Garmin Nuvi 705 series | Garmin Nuvi 755T, 765T, 775T, 785T – Widescreen, Lifetime TMC Traffic and 3-D Buildings

Garmin’s 705 series is the next evolution of the nuvi 700 series and includes four models (Garmin Nuvi 755T, 765T, 775T and 785T) with the T at the end signifying that they all have a traffic receiver. The slim, pocket-size design is common across the range fitting with their Travel Assistant designation by Garmin.

Garmin Nuvi 705 series

New features to the nuvi 705 series are Lane Assist (helpful lane guidance on junction views), Garmin’s HotFix satellite prediction (faster position determination), auto time zone transitioning, 3D Building views and lastly Garmin Connect Photos enabling photos to be used to visually work out your position. In their press releases, Garmin have highlighted the nüvi 705 series also features accelerated map-drawing and routing capabilities.

Differences in the Garmin nuvi 705 Models Summary

Garmin nuvi 755T – core features including North American Maps (City Navigator North America NT 2008).
Garmin nuvi 765T – All the features of the 755T with hands-free calling with Bluetooth wireless technology.
Garmin nuvi 775T – All the features of the 765T with the addition of preloaded transatlantic maps (City Navigator NT for North America and Europe – full coverage).
Garmin nuvi 785T – Same features as the 755T with MSN Traffic replacing TMC Traffic.

Widescreen 4.3 Inch Display

Being able to easily see navigation maps and instructions is top of GPS shopper’s lists and will get a tick for the Garmin 705 series 4.3 inch widescreen with 70% extra display area than a 3.5 inch screen. The display is anti-glare for easier viewing during the day and automatically changes its color profile for easy viewing at night or in dim light. Maps can be displayed in 2D or 3D perspective views. An added benefit with a larger touch screen is on-screen controls can be larger and wider spaced for easier use. The 3D Buildings feature is able to display buildings as either grey images or life-like representations of the actual property rising from the map providing another visual clue for determining your location.

Travel Assistant Features

Travel tools include; world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.

Automatic Time Zone Transition is a handy feature for regular travellers automatically resetting the GPS unit to the correct time zone once it has acquired a GPS satellite position fix.

Travel Guides and GarminSavers Guide can be loaded via SD card for detailed data on attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts.

Travel Guide - includes reviews and recommendations for restaurants, hotels, shopping, nightlife, sporting events and tourist attractions. Travel Guides for Europe and the United States (includes US, Canada and Mexico) is are available.
SaversGuide - gives over 45,000 discounts from participating FV Entertainment listed businesses throughout North America.

HotFix Satellite Prediciton

As well as having a fast, high-sensitivity (picks up signals in low GPS signal strength areas) receiver, the Garmin 705 models have Garmin’s HotFix capability which automatically calculates and stores satellite locations reducing satellite acquisition time. HotFix can predict satellite positions for up to 3 days after the device was last turned off.

Navigating with the Garmin Nuvi 705 Series GPS Navigators

Garmin provide numerous ways to enter your destination including searching for or entering an address, searching for or selecting a POI, using a favourite, selecting home or a geotagged photo (see below). It’s possible to set waypoints (Garmin refer to them as via points) and request a reroute while navigating your plotted route.

At any time it’s possible to find exactly where you are by tapping the GPS display. You can display your exact coordinates, nearest address and intersection as well as the closest.

If you often have trouble finding where you parked your car then you will appreciate the nuvi 705’s feature which remembers the position where it is removed from it’s mount so it can guide you back there if necessary.

Lane Guidance

Lane Guidance is a more recent and very popular feature with GPS shoppers. Anyone travelling on highways will know the difficulties in changing lanes if you find yourself caught in the wrong lane shortly before your exit. Lane Guidance provides a 3D Lane Assist Junction View with the recommended lane shown so that you can move into it well before you need to exit.

