Customer Reviews

Nav 740 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I have now had the Nav 740 for two months. I bought the Nav740 because I wanted to have a GPS device that I have learned to use before I take a trip this summer.

Why I bought the Nav740:
- It cost much less than a Garmin and Navigon with comparable features
- It had more features, such as, multi-stage trips, trip tracking log, set destination by longitude and latitude, etc.
- I had downloaded the manual before I bought the device from the Ingram V7 site and found the features to be what I was looking for.
- I had read that the basic software was based on a proprietary version of the same software that runds the Mio GPS units.
- The Nav 740 unit promises the largest Points of Interest (POI) database that I have seen advertised, something like 12 million.
- It has a removable battery
- It has a headphone jack which can either be used to listen to music or to amplify the GPS voice
- It uses an SD card with 2 Gigs, but I have read that a larger card can be used
- It has an external volume control

The unit has an opening menu of 4 touch "buttons" (software not hardware). One is the setting button for time, date,etc. Another is a calcuator. This is not so important to me, but it can be a help as it has three calculators - normal, scientific and conversions. It might help in a pinch.

Another button is for Multimedia. I haven't used it yet since I have other multimedia devices. I did not buy a GPS unit to play my multimedia.

The last button is for navigation. I find the choices offered with the navigation mode to be fairly well organized and I have used it often. You can navigate by entering an address, a recently used destination, a favorite destination you have programmed in, a POI, coordinates and Work and Home choices that the user programs. When entering an address you can go to the city center, a street intersection or a specific address. Not bad choices.

The Nav 740 has a nice 4.3 inch screen. It is plenty bright except with sunlight light shining directly on the screen. It's a good screen.

It is easy enough to switch between the map view and the options.

Some have complained about the sound of the voice. I find the two tts (text to speech) voices are very clear and the speaker is plenty loud. I tried the two English tts voices (Dave and Samantha) and found that the female voice cuts through the cabin noice better for me. Both are good, however, and work over anything but real loud radio or wind noises if I open the window.

I have found that recalculation is quite acceptable. It is not a supercomputer so that it takes a few seconds. It also has to sense that you really are going in a different direction.

There are three map views: 3D, oriented to North, and "Airplane view". I have used all three and find them helpful, although I prefer the 3D view. You can cycle through them with a tap of "button" on the screen. If I am not careful and the road is not smooth I sometimes hit the Route Options button but that is easy to get out of.

After two months of using it, the unit has only crashed once, and that is when I was going through a certain menu, and I was probably being too impatient. It has never stopped working when I have been navigating.

POIs have been helpful. I traveled to a city using the Nav 740 and since I had time to spare, I checked to see if there was a Starbucks in the area. It had one a couple miles away and took me there. It did not have the location down perfectly, but it was close enough to get me there.

Two cons:
I find that adding favorites to the list should be as simple as inputting an address list, just as the unit asks for to program the Work and Home button. It is a little more complicated. There is not reason for this. A simple programming change could easily make this simple.

When I try to move the map around with my finger, the unit does not do this smoothly. It either jumps back to the starting point or does something else that I don't understand. It's easy to get out of, but this could be better. Fortunately, this does not make or break the usefulness of the unit.

Over all comments.
A GPS unit, and I've looked at many of the current models, is not perfect. There are too many variables that the human brain is processing. I have found that you still have to keep your wits about you and not accept the GPS directions 100 percent of the time. That said, I needed to drive out of San Antonio at night in an unfamiliar area and I set the unit to go Home. It flawlessly talked me through turns through neighborhoods and got me home. I have tried other routes in the country and the unit wanted me to go on roads I would not have normally used. The driver still is master and commander of the trip.

Finally, I have appreciated having the Nav 740. It is good to know where I am and have options on where to drive. I find the unit easy enough to use and there are features that I still need to learn. I am satisfied. Before I bought this device I bought the HP 310 model and found it to be totally unintuitive. Having become a recent owner of an Apple iPhone and seen the ease of use and integration of addresses and map function and all the rest, I just say that if Apple ever decided to make a dedicated GPS unit, they would blow all the competition out of the water, including Garmin. That will be the next generation.

