, I like the multi-route capability. I haven't seen this one in the stores yet, but did look at the 680.

So, what advice would you all have to offer???

We moved to this area from the FL panhandle & I seem to be constantly getting lost!! It's crazy - I can't seem to get my bearings at all!! I know I'm directionally challenged, so I really need a good unit!

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Don't know what your financial situation is but if money is no object, I'd get the 760. I have a 680 and love it, especially the MSN feature. It works great. However, if you would like to save a little money, and don't need a few of the nice features the 760 has, you can now get 680's for under $500.

--
Larry - Nuvi 680, Nuvi 1690, Nuvi 2797LMT

So you don't have to buy a

So you don't have to buy a cable for $150.00?

680 vs 760

Both are great units but the differences arn't that significant. Each has it's advantages. The 760 has less with it (no charger and no 12 months free msn service for example)and a weaker battery. But it has a few extra desirable features. To me the decision comes down to price. The 680 is on sale for much cheaper ($480 recently at Costco online)and at that price is a better value

It really is personal preference

don't you think?

I did a lot of research before I bought my Nuvi 350. I have to admit price was a consideration, but I also wanted MP3 player, JPG viewer, street names pronounced. I think for the money, the 350 is ideal for me. My cell phone is not bluetooth capable and I do not have bluetooth envy

- JGRACEY

--
I have seen the future and it is now!

I waited a long time to post

I waited a long time to post on this. I too labored over the decision to replace my i3 with a new unit after it served me so well. I finally decided that the C580 gave the most bang for the buck. First it has a great anti-glare screen. Next it comes with the MSN direct cable plus 1 year of free service which you can extend for 6 additional months for $9.95 more (which I did). Third it has an external dedicated volume adjuster. And lastly I got it for $354.00 shipped to my door.. Personally I feel it's a great deal and so far it has worked well for me. The Nuvi tends to be overpriced because of it form factor and to me that really doesn't matter plus the C580 will run for 8 hrs. on it's battery!! Do the math but don't overlook this unit as it's a great contender..

Ray

--
Garmin Streetpilot i3, Streetpilot C580 and Nuvi 265WT

And

jgracey wrote:

don't you think?

I did a lot of research before I bought my Nuvi 350. I have to admit price was a consideration, but I also wanted MP3 player, JPG viewer, street names pronounced. I think for the money, the 350 is ideal for me. My cell phone is not bluetooth capable and I do not have bluetooth envy

- JGRACEY

.... and it fits nicely in your pocket, the best defense to theft.

RT

--
"Internet: As Yogi Berra would say, "Don't believe 90% of what you read, and verify the other half."

yeap, that is the #1 reason I got it

retiredtechnician wrote:
jgracey wrote:

don't you think?

I did a lot of research before I bought my Nuvi 350. I have to admit price was a consideration, but I also wanted MP3 player, JPG viewer, street names pronounced. I think for the money, the 350 is ideal for me. My cell phone is not bluetooth capable and I do not have bluetooth envy

- JGRACEY

.... and it fits nicely in your pocket, the best defense to theft.

RT

Yeap, I carry it on my belt, like a blackberry (blackberry case) whereever I go.

--
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -

"Hobbled" phones...

I know what you all mean, I am so done with Verizon when my contract is up. I did a lot of research before I "signed on the dotted line" and got exactly the phone I wanted, partly because it was capable of sending pictures and files via bluetooth. Imagine my surprise when that menu option just wasn't there. Customer Service is less than useless, they just tell you the phone can't do it...and I know it can, it's even in the phone's user manual (from another carrier). I refuse to pay those crooks one more dime for data services just because they cripple their phones using their own user interface.

Consider a Tom Tom

tom tom's live services are without peer. there are a lot of features that don't make a difference during navigation. live traffic updates that happen quickly make a real difference. garmin is behind on this feature. tom tom is the leader.
Jen