380 of 395 people found the following review helpful:
Good job Garmin
I'll address what was my biggest apprehension in going for an ad based, free traffic program. No issue! The ads are small and not at all intrusive. My eyes never were pulled in a way that was a distraction. I can even envision the few occasions that it might even benefit both the advertiser and the user. If you think about it ... newspaper, radio, internet, TV...
170 of 181 people found the following review helpful:
Will be great for many, but a deal breaker negative for me
The graphics and interface on the 755T are some of the best I've seen on the few GPS units I've tried. I wasn't exactly thrilled by the interface to be honest, but it's better than others in terms of being intuitive.
The colors are crisp, the directions I received were accurate, the voice was clear. The unit was excellent on the highway alerting me to each...
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I'll address what was my biggest apprehension in going for an ad based, free traffic program. No issue! The ads are small and not at all intrusive. My eyes never were pulled in a way that was a distraction. I can even envision the few occasions that it might even benefit both the advertiser and the user. If you think about it ... newspaper, radio, internet, TV ... advertising is very much a part of our culture and in this case very tastefully done.
Before further review, good grief ... now I sound like a sports caster; I should say that I've owned GPS units forever. Started with laptop programs then I started buying all of my vehicles with factory GPS. Acura, Toyota's (two of em) over the years have all been GPS equipped. I travel a lot for work and it was just more convenient to own stand alone portable units when I rent auto's. Magellan and Garmin were my last two portable units. I'm not a nerd or engineer so I'll give this my best shot and hope the average Jill and Joe will get something out of this.
Next, I'll talk about routing and traffic. Garmin (in my opinion) has always been rock solid in terms of routing. With this unit they have taken the art to a new level. I looked at the new TomTom with its smart routing and almost pulled the trigger on that unit but, with what happened today I am not one bit sorry with my choice. This morning I had to make deliveries to a number of Lowe's Home Improvement stores in the Metro Phoenix, AZ market. I went to the "Points of interest" icon typed in Lowe's and after a short wait was rewarded with all of the Lowes stores in the area. I touch on each one and saved it to a sub category I made (Lowes Metro Phoenix), gave each their appropriate store number (the search came complete with address and phone) and then scheduled my day. From home to the factory first, then to four stores, then back to the factory. During the day I had to insert another unscheduled stop. Fantastic! If I could have asked for any improvement here it would have been that each way point was somehow shown as I progressed. It did announce my arrival at each location complete with what side of the street it would be on; in the long run I am so happy with the result that I couldn't bring myself to diminish the 5 star rating. Also, at each stop when I turned the car off the unit powered down. When I got back in the car I needed to go to the "custom routes" icon, where I built my route, and touch the button to activate my named route. Garmin, if that could be automatic I would love it ... and maybe down the road I'll learn something that I don't yet know and this unit is capable. Honestly, it was so quick and easy and the routing picked up right where it left off so not a big deal to me. Traffic probably should have its own paragraph except it ties into the routing. I understand that this is dependent on how your town is covered. Even here in Phoenix only the major highways are covered. I submit that if you need to travel inner belts and outer belts as well as the highways in and out of your towns you will be very pleased. I watched the traffic icon turn from green to yellow to red and back again as road conditions changed. The icon showed how long the delay would be and if you touch it, it shows where and how far away! Garmin gave me the option to bypass each delay but when I answered yes with the touch of the button it reminded me that my route had been optimized including all other options ... with the delay it still had me on the quickest route. Because I had multiple destinations it kept me posted to the delays even in the opposite directions when my routing would require back tracking.
There was slow downs along the way and one accident and I was notified well in advance. With the accident, I passed the location about 15 minutes after notification. It was minor and had already been moved to the side of the highway yet I could see the remnants of broken head-lights in the lane it happened. I was prepared to be disappointed with the traffic because not all the traffic reviews are complimentary. Again, I tend to feel where you live and the roads you travel could affect your opinion. For me, I would add extra stars here if I could. It amazed me when it routed me a different way from the factory to my house (different from the one I took in the morning) because the road conditions were different. It was right on based on years of living and driving these roads.
The Voice and the timeliness of prompts were strong. I tried all the voices and ended up with Australian Karen. She is very understandable in "text to speech" and very pleasant. Even my wife likes her ... I'd like to meet Australian Karen someday but she wouldn't give me her phone number ... like my wife would like her if she did! With my Magellan I liked the way it would ding just before the turn. This Garmin announces the turn and the timing was very comparable to the Magellan and that is a good thing. Some of the previous Garmin models had problems in this area if you read the posts. Also, loudness with the unit on external speaker was OK to Good, I'd like to see it a touch louder for times when road noise or blasting AC is an issue. I have not tried piping it with FM to my radio and probably won't.
On my wish list to Garmin (you think they read these?), I'd like to see a little more information around the edges of the screen. You can program the "arrival time" button for things like altitude, time of day, direction of travel and many more, but you can't program the "speed button" for anything. I'd like to see my altitude ... just for giggles, and my ETA. Who needs the time with clocks in the car & on every cell phone? Who needs to know how fast you are going with a speedometer in every car? I would also like to know the street I'm currently on. Sometimes you can see it depending on how you are zoomed to the map but sometimes not. I'd also like to know what direction I'm traveling in without hitting another button or giving up my ETA or 3d view. The speed limit of each street is a fantastic thing to have especially when your in areas you don't know or rural roads that go for miles without a sign. I can tell you that when the speed limit changed as I entered different zones the changes were very accurate in their timing.
