Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic Tips

1. 
   John S. Dean permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by John S. Dean for Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   Spent a weekend reviewing various GPS devices to replace my less than 1 year old Mio C320 (avoid these like the plague) that had its battery die about 4 months after purchase. Went back and forth along the entire line of Garmin devices, and finally settled on this one for the blue tooth and traffic, neither of which I’ll probably hardly ever use, but nice to have when I want them.

   I was disappointed with the map, the “new” 2009 one, because I have some streets in my neighborhood that have been around for over four years and they’re not to be found on this unit. Even the piece of junk cheap Mio had these streets.

   But that’s about the only downside there is to it, the only reason I haven’t given it 5 stars.

   Having been used to the MIO, and the horrible refresh rate, it is a pleasant change to see smooth scrolling as my vehicle moves. The ability to change the car icon is nice, especially with the plethora of icons available on the garmin website.

   Accuracy is very good as well, and even in turns the unit isn’t so laggy that it becomes annoying. And also unlike what I was used to with the MIO, when I come to a stop at the intersection, the map doesn’t start rotating randomly on me.

   Speaker is about as I expected, won’t hear much over a loud stereo but crank it up enough you can at least hear it if you keep the music down a bit.

   The option to easily download voices is also appreciated.

   It did well with my testing of going point to point, following the instructions, and for the most part you’re given the instructions in plenty of time. only once or twice did it not tell me “turn right on such and such” until I was about 20 feet from the street, but that was when I was coming up on stop signs and had slowed down, so it may be compensating for the speed factor.

   Recalculation notice is a bit annoying, my MIO would say it once, sometimes this says it three times before it starts to display the alternate route.

   Still has about 900MB free on the internal memory for additional voices, icons, maps, and such, and with the SD slot there’s plenty of room to grow.

   I have a Verizon XV6900 phone with Windows Mobile 6.1, and while the bluetooth paired well and it can see the phone status, battery power, signal, even dialed and missed call lists, it never does get the phonebook. it gets a random entry and that’s it – so whenever I turn it on, I have just one user to select from, and it’s different each time. Still haven’t tracked that one down yet. But every other bluetooth option worked just fine.

   I’m not a fan of the very thick double power cable for it though, and it would be doubly annoying (no pun intended) if I were mounting this somewhere higher up on the window to have that double cable dangling down.

   I can see how the ads would get annoying sometimes (the free traffic is because it is advertising driven) but you don’t get them at all if you turn off the traffic feature, and since most of my driving isn’t around times that traffic is a concern, i can just leave it for when I really have a use for it.

   Good response to finger input, and while the unit is overall much better quality than the MIO, I really do miss the MIO’s ability to have an info pane down the last third of the screen and the map on the first two thirds of it when desired. But there’s some of that info available in the data bubbles on the bottom and top so I’ll survive.

   Overall happy with the unit, it works well and was worth the cost.

   Reply
2. 
   Michael Simpson permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Michael Simpson for Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   I have owned quite a few GPS units all including Phone, Laptop and Dedicated. Flat out before I even get started the Garmin Nuvi 265WT is the best I have ever owned. Let me just make a couple of comments on the most important features.

   Touch Screen Interface
   
   Very intuitive and easy to use. Touch screen is responsive but not instantaneous. What I particularly like is the ability to switch to a top down view by touching the screen. Once done you can use your finger to drag the map around at any zoom point. Once done you can hit the back button and resume your 3D view.

   Turn by Turn
   
   You have two options here. You can use one of the Text to Speech voices or one of natural voices. The text to speech voices will give you more information such as street names. This is what I use and even though you can tell it’s a computer generated voice its quality is superb. The 265WT does a good job at keeping you updated. Also at any time you can hit the turn Icon and it will speak the distance to the next turn, giving you street name as well as direction. The audio is quite loud and in my noisy little Scion I have no problem hearing the messages.

   Maps
   
   I have found the map accuracy quite good. I live in Northern virginal and it seems to be very well updated as many of the very new streets included.

   Automatic Routing
   
   Very effective. You can choose between the quickest or the shortest with options to avoid U-Turns, Highways, Toll Roads, Traffic, Ferries. The automatic rerouting is faster than my TeleNav phone and my Laptop computers.

   Points of Interest
   
   On my TeleNav phone GPS system I can enter any business in the national database and I can get directions, address and phone number. This is where the 265WT falls short. The TeleNav system has the advantage of searching online. Since the 265WT is limited to onboard memory there is a limit to the number of points of interest. A good example is I was looking for “Off Broadway Shoes” and the unit could not find them. However a search for “Payless Shoes” worked very well.

   Traffic Alerts
   
   The lifetime free traffic comes at a price. You will get popup adds. These are very small popups that supposedly only come when you are in the menu. This is not true. I have gotten them while in the navigation screen. For now they it seems to be once per trip but there is nothing to say they wont start getting more frequent. The other thing I don’t like about the messages is that you have to hit them to continue and doing so takes you out of the nav screen to a kind of favorites screen. You have to hit the back button to get back to your navigations screen.
   
   How well does the traffic system work. I live in Northern VA and have coverage throughout my area. The included radio fails to pick up a single signal without using an external antenna. Sadly you can just go down and purchase an FM antenna.. The Power cable has a 3/32″ jack. What I did was to pick up a 3/32″ plug from Radio Shack and soldered a 4′ wire to the tip pin on the connector. Once draped out one of the windows I get very frequent traffic updates.
   
   Once you start getting traffic reports I found them to be accurate and they do help. You can automatically avoid high traffic arias or do it manually as they accrue.
   
