Figure 32: Entering the State

The nuvi 760's address entry system is slightly different from previous nuvi models. For example, unlike previous nuvis, which prompt you to enter the State first, the nuvi 760 defaults to the State you are currently located in and asks for the city name first.

For example, as figure 32 shows, I am currently in Connecticut, so the nuvi automatically chooses Connecticut as the State, and only appears to be asking for the name of the city I want to drive to.

If your destination address is in a State other than your current location, you'll need to tap on "Change State/Province", as shown in figure 32.

Figure 33: Entering the State Name

After tapping on "Change State/Province", as shown in figure 32, the nuvi 760 asks us to enter the name of the State or province our destination address is in.

Spelling the State is straight forward; using the on-screen keyboard to spell out the city name until the nuvi has enough letters entered that it can narrow the results list to just a few, nuvi automatically produces a list of possible matching States to choose from.

Figure 34: Recently Found States/Provinces

A handy shortcut on the State/Province entry page: tapping on the folder icon in the upper left corner, as shown above in figure 34, displays a list of the 5 most recently found State names.

Figure 35: Choosing a State Name From the Results List

I'm entering a destination address in New York State, so I type out N-E-W-space, and the nuvi automatically produces a short list of matching States (just one, in this case) to choose from. I tap on "New York" and continue on to the next step.

The nuvi 760 is zippy and responsive, allowing me to enter the city name as quickly as I can type, without any annoying delays or sluggishness.

However, I did find myself wishing that the text entry system were more like Magellan's QuickSpell system, which dims out invalid letters as you type, only allowing you to press keys that would spell a valid city name. TomTom also has a similar text entry system. These systems reduce the likelihood of misspellings and make text entry generally easier and faster.

Figure 36: Entering A City Name

Now that the nuvi 760 knows we'll be entering an address in New York State, we're ready to tell the GPS what city our destination address is in.

If you know the name of the city your destination address is located in, tap on "Spell City" to enter the name. If you're not sure what city the destination address is in, tapping "Search All" lets you search the entire State.

I'll tap on "Spell City" to continue.

Figure 37: Spelling the City Name

Entering the city name is identical to the process for entering the State name; once enough letters have been entered the nuvi automatically produces a list of results.

Also, just like the State entry screen, tapping on the folder icon in the upper left corner displays a short list of recently found city names.

Figure 38: Selecting the City

After tapping M-a-n on the keyboard, nuvi produces the results list, shown above. I'll tap "Manhattan, NY" to continue. Note that nuvi would have either "New York" or "Manhattan" as valid city names.

Figure 39: Entering the House/Building Number

Like most GPS units, the nuvi 760 asks you for the house number before the street name, which many people find confusing at first.

Some other GPS units allow you to specify the order in which you want to enter address information, although the nuvi does not allow the order to be changed.

One downside of entering the house number before the street name is that the nuvi cannot list the valid range of house numbers on a given street, as Magellan's GPS units do. For example, if you're trying to get to a house on "South Main Street", Magellan's GPS units will ask for the street name first, then show you the valid range of houses along South Main Street, allowing you to pick a house number even if you're not sure of the exact address.

Figure 40: Entering the Street Name

The final step in entering the destination address is the street name. In this test I'm entering an address on "Central Park West" in New York City, so I start to spell out C-E-N-T-R-A-L...This is the step that sometimes causes confusion among first-time GPS users. When entering a street name, you only enter the main portion of the street name, and allow the GPS to search for possible matches.

For example, if you are looking for "North Main" street, you would only enter "Main" as the search criteria, and the GPS would product a list of matching street names, such as "South Main Street" and "North Main Street".

Note that tapping on the folder icon in the upper left corner displays a list of recently used street names.

Figure 41: Selecting the Street

After inputting C-e-n-t-r-a-l p-a-r-k w", nuvi presents the results list shown above. I tap on "Central Park W" to continue.

Figure 42: Address Confirmation Screen

With the address successfully entered into the nuvi, I can now either view the address on the map (Show Map), save it to my address book (Save), or route to it by pressing the large green Go! button.

Figure 43: Viewing the Destination Address on the Map

Tapping on "Show Map" in the previous menu displays the destination address on the map. This is a nice feature as it allows you to see what the streets will look like at the destination address before you start navigating.