The last thing for today's review is lane guidance. I went thru some pretty major interchanges today and not once did I see the Navagon style or Garmin advertised type of full screen preview. Again, I'll see if there is a setting I missed or I will just have to live with what I've got for awhile. I understand that Garmin will be adding to their data base as they go along. What I did see though was plenty good. The "distance to turn" indicator in the upper left corner of the screen listed with arrows how many lanes to the interchange and which lanes you should be in. It also listed the lanes not to be in as you transitioned from one highway ramp onto another highway. It was good to have advance notice that the right lane would not continue and you needed to move left before it got crowded.
I'd say buy this unit and help me find Karen!
I have had no reset issues and use the unit 6 to 8 hours per day. This is not to say it hasn't been an issue with others though.
10/18/08
I found the neatest thing on this unit today. I tapped the car on the screen while I was driving and noticed every few seconds the screen updated with the exact address I was located. I could see the street I was on, the numerical location, and I could see the addresses going up or down as I traveled. Also it showed the elevation changing up or down. I have used this exact screen many times when stopped to mark locations I wanted to save to favorites but never on the go. I'm not sure exactly how one would use this information but I thought it interesting.
I have had much more experience with the traffic option now. I have found it very useful during rush hour. Only once... so far, has a delay been so severe that it changed my routing automatically. But, during that occasion I felt gratified in that I was guided off the freeway before other drivers. from my detour route I ended up with a view of a bumper to bumper full stop on the highway that was backed up for miles. To be honest, after a while you take the traffic icon for granted until it turns yellow or red. Even the yellow icon doesn't change things in terms of routing, just information about how many minutes the delay will be.
I can say that sometimes the information is not exactly timely. A yellow indicator may show and when I reach the location the traffic may be moving more normal or a little slower than indicated. The minutes of delay indicated seems not too far off though and arrival times are pretty accurate.
Other that no Junction view's in the Phoenix area at this time I'm still thrilled with the 755t. Garmin support is working on a free update (I spoke with them) for the Junction view.
Additional questions have been ask and answered in the comments section if you would like to read more.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
Background: I had always rented vehicles with a GPS until recently my frequency of travel to unfamiliar cities had reached a point where it made sense to purchase my own. I was not looking for a GPS to play MP3s, make phone calls, take photos, or fill out my taxes. I simply care about its ability to navigate from point A to B and to get around an unfamiliar place, and so I'll limit this review to those features. I tried two devices: the Garmin nuvi 755T (same as the 765T minus the Bluetooth) and the much cheaper Navigon 2100 max with the bundle that included lifetime traffic.
Garmin Nuvi 755T
Pros:
-Could use all the features right out of the box
-Always got me from Point A to Point B
-Map very pleasing to my eyes
-The lane guidance is useful, but not as useful as I thought it would be (I find that keep right/left voice commands can stand alone).
-Considerable more Points of Interest than Navigon 2100 Max. Also many more Points of Interest categories and the ability to simply enter a category if it's not listed and still get good results (e.g., Salons or Dance Studios were not categories, but I entered them and the device retrieved many nearby options [you can also search in a different city]).
-Really good recalculation, it doesn't waste time just trying to get you back to the original route if a different route from your current location is better. It also recalculates at blazing speeds (I had a new route before I made it to the end of a 800 foot block).
-Text to Voice is really good (far more useful than I would have guessed). This really allows you to keep your eyes on the road and gives you peace of mind that you're turning in the right place.
-Very useful visual layout indicating direction of the turn and the street onto which you should turn (but the voice prompts, especially with Text to Voice, are so good you never need to look at the display).
-Local speed limit always posted with your current speed nearby (more useful than I imagined)
-Good volume and easy to change volume while in use.
-Easy to turn on or off with an external power switch.
-The traffic feature was extremely useful and the information was easy to access during use. The much discussed ads will not be an issue for you, trust me.
-The 3D navigation created a nice view, but honestly, even in strange areas with tall buildings, I didn't find this feature to be of any additional value.
Okay, But Could Be Better:
-The screen could be more sensitive, but it's a lot better than the Navigon 2100 Max.
-The device did not always properly locate me (this can be avoided by turning it on and setting the route about 45 seconds before actually leaving).
-The power source plugs directly into the mounting cradle, but it's still such a chore to remove the device from the cradle (pressing a button on the bottom on the cradle, which is mounted on a moving ball, while tilting the device forward) that the time advantage of a direct cradle plug in is lost.
Cons:
-The turn warning distance is way too short (only 0.2 miles)
-There's no ability to exclude particular streets from a route (you can set it to avoid highways, tolls, etc. though).
-Initial estimate of arrival time was a complete farce in every single test. It estimated a standard 45 minute trip to be only 25 minutes and pushed back the estimated arrival time nearly every minute never reflecting the accurate arrival time until I was at the final destination. Easily bested in this category by the much cheaper Navigon 2100 Max.
