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Garmin Nuvi 780 Best Prices!.
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This is my first automobile GPS, and I did a lot of research before settling on the Garmin 780. I live in the Washington DC Metro set, 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 spend. 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 critical satellites in unprejudiced a few minutes when first activated, and does so in less than a petite for subsequent activations. I found the hide brightness to be elegant 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 situation, 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 notice of a GPS gradual. Very cold. The 780 easily fits in a shirt pocket, so it’s not significant to leave it in the car.
I tested the 780 immediately by driving during run hour to a status across the river in a tangle of park roads off of the beaten track, then returning at night. The Garmin had no pains creating a very mercurial route to the destination that bypassed most of the heavy traffic during run hour. On my return, I bypassed a turn on its preferred routing. It recalculated a unusual route in less than a second which was the true factual acknowledge. The current route wasn’t a recapture of the new route, which wasn’t possible from that situation, but an entirely original 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 hasten hour. DC is a notoriously difficult position 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. Convey notifications led upcoming turns by an adequate amount, and the vow prompts always helped me win into the true lanes in plenty of time for upcoming turns. During a particularly tricky fraction 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 good forks and turns. I was quite impressed.
The Bluetooth paired fast with my Motorola Razr V3. It even provided its PIN code at the appropriate time. The phone functions work astronomical 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 way and it garnered the same comments. The Garmin’s on-screen phone cues beget hands-free easy.
Activation of the MSN Reveal service was simple over the Bag. On initial activation of your free 3 month trial, they offer a 6-month extension for $9.95 which gets you to 9 months of service total for less than $10–a very first-rate deal. MSN Whisper information took a while to load the initial information, but then it said that in the Fleet Open pamphlet. Once loaded, the traffic, weather, and news worked immense. Gas prices were gradual by several days, which is an eternity these days. My celebrated (and cheapest) state wasn’t listed.
Overall, I’m very tickled with the 780. I’ll be working it out heavily in the coming weeks, including on a road swagger to another city with MSN Screech service. I can’t fill that I waited this long to rob the tumble to a GPS method for my car. Even though I’m a master with maps, the Garmin suggested a clever routing that I did not previously search for on my possess. From what I’ve seen so far, the 780 will be a highly valued addition to my road warrior kit bag. I can recommend the 780 without reservation.
I purchased a Sony NAVU-83T, a Garmin 680, and a Garmin 780 to compare their features and routing capability. I kept the 780 and returned the others, but it was a very difficult decision.
The Sony unit [...] at Costco, and has a 4.8″ mask (1/2″ larger!) . It has one of the best user interfaces on the market, primarily due to a few things: 1) you can always rep support to the procedure by pressing one button, regardless of where you are, 2) you can always acquire to the main menu by pressing one button, regardless of where you are in the menus, 3) it has a split mask function that gives you lane guidance visually so that you know which lane to procure into, well before the turn, 4) it has shortcuts, for instance to GO HOME you earn a V shape on the conceal 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 extinct roads for no apparent reason, and would not recall me down roads that were shown on the device and clearly the shortest route. Last of all, the Sony took forever to win a satellite fix once turned on. And the Sony mount was soooo very chilly and useful! For $249 you got the frigid mount and a nice carrying case. I did not net a chance to expend the TMC traffic service.
The Garmin 680 ($349 at Costco) was a gorgeous plan, with very rapid and upright routing. It found points of interest rapid and accurately (the Sony often could not score 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 Impart is VERY handy and I expend it every day for weather, news, fuel costs, and movie listings.
2. Very lickety-split route calculations.
3. I have never looked for a POI that was not demonstrate.
4. The tour routes that you can download (for about $12 each) are cold. You can select 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 salvage rest areas on interstates. The Sony could NOT do this, which is annoying when you are trying to figure out if you should terminate at a gas state or wait for a rest dwelling when you have three kids in the car on long perambulate.
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 contemplate!
Bad Points of the Garmin 780:
1. If I go into the menu system, I can go 7 or 8 layers deep to procure to what I want to do. To acquire abet to the contrivance, I have to sustain pushing the “Assist” button, up to 8 times in a row, to glean befriend to the method. Expressionless!