Figure 44: Navigating to the Destination Address

Tap on the green "Go!" button and the nuvi starts routing to the destination address.

7. Automatic Map Scaling

Figure 45: Garmin nuvi's Automatic Map Scaling Feature

As you approach an upcoming maneuver, the nuvi 760 automatically adjusts the scale, zooming in closer as the turn approaches. Once you've successfully made the turn, the map automatically zooms back out to show more distance.

Take a look at the two map screens shown above in figure 45. Notice that the nuvi has automatically zoomed the map to a street-level view in order to clearly illustrate the next turn. Having completed the maneuver, the next turn isn't for another 4 miles, so the nuvi slowly zooms back out to show more of the map, as shown in the map on the right side in figure 45.

Automatic map scaling works well on the nuvi 760. Scale adjustments are made smoothly over a few seconds and feel transparent, and the zooming in and out seems logical as you drive.

8. Finding A Restaurant

Figure 46: Searching for a Point of Interest

In GPS speak, a "Point of Interest" is a business address saved on the GPS. You can think of the POI database as a pre-loaded yellow pages. Most modern GPS devices come pre-loaded with a Points of Interest database, allowing you to find nearby businesses, such as restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and more.

Like all other Garmin nuvis, the 760 ships with around 6 million POIs pre-loaded onto the unit (Magellan's highest-end GPS units only have 4.5 millions POIs, so 6 million is a respectable number). The accuracy of the Points of Interest (POI) database has been helped by Garmin's new 2007 mapping data. I found many new POIs in my area using the nuvi 760 new mapping data that my older nuvi 680 could not find.

To search for a "Point of Interest", tap on Where to? -> Points of Interest, as shown above in figure 46.

Searching the pre-loaded POI database is a simple affair, requiring a few screen taps to choose a category (i.e. Restaurant), sub-category if appropriate (i.e. Restaurant -> Chinese), and how far away you want to search.

Figure 47: Selecting the Search Category and Proximity

In this example we'll be searching for a restaurant, so I'll tap on Food from this menu. The following POI categories are available to choose:

• Food
• Fuel
• Transit
• Lodging
• Shopping
• Bank/ATM
• Parking
• Entertainment
• Recreation
• Attractions
• Hospitals
• Community
• Auto Services

If you're not sure what category a given business would be found under, but know the name of the place you're searching for, tapping on "Spell Name" allows you to search all POI categories at once for a specific name. However, in my testing I found searching all POI categories extremely slow. In some cases I gave up after a few minutes, assuming the search would never finish. You're better off searching within a particular POI category rather than searching all categories. Hopefully Garmin will address this issue in subsequent software updates.

Figure 48: Telling the nuvi Where to Search

By default the nuvi 760 searches for Points of Interest (POIs) close to your current location. If you want to search for a business near a specific address, along your planned route, or near your destination address, tap "Near..." (shown in figure 47) to access the "Search Near..." screen, shown above:

• Where I Am Now - Searches for businesses close to your current location
• A Different City - Searches for businesses in a city (you will be prompted to enter the city name)
• My Current Route - Searches for businesses along your current planned route (you must be navigating to a destination for this option to be selectable)
• My Destination - Searches for businesses near your destination address (you must be navigating to a destination for this option to be selectable)

Figure 49: Setting the POI Sub-Category

Some POI categories have sub-categories. For example, if you choose "Food" as the main category, the nuvi 760 asks if you also want to enter a sub-category (in this case, a food cuisine type). If we wanted to find the closest Mexican restaurant, for example, we could choose Mexican as the sub-category, and the nuvi would limit the results to just Mexican restaurants.

If you don't want to narrow the results by cuisine, choose "All Food" to list all restaurants.

Figure 50: Viewing the POI Search Results

The POI search results list displays each restaurant in order of closeness to our current location, along with the exact street address, distance, and direction indicator.

Figure 51: POI Details Page

Tapping on a POI in the search results list (figure 50) displays the details page for that particular POI (figure 51). This screen displays the POI's exact address, and phone number (which can be dialed via the hands-free speakerphone once a Bluetooth enabled cell phone is paired with the nuvi 760).

This screen also lets you view the POI on the map before navigating to the address (Show Map), save the POI to the address book (Save), or begin routing to the business by tapping on the large green "Go!" button.