718 of 727 people found the following review helpful:
Great Device and Easy to Use
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 area, 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...
913 of 945 people found the following review helpful:
Great Routing, Lousy Price, Limited Features
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" screen (1/2" larger!). It has one of the best user interfaces on the market, primarily due to a few things: 1) you can always...
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
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 area, 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 use. 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 necessary satellites in just a few minutes when first activated, and does so in less than a minute for subsequent activations. I found the screen brightness to be fine 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 area, 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 trace of a GPS behind. Very cool. The 780 easily fits in a shirt pocket, so it's not necessary to leave it in the car.
I tested the 780 immediately by driving during rush hour to a residence across the river in a tangle of park roads off of the beaten track, then returning at night. The Garmin had no trouble creating a very fast route to the destination that bypassed most of the heavy traffic during rush hour. On my return, I bypassed a turn on its preferred routing. It recalculated a new route in less than a second which was the exact right answer. The new route wasn't a recapture of the original route, which wasn't possible from that location, but an entirely new 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 rush hour. DC is a notoriously difficult area 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. Voice notifications led upcoming turns by an adequate amount, and the voice prompts always helped me get into the correct lanes in plenty of time for upcoming turns. During a particularly tricky section 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 correct forks and turns. I was quite impressed.
The Bluetooth paired quickly with my Motorola Razr V3. It even provided its PIN code at the appropriate time. The phone functions work great 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 device and it garnered the same comments. The Garmin's on-screen phone cues make hands-free easy.
Activation of the MSN Direct service was simple over the Net. 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 good deal. MSN Direct information took a while to load the initial information, but then it said that in the Quick Start pamphlet. Once loaded, the traffic, weather, and news worked great. Gas prices were behind by several days, which is an eternity these days. My favorite (and cheapest) station wasn't listed.
Overall, I'm very happy with the 780. I'll be working it out heavily in the coming weeks, including on a road trip to another city with MSN Direct service. I can't believe that I waited this long to take the plunge to a GPS device for my car. Even though I'm a master with maps, the Garmin suggested a clever routing that I did not previously discover on my own. 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.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
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" screen (1/2" larger!). It has one of the best user interfaces on the market, primarily due to a few things: 1) you can always get back to the map by pressing one button, regardless of where you are, 2) you can always get to the main menu by pressing one button, regardless of where you are in the menus, 3) it has a split screen function that gives you lane guidance visually so that you know which lane to get into, well before the turn, 4) it has shortcuts, for instance to GO HOME you make a V shape on the screen 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 used roads for no apparent reason, and would not take me down roads that were shown on the map and clearly the shortest route. Last of all, the Sony took forever to gain a satellite fix once turned on. And the Sony mount was soooo very cool and useful! For $249 you got the cool mount and a nice carrying case. I did not get a chance to use the TMC traffic service.
The Garmin 680 ($349 at Costco) was a fine device, with very fast and accurate routing. It found points of interest quickly and accurately (the Sony often could not find 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 Direct is VERY handy and I use it every day for weather, news, fuel costs, and movie listings.
2. Very fast route calculations.
3. I have never looked for a POI that was not present.
4. The tour routes that you can download (for about $12 each) are cool. You can take 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 find rest areas on interstates. The Sony could NOT do this, which is annoying when you are trying to figure out if you should stop at a gas station or wait for a rest area when you have three kids in the car on long trip.
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 consider!
Bad Points of the Garmin 780:
1. If I go into the menu system, I can go 7 or 8 layers deep to get to what I want to do. To get back to the map, I have to keep pushing the "BACK" button, up to 8 times in a row, to get back to the map. Stupid!
2. If I go into a menu item and decide I'm done, but don't want to push "BACK" over and over, the unit stays on the menu or submenu screen 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 stay on or turn off. If you don't answer, it turns off in 30 seconds. For people who are making deliveries, or running errands, this is a real pain. It would be nice to allow you to configure this once to set how long it should wait before turning the unit off (options like 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for instance). This would allow you to run into Kinkos and back out again without having to wait for the unit to turn back on, get a satellite bearing, and then finally get to its map to tell you where to go next. Simple software change!