Navigon 2100 Max
Pros :
-Always got me from Point A to Point B without deep confusion
-Always correctly located me
-As in the Garmin Nuvi 755T, the lane guidance is useful, but not as useful as I thought it would be (I find that keep right/left voice commands can stand alone).
-Good turn warning distance (0.5 miles)
-The recalculating is quick, but not as quick as the Garmin Nuvi 755T
-Ability to exclude particular streets from route (a hidden feature: after the route is initially calculated, open the turn by turn and simply x out the streets you don't want to use).
- As in the Garmin Nuvi 755T, the Text to Voice is really good (far more useful than I would have guessed). This really allows you to keep your eyes on the road and gives you peace of mind that you're turning in the right place.
-Very useful visual layout indicating direction of the turn and the street onto which you should turn (but the voice prompts, especially with Text to Voice, are so good you never need to look at the display).
-Warnings when speeding (And the ability to set how far above the speed limit [separately for city streets and highways] triggers the warning)
-Ability to have local speed limit either shown constantly or when a speed warning is triggered
-Good volume and easy to change volume while in use
-Initial estimate of arrival time very reliable. Estimated a standard 45 minute trip to within 1 minute and pushed back estimated arrival time only once (adding a minute).
-Easy to turn on or off with an external power switch.
-The traffic feature was extremely useful and the information was easy to access during use.
Okay, But Could Be Better:
-Screen sensitivity
-It sometimes took a couple of minutes to initially locate me, but was always spot on when it did.
-The power supply is plugged into the device which is mounted on a cradle, but the cradle provides such limited range of motion that it's difficult to get the device in the most desired position and I was forced to accept it slanting slightly during every use.
Cons:
-Thin Points of Interests (more important than I thought) and no ability to search categories not already listed (a real problem). You also must select a city each time you search; it doesn't just automatically pull up nearby locations like the Garmin Nuvi 755T.
-It's hard to see ALL of the display icons including information on speed and your current speed
-The dull, mostly gray, maps with an orange route indicator are hard on eyes.
-The keyboard takes up only half the screen making it chore to type in anything. This is especially problematic when trying to switch states or from letters to numbers (or vice versa) as these display buttons are extremely narrow and it was difficult to select them without long fingernails.
-The recalculation kept trying to send me back to the original route even if it was no longer the best. For example, it took the device 15 minutes to stop trying to reroute me to 16th St. (in DC) after I had purposely driven up Connecticut Ave. Had I taken its recommended rerouting (thus backtracking), my trip would have taken 20 minutes longer.
-You can't use all the features out of the box. I was forced to register the device and thus provide an email address in order to use lifetime traffic and fresh maps features (but, in all fairness, you can opt out of spam, and I've yet to receive an unwanted email).
Conclusion:
The Garmin Nuvi 755T was about $350 versus the $160 for the Navigon 2100 Max with lifetime traffic included. I think both devices performed solidly, but the edge can only be given on personal preference. All said, the Navigon 2100 Max is probably the better value for the buck, but such a statement is relative to what's important to you. I personally went with the Garmin Nuvi 755T because: 1) the map coloring and icon size was easy on the eyes, 2) it was much easier to type on the Garmin Nuvi 755T, 3) the number of Points of Interest, and the ability to type in your own category, are of particular importance to me, and 4) I personally find not losing time on rerouting to be worth the additional costs. Hope this helps.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
The graphics and interface on the 755T are some of the best I've seen on the few GPS units I've tried. I wasn't exactly thrilled by the interface to be honest, but it's better than others in terms of being intuitive.
The colors are crisp, the directions I received were accurate, the voice was clear. The unit was excellent on the highway alerting me to each exit before I reached it - loved that feature.
I didn't try the traffic function as I didn't enter a major city so I can't comment. Ditto on lane assist.
I generally drive 30,000 mils a year and I've done quite well without a GPS unit. Maps and getting print outs from Google have been mostly sufficient when I don't know exactly where I'm going. A GPS would be better, of course, and I wanted to go with the best brand I could. Source after source pointed to the Garmin and specifically the new 7x5 series.
Another person who's in the same line of business as me told me how he receives proximity alerts for specific points of interest (POIs). He didn't say which brand he used and I assumed that was a basic feature. It's not. These POIs are already programmed in the Garmin. Everything I need is right there. However, I cannot program the unit to link proximity alerts with those preexisting POIs. I received this from Garmin customer service:
"This can only be done with Custom POI's. You can set
a distance for the POI within the CSV file. You would just need to find
a database of xxxxx in a CSV format. I am sorry it is not possible
to do this with the POI's currently in the unit."
I've looked and looked, I could not find another source of these POIs. But why should I have to find them or pay for them? They already exist on this unit! It is baffling to me that a proximity alert preference is not built in. This is extremely user unfriendly.
It took me all of 3 minutes to discover that TomTom has proximity alert preferences built right into their units. I've tested several and I can already see they have their own flaws. The maps are not as easy to read and the interface is not as good. TomToms also have a major flaw of their own that's a deal breaker for others - when entering an address you must know the town. As one TomTom reviewer pointed out, this can be difficult when boundary lines change quickly within a metro area (like Boston). Me, that doesn't matter so much.
I generally know where I am. What I frequently don't know are these specific POIs that I might not be even aware exist. This is an important additional asset to my business.
