Garmin Nuvi 780 Christmas Sales!
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Garmin Nuvi 780 Christmas Sales!.
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This is my first automobile GPS, and I did a lot of research before settling on the Garmin 780. I live in the Washington DC Metro plot, so all of the extra features work here. Upon its arrival, I downloaded and installed the latest Garmin WebUpdater v.2.41 and then updated my 780 from software version 2.50 to 2.90. I also updated the Bluetooth and other firmware, along with the languages that I exercise. This all worked flawlessly in a Windows XP virtual machine on a Linux host. FWIW, the 780 will charge off of the supplied USB cable.
The 780 acquired the considerable satellites in objective a few minutes when first activated, and does so in less than a tiny for subsequent activations. I found the veil brightness to be attractive for both day and night. I'm using the 780 with the Garmin Portable Friction Mount. Smashing windows and stealing GPS devices is the sport of choice in the DC Metro space, so I wanted no evidence of a GPS extant when I left the car. The friction mount works perfectly on my Honda Accord dashboard and stores easily in the center console, leaving no label of a GPS leisurely. Very wintry. The 780 easily fits in a shirt pocket, so it's not notable to leave it in the car.
I tested the 780 immediately by driving during hasten hour to a location across the river in a tangle of park roads off of the beaten track, then returning at night. The Garmin had no pain creating a very posthaste route to the destination that bypassed most of the heavy traffic during hasten hour. On my return, I bypassed a turn on its preferred routing. It recalculated a unusual route in less than a second which was the actual suitable acknowledge. The unique route wasn't a recapture of the new route, which wasn't possible from that situation, but an entirely novel route. The routes it picked were appropriate for the times of day traveled, which can be a daunting task here if you don't know which roads go which direction during the appropriate run hour. DC is a notoriously difficult state to navigate, but so far the Garmin seems up to the challenge.
I found the volume of the internal speaker to be more than adequate even with the radio, air conditioning, and windshield wipers going. Drawl notifications led upcoming turns by an adequate amount, and the mumble prompts always helped me secure into the fair lanes in plenty of time for upcoming turns. During a particularly tricky share where several major roads converge on a bridge, then diverge on the other side, the Garmin gave almost constant appropriate guidance to ensure that I took the honest forks and turns. I was quite impressed.
The Bluetooth paired rapid with my Motorola Razr V3. It even provided its PIN code at the appropriate time. The phone functions work substantial and it's easy to hear over the 780 speaker. The party on the other side of the phone said that I sounded like I was in a tunnel, which is typical for remote devices for autos. I have another BT hands-free diagram and it garnered the same comments. The Garmin's on-screen phone cues produce hands-free easy.
Activation of the MSN Allege service was simple over the Bag. On initial activation of your free 3 month trial, they offer a 6-month extension for $9.95 which gets you to 9 months of service total for less than $10--a very suited deal. MSN Vow information took a while to load the initial information, but then it said that in the Like A Flash Open pamphlet. Once loaded, the traffic, weather, and news worked gigantic. Gas prices were leisurely by several days, which is an eternity these days. My approved (and cheapest) site wasn't listed.
Overall, I'm very glad with the 780. I'll be working it out heavily in the coming weeks, including on a road plug to another city with MSN Tell service. I can't enjoy that I waited this long to remove the descend to a GPS map for my car. Even though I'm a master with maps, the Garmin suggested a clever routing that I did not previously watch on my maintain. From what I've seen so far, the 780 will be a highly valued addition to my road warrior kit bag. I can recommend the 780 without reservation.
I purchased a Sony NAVU-83T, a Garmin 680, and a Garmin 780 to compare their features and routing capability. I kept the 780 and returned the others, but it was a very difficult decision.
The Sony unit [...] at Costco, and has a 4.8" cover (1/2" larger!) . It has one of the best user interfaces on the market, primarily due to a few things: 1) you can always acquire help to the design by pressing one button, regardless of where you are, 2) you can always bag to the main menu by pressing one button, regardless of where you are in the menus, 3) it has a split shroud function that gives you lane guidance visually so that you know which lane to derive into, well before the turn, 4) it has shortcuts, for instance to GO HOME you compose a V shape on the veil and it takes you home...no menu navigation required!
On the down side, the Sony took FOREVER to calculate or re-calculate routes, and in many cases I missed the newly recalculated turn because it took too long to figure it out. It also took longer routes than the Garmin, would avoid commonly worn roads for no apparent reason, and would not rob me down roads that were shown on the diagram and clearly the shortest route. Last of all, the Sony took forever to pick up a satellite fix once turned on. And the Sony mount was soooo very frigid and useful! For $249 you got the cold mount and a nice carrying case. I did not fetch a chance to utilize the TMC traffic service.
The Garmin 680 ($349 at Costco) was a aesthetic contrivance, with very swiftly and true routing. It found points of interest fast and accurately (the Sony often could not accumulate them) . However, I really liked the thin size of the 780 and the fact that the antennae was built in, so I kept the 780 in spite of the extra cost.