5. It would be nice to have the unit start up on the same screen where you left off. If you were on the map screen, then it should return to the map screen. If on the weather screen, then return to the weather. I like to keep it on the weather, but I have to hit about 6 different buttons every time I turn the unit on to get to the weather! Simple software change!
6. Most GPS units even at half this cost allow you to SEE your speed, direction, and target's relative direction while on the main map screen. This unit requires you to go to a dashboard screen to show you this information....so you have to choose the map or the dashboard to view. 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 show the satellite signals/connectivity. ALL units have this, even though it is just for fun.
8. For $500 the Garmin should include a carry case for the unit. They sell it small size, light weight, and its "ability to know where you were when you take it out of the cradle, to help you find your car later", and yet don't give you way to carry it around safely. Just 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 view 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 start up guide and a CD based owners manual.
10. The display looks like a cartoon movie, and that causes a lack of detail. The Sony displayed a very concise map where you could actually identify road splits, acceleration lanes, etc.
11. There is no ability to show POIs on the map. You can route to one, but you can't just show them. The Sony allowed you to pick which POIs to show, and it actually showed you little BP, Shell, Cracker Barrel, etc. logos on the map so that you could know well ahead of time which POIs were near you.
12. Many units tell 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 tell you which way to turn until you get within about 2/10 of a mile. So on most multi-lane roads I find myself staying in the middle lane as I get close so that I can go either way. It should warn you which way you will be turning at least a few miles in advance! As soon as you get onto any road the Sony tells you that your next turn is "LEFT 123 MILES", and it is always displayed on the main map. Handy. Simple software change!
I like the unit, but I only give it 3 stars because of its price, its lack of common sense features, and lack of "in the box" support. It's strong points are fast, accurate routing and MSN direct.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
I'm a long time user of GPS devices, both hand held and vehicular. I bought this device to replace a Garmin c550 which, alas, was stolen from my car.
The 780 is much thinner and lighter than the 550 and, presumably, therefore less inclined to fall from the windshield just when you need it most. Tip: If you have trouble with your suction cup falling off after a few days, pop a hard candy into your mouth, suck on it for a bit, then lick the cup and stick it on. This may sound a bit unhygienic but the sugar mixed with saliva makes a great bond with the glass.
The pressures of marketing have motivated manufacturers to load gps routefinders with all sorts of stuff that I suspect few use. For example, in a time when most all new cars come with relatively good sound systems, how many people will use their gps as an mp3 player or am image viewer? Or rely on it as a currency convertor or a calculator? I dunno, maybe people use those all the time. In any case, those and more are all available.
To my surprise, the routefinding engine in the 780 seems slower than the 550, as are the map redraws, even at modest complexity settings. Not slow enough to be bothersome but noticeable by comparison. Unlike another reviewer, I have not found it to recommend inappropriate routes although none of the systems is smart enough to accurately anticipate traffic conditions and thus may put you on an interstate as the "fastest" route and leave you stuck in slow-moving traffic for long periods.
Speaking of traffic, I'm underwhelmed by MSN Direct with regard to either the timeliness or accuracy of traffic condition reporting. Too often a snarl or an accident has just occurred and MSN hasn't reported it yet or a problem that MSN does report has already been cleared. The other MSN functions work reasonably well, so far as I can tell.
I don't fault Garmin for either the map or traffic issues which, I think, simply reflect the limited state of the art.
The 2009 NavTech map set is quite complete, even in a rapidly growing urban area like mine. I find, however, that it has a few errors. For example, it thinks my home is four houses down from its actual location, a problem I never noticed with earlier units.
As to physical features, the build quality is excellent and the mount represents a real improvement over the 6xx series. Some have commented about inadequate speaker volume but this hasn't been an issue for me, even though I have some hearing loss and drive a performance car with a fair bit of engine noise.
As always with Garmin, the GUI is clear, direct, obvious, and intuitive. I haven't had to glance at the user's manual a single time. Screen brightness is superior to the 2xx series.
The SiRF Star III chipset and antenna implementation is excellent. Acquisition times are much faster than in the 550 and I have never lost signal, even momentarily, in the canyons of Manhattan.