I realize others might not need this function. So again, a lot of people will find the 755T more than acceptable. It's a great unit to operate. But it just doesn't have the function I need - a function that I think is pretty basic. It was basic enough that TomTom puts it on their GPS units.
So I got rid of my 755T and will buy either a TomTom 730T or 930T and put up with their flaws that are more tolerable for me.
EDIT:
After using both the Garmin 755T and the Tomtom 730T for several days it gave me some new perspective on both strengths and weaknesses.
Overall, if you're looking for a straight out of the box user experience with no fuss or muss and little need to tweak the system the Garmin 755T is probably the better model. If you're already familiar with how to tweak a Garmin (and there are many who are) then you'll probably also find this a more than fine model.
To use a computer metaphor, I found overall that the Garmin has the initial user interface of what you'd expect from a Mac, but has the user adaptability of a Windows system. The programs you have to download and the tweaking necessary to go beyond Garmin's presentation is complicated for those who don't already know how to do it.
The Tomtom on the other hand has the initial feel of a Windows computer, but the user friendly adaptability of a Mac. I hate the Tomtom's interface and colors, but WOW, is it far easier to change to my needs than the Garmin!
It all comes down to knowing your own needs and abilities. Test the 755T before you buy if you can. If it's all you need, then I would recommend it. If you know you're going to have adapt to your needs (like the POIs) and you just want your GPS to do the job without having to go through a steep learning curve, then stay away from the Garmin.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
After two months' use in the Boston, Washington DC, and Portland (OR) metropolitan areas, and also on O'ahu, I now feel qualified to review this product. I'm both delighted and disappointed by the nüvi 755T. I chose this model because it combined the set of functions in which I was interested, and I'll discuss its different functions in turn.
Basic navigation functions
I've not had much first-hand experience with auto GPS units since the first generation Hertz "NeverLost" model, so I'm not able to compare the nüvi with current competitors. However, I'm very impressed with the speed and spatial precision of this unit. Even long and complicated routings are typically computed in less than ten seconds. Adaptations because of route variations are detected quickly and a revised route is computed speedily. I will pass a speed limit sign and within no more than one or two seconds the changed speed limit will usually appear on the screen. And I'm impressed, too, with how the unit automatically scales the map to a level appropriate for current navigation purposes.
Problems with basic navigation are few. The most serious one encountered so far happened only in Portland (OR), and so it may relate to the quality of the mapping there. The unit pinpoints the vehicle's starting position within a rectangular grid of streets absolutely correctly, but when I then request a routing the unit sometimes tells me to "drive to the highlighted route" starting several blocks away from my current position (sometimes even off the current map). Yet it has no difficulty navigating me back correctly through the same grid all the way to the starting point.
I have also experienced some variability between cities in what are regarded as network decision point nodes meriting the provision of route guidance there. On the Washington DC highway system, for example, merges and splits that in Boston would have been treated as decision points are not identified in the same way.
One other improvement to "basic navigation" would be valuable. At the highest levels of map magnification, it would be very useful to have arrows showing the directions of one-way streets.
Street name pronunciation
The unit comes with a wide array of voices, languages, and national shades of English. I'm impressed with the capabilities of the name pronunciation feature; it works pretty well most of the time, and given the idiosyncrasies of the English language that's quite an achievement. It struggles, of course, with unfamiliar word structures (such as Hawai'ian names) or non-standard pronunciations (e.g., "Van-cow-ver"), but there are a few more mundane peculiarities. In Washington DC, where a compass quadrant designation follows many street names, the "St." is invariably taken to mean "Saint." "Rt." for "route" gets pronounced as "artee." The most amusing and ingenious muddle so far has been "Ames St.," which the unit interpreted as "American English Street."
Lane assist
I live in a state (Massachusetts) where the highway department's motto appears to be "Never give a sucker any advance notification of the lane he needs to be in," so Garmin's "Lane assist" feature was a strong attraction to choosing this model. But as of now, it is the most disappointing feature. First, only certain areas currently have this capability, and (unlike the real-time traffic information) I have been unable to find on the Garmin website any indications of just where it is available. It appears to be available in the Boston and Portland areas, for example, but I saw no evidence of it in the Washington DC and Honolulu areas. Secondly, it appears to be currently primarily available on the Interstate system (where the standards of highway signage are relatively good), whereas it would be of much greater value to drivers in dense urban core areas (e.g., lane guidance for Dupont and Washington Circles and the Potomac bridges in Washington DC). But it isn't clear to me whether the Navteq maps used by Garmin even have the basic lane detail to allow such guidance to be feasible eventually, even with a significant expansion of the geographical coverage for "Lane assist."
Free real-time traffic information
This was another strong attraction to me of this model. I concur with other reviewers who have opined that the advertising that allows the information to be accessed without a subscription charge is not at all a distraction (it's small, and appears only at the end of a trip or when the vehicle is stationary). But I haven't experienced congested conditions often enough yet to form strong opinions about its efficacy. In the Boston area I've experienced slow moving highway traffic a number of times (an amber traffic symbol on the screen, along with an estimate of the traffic delay minutes) and have occasionally noted that the system's information was not very current, but up to now I haven't experienced a high enough congestion level for the system to generate an alternate routing.
