Electronics : Garmin nüvi 760 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Automobile Navigator

Rating: - Pretty Good...but not Great
I have used this on 2 trips so far...and both times it had problems. Perhaps I need to get the latest maps. On one trip...it took me down a deadend street...thinking it was a thru street. The second time...the directions weren't very clear...as I was to merge instead of turn left.

Other than that...the unit has performed well...I would recommend this to any one considering a GPS unit.

---

Rating: - We love this GPS, except....
I bought this GPS system for my husband for Father's Day from Costco ($[...]). The GPS system is awesome no complaints about it, we have used it to find places in our small area and take it with us on vacation to other states.
The only disapointment I have is the clarity of the phone/speaker while using the bluetooth. Which happens to be the why reason I bougth this model.
If the clarity was better I would have given this GPS system 5 stars without an after thought.

---

Rating: - Nuvi 760 and 660 - some thoughts
I got the Nuvi 760 from a TD Ameritrade promotion. Originally the promotion was for the 660 but they ran out and sent me the 760 instead. My brother got the 660 on the same promotion and I've played around with both units. The 660 comes with a case and an a/c adapter whereas the 760 does not. The 660 has the flip up antenna where the 760 doesn't. On the 660 you can quick press the power switch and it'll have a little menu where you can change the volume and brightness, which is nice. I think on the 760 you have to go through some of the menus. The 760 does have a "trip log" where when it's enabled, will show you where you have gone (your route). I don't think the 660 has that.

The most annoying thing with 760 though is even when I'm not moving, it sometimes "jitters". My car would show suddenly then it's turning or jump a little. The speed would also go from 0 to 4 mph (again, I'm not moving). And if you have that "trip log" display on after a while you can see all these scribble lines around your stationary location. I called Garmin and they said this was more or less "normal" behavior on the 760. The technical support guy I spoke to said the 760 doesn't have WAAS so it's a little less accurate than the 660 (if that's enabled on a 660), but they thought that that sort of accuracy wasn't really needed in this type of product (plus it takes a bit more power). I tried all the resets and stuff and have updated to the latest firmware but it still does the "jitter" stuff at times. On the 660, if I wasn't moving, it wasn't moving and the speed was always at 0 mph (as it should be). (I even had them both in the car at the same time).

We used the 760 on a recent trip to Sea World in San Diego and as we were going south on the 5 and at times it thought we were on the side street and kept trying to recalculate how to get to Sea World. It was so annoying I had to turn off the sound. I did the big reset after that, and I haven't used it on any trip since then, so I don't know if the reset really helped (I was holding the unit in the backseat while someone else was driving).

One other thing, on the 660 and other Garmin units I've seen you can bring up a display of the satellites. I couldn't find how to do this on the 760 but it seems that's probably been removed (how useful is a satellite map anyway?).

---

Rating: - Garmin 760 GPS : a work in progress
This Garmin 760 was purchased late August 2008 and used on a trip to Colorado. Like any GPS this is an amazing device. One of the favorable features of this unit is it's bright screen and that's one of the reasons we chose it. However there were major disappointments : its definitely a work in progress.
First the Quick Start Manual is severely inadequate : 8 small pages. Why should a purchaser of this expensive device have to tediously download and print the full manual ? Even the full manual leaves something to be desired. Neither manual explains how to plug the power cord into the cradle. The arrow on the power cord plug should face forward, ie the front of your vehicle, away from you. This is not entirely intuitive. We deduced this from the tiny screws on the back of the plug, just visible in the illustrations. One can increase the memory of the device by adding an "SD card". The manual says nothing more about this. Limits on the size of this card or compatable/incompatable cards are not mentioned. POI (points of interest) is not in either the index or table of contents. This important topic is briefly mentioned on two pages, almost as an afterthought. More about POIs later.
First thing we noted using the Garmin was that it does not seem to recognize turnarounds. We were on the access road of an expressway and were passing the entered
address on the access road on the other side. We came to a turnaround, but the Garmin said to go to the intersection at the corner, turn left under the expressway at the light and turn left again. The magenta route did not show the turnaround. This highway, and I assume the turnaround, has been there at least 20 years.
In marking via points a great frustration is that the GPS device must have a street address entered. We were going from Amarillo to Denver. The Garmin chose a route via Raton and I-25. We prefer to travel through the plains via Lamar and Limon. Entering the names of these cities is not enough. One must enter an exact address. Of course we don't have a street address in either city, just want to go that way. This was a recurrent frustration - perhaps we don't fully understand how to use it.
In Boulder, CO we wanted a Target department store. Entered "Target" for a POI and the Garmin 760 directed us to one in Louisville, 5 miles away. Our daughter-in-law said there was one in Boulder a few blocks away. Sure enough, parked in its lot. Re-entered "Target" parked 200 feet from the Boulder Target. Again the Garmin directed us to the one in Louisville. Went into the store and asked at Customer Service how long that Boulder store had been there. Two employees both said a long time, at least 10 years. We have little confidence in this Garmin finding points of interest.
Outside of Salida, CO we visited friends. The Garmin could not find their address. Admittedly its fairly new but the Garmin seemed unable to recognize the road, although that has been there a while. This is one of my disappointments in these devices and I suspect its not unique to the Garmin. Ideally one should enter the address from most significant to least significant data :
ie. state, city, street, house number. However the Garmin requires the house number ( least significant ) before the street, and won't find the street if you don't have a valid number, or one in its stored data.
Returning home from Salida down route 50 to route 69 there is a shortcut 1A at Cotopaxi. This is a good road and goes south from Cotopaxi to route 69. The Garmin failed to recognize this. After we turned south on it the Garmin kept telling us to turn back. Some ot the roads it told us to turn on looked like dirt roads.
A dangerous thing happened returning to our son's home in Boulder. In the city we missed a turn. The Garmin rapidly recalculated and almost immediately told us to "take the next ramp". I did so and saw a sign " Cars Prohibited ".
It was a ramp into the bus terminal. Luckily there were no buses coming out or in.
Finally I had an accident. Parked in the busy parking lot of a supermarket in Boulder I set the Garmin to get us back to our son's home. The GPS started talking urging us to get back to the magenta route. I looked at the screen trying to orient myself to the exits and surrounding streets. I backed out into another vehicle.
It was my fault. Please do not be distracted by these GPS devices. One of any make can distract you. I'm not blaming Garmin for this. Avoiding a glance at the screen is not enough. Shut the device off, and its persistent voice, until you are out of traffic.
Although I gave this Garmin only 2 stars, it's probably no better or worse than units of other manufacture. I suspect they're all a work in progress.

---

Rating: - Garmin nüvi 760 Portable GPS Automobile
Very happy with the unit. Works extremely well and easy to read since it has a large than normal screen. Would recommend it to my friends to purchase. Has the ability to upgrade software and maps using the interface thru internet.