To summarize...
PROS:
Wider screen is definitely worth the money if situational awareness is important to you.
Maps are highly detailed and up to date.
Screen resolution, color, intensity, and readability are top notch.
Menus are simple and obvious.
Build quality for both the unit and the mount is excellent.
Routing is accurate and appropriate within the limits of the technology.
Satellite acquisition is fast and reception is first rate.
"Where am I" is convenient and could be life saving.
Bluetooth pairs effortlessly, works perfectly, and has excellent sound in both directions.
Device is loaded with extras (this may be a con, depending on your POV)
CONS:
Routefinding and screen redraws are slower than earlier models.
NavTec maps contain some location errors not found in earlier releases.
Device is junked up with extras (this may be a pro, depending on your POV)
MSN Direct is only marginally helpful with traffic but has other features that may be of interest to some.
FM transmitter is essentially useless in an urban setting.
Rarely, voice prompts are a little slow.
In short, an excellent product that, with just a few tweaks, would be superb. Well worth the cash if bought at a deep discount.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
I did a lot of research before I changed from my old Garmin c340. I think I made an excellent choice, this GPS has everything and more. I was new 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 happy again, with the addition of news, stocks and events for the MSN direct 2 version is great. I read the news once in a while is just a plain summary of what is happening not much with no pictures or anything but hey at least it gives you something else on the GPS to do. I find the mp3 functionality great the sound is loud enough just don't put it all the way to 100% volume because you'll hear static. The FM transmitter is one of the best I found on a GPS and the picture feature is great I even put it in my room as an LCD screen for pictures hehehe. This GPS gives you all the directions you need pretty accurate, MSN traffic needs to improve on this, its usually delayed most of the time it tells me traffic is there but then I find no traffic why? I don't know but I can say that is probably 80% right on other traffic updates. I really like this product and I am more than happy 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 accurate, nice looking, fast GPS signal, great feature GPS get this one, I recommend it.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
Unit purchased 8/8/08 worked fine for 10 days. Unit would then not Load Maps for over an hour. Powered off the unit, reset User info. via Garmin provided solution. Unit will now boot - however after driving 2-3 miles - screen continually locks up and unit is non-responsive. Read numerous reports of 760/770/780 lockups on other sites. Until Garmin provides a solution- I would not recommend this generation - my Nuvi 680 and '09 Map upgrade has been trouble free for well over a year, and my handheld GPS60CS has been fantastic.
*update* After subsequent FW4.0 upgrade- unit would not get past Loading Maps.... Returning unit to Amazon via RMA for one try at a replacement. Crossing fingers as I've been a happy Garmin customer previously.
*9/10/08 update* Returned and received new 780 from Amazon with next to no hastle. Very smooth return/replace procedure. New unit is functional - but failed to boot a few times with 4.0 Firmware, which has now been pulled by Garmin. Overall - I like the appearance of the new unit - but functionally - I give my older 680 the thumbs up due to more responsive touch screen, one less button to get to MSN, faster response when using menus. Big plus for the 780 is the handling of multi-dest- routing. Would bump rating to 3 stars after replacement, 4 stars if initial unit had not locked up.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
I've had several Garmin GPS units which I used mostly for hiking and offroad navigation -- for the most part Garmin has kept offroad and onroad units separate, you could have one or the other but not both feature sets in a single unit. My 60csx is an exception, it was the first unit I had that also included on road routing and I quickly became addicted to it. But the 60csx's screen is small and not terribly bright and it doesn't talk, so it's not great to use on the road unless you have a passenger to relay along the information. And it doesn't know anything about traffic, which I've been dealing with a lot recently. So I decided to try a nuvi -- I saw the 780 on sale and went with that. For the most part I've been quite happy with it -- it's not perfect, but it's a big improvement.
The good: overall I love it. I'm going to mention every little thing I've noticed that bugs me in this review, and I might end up sounding negative, so just remember that -- I have no regrets, I'd happily buy it again.
The screen is large and bright and easy to read, and can be read in full sunlight, although it doesn't seem to be the sort of reflective screen the 60csx has. With the spoken directions you don't need to look at it much while you're driving (although see my comments below about routing quirks). The interface is fairly easy to use, a lot easier than the handhelds. The speaker is loud enough that I haven't had any trouble hearing it, although I have to turn the radio down sometimes. The bluetooth is great for accessing my phone, and I've had no complaints about call quality from the people on the other end. Overall the routing engine seems much improved from the 60csx, although like all systems it has its quirks, and you should take a look at a real map once in a while just to make sure. What's nice is that you can easily add a via point to force a better route if you know better. I also like several of the MSN direct features, like movie times and local events, and the traffic flow information is really handy, especially in a city you're not intimately familiar with. For getting from point A to B on roads, this thing is great.
The not as good: the MSN traffic service is really not all you would hope it would be -- driving around both the San Francisco Bay area and LA, I have yet to drive by an incident it was reporting and actually find anything there, the incident data seems to be so far behind that it's useless. Possibly related, it seems to take the traffic data a long time to update -- in the SFBay area I'm often half way to work before I have any traffic data, and when driving into the LA area from the north on I-5 I'm also well into traffic before the traffic data starts to appear. The traffic flow data on the other hand seems reasonably accurate, and it has done an admirable job of getting me across LA far faster than I would be able to do on my own, occasionally even directing me onto surface streets to avoid traffic (or maybe non-existent incidents). However it's quite slow to decide things are bad enough to recalculate a route, I once saw the delay time go over 90 minutes (as in 2.5 hours for what should have been a 1 hour long trip) before it decided to find a new route. Yet in most cases when the delay listed is over 20-30 minutes if I force it to start from scratch it's immediately able to come up with a much improved route. So now I just do that.
One glitch in the routing engine that I run into occasionally is that it will tell you to get off and back on your route when you should just keep going. For instance at intersections it will sometimes tell you to turn left, then immediately right, when what it really wants you to do is go straight through an intersection. Or it will tell you to take an exit ramp only to tell you to get right back on the interstate when you should just stay on the interstate. When this happens it requires staring at the screen more that you should to avoid getting offroute.
When you're searching for something the categories are not always the best, they are often far too general. Maybe they do that to keep it simple, but finding a grocery store for instance can be a pain.
I've seen people complain about lockups, mine has only locked up once, when trying to display topo maps loaded onto a card zoomed far out. I haven't done this very often so I don't know how repeatable it might be, and whether it's a problem with the unit or the card. A power cycle cured it.
And I wish it came with a better mount, or that the mounts with arms (like they have for the handheld units) worked with the nuvi's. The windshield mount is useless to me (both in that it would not make the nuvi easy to use and in that it's illegal in California) as are any of the mounts Garmin sells for the nuvi. For now I'm using an aftermarket vent mount and working on my own adapter so that I can use one of the arm mounts, I'm not sure yet if that will work. But Garmin should be making those.
Finally, what's missing: first, more user configurable options. On the 60csx, on nearly any screen that displays numbers I can configure at least what numbers are shown, and on the map screen how many are shown. I'd love to be able to display elevation (which apparently this unit doesn't display anywhere?) and time on the main map screen, and be able to choose what numbers are shown on the speedometer screen.
Next, a compass on the main screen would be nice!
I'd also like it if some selection of points of interest could be displayed on the 3D map. Like if I'm looking for a gas station, or a movie theater, etc.
And finally, why do the nuvi's have to be limited to on road navigation only? What I really want is a more all in one/outdoor themed nuvi -- coming from the 60csx this feels like a dumbed down or crippled GPS. It could easily be so much more. For driving to work or finding my way around a city the 780 is really good, but when the weekend comes I'm left needing two GPSs. For instance, say I want to drive down to the beach, and I'm wondering what the tides are doing -- the 60csx will tell me that. Or if I'm driving down a long 4WD trail to get to where I'm going to start a hike -- I have to switch to the 60csx as soon as I leave the pavement. (The 780 will display topo maps, sort of, but it's not really meant to do that and doesn't do it terribly well.) And my earlier comments about wanting to know elevation and direction are along the same lines. I know a lot of people who would love to have a nuvi with the feature set of a 60csx, a nuvi for people who don't spend their entire lives in cities. If they made one tomorrow I'd buy one tomorrow, and I know a lot of people who would do the same. This and the iffy traffic data are the main reasons I'm only giving it 4 stars instead of 5.