What do I like about the 780 (and the 680) :
1. The MSN Protest is VERY handy and I employ it every day for weather, news, fuel costs, and movie listings.
2. Very posthaste route calculations.
3. I have never looked for a POI that was not demonstrate.
4. The tour routes that you can download (for about $12 each) are chilly. You can rob car tours of a few hours that are laid out for you, telling you where to visit along the route.
5. The ability to sort points along a route is handy. If you have 10 places to go in one day, enter them all in and it puts them in the most efficient order.
6. It can earn rest areas on interstates. The Sony could NOT do this, which is annoying when you are trying to figure out if you should close at a gas area or wait for a rest status when you have three kids in the car on long run.
What would I change on the 780? Many things, and most of them would cost Garmin no money to implement. These are simple fixes that they should reflect!
Bad Points of the Garmin 780:
1. If I go into the menu system, I can go 7 or 8 layers deep to rep to what I want to do. To score abet to the design, I have to hold pushing the "Abet" button, up to 8 times in a row, to win wait on to the plot. Boring!
2. If I go into a menu item and choose I'm done, but don't want to push "Serve" over and over, the unit stays on the menu or submenu veil forever.
3. It would seem that on a unit this expensive it could give you lane guidance. The Sony does. The Tom Tom does. Why can't this unit, at almost double the cost?
4. When you turn off the car the unit asks if it should quit on or turn off. If you don't reply, it turns off in 30 seconds. For people who are making deliveries, or running errands, this is a steady injure. It would be nice to allow you to configure this once to area how long it should wait before turning the unit off (options like 1 microscopic, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for instance) . This would allow you to accelerate into Kinkos and aid out again without having to wait for the unit to turn benefit on, win a satellite bearing, and then finally regain to its draw to recount you where to go next. Simple software change!
5. It would be nice to have the unit inaugurate up on the same cover where you left off. If you were on the method veil, then it should return to the blueprint mask. If on the weather mask, then return to the weather. I like to sustain it on the weather, but I have to hit about 6 different buttons every time I turn the unit on to procure to the weather! Simple software change!
6. Most GPS units even at half this cost allow you to Explore your hurry, direction, and target's relative direction while on the main arrangement conceal. This unit requires you to go to a dashboard cover to demonstrate you this information....so you have to settle the intention or the dashboard to conception. Since some people may not like this feature, it could be configurable. Simple software change!
7. I can't seem to figure out how to present the satellite signals/connectivity. ALL units have this, even though it is fair for fun.
8. For $500 the Garmin should include a carry case for the unit. They sell it runt size, light weight, and its "ability to know where you were when you retract it out of the cradle, to assist you gather your car later", and yet don't give you draw to carry it around safely. Unprejudiced about every unit on the market, starting at the $149 units, include a case!
9. The 780 does NOT include an owners manual. You have to go online to idea the manual, at garmin.com. Garmin may be surprised to know that not everyone has the internet (50% of homes don't) . Although not perfect, the Sony included a fairly comprehensive begin up guide and a CD based owners manual.
10. The indicate looks like a cartoon movie, and that causes a lack of detail. The Sony displayed a very concise device where you could actually identify road splits, acceleration lanes, etc.
11. There is no ability to indicate POIs on the contrivance. You can route to one, but you can't objective reveal them. The Sony allowed you to select which POIs to prove, and it actually showed you minute BP, Shell, Cracker Barrel, etc. logos on the method so that you could know well ahead of time which POIs were approach you.
12. Many units vow you how far to your next turn AND the direction you will be turning in. The Garmin tells you how far to the next turn, but it does not scream you which procedure to turn until you collect within about 2/10 of a mile. So on most multi-lane roads I score myself staying in the middle lane as I accumulate halt so that I can go either draw. It should warn you which procedure you will be turning at least a few miles in near! As soon as you accept onto any road the Sony tells you that your next turn is "LEFT 123 MILES", and it is always displayed on the main plot. Handy. Simple software change!
I like the unit, but I only give it 3 stars because of its sign, its lack of well-liked sense features, and lack of "in the box" aid. It's strong points are like a flash, good routing and MSN order.
I did a lot of research before I changed from my customary Garmin c340. I mediate I made an genuine choice, this GPS has everything and more. I was unusual to traffic so I first tried the TomTom 920T which I didn't like because of how innacurate the maps were so then I turned to Garmin and I was ecstatic again, with the addition of news, stocks and events for the MSN sigh 2 version is huge. I read the news once in a while is honest a insensible summary of what is happening not great with no pictures or anything but hey at least it gives you something else on the GPS to do. I rep the mp3 functionality spacious the sound is loud enough impartial don't set it all the arrangement to 100% volume because you'll hear static. The FM transmitter is one of the best I found on a GPS and the record feature is expansive I even set it in my room as an LCD shroud for pictures hehehe. This GPS gives you all the directions you need pleasing moral, MSN traffic needs to improve on this, its usually delayed most of the time it tells me traffic is there but then I win no traffic why? I don't know but I can say that is probably 80% correct on other traffic updates. I really like this product and I am more than jubilant with this item, it is now a lot cheaper than what I bought it for which was $700, so do yourself a favor if you want an honest, nice looking, mercurial GPS signal, immense feature GPS net this one, I recommend it.