   I am still debating if the popup adds are worth the effort.

   Bluetooth Integration
   
   This is my favorite feature. I can keep my keyboard locked Motorola Q in my pants pocket and use my 265WT to make and receive all my calls at a touch of a button. All my phone features are available on the 265WT. Phonebook, Call history, Voice Recognition. The voice quality is quite acceptable on both ends. As a matter of fact the echo I get on my Motorola is not there when using the 265WT as a hands free set.

   Picture Viewer
   
   I found this to be a very useless feature. If the photos are very big it takes forever for the 265WT to load them. This may be due to the slow access to the SD card slot.

   There are other features like the ability to connect the 265WT to your PC and automatically add favorite locations using GoogleMaps. All in all I am very happy with my purchase and would purchase it again.

   FYI the Nuvi 265WT is the same unit as the Nuvi 255W without the Bluetooth ability and the FM reliever cable (GTM 25). You can even purchase the GTM 25 from Garmin. If you don’t want the Bluetooth feature and don’t currently need the traffic feature you can pick up the Nuvi 255W cheaper.
   

   Reply
3. 
   Larry K. permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Larry K. for Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   I got this unit for Christmas, 2008. Although this is the first GPS that I’ve owned, I’ve been passenger on many trips with a friend who has Nuvi 350 so I was already familiar with Garmin. The unit I bought had the 2009 maps, and the firmware was fairly recent. Firmware, etc has since been updated to most recent version(s).
   
   My choice came down to the nuvi 265WT, 765T or 760. The 760 is a premium unit for a bargain price due it’s being last years model, while the 765T had the features I wanted but is still pricey since it’s a new model. In the end I opted for 265WT since it had the updated/new features that the 760 didn’t have and was at the price that I was willing to spend. I did not really consider other brands, though my impression is that other brands offer more “bells and whistles” but suffer in the areas of ease of use and reliability.
   
   The unit has worked fine, no problems to speak of, though my actual time spend driving with it has been limited so far (spent lots of time just “playing” with it, though).

   [update 9/11/09]
   
   I’ve now used for a week of commuting to work and running errands. I use for commute because of the traffic reporting.

   traffic — haven’t encountered a backup that it didn’t warn me about, but have driven through a couple of non-existent backups. I’ve also found that it can take several minutes for the traffic status to be displayed after power-on, sometimes *after* it has picked a route.

   routing — the route it gives me to work is rather strange. It routes me off of the freeway onto an expressway that has several lights. I tried it once, and sure enough it took longer than predicted, even with light traffic.

   reliability — The unit has “glitched” 3 times in the last week. Once it just turned itself off, another time it jumped from the map to the speedometer screen (by itself) while the voice became very distorted, and another time the backlight setting was not as I had left it.
   
   [end of 9/1/09 update]

   My biggest complaint has to do with the POI database. For example, I searched for local cinema’s… it did not have the 20 screen cineplex that is closest to me. When I searched for local Staples Office Supply locations the closest it found was 50 miles away, even though there are at least 4 within 15 miles. I didn’t show a nearby Britannia Arms. A large regional shopping center is still called by a name that was dropped 5 years ago. etc…
   
   The POI management software (such as it is) could use more flexibility. For example, when searching for Staples, the unit was “busy” quite some time searching. There appears to be no way to put a limit the search distance.
   
   I think the map update policy is in need of revising. A two month “grace period” is not really fair to the buyers. Most of these are sold in Nov & Dec, and the maps are typically updated in the Spring, beyond the 60 day cutoff. Garmin should be guaranteeing map updates for at least 6 months, if not a year. Or, one free update within 2 years or something similar. Another gripe is the Garmin request for an “account” to register the unit. Yet another user name and password to forget.

   [update 1/9/09]
   
   At 2009 CES, Garmin announced a new map update policy. For $120 you get lifetime updates (“up to” 4 times a year) while a single update will be $69, which (I think) is less than before.
   
   [end of 1/9/09 update]

   Reply
4. 
   Russell Madaus permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Russell Madaus for Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   After doing extensive research I decided on this unit. Mainly because the 265wt is one of their newer NUVI products and it had the features I was looking for. If you look at the sites that have reviews on the 265wt, most are from nov/2008. I think this unit was released about 6 months ago. Anyway, here’s my opinion on some of the key features of the 255WT.

   1. Windsheild mount – works great. The suction cup is very high quality and I have no concerns that it will accidentally detach from the windsheild. I love the swivel capabilites and it allows you a perfect view no matter where you put it.

   2. Satellite aquisition time – incredible! once you perform the initial aquistion, you are set. Now when I turn the on it’s ready to go in usually under 3 seconds. Awesome!

   3. Map directions and screen – wonderful. The GPS unit so far has given me perfect directions and the re-route capability works flawlessly. The screen is clear, bright and easy to navigate.

   4. Free traffic alerts – works as described. I love this feature and I hardly saw any ads.

   5. Bluetooth – giddy up! I had my Motorola KZR1 synched up in about 15 seconds. Easy to use and sure makes talking on the phone alot more enjoyable when driving. I’ve had conversations with multiple people and they could hear me fine. One cool thing is if your phone has voice dialing; because it allows you do it through the GPS unit. Also, all my contacts show up (even with multiple phone #’s).

   6. And finally…the internal speaker. If you researched the 265WT like I’ve done you’ll see ALOT of people complaining that the speaker is too quiet to hear anything. That was a big concern of mine but I felt I would give the unit a try and if it was that bad then I would return it. My thoughts on the speaker are this. The speaker size/quality could and