In overview, I'm very pleased with this model and glad that I bought it (particularly at a Thanksgiving weekend 43% discount from MSRP), but I would caution purchasers not to expect too much from either "Lane assist" or Navteq FM traffic at this stage of their development.
*** UPDATE, February 2010 ***
Here's a second take after 13 months of use. I now have a stronger appreciation for both "Lane assist" (after using it in heavy traffic on the relatively unfamiliar Los Angeles and San Francisco freeway systems) and the real-time traffic information service (after being given good advance warning of serious incident-caused back-ups on the Providence road network, and diverted onto local streets to avoid those serious delays).
On the other hand, the problem of computed routes starting several blocks away from one's current location turns out to be more pervasive than I thought back last March; it's not limited to just some cities. The nature of and reasons for the problem are difficult to understand, given that the unit (i) knows exactly where the vehicle is, and (ii) has an accurate map of the local network at that point. As well as being told to "Drive to the highlighted route" (which may be outside the limits of the then visible map), the unit also displays a street name . . . but in unfamiliar surroundings that isn't much help either!
Finally, two other issues have emerged. First, the touch screen detection is not very precise, so mis-entries can be annoyingly frequent. Secondly, the internal battery (which, remember, is not replaceable) seems to have a short life. After about nine months of use I started getting frequent messages of a low battery level when not connected to my car's battery, and when I do a full recharge from my computer it quickly depletes. Since I rarely if ever use the unit off-vehicle, that hasn't been a problem for me . . . but someone anticipating a lot of off-vehicle use (or considering purchasing Garmin's "lifetime" map updates) should certainly bear it in mind.
Notwithstanding those concerns, overall I'm still pleased with the 755t.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
After much research I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 755T portable car GPS device. It has lived up to my expectations in every way after using it for a week. It was extensively used during a 250 mile day trip to Milwaukee from suburban Chicago. I felt extremely confident driving around in unfamiliar territory.
*Sattelite load is quick- nearly instant except for (1) instance where it took about a minute.
*Traffic alert and map showed congestion and offered the option to go around.
*The selected routed for areas I am familiar with were nearly identical to the ones I have driven over the years.
*The dislay is bright, clear and updates quickly. I did not experience any sluggishness.
*The lane assist works on several exits in the Chicago area- not any in the Milwaukee area. These snapshots appeared at just the right time to illustrate the proper exit lane based on the highlighted road sign. I imagine this will become available for many more highways as maps are updated.
*Mounting and connecting were first rate- the windshield suction worked very well as did the unit power adapter and cable.
*I did not use FM transmitter- I see no need to do this.
*The street names and voice commands were loud, clear and in plenty of time to navigate properly.
I am not displeased about any attribute of this device. I highly recommend it.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I received this unit for Christmas and could not be more impressed. We recently moved to the Chicago NW suburbs and I was in desperate need of some expert navigational help. While I have not had the device for very long, I have logged about 12 hours of driving time in the Chicagoland area with this beauty directing me.
Pros:
First, and this should be reiterated, it is a beautiful device. The rubberized metallic frame feels solid and looks stunning. The heft is just right and nothing rattles or moves when it is transported from car to house or office. It just gives off the appearance of solidity; it either looks nor feels cheap.
Second, the screen is incredibly vivid with zero distortion or rendering delays. I have used 3 different Garmin GPS devices in the past 2 years in some wildly different settings (a week driving in Charleston, SC; two weeks in Cape Town, SA; and a 4 days or so in the Loire River Valley in France) and all of them were plagued to some degree or the other with rendering delays or insufficiently distinct graphics. This unit suffers from none of these defects.
Third, the directions are solid. While it does not always recommend my favorite or preferred routes, the alternatives thus far were always the obvious choice. Unfortunately, it does not know that some roads are plagued by meteor-sized potholes or that certain diagonal streets in the city are not designated snow routes (and thus not plowed with the same frequency). These drawbacks I can live with as using a GPS unit does not mean one should surrender common sense.
Fourth, the lane assist has thus far worked every time. On my morning commute alone, I see the iconic 1st person lane assist graphic (see the main product image) no fewer than thrice; furthermore, I receive a visual indication (arrows in the top left hand corner) whenever a road branches off into multiple directions or I need to turn. Suffice to say, I am very impressed. From some of the other product reviews, it appears that this feature functions well in some areas and poorly or not at all in others. At the least I can vouch for the Chicago area.
Fifth, the built-in FM transmitter is a nice bell-and-whistle. Thus far I have not benefited whatsoever from its warnings about traffic as there usually is nowhere else to go and the delays thus far have been fairly minor. Furthermore, while the device usually is accurate within 1 to 2 minutes when traffic is rated green, even the slightest delay makes the estimated time fluctuate wildly. However, once the stalled traffic is behind me, the estimated arrival time calculation is usually spot on. The chief value of the FM transmitter though is the automatic updates of the MPH speed limit graphic in the lower left-hand corner. I am more aware of the speed limit now and thus also more conscious when I exceed it. Definitely very cool.
Sixth, the battery charge is excellent and functions as advertised. Depending on whether the voice is activated or not, it lasts anywhere from 4 1/2 hours to 5 1/2 hours on battery life alone.
