Garmin nuvi 760 Review (GPSmagazine.com)

39. Pros

Super bright screen is the brightest nuvi display to date (and possibly the brightest GPS display I've ever seen). Noticeably brighter than the nuvi 300 and 600-series nuvi models
Address entry system remembers recently used State, City, and Street names; a handy time saver when entering destination addresses
"Where Am I" feature provides one-touch access to your current location, as well as nearby hospitals, police, and gas stations
Best routing engine available (better than Magellan or TomTom)
Excellent Bluetooth compatibility (worked with everything I could find, including a Blackberry 8800 and Apple iPhone)
Well-designed cell phone integration via Bluetooth
MP3 playlist support
Ability to listen to MP3s or Audio Books while navigating
When listening to a song while navigating to a destination, nuvi pauses the song playback to announce navigation prompts, then resumes playback
When using hands-free calling while navigating to a destination, nuvi suppresses all audio navigation prompts
Menu items only appear when needed. For example, the telephone button only appears on the Main Menu if the nuvi is paired with a cell phone. Less clutter and simpler interface
Track log recording
Supports multi-destination routing with route optimization (ability to sort the locations by distance)
Includes everything needed to receive real-time traffic updates (comes with a 3-month free trial, then requires an $60/year subscription)
Speed limit information displayed on the map screen (when available)
Automatically stores the position where the nuvi was last undocked from the mount, creating a "where did I park the car?" waypoint you can use to walk back to your car
Garmin's WebUpdater software provides an easy way to keep the nuvi up-to-date with the latest firmware
Simplified interface is easier to use than the nuvi 600-series
Excellent windshield mount
Good text-to-speech delivers natural sounding text-to-speech (GPS announces actual street names)

40. Cons

New embedded antenna design less sensitive than previous fold-out patch antenna design
new virtual keyboard layout more cumbersome than previous version
Touch-screen not as sensitive as previous nuvis (you have to press a little too hard sometimes, which can be annoying when driving)
Underpowered FM Transmitter is all but useless in areas with a crowded radio dial
Searching POIs can take a long time if you search all categories
Favorites are sorted by distance only, and cannot be sorted alphabetically
Cumbersome to set the GPS into off-road or pedestrian modes
GPS Simulator mode only runs at 1x time. No way to accelerate the simulation (i.e. 2x, 3x, etc.)
Very basic Detour function
No way to exclude specific roads from a route

41. Conclusion

Garmin nuvi 760

After thoroughly testing the nuvi 760 for more than two weeks, it's clear that this is best nuvi yet. A new brighter screen, multi-destination routing with the ability to optimize (sort) the stops by distance, good Bluetooth integration, real time traffic, tracklog support, a new "Where Am I?" and "Where did I park?" feature, combined with Garmin's best of breed routing engine and unmatched ease of use makes the nuvi 760 an excellent choice for novice and power user alike.

At its core, the nuvi 760 is an outstanding navigator that continues Garmin's tradition of delivering top quality navigation in a simple, easy to use package. As an added bonus, the nuvi 760 includes a host of multimedia features that are well integrated into the navigation experience.

There's still room for improvement in Garmin's underpowered FM transmitter, and POI searches could be faster. Garmin has added many frequently-requested features to the nuvi 760, further enhancing the already popular nuvi product line. Conspicuously missing, however, is a route exclusion feature -- the ability to avoid specific roads or highways from a planned route. I also found the new on-screen keyboard design slightly more difficult to use than previous nuvis, as the keys are smaller.

The nuvi 760 is the best GPS on the market today, though not necessarily the best bargain; at around $800, the nuvi 760 is almost $250 more expensive than the nuvi 660, which delivers about 80% of the features of the 760. Still, if money is no object, and you're simply looking for the best GPS, or you've been waiting for a Garmin nuvi with multi-destination routing capabilities, the nuvi 760 is unbeatable in terms of quality, features, and ease of use.


Garmin nuvi 760	Garmin nuvi 265WT

Garmin nuvi 765T	Garmin nuvi 750
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October 31, 2007