Update: I've had the unit for several months now, so I thought I'd add a couple notes. On the topo maps, if I load them onto an SD card and try to display them, that reliably causes it to lock up. If I load them into the GPS's own memory they seem to work fine. And other than that, I've never seen the unit lock up.
And everything I said about the traffic data still holds -- months later I've never seen an accurate report of a traffic accident. The only times I've come across an accident near where one was being reported, it was on the opposite side of the freeway (northbound instead of southbound etc.). I don't know if that means it was reported on the wrong side, or it doesn't differentiate between different directions on a freeway, or if it was just so far behind that the actual accident was gone and another one just happened to occur on the other side of the freeway. Whatever is going on, MSN's traffic incident data needs quite a bit of improvement!
The other MSN feature I look at a lot is movie times, and those don't seem to be well updated either, often my two closest theaters are missing entirely, and it's not unusual that no theater within 30 miles is listed (I'm near San Jose, and sometimes the closest theater listed is in San Francisco or Berkeley).
Another update: I've had this for about a year now, I thought I'd add two notes. First, since a software update earlier this year (4.6 I think, now 4.8) the topo maps no longer work for me even installed in the units own memory. It will just lock up after a few seconds or minutes at most and needs to be power cycled, like it used to with the maps on the SD card. Second, my opinion of the traffic data has not improved. In a year of use I've never driven by a reported accident and had there be an actual accident there. I have driven by many accidents that weren't there, and I've seen I-5 completely closed in the middle of LA for an hour without it showing up. So I just ignore the traffic data now, I think you're much better off listening to the local radio traffic reports.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
Pros -
1) Navigates very well. Allows avoiding tollways, highways, and other.
2) Large screen is definitely a positive aspect.
3) Touch screen navigation is easy to use and works well.
4) Reads Audible books very well. Voice is very understandable. If you stop, and restart the book later it will sometime lose its place, so be sure to set a bookmark.
5) MSN Direct traffic seems to work for the Houston area, although it sometimes takes a while to get an update on current conditions.
5) MSN stock prices are accurate. Gasoline prices are reasonably up-to-date and accurate. Sometimes a day or two old but within pennies per gallon.
Cons -
1) Does not come with case. (Come on Garmin!)
2) FM transmitter is weak, lots of static.
3) MP3 player is very rudimentary, no fast forward, or reverse. Just skip to next track or previous track.
4) Must be connected to auto power cable to get MSN features. So no news, stocks, or traffic until you get to the car. Or bring in the cable and suction mount and drag around the house. (As if)
4) MSN Direct News is a joke - a headline and a very short description.
5) Separate cable with antenna required for MSN direct.
Other
This device does very well what is was designed for. It navigates like a champ. If you want to play music or video get the Apple iPod Touch.
Haven't used the bluetooth so can't comment.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
Edit 10/27/2009:
Notice, I have just found out that MSN Direct Traffic is being discontinued 01/01/2012. Paying extra for the Garmin 780 so you can have MSN Traffic is wasted money.
[...]
My original review follows but any comment of mine about MSN Traffic should be viewed with this new information in mind.
I've had my Garmin 780 since April '09, my first GPS. I liked the unit but thought it had some flaws, it got confused in urban Los Angeles, was slow to re-draw maps, slow to 'recalculate' a new route. The TTS Voices dropped out often, disabling the Voice Guidance. The MSN Direct Traffic was slow and not real time, often showing a problem where there was none and didn't show the current real problems on the highway.
I did take a 5k mile trip right after getting it and it sometimes wanted me to go to in strange directions, my handy map solved those problems. I do like the well lit and easy to read Touchscreen, day or night. The overall interface and choices are nice but the need to hit 'back, back, back' to get to the Main Menu is a bit tiresome. The Bluetooth function integrated easily with my Nextel phone. Overall, I would have graded it a 3.
Then, in July I plugged it into my Mac computer (Garmin has Mac software, one of the reasons I bought it) and uploaded all the new maps (I bought the lifetime map service) and, more importantly, installed new Firmware for the 780. The MSN Direct Traffic software has been upgraded a couple of times too. What an improvement!! The 780 is much quicker now, all re-draw functions are faster, TTS Voices don't drop out. Further, the MSN Traffic is better integrated with the GPS, allowing for improved avoidance of traffic problems. It is constantly recalculating the Arrival Time according to traffic conditions now. Real time traffic conditions are closer to true, not bad at all.
My advice to you if you purchase any Garmin is to plug the unit via USB2 into your computer, Log-in to their website to register the unit, then upgrade all Maps and Firmware. Note: Depending on your internet service's speed this can take quite some time, be patient. You are allowed new Maps for a period of 3 months, don't procrastinate.
The Garmin comes with lots of extra help for the traveler, the MSN Direct Traffic adds even more items. In addition, one of the nice features of these units is the POI's (Points of Interest) that you can download from various places that are listed on the Garmin website. Popular POI's include State/National Parks and many other local events/locations of interest. I just added every restaurant from the TV show 'Diners/Dives/Drive-in's', now I just tap the touchscreen to find one in my area of travel, fun!
In general, I am pleased with Garmin for making this unit so much better, faster and usable with the Firmware update. Several of the complaints in these Nuvi 780 reviews are fixed. For the current price of about $200 it is quite a bargain.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
I purchased the 780 last week after a bewildering research process and conflicting information between websites as to its capabilities. My original experience was that I had to spend several hours for one entire evening updating software, firmware and maps. After that it worked fine. One response to many reviews I have read is that you do not have to keep pressing the back button from being several layers deep. All you have to do is press and hold the back button and it will take you all the way back to the home screen. Furthermore, the data from MSN Direct works fine, but you have to leave the unit connected for at least 30 min and for first time use maybe overnight (or several hours) for up to date info on gas prices, etc. It involves a lot of data, so it has to have time to download it. You cannot just plug it into your car and expect to have the info immediately.
Once I had done all the downloading and updating, the nuvi 780 worked great; HOWEVER, As I began to use it more, I began to realize that it did not have some capabilities that I had read on some websites. I emailed Garmin several times and eventually they acknowledged that THE 780 IS A DISCONTINUED MODEL, hence the great price. Here is the email response I received from Garmin:
"Thank you for contacting Garmin International. The Nuvi 780 has actually been discontinued. It was replaced with the Nuvi 785T. There will not be any software updates for the Nuvi 780. There are many differences between the Nuvi 780 and Nuvi 785T. They have different software in them. They do have different chipsets. The type of chipset in the device is proprietary information.
The Nuvi 785T has the following features that the Nuvi 780 does not:
Junction View
Lane Assist
3D building
Lifetime Traffic in the Box
MSN Version 3 (which includes the flight status and doppler radar)"
So I returned my 780 and bought the 785T. The 780 is only capable of MSN Version 2 and will not be updated. Version 2 is not capable of receiving the Flight Status and Weather Doppler info from MSN Direct or any future improvements.
So if you want a great price for a GPS, and the fact that it has been discontinued does not concern you, the 780 is a great choice; otherwise, spring some extra mullah for the 785T.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service (Electronics)
LOVE IT. Even my wife loves it. This is porbably the first electronic gadget I've ever bought where my wife wants to use it more. Very easy to use. It only locked up a few times because I was zooming in/out too fast as it was navigating. perhaps if I let it go it might have caught up . It was no big deal to turn it off and on to get me going again. The MSN is great. It actually gave me a thunderstorm warning and asked if I wanted to go around it. Traffic updates were good, gas prices were dead on, most of the time. Weather forcasts were great, The "text to speech" was cool. We chose the Ennglish mans voice and he would read any text messages I received on my (bluetooth) phone. Pretty funny. The FM transmitter isn't great at all. What else can I say, I've owned the Garmin eMap (VW bug)and thought that was nice, but this is like a Porsche. Garmin's website is also great for updates and software. That's all, now I want the voice recognition nuvi880 but really who needs that!!! Enjoy and buy this unit NOW!
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