Multi-Destination Routing

Sometimes a trip requires a number of stops which can be handled by the Garmin nuvi’s Route Planning feature which allows you to save up to 10 different destinations and work out the fastest route to visit them.

Garmin Connect Photos - Geotagged Photo Navigation

Garmin Connect Photos is a free web service from Garmin that allows customers to search for photos by address/location from the extensive range of photos on the Panoramio website. Once downloaded and transferred, using Garmin Connect, to a compatible GPS navigator photos can be used to enter a destination for turn-by-turn directions as the GPS can use the position the photo was taken from each photo is geotagged with. Compatible Garmin GPS devices include the 205, 205W, 255, 255W, 760 (Asia only), 850, 860, 880 and 5000.

All nuvi 705 Models have Built-in Traffic Receiver

All the Garmin nuvi 705 models have a FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) traffic receiver except for the 785T which has an MSN Traffic receiver.

If most of your travel follows regular routes then real time traffic information is one of the services which could influence you to use a GPS. Accessed by an FM TMC traffic receiver the traffic data delivered by these services can provide traffic warnings and calculate a new route around problem spots. TMC data provides quick, accurate notification of situations impacting traffic such as accidents, road construction, police and emergency services. Digital traffic data is available from specific FM broadcast stations in a fast growing number of major metro areas throughout the United States and Europe.

A significant change to how Garmin are marketing Traffic services is the included lifetime access rather than for a limited trial with a subscription required if you wish to continue use.

GPS Location Based Services through MSN Direct

The MSN Traffic receiver included with the 785T provides access to

MSN Direct location based services currently available include:

Local Traffic Reports provide traffic information on accidents, breakdowns and weather related traffic problems.
Weather Reports include current temperature, today’s high/low temperatures, three-day forecasts, humidity, and wind speeds.
Local Gas Prices local gas prices are uploaded to your GPS unit for you to navigate to the lowest price.
Local Movie Times allow you to find out what movies are playing, not just where.

You can plan trips at your computer using Windows Live Local and wirelessly transfer the routes to the nuvi 785T.

MSN Traffic is available in 100 of the largest cities across the United states (check service coverage). Another Garmin nuvi with MSN Direct capability is the Garmin nuvi 680. Included with the purchase of your Garmin nuvi 785T is 3 months free MSN Direct service.

Hands-Free Calling - Bluetooth Wireless Technology (except nuvi 755T)

Using Bluetooth wireless technology, the nuvi 705 models make hands-free cellular calls possible allowing your eyes to stay safely on the road. Incoming phone calls are displayed and a tap of the screen accepts the call. As with other systems, any other audio is automatically muted during phone calls. Calls can be made using the nuvi’s touchscreen keypad. A handy convenience is being able to access phone numbers associated with a POI making it simple to call ahead. Numbers from your personalized phone book can be dialled and you can even tap into your cell phone’s call history log.

Multimedia Features

As well as being GPS navigation devices the Garmin nuvi 705 models are also well equipped entertainment devices with features such as;

JPEG picture viewer.
MP3 player for listening to your music collection (music loaded from a USB or SD card via drag-and-drop).
Audiobook player for playing books downloaded from audible.com.

Theft Prevention

To prevent theft Garmin’s prevention system disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location.

Included in the 705 Series Garmin nuvi Box

nuvi 705 series GPS navigator
Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America or North America and Europe for the 775T
FM traffic receiver with vehicle power cable (includes lifetime traffic – life of product)
MSN Direct receiver with integrated vehicle power cable (nuvi 785T only)
3 months free MSN Direct service (nuvi 785T only)
Vehicle suction cup mount
Dashboard disc
USB cable
Quick start manual

Resources

The less expensive Garmin nuvi 205 models have a smaller 3.5 inch screen, no FM transmitter, lane assist, multiple destinations, 3D building view, garmin locate, MP3 player or audio book player.

Compare the Garmin Nuvi 7X5T Models

nuvi 705 series owners manual (pdf)