15. Adding a Stop, or Via, to the Current Trip

Figure 72: Adding a Stop Along the Route

Search for a destination while already en route to a destination address and the nuvi 760 will ask whether you want to use this as a new destination address, or if you want to continue to your original destination by way of the new address.

Note that you can only insert one additional stop along a current route. If you want to plan a trip with more than one stop, use a Route instead.

16. Canceling the Route

Figure 73: Canceling the Route

Tapping on the Menu button while navigating to an address brings up the Main Menu, shown above in figure 73. From here, you can stop routing to the destination by tapping on Stop, or detour around a problem area by (such as a traffic jam or closed road) by tapping on Detour.

Including the Stop button is a nice feature. I've tested a lot of GPS devices and have found that canceling a route can be a surprisingly difficult task. For example, TomTom's GPS units don't have any way to cancel the route (you can make it appear by switching the TomTom to "Advanced" mode, but under the default menu there's simply no way to cancel the current route).

In my testing I found the detour function worked adequately, although you don't get any options for how far you want to avoid the current problem, choose from a list of alternate routes, or exclude specific roads from the trip, but it does provide a quick, easy way to get off the current road if you run into a problem.

17. Saving Your Current Location

Figure 74: Where Am I / Save Current Location Screen

Tapping on the vehicle icon on the map screen brings up Garmin's updated "Where Am I" screen, shown above in figure 74. This is a fantastic feature that provides one-touch access to your current street address (or closest street address), nearest intersection, and exact coordinates.

Garmin's well designed location screen also provides one-touch access to nearby hospitals, police stations, and gas stations.

Saving your current location adds the current position to the nuvi's Address Book, and allows you to name the location.

18. Garmin's Updated Maps

Figure 75: Garmin's City Navigator North America NT 2008 Maps

Garmin's nuvi 760 ships pre-loaded with Garmin's newest maps, City Navigator North America NT 2008.

One of the benefits of being a large company like Garmin, is that the company does a much better job releasing updated maps annually than most other vendors. For example, Magellan hasn't released updated maps for most of their GPS models in years, and TomTom has only released one update in the past 2.5 years.

Unfortunately, Garmin's map updates aren't free, and typically cost around $65 for updated North American maps. Still, at least the updated maps are available on a regular basis - a claim no other GPS manufacturer can currently make.

19. Custom Vehicle Icons

Figure 76: Custom Vehicle Icons Can Be Downloaded Via Garmin.com

One of the more entertaining features of Garmin's nuvi 760 (and all other nuvi models) is the ability to download and install custom vehicle icons. Garmin's library of free, downloadable vehicle icons are available at www.garmin.com/vehicles.

Garmin frequently adds new vehicles to the library, so if you're into these icons you might want to check back every few months for new icons.

Figure 77: Changing the Vehicle Icon Displayed on the Map

Once you've downloaded the vehicle icons from Garmin's website, you'll want to unzip the files, connect the nuvi to your PC, and then copy the new vehicle icons into the Garmin/vehicle folder on your nuvi.

One you've copied over the new vehicles, the icon that represents your vehicle on the map can be changed to one of the new downloaded icons by tapping on Main Menu > Tools (wrench) > Settings > Map > Change...

Figure 78: Custom Vehicle Icons

As you browse the various installed vehicle icons, the nuvi displays the new icon on the map so you can see how it will look. Figure 78, above, shows the "Station Wagon" and "RV" vehicle icons.

Figure 79: Custom Vehicle Icons

Prefer to see yourself on 2 wheels? The motorcycle vehicle icon is for you.

20. Routing Engine Performance

All the bells and whistles aside, what really matters on any GPS is the quality of the maps, and how well the GPS figures out how to get from point A to B..

The single most common complaint I hear is "the GPS took me on a crazy route that I would never have chosen", and "that definitely was not the best/shortest way."

Arguably the most critical components of any turn-by-turn GPS navigation system are the routing engine and map accuracy. The routing engine is the software on a GPS that decides which route the unit should choose to get from point A to point B. Many people falsely assume that simply having the same maps on two GPS devices will result in the same routing choices. Not so, as there is a great deal of math and decision-making involved when calculating the "best" route.

Not surprisingly, this also one of the most difficult and complex aspects for GPS manufacturers to get right, and is the aspect of GPS navigation that is least well understood by consumers. In fact, routing engine quality should be at the top of any GPS buyer's checklist.

The two largest mapping data providers are NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas . NAVTEQ is generally considered more accurate and complete in North America, so it's preferable to buy a GPS that uses NAVTEQ rather than Tele Atlas (as of this writing). (for more detailed information on both NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas, check out "NAVTEQ vs. Tele Atlas, Which one is Better?")

However, there is a lot more to a routing engine than just the mapping data provider. How a given GPS will determine the "best" route is the result of not only the mapping data, but also how many additional data points, or attributes, are factored into the equation. For example, are certain roads closed after hours or on the weekend? What is the average rate of speed for a given road? Statistically speaking, more accidents happen when making left turns as opposed to right turns -- is the GPS unit factoring that into the route? Each company takes all this data and compiles it in different ways, making unique decisions about what data is more important than others. The number of attributes used varies depending on how much money the manufacturer is willing to spend on their mapping data. For example, a full NAVTEQ map database that includes all available attributes can cost the manufacturer twice as much as a basic set of attributes.