Seventh, the screen touch sensitivity is perfectly dialed in. I do not find myself cursing as the slightest touch activates ten unwanted features nor do I jab at it several times before the desired function activates.
Cons:
First, I have yet to see the 3D view feature. Granted, I have not been downtown with the device yet, but to my mind I have passed through multiple areas where the office buildings are suitably tall and dense that 3D view was warranted.
Second, sometimes, and admittedly quite rare, the FM transmitter is slightly delayed and the speed limit is updated 15 seconds or so too late. This has happened only twice that I have noticed so far and both times the transmitter was blinking yellow (an indication that the signal is weak). I wish Garmin had somehow incorporated this indicator in the GPS unit itself - perhaps by changing the speed limit sign background from white to yellow whenever signal strength, and therefore accuracy, degrades. It is unsafe and annoying to have to glance down at the power cable to get a signal strength indication (note that I am here referring only to the FM transmitter signal strength - the unit displays satellite acquisition problems on the screen).
Third, the lack of a manual in the box is shocking. Furthermore, the one available online is so superficial one may as well dispense with it altogether. There are clearly multiple device features about which I know, as of yet, precious little. Garmin should realize that they have effectively wasted their time developing features rendered obscure by missing or incomplete documentation. For example, how do I configure multiple routing points and have the GPS sequence them logically? The product page claims this as a feature yet I have yet to figure it out. Another example is the mouse pointer that appears on the screen when one double taps the map - what does this do? how do you use it?
Overall, the Nuvi 755T is an excellent navigation assistant but definitely not a perfect product. It is the best GPS unit I have used thus far and I cannot wait to take it on a longer drive.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I have owned GPSs from Garmin since they came out I think. My first one was a StreetPilot and cost around [...] in 2000. I used to pull it out to go somewhere and my passengers couldn't believe such a thing even existed.
When it came time to replace the old workhorse, I REALLY looked around for days and days. I think I compared and read reviews of every possible model from all known makers including the one-offs. So I feel like a qualified buyer.
There are whole sites dedicated to reviewing these things:
[...]
and more so do your homework or just copy mine ;
I settled on this unit for the following reasons:
* excellent experience with previous unit- these things are built to last. Garmin can make a GPS
* excellent feature set on paper. I like audiobooks and it can play Audible's format and MP3, both.
* FREE traffic for life- that was the cincher for me.
* cool lane-assist
*cool 3d building representation
* ability to upload GPS coordinates and images of a place on earth you visit and have other Garmin owners download them.
*music player
*multiple destination routing
So how did all these features turn out?
haven't used audiobooks or MP3 feature yet.
traffic:
traffic is well worth it. When I am driving to work, it just comes on and it will warn you if there's bad traffic on your route, show you what part of the road it's on (it shows up red or yellow depending on how bad it is) and offer to route you around it. It's real time and pretty much up to the minute so you don't get stuck when there's an accident or bad road conditions. If you're in a strange city and you don't know the traffic patterns, it's even more fantastic.
lane assist:
lane assist is pretty cool, but it's not on every highway. I first saw it when I was in Chicago. It really does help a LOT if you're in a big city and you're not sure which lane to get in so you make the right exit or continue in the right direction. Basically, it shows you an image of the lane and the signs over each lane including the actual text of the signs. The sign that is telling you where to go is green, it looks like the real sign, and the others are grayed out but still readable so you know they aren't for you.
When there's 6 different lanes with merging traffic and 10 different signs, it definitely disambiguates the situation for you. It's as if you've lived in that city your whole life and drive that way every day. It has to prevent accidents; people with this feature should probably get a break on their insurance rates.
My only gripe is that it comes on when you're still a little ways from the signs and if you look up at the very moment it comes on, you may not be looking at the right set of signs, that is, the signs its showing you are the ones up ahead, not above you right then. You just have to get used to that.
3D building representation:
Again this isn't on all the time, but when it does come on, everyone goes "wow look at that..." It's probably cooler than it is useful, but there's no question about what you're seeing or where you are when it comes on. Basically you get a 3d architectural view of the building's exterior. Cool.
multiple routes.
Nice and useful, both. If you're on your way somewhere and you decide you want to stop at say, a Starbuck's on the way, you can search for the nearest Starbucks and add it as a way point. The GPS reroutes you without forgetting your original destination. My only gripe is that when you search for places to , say get coffee, it doesn't seem to understand what direction you're going in, and will suggest places in back of you instead of ahead of you, on your way to your destination. This is nice if you want to go back a mile but if you just want to go forward there's no way to get it to limit itself to those ahead of you.
The only time this became a factor is when we were traveling in the country (and I mean the real midwest no one lives here country ) and it only found things in back of us and nothing ahead. It seems to stop searching for, say coffee houses after it finds a certain number of hits and they were all in back of us. To be fair it looked a good number of miles in each direction, and well, there probably was nothing ahead of us for the next hundred miles while there were lots of things 10 miles back.
Finally, you can tell it to look only within a certain town or city, so In probably should have done that to find things ahead, but it's more fiddly to have to do that and I wouldn't want to do it while driving.
