Garmin Nuvi 680 vs 760
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16 years
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I recently had the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of the Nuvi 680 and 760, and for what it’s worth, here’s what I found:
Driving a route with both units side by side, I found the GPS accuracy, routing speed, satellite acquisition and screen brightness and clarity to be equal. The route I drove did not include skyscrapers or other elements that might interfere with satellite signals.
The 760 was up and running five to seven seconds faster. The MSN receiver also worked better on the 760 (I used the one that came with the 680). When connected to the 680, the closest movie theater was 14 miles away. After connecting it to the 760, I finally received movie theaters that I knew existed within five miles of my location. The 760 supports multi-routing. The biggest difference, though, were the detail and quality of the MSN traffic map. The 680 MSN traffic map was somewhat fuzzy looking compared to the quality of the 760. With beveled edges and no flip-up antenna, the 760 is much easier to handle, mount and fit into a pocket.
On the other hand, I thought the 680 speaker quality was about 10 to 20 percent better than the 760. The 680 has a truck route option, but according to Garmin, it does not include all the elements that a true truck route should include. I prefer the menu layout on the 680 over the 760. The 680 comes with more accessories: The MSN receiver and 1 yr. MSN Service, and an AC charger and case are included accessories. The 760 comes with the FM traffic receiver and 3 months real time traffic subscription, and Garmin does not include a case, printed manual (you have to download it) or AC charger (however, you can charge the unit by connecting the supplied USB cable to a computer). And the 680 is typically less expensive.
Overall, the 760 is easier to handle and just seems to perform more cleanly.
A final thought: The 760 supports both FM traffic and MSN Direct. Therefore, if the FM traffic receiver does not fit your needs, you can purchase the MSN receiver for $124.99. Alternatively, you can use both—one at a time, of course—provided you are willing to pay for both services. It is difficult to predict which traffic format will ultimately prove to be best, so unless you are planning to buy a new GPS device every year or two, this may be a nice option to have.
Nuvi 680 picks up signal much faster than 760 in my bedroom
I recently had the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of the Nuvi 680 and 760, and for what it’s worth, here’s what I found:
Driving a route with both units side by side, I found the GPS accuracy, routing speed, satellite acquisition and screen brightness and clarity to be equal. The route I drove did not include skyscrapers or other elements that might interfere with satellite signals.
The 760 was up and running five to seven seconds faster. The MSN receiver also worked better on the 760 (I used the one that came with the 680). When connected to the 680, the closest movie theater was 14 miles away. After connecting it to the 760, I finally received movie theaters that I knew existed within five miles of my location. The 760 supports multi-routing. The biggest difference, though, were the detail and quality of the MSN traffic map. The 680 MSN traffic map was somewhat fuzzy looking compared to the quality of the 760. With beveled edges and no flip-up antenna, the 760 is much easier to handle, mount and fit into a pocket.
On the other hand, I thought the 680 speaker quality was about 10 to 20 percent better than the 760. The 680 has a truck route option, but according to Garmin, it does not include all the elements that a true truck route should include. I prefer the menu layout on the 680 over the 760. The 680 comes with more accessories: The MSN receiver and 1 yr. MSN Service, and an AC charger and case are included accessories. The 760 comes with the FM traffic receiver and 3 months real time traffic subscription, and Garmin does not include a case, printed manual (you have to download it) or AC charger (however, you can charge the unit by connecting the supplied USB cable to a computer). And the 680 is typically less expensive.
Overall, the 760 is easier to handle and just seems to perform more cleanly.
A final thought: The 760 supports both FM traffic and MSN Direct. Therefore, if the FM traffic receiver does not fit your needs, you can purchase the MSN receiver for $124.99. Alternatively, you can use both—one at a time, of course—provided you are willing to pay for both services. It is difficult to predict which traffic format will ultimately prove to be best, so unless you are planning to buy a new GPS device every year or two, this may be a nice option to have.
Thanks!
Thank you for the comparison.
Garmin C530 Garmin Zumo 550
Just to clarify
As lodovico2 says....
A final thought: The 760 supports both FM traffic and MSN Direct. Therefore, if the FM traffic receiver does not fit your needs, you can purchase the MSN receiver for $124.99. Alternatively, you can use both—one at a time, of course—provided you are willing to pay for both services. It is difficult to predict which traffic format will ultimately prove to be best, so unless you are planning to buy a new GPS device every year or two, this may be a nice option to have.
Please note that the Nuvi 680 also supports both FM traffic and MSN Direct.
You can walk a horse to water, but a pencil has to be led.
Yes they both support FM
Yes they both support FM Traffic and MSN. The difference with MSN is the 7XX series has the ability to run the MSN v2, for what it is worth. The extra info icons are News, Stocks, Local Events, and Web Favorites.
The only one of the extra ones I use is the Web Favorites where you have the ability to send addresses to your GPS receiver from you computer.
The 680 is still a stellar unit. While the extra MSN information is OK, some of the 680 users are making too big of a deal about not getting the added icons, in my opinion. They aren't that great. Nice to have, but the 680 is a very awesome unit!!!!!
Go with 680
Go with the 6xx series. Internal speaker are much better and clear than the 7xx series.
The 8xx will have a better internal speakers (will be stereo) but for now i suggested you the 6xx series.
Best regards
I haven't had any problems
I haven't had any problems with my speaker on the 760, lukily. They are both very good units!
I have been very happy with my 760 for what it is worth.
Good Comparison
Other differences:
Slightly different size
7 hour battery life for the 680 vs 5 hours
No routes for the 680 vs 10
Auto sort of a route for the 760
Where Am I feature on the 760
I'm finding the 10 route feature to be very useful.
700 series
My favorite feature of the 700 series is the lack of flip-out antenna that I find annoying. Just my personal taste.
The fast satellite acquisition compared to 350 has been a pleasant surprise. My 750 takes a few seconds longer to draw the map when I start it up, though.
nüvi 750 & 760
Antenna and Chip Set
I'm also glad that my 750 doesn't have the flip up antenna.
There is another thread related to finding out what chip set is in the 7xx series. Apparently some use the SiRF 3 chip and some have a Garmin chip.
Here is what I found on
Here is what I found on another website in regards to finding the chip:
http://www.gpsreview.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2070&highlig...
Diagnostic Display
My 750 says SIRF GSC3F GPS MODULE
However, initially it DID NOT display this line until I updated the firmware from the Garmin site.
Garmin never tells you it is a SiRF....
When I spoke to Garmin at CES I was told that the GPS chip in the units is based on production runs and that it is not uncommon to find different GPS hardware in the exact same model number device. This is because they purchase mass quantities of the chip and based on best pricing at the time of purchase they will use whatever. You will notice Garmin doesn't ever mention the specifications of the GPS hardware other than "High-sensitivity receiver"
I have the 680 and the 770 and the 680 out performs the 770 on satellite acquisition the majority of the time. My 770 says SiRF GSC3f GPS Module
nüvi 680, nüvi 770, Garmin Mobile XT, etc...
More On Battery Life
As CATraveler pointed out, Garmin's estimated battery life is 7 hours for the 680 versus 5 hours for the 760.
However, according to Consumer Reports, the tested battery life is 3.5 hours for the 760 and 4.5 hours for the 660. They didn't test the 680, but it has the the same estimated battery life of the 660. Here’s how they tested: “The length of time in hours that the unit remained on while receiving a GPS signal and set to full brightness after being fully charged.” I tested the same way and came up with similar results. With screen brightness turned way down and Bluetooth disabled, MAYBE it's possible to squeeze 5 to 7 hours out of the units.