I got this unit when it was on sale on Buy.com for $99. Plus I get $15 cash back for paying with Pay Pal. For that reason, I gave it 5 stars for value.

The unit has a nice big screen, and the touch screen is nice. The fact that is has a built in multimedia player is also a nice feature.

Now to the bad part(s). The maps are many years out of date. The accuracy of the GPS isn't too good, maybe because the maps are out of date. I live in San Antonio Texas. When I went to POI, Grocery Stores, it listed many Albertson's. All ALbertson's closed here many years ago. I was driving around this afternoon testing the unit. I tried to find and get directions to a Big Lots store that was closest to my location at the time. It took me to a street where it told me the store was on my right. No Big Lots there, nor any in sight. I just happened to keep driving down that street, and ran into a Big Lots about a mile farther down the road, on my left. As for my home address, the unit is about a mile off. That's a mile as the crow flies, in terms of actual roads it takes me about 5 miles from my house, to a trailer park. So I can't trust it to accurately get me anywhere, but it is kind of fun to play with.

The instruction manul leaves a lot to be desired. Mostly I have just had to play with the unit to figure out how to do things, and some things aren't easy to figure out. For example, I was driving to a location today and it told me I was 11 miles away, but my arrival time was about an hour and 15 minutes from the current time. That wasn't becasue of traffic, but because the unit thought the time was one hour later than it actually was. This despite the fact that I set the time, and the time zone. I found out there is another screen where you can also set the time zome, but why you would need to do it on two separate screens is beyond me. When I set the time zone on the second, more hidden, screen then that fixed the arrival time issue.

Overall this is a nice little toy, my wife loves it to watch videos in the car, but it's not very capable as a GPS unit (at least not where I live, and with the maps it comes with). It certainly isn't worth $300, even if the GPS worked perfectly.

I too got this because of PC Magazine's review and let me tell you I'm not disappointed at all. It's a great little GPS. Small enough to fit in my back pocket and it lasts most of the day on one charge. The thing I found and didn't expect is a full yellow pages listing which is great if you're in another city or even across town and don't know where the nearest starbucks, wal-mart, or gas station may be. Just ask your Nav740!
It always knows! It also uses the most advanced GPS chip on the market right now so if you can get a radio signal for your fav station you can also get GPS. I've had zero blackouts aside from when it's charging in a shelf in the back of my garage.

SO yes, it's great- but now for the negs.
1. It doesn't come with more than a quickstart guide. It should include a full manual but instead you have to download that from the internet. Ugh.
2. Adding something to your "Favorites" (think bookmarks) should be available from any listing. For example - bring up "Starbucks, 121 W. Anywhere drive, Mytown USA" and at the bottom it should have "Add to favorites".
It doesnt. The only way I've found to make favorites is to actually go there and then add them as a POI (point of interest) which automatically puts them into your favorites, and not the POI list.
3. If you have textured maps turned on you can get a stuttering of the Samantha text-to-speech voice. It's annoying and makes it sound cheap. There should be better buffering on the speech and a delay on the textures, if one has to be delayed. Using the Amy voice, which sounds somewhat like a college chick, seems to relieve the stuttering. Probably a lack of brain cells in Amy vs Samantha, lol. (Forgive the "Self absorbed college girls" joke. Nothing is more annoying than college girls these days.)
4. No case. Something that costs over 200 bucks should have it's own case. It's a small gripe but that's not the point. Safety first!
5. No mini-usb cable for connecting to PC.
It's covered in the instructions but they don't include one so you have to run out and get one if you're going to update.

That's about it. Even with the complaints I wouldn't have chosen any of the other options in the sub 300.00 range. This is a powerful and very user friendly item. Heck, even my grandfather can use it. Now that's saying something!

EDIT 9/11/2008: The battery stays charged for 2 hours max. After that you're on your own. Battery life = FAIL.
Customer service, on the other hand is EPIC PASS.
They reply within a few hours to any emails - even within a few minutes sometimes.
You're not supposed to, but you CAN get to the battery. I may change mine out for a better one. I'll let you know how that goes.