Uploading and downloading images of places and their coordinates:
haven't done it yet.
experience of using it:
it's much simpler with the touch screen. Back in the day, you were just glad it could do things at all. Now it's so easy. Everything you want while driving is just a touch or two away. The graphics are very easy to read and distinguish, easy to hit, the screen is sensitive and the layout is very well thought out. This is really manual free operation.
odds and ends:
You can put in custom waypoints, name them and even categorize them into different folders. The computer will even say their names back to you. Basically it will say anything you type in as a name when you navigate to that place. You can get creative with this feature.
The saying of the actual street name is a huge improvement over "turn left" .."turn right" (no street names spoken). It works very very well with no misspoken names so far and really does help you confirm that it's THIS right turn NOW.
It automatically goes into night mode which is a darker map background with the route highlighted. If your unit doesn't do this, you'd have to adjust the brightness since it's quite bright and distracts you from driving at night.
It does a subtle camera zoom in and out when you're getting off an exit or have some decision point to maneuver. Basically, it zooms in a little on the lanes so you can see them clearly, then zooms back out when you've made the exit or turn or whatever. Nice, very nice.
It colors major roads a different color from side roads so you can tell all around you where the main roads are. Nice.
The only thing I miss is with the old ones you could see names of commercial places while you drove by them. On this one you see the icon of what type of thing it is, but not the name until you touch the icon. I imagine that the old way represented a kind of free advertising for businesses and now their business model is - if you want your name to appear on our GPS unbidden, you can pay us. That's why you get free traffic for life. BP Walgreens AM-PM and a few others paid them to pop little bubbles up with their names on them. Let me tell you, this is the most unannoying innocuous thing. It never happens when you're moving and the bubbles aren't garish colors or in your face in any way. I was worried about whether it would be obnoxious and you know what, it's just not.
The only other gripe I have is that sometimes when you go off route and it automatically reroutes you, it sometimes just tries to get you to go back to where you it thinks you went off course and essentially, do that part of the route again.
Probably what you want is not to go back but to be re-routed from where you are, going forward.
The way to handle this is NOT to go back and make it re-route you yet again. It will then decide you don't WANT to go back and do the right thing. Since this takes essentially no time, it's not a big deal.
Finally, the sirf chips which find the satellite are great. I once lost reception beneath very tall buildings, but that's going to happen once in a while. The only way out of that is if the unit does dead reckoning, and that will cost you a lot.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
Starting June 22, 2009 many Garmin 7xxT models started to brick themselves or refuse to lock on to satellites. There is apparently badly corrupted firmware that for some reason started to cause problems on June 22nd. My 755T operated flawlessly until then. It had the bad firmware all along, but refused to acquire satellites starting the first time it was used it after the 22nd. On June 24th I received an email from Garmin informing me that an emergency update was required in order to ensure my unit kept working, but the email was received too late. My daughter was using my unit and was caught out in a strange area with my no longer functioning GPS unit. If you use Google news and search for Garmin and firmware you will find news stories about this. Until Garmin comes clean as to what really happened I would not recommend their units. Of course, all the units sitting in warehouses now are flawed. If your unit gets bricked (won't turn on) then you must send it back to Garmin for repair. This is apparently a very nasty problem.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I researched these devices long and hard and, desiring something that represented the state-of-the-art, decided on this one. Santa kindly brought it to me, though the charge mysteriously appeared on my credit card bill.
My first exposure to a GPS was in 2005 when I rented one (along with a car) for a trip through Nevada and Arizona. It was also a Garmin unit, and it worked flawlessly throughout the two week trip. It was particularly useful when we met our son in Tucson to get him settled into the university. Being able to find the nearest Wal-Mart and Best Buy for dorm supplies was very handy.
Based on that experience, numerous Internet reviews, and a hearty general endorsement of Garmin GPSs by my friends at Consumer Reports, the choice of manufacturer seemed clear. I chose the 755T over more basic units for 1) Traffic reports, 2) Lane Guidance, and 3) FM Transmitter. At the time of purchase, Amazon offered [...] off the price if one purchased a yearlong subscription to [...]. I thought the fact that the 755T had an Audible (and MP3) compatible media player might allow it to become something of an on-road entertainment center, so I went for it.
After almost two months of regular use, my opinion of the unit's performance is fairly well formed. Here are my observations:
Basic Navigation - This is vitally important as it is the fundamental reason for buying one of these things in the first place. I am surprised at the issues I have encountered. For example:
I live in southern New Hampshire. Interstate 93 is the primary way out of this region, and it lies about 3 easy miles east of my home. It is the obvious choice to use when heading anywhere south or southwest, which is frequently the way I to travel (to NY or CT). The 755T, however, insists on beginning these trips by having me head west via 11 miles of congested roads (highlighted by a 4 mile stretch of shopper's heaven) and cross a river in order to reach US-3 before heading south. I tried the route a couple of times, and though it is about 4 miles less to reach a common point further on, the trip is at least 15 minutes longer - and possibly much more on heavy shopping days. Note that the 755T has a preference setting allowing you to favor "faster time" over "shorter distance," but obviously there are situations where it doesn't know one from the other.
Heading home on one of these trips, I travel I-495 to reach I-93. Naturally, the 755T insists that I take US-3 when we get to that juncture, which I can easily drive by and allow the GPS to (re)calculate my preferred route. However, what it actually tells me to do is get off onto local roads to get from I-495 to US-3 - rather than use the nice ramp which connects the two roads directly. That's just plain crazy.
This same behavior is evident when going from I-290 to I-90 (Mass Pike) south of Worcester, Ma. The GPS insists that I take the Rt. 12 exit, which is located about 200 feet before the handy direct ramp to I-90, and navigate local streets to another on-ramp. Bizarre. Of course, I was on I-290 only because I ignored directions to take a longer route with higher tolls...
While traversing Brooklyn, NY, heading home to New England, the 755T became hopelessly confused just when I might have needed it most. I was on I-495, and was directed to take a ramp leading to I-678 and the Whitestone Bridge. I did so. The ramp - kind of a service road arrangement - runs parallel to the highway for a long distance, and it intersects with many other ramps, roads and another major highway. The GPS apparently could not tell where I was with adequate precision, and it began "recalculating" repetitively. These calculations took a relatively long time (10 seconds, almost 1000 feet at 65mph), as if it were plotting the entire 250 mile trip each time. The net result was that it never caught up with me, and the GPS was utterly useless. I knew where I was going, but I pity the uninitiated traveling that area - it could actually be dangerous. Suggestion to Garmin engineers: limit the recalculations on long trips by using an intermediate point (in this example, let's say the I-95 interchange 10 miles further on) so that the GPS can return to operation in time to be useful.
Traffic Reports - I have yet to receive useful information. Last Saturday, the entire length of I-95 from New Haven to New York was marked "red" and the 755T desperately tried to get me off onto side roads at every exit. I traveled above the posted speed limit the entire way. Several times each week, I find myself at a dead stop on an interstate while looking at the "green" traffic icon. The radio is much more useful.
Lane Guidance - This is a nice feature, provided you can safely look at it. This is frequently not the case on the highway, but it has come in handy many times on city streets.
FM Transmitter/Media Player - In much of the northeast, it is impossible to find an FM frequency that remains usable for very long. If you have an auxiliary input on your stereo (I don't), the media player might be nice. The built-in speaker is marginal and I often have difficulty hearing directions, especially at speed or on coarse road surfaces. This is insufficient reason to buy a Rolls Royce, however.
Once again, I seem to have paid dearly for technology that is not quite ready for prime time. The 755T will eventually get you where you're going, and probably back as well. However, I suspect that a GPS costing hundreds less will do so as well, albeit with its own set of quirks.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
We bought this unit right before we took a long road trip. Playing with it for a week around the Richmond, Va area we had difficulties.
NO Lane assist, Worthless traffic
The lane assist never showed up once despite going through numerous heavy interstate intersections (like I-95 and I-295). The traffic dot was almost always wrong. It showed yellow or red when the roads were empty and when traffic was bumper to bumper it showed green. It was a tiny dot, so even if the color would have been right it would have been worthless because you would not be able to see the dot if you were focusing on traffic. It would be more helpful if the voice had said "Approaching heavy traffic" but there is no audio cue. Several times it tried to take us down a road that does not exist (it's just woods).
When we left the Richmond area the traffic dot completely disappeared. This was not the middle of nowhere. This was I-95, yet no traffic info. No traffic info in Myrtle beach either. Of course we spent an hour standing in stopped traffic, so there was plenty of traffic, just no traffic info. No lane assist ever... not ever in Richmond, I-95 in North Carolina, South Carolina or anywhere in Myrtle Beach.
This GPS loved the scenic route
Then there was this odd thing that our unit did which I can only think had to be a defect. It literally sent us in circles. It would tell us to get off the interstate and send us through neighborhoods with 25 mph speed limits and lots of stops signs while we were paralleling the interstate. Tried all menu functions and it would still send us through neighborhoods instead of the perfectly good interstate paralleling. There were at least three times it literally sent us in circles. If it was a choice between a route with slower speed limits and lots of stoplights and another it always sent us the slower route. Yes, we tried all the menu settings. The GPS didn't care, it was choosing that route regardless of the menu setting.
Route was never consistent
Every night in Myrtle Beach we ate at the same mall area and then went back to our hotel. Never once did the GPS send us back to the hotel the same route and never once did it use the easy route. One night it took us 82nd Street, one night it took us 36th street, one night it took us 45th street, one night it took us 17th street. Never once did it take us the 17 bypass (the straight shot with no lights, higher speed limits).
It did not identify most stores
It is true we did find a couple of things with the GPS, however several times we were looking for a McDonalds or a Walgreens in Myrtle Beach only to be told the nearest one was 17 miles away, etc. So you can imagine our surprise when we passed one in just a few blocks. There was absolutely no record of the McDonalds or Walgreens that we had to find ourselves in the GPS data banks.
Summary
We had updated our software the day we received the unit and we still had problem after problem. I can't help but wonder if we didn't get a defective unit because of the sheer problems we had with route selection. However, I don't think Garmin has it together with Lane assist yet, so save your money and don't buy this feature. Maybe the traffic is useful elsewhere, but it was always wrong in Richmond. Clearly Garmin needs to update their store lists. Perhaps this type of thing is more useful in places like NY city, but you'll be on your own in places like Myrtle Beach. As you might guess, we returned this unit as soon as we returned from our trip.
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