» Garmin Nuvi 710, 750, 760 and 770 GPS Auto Navigation Review

The Garmin Nuvi 700 series has 4 models with mostly identical features.
Some of the notable common features of the Nuvi 700 models include:

• in-built GPS antenna rather than patch antenna,
• a large 4.8 inch TFT widescreen,
• text to speech (except 710),
• Bluetooth hands free calling (except 750),
• mp3 player,
• audio book player,
• picture viewer,
• world travel clock, currency & measurement converter, calculator,
• Garmin Lock (anti-theft),
• preloaded maps for immediate use, solid state internal memory and
• SD card adapter for storing and loading new maps, music and image files.

Garmin Nuvi 700s WQVGA TFT Touchscreen

The Consumer Electronics Association’s recent report, GPS- Exploring Ownership and Interest, revealed that ease of use and display quality strongly influenced owner satisfaction with a GPS device. The Garmin Nuvi 700 models all share a quality 4.8 inch, 64K, color, TFT touchscreen display with WQVGA resolution (480 x 272 pixels). Visual navigation instructions and menus are much easier to see while driving.

Maps can be viewed in both 2D and 3D. All navigational controls are accessed through the touchscreen - apart from the on/off switch and rotary volume control knob. The success of iPhones finger touch operated touchscreen demonstrates how much users like this type of interface.

Operation and GPS Maps

All Nuvi 700 GPS : navigators come ready to use with preloaded map data.

• Nuvi 710 : UK+Ireland, Benelux, Italy+Greece, Spain+Portugal, Alps, DACH+CZ, France, Nordics, Arabic, Eastern Europe
• Nuvi 750 : North America, UK+Ireland, Nordics, Benelux, France, Italy+Greece, Spain+Portugal, Alps, DACH+CZ, France, Nordics, Arabic, Eastern Europe
• Nuvi 760 : North America, New Zealand, Taiwan, China, Europe, Australia, UK, France
• Nuvi 770 : North America, Europe

Entering a destination can be by typing in the address or selecting a POI (point of interest). The Nuvi 700’s POI database contains some six million points of interest including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, attractions, entertainment, shopping, emergency services, post offices, camp grounds, movie theatres and ATMs. The European versions can come with a preloaded safety camera database containing the location of safety cameras for parts of Europe.

All the Nuvi models except the 710 have text-to-speech capability enabling them to pronounce street names rather than simply giving turn left or turn right instructions giving confirmation you are on the correct path without looking at the navigation display.

The search facility allows users to search for addresses and points of interest (POI) and upload their own POIs. A useful selectable feature is a proximity alert which notifies the driver of upcoming custom POIs. Up to 500 waypoints with name and graphic symbol can be entered. Software features include a trip computer, re-settable odometer, timers, average and maximum speed outputs.

If you want to plan your route while out of the car, the three Nuvi models have an internal lithium-ion battery providing up to a 5 hours use. All units come with an AC charger and a 12-volt power adapter for in-car recharging.

SiRF Star III GPS Receiver Chip

A SiRF Star III receiver chipset provides the GPS capability for all Garmin Nuvi 700 models. The SiRF Star III chipset is a WAAS enabled for improved accuracy however, its inherent accuracy makes the WAAS enabling less important. Accuracy for the SiRF Star III is 2.0m for position and with 0.01m/s for velocity accuracy. Hot and warm autonomous times to first fix (TTFF) are less than 1s and less than 35s respectively.

The SiRFstarIIITM architecture will be providing GPS-based positioning for products based on the new Intel Ultra Mobile Platform 2007. The Ultra Mobile Device reference design will offer manufacturers of mobile devices in consumer electronics, wireless, automotive and computer industry a comprehensive, turnkey, location-enabled solution they can employ to drive down the cost and speed the development of next generation location-aware ultra mobile devices.

Multimedia Capabilities

All of the Garmin Nuvi 700 models have multimedia entertainment capabilities including an MP3 player, Audible Book Player and Picture Viewer. The MP3 player has some useful menus enabling users to see album art and browse music by the artist, album, song or genre. Music can be dragged-and-dropped from the SD card. It is possible to wire your Garmin Nuvi into your car sound system using an audio output jack and enjoy larger speakers and surround sound. The Audible book player comes with a subscription to Audible.com from where you can download from their library of some 35,000 books.

Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Bluetooth wireless technology enabled cellular phones can be combined with the Garmin Nuvi 700 models (except 750) for safe hands-free mobile phone use while keeping ones eyes fixed on the road. Incoming phone calls are displayed and tapping the touch screen accepts the call. All other audio is automatically muted during phone calls. Calls can be made using the nuvi’s touchscreen keypad if required. A handy convenience is being able to access phone numbers associated with the POI making it simple to call ahead.

Garmin Lock

Garmin Lock is an anti-theft feature included with all Garnin Nuvi 700 models. The navigation unit is disabled until a specific 4-digit PIN is entered. You can also drive to an unlock location where it will unlock without a PIN code.

Comparison of Different Garmin Nuvi Auto GPS Series

• 200 series (200, 250, 260 and 270) - entry level series which is light on the budget with a basic 3.5 inch screen QVGA (320 x 240 pixels). Series features integrated antenna. No multimedia features or Bluetooth.
• 200W series (200W and 250W) – W is for widescreen with a step up from the 200 series to a 4.3 inch WQVGA (480 x 272 pixels) widescreen. No multimedia features or Bluetooth.
• 300 series (300, 310, 350, 360 and 370) - 3.5 inch screen in common with 200 series Multimedia playback and Bluetooth features available.
• 600 series (600,610,650,660,670 and 680) - Step up in screen size and resolution from 300 series to 4.3 inch WQVGA Flip up patch antenna
• 700 series (710, 750, 760 and 770) Latest series with most features and 4.8 inch WQVGA screen. More extensive route planning features. Series features integrated antenna and sleeker, thinner design than the Nuvi 600 series. All have integrated FM transmitter and are Traffic ready. All come MSN Direct compatible.

Customer Reviews and Price Comparisons Garmin nuvi 710, 750, 760 and 770 Vehicle GPS

All models have excellent ratings and reviews from customers and reviews on Amazon. The nuvi 760 has bestseller status. Read the hands on user reviews and get the prices for

Garmin nüvi 770 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator

Garmin nüvi 760 Portable GPS Automobile Navigator

Garmin nüvi 750 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

Check the excellent prices and customer reviews at TheNerds.net for

GPS, NUVI 770, CITY NAV N. AMERICA

GPS, NUVI 760, CITY NAV N. AMERICA

GPS, NUVI 750, CITY NAV. N. AMERICA

Check Buy.com for a price and user reviews on the

Garmin nuvi 770 Portable GPS System w/ Preloaded Maps

Garmini nuvi 760 Portable GP System w/ Preloaded Maps

Garmin nuvi 750 Portable GPS System w/ Preloaded Maps

Have a look at the competitive prices from Butterfly Photo for

Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS Vehicle Navigator 0100065710

Resources

Garmin’s nuvi 770 scooped the Engadget readers and editors choice awards for the 2007 GPS Device of the Year.

Garmin provide an extensive FAQ database for their GPS products.

You can compare the Garmin nuvi models using Garmin’s comparison database which provides side by side comparisons with highlighted differences.

The nuvi 700 series owners manual (PDF).

Custom Search

Specification for Garmin Nuvi 710, Nuvi 750, Nuvi 760 and Nuvi 770 GPS Auto Navigators

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