All Magellan and Garmin GPS units use NAVTEQ mapping data, while TomTom uses Tele Atlas.

To test the Garmin nuvi 760's routing engine, I entered three different trips of varying distance in three different regions of the United States and compared the nuvi's results to a Magellan Maestro 4050 (Magellan's highest end model) and a TomTom GO 720. It's the battle of the wide-screen GPS units!

Our first test took us along the Northeast, starting in Southbury, CT and ending in New York City:

ROUTING TEST #1
WINNER: Garmin nuvi 760
Start: 14 Oak Tree Road, Southbury CT. Destination: 135 Central Park West, NY, NY
Magellan Maestro 4050	Garmin nuvi 760	TomTom GO 720
►0.1mi Main St S ►0.1mi US-6/Main St N ►0.1mi W I-84 ▲14mi W I-84 ►4.1mi W I-84 ►6.6mi Exit 20/White Plains/I-684/NYC ◄0.1mi White Plains/I-684/NYC ▲10mi South I-684 ◄16mi South I-684 ◄9.1mi W Cross County Pkwy ▲2.4mi W Cross County Pkwy ▲0.3mi W Cross County Pkwy ◄2.1mi Exit 2/NYC/Saw Mill ◄0.2mi Saw Mill River Pkwy South ►2.0mi S Rt-9a/Henry Hudson Pkwy ►10mi Exit 79 St 0.1 Roundabout W.79 St ►0.3mi Broadway ◄0.3mi W. 74 St ►0.4mi Central Park W * 0.1mi Arrive at 135 Central Park West	►300ft Main St S ►300ft Main St N ►0.1mi Keep right onto I-84 W to Danbury ◄14mi Keep left on I-84 I-84 W ▲4.1mi Keep right onto I-84 W to NY State ►6.5 Exit 20 right to I-684 to New York City/White Plains ◄0.1mi Keep left onto I-684 to New York City/White Plains ▲28mi Exit 1 left to Hutchinson Pkwy to Whitestone Br ▲9.1mi Exit 15 left to Cross County Pkwy to George Washington Br ▲2.7mi Keep left on Cross County Pky W ▲2.0mi Exit 2 left to Saw Mill Pkwy South to New York City ▲0.2mi Keep left onto Saw Mill River Pkwy South ▲2.0mi Keep right onto Henry Hudson Pky South ►10mi Right to 79 St Boat Basin ►500ft Take roundabout to 3rd exit ►400ft 3rd exit to 79th St ►0.2mi Right on Broadway ◄0.3mi Left on 74th St ►0.4 Right on Central Park W ►120ft Arrive at 135 Central Park W on right	►40yd Main St S ►100yd Main St N (US 6) ►240yd 84 WB ◄14.1M Bear left onto 84 WB ►4.1M Bear right onto 84 WB ◄3.2M Bear left onto 84 WB ►3.4M Rt. 20 White Plains ◄250yd 684 SB ►10.9M Saw Mill Pkwy ▲0.55M Continue Saw Mill Pkwy ◄13.2M Bear left Yonkers ►4.7M 22 Thruway ◄250yd 87 SB ◄0.35M 87 SB ►16:5M 7 Trenton ◄400yd 95 SB to 1 ►0.50M 95 SB to 1 Lower Level ►0.55M H Hudson Pkwy ◄210yd 9A SB Downtown ►0.40M H Hudson Pkwy ►4.6M Exit Boat Basin ♦220yd - Roundabout W 79th St ►275yd Riverside Dr ◄0.35M W 72nd St ◄0.60M Central Park West ♦130yd - Arrive 135 Central Park W
Total: 80 miles / 1hr 29 minutes	80 miles / 1 hour 19 minutes	79.2 miles / 1 hour 30 minutes

Magellan's Maestro 4050, Garmin's nuvi 760, and TomTom's GO 720 all get us to our destination address, but the Garmin nuvi 760 chooses a slightly faster route, provides more detailed navigation instructions, and is also the only GPS to announce what side of the street our destination address is on.

TomTom's GO 720 faired the worst in this test, routing us in such a way that the destination address is actually on the left side of the street. We would then either have to make an illegal U-turn or go around the block to arrive at 135 Central Park West on our right. TomTom also has less detailed navigation prompts than the Magellan Maestro 4050. TomTom also uses yards instead of feet, which is less commonly used here in the Units States.

Yahoo! Maps (not shown in the table above) chooses a route identical to Garmin's route, but estimates the trip will take 3 minutes longer (1 hour 22 minutes) than Garmin estimates. Google Maps also chooses the same route as the Garmin nuvi.

So far Garmin's nuvi is in the lead in our routing battle. However, sometimes a GPS that routes perfectly well in one area can perform terribly in another region. Our first test used a trip that was approximately 80 miles in length and took us from Connecticut to New York City.