2. If I go into a menu item and resolve I’m done, but don’t want to push “Succor” over and over, the unit stays on the menu or submenu cloak forever.
3. It would seem that on a unit this expensive it could give you lane guidance. The Sony does. The Tom Tom does. Why can’t this unit, at almost double the cost?
4. When you turn off the car the unit asks if it should quit on or turn off. If you don’t retort, it turns off in 30 seconds. For people who are making deliveries, or running errands, this is a genuine harm. It would be nice to allow you to configure this once to situation how long it should wait before turning the unit off (options like 1 microscopic, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for instance) . This would allow you to accelerate into Kinkos and relieve out again without having to wait for the unit to turn wait on on, find a satellite bearing, and then finally come by to its blueprint to yelp you where to go next. Simple software change!
5. It would be nice to have the unit begin up on the same shroud where you left off. If you were on the way cover, then it should return to the intention mask. If on the weather hide, then return to the weather. I like to sustain it on the weather, but I have to hit about 6 different buttons every time I turn the unit on to salvage to the weather! Simple software change!
6. Most GPS units even at half this cost allow you to Spy your urge, direction, and target’s relative direction while on the main way veil. This unit requires you to go to a dashboard shroud to explain you this information….so you have to decide the way or the dashboard to idea. 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 explain the satellite signals/connectivity. ALL units have this, even though it is objective for fun.
8. For $500 the Garmin should include a carry case for the unit. They sell it cramped size, light weight, and its “ability to know where you were when you engage it out of the cradle, to support you secure your car later”, and yet don’t give you blueprint to carry it around safely. Impartial about every unit on the market, starting at the $149 units, include a case!
9. The 780 does NOT include an owners manual. You have to go online to idea the manual, at garmin.com. Garmin may be surprised to know that not everyone has the internet (50% of homes don’t) . Although not perfect, the Sony included a fairly comprehensive open up guide and a CD based owners manual.
10. The note looks like a cartoon movie, and that causes a lack of detail. The Sony displayed a very concise procedure where you could actually identify road splits, acceleration lanes, etc.
11. There is no ability to display POIs on the plot. You can route to one, but you can’t unprejudiced expose them. The Sony allowed you to buy which POIs to reveal, and it actually showed you tiny BP, Shell, Cracker Barrel, etc. logos on the method so that you could know well ahead of time which POIs were approach you.
12. Many units sigh 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 announce you which map to turn until you collect within about 2/10 of a mile. So on most multi-lane roads I net myself staying in the middle lane as I bag finish so that I can go either device. It should warn you which procedure you will be turning at least a few miles in arrive! As soon as you accumulate onto any road the Sony tells you that your next turn is “LEFT 123 MILES”, and it is always displayed on the main arrangement. Handy. Simple software change!
I like the unit, but I only give it 3 stars because of its imprint, its lack of current sense features, and lack of “in the box” aid. It’s strong points are posthaste, just routing and MSN inform.
I did a lot of research before I changed from my used Garmin c340. I deem I made an sterling choice, this GPS has everything and more. I was fresh 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 satisfied again, with the addition of news, stocks and events for the MSN squawk 2 version is ample. I read the news once in a while is honest a tiresome summary of what is happening not worthy with no pictures or anything but hey at least it gives you something else on the GPS to do. I win the mp3 functionality sizable the sound is loud enough unbiased don’t attach it all the blueprint to 100% volume because you’ll hear static. The FM transmitter is one of the best I found on a GPS and the narrate feature is tremendous I even place it in my room as an LCD hide for pictures hehehe. This GPS gives you all the directions you need fair true, MSN traffic needs to improve on this, its usually delayed most of the time it tells me traffic is there but then I procure no traffic why? I don’t know but I can say that is probably 80% factual on other traffic updates. I really like this product and I am more than gratified 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 apt, nice looking, rapidly GPS signal, substantial feature GPS find this one, I recommend it.
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