I have purchased many items over the years based on good PC Mag reviews. This GPS is my first major disappointment. First, as many have noted, there's no instruction booklet, and the start up guide is basically worthless. I have had nothing but trouble with this unit. The little maps card somehow keeps failing to boot, resulting in a largely inscrutable error message. Second, the car charger does not work. Third, the unit is completely unintuitive. These may be here, but I've never found them: speed I'm going, and a way to change the arrow's direction [it's always up and down, north and south]. Fourth, the unit fades to being unreadable in the sunlight, especially if you are wearing polarized sunglasses. Finally, it doesn't always tell me what road or street I'm already on; that may seem non-sensical, but, when you get off the road you want to be on and don't know it, it's a pain.

I had a Garmin Street Pilot that, unfortunately, died earlier this year. Compared with my Garmin, this GPS is a major disappointment.

I have had this GPS for about a month now. It is an excellent device. I agree with all of the positive comments by those who have reviewed it. I would like to add several more.

Because I needed some help (not the NAV740's fault) I emailed the manufacturer. In both cases I received a fast (in several hours), complete, easy to understand answer. It was obvious the technician knew the product.

The unit comes with two DVDs which contain a very complete manual in several sections and complete software and maps recovery with installation directions - a nice piece of insurance. You can also find updated maps with installation directions at no charge on the internet. The link is http://v7support.com/gps/index_files/USA_Nav740.htm

Yes, the device may not always map a trip as you would have - there are too many possibilities. However, if you don't like the way you are being directed, just adjust your drive and the unit will recalculate based on your change.

So far I am delighted with the NAV740. I couldn't believe the low price. It is a great buy.

My wife and I planned a vacation to the Rockies and decided to get a GPS to aid in our first "mapless" trip. Just returned and couldn't have been happier with the product.

The supplied instructions were terrible but it didn't matter - the device is so easy to use they weren't needed. The interface is terrific and the text-to-speech outstanding. I was amazed at how effective it was even in the "nameless" road environment of the Colorado mountains. Only one minor glitch, as it identified US 50 West as US 50 East (wasn't too hard to figure out it was wrong).

Relatively cheap, easy to mount and operate, and terrific interface. Our first "mapless" trip went over quite well and all paper maps we owned have found their way to the garbage - PC Magazine nailed this one - highly recommended.

The features are OK, but the maps are terrible. The manufacturer said if I wanted updated maps it would cost $100 more and they would not say if they were correct. I cannot see this in a unit that is 1 month old! The roads that I have seen that are wrong in the unit are correct on a Hagstrom map dated 2000!
My friend,s Magellan unit has all the correct maps and was only $50 more!

Pros:
- 11M POIs
- Light weight.

Cons:
- The battery last merely one hour and not 3.5 hours as stated in the spec.
- Voice guidance is stuttering, sometime incomprehensible.
- Touch screen is not responsive. I hear the "click" but nothing is happening. I have to hit several times to get it registers my command.
- No bluetooth capability.
- Old map data and old Igo software with custom GUI. The map data listed businesses that is no longer exist for years (COMPUSA for instance), can't find local businesses such as Grand Lux Cafe restaurant, Micro Center.

It could be a good product if the manufacture can iron out all the cons.

After using for 2 days as bought, I found IGO8 on the internet with choice of TeleAtlas or Navteq 2008 maps. I like Navteq. Everything is on 2GB sd card so simply putting original sd card in and it's back to as shipped state. Faster response with more feature's than my wife's Garmin.

I bought this because it can also play movies which is cool when you have 200 or more miles til the next off ramp. Comes with AC,DC and window mount. The units map impressed me because it had My Parents street and Map Quest on the internet did not. It helped us getting out of vegas when I missed the exit. It is spastic at times and has to reboot now and again. So keep your paper Map for study prior the trip. I have the maps and movies on separate cards have tried up to 8gb SDhc card which failed after a week (but it was a bargain brand) I think 4GB SD is the safest I will buy from now on. We traveled from Michigan to Phoenix, Vegas and back. We had it playing through the stereo for the movies which rocked. I converted several AVI movies for the 4G card. Still happy and it has been dropped at least twice and still functioning. I own a Mac but have access to PCs. If you have a decent card reader you can transfer map info and unlock the device without a PC. I haven't tinkered again with it since I mainly use it as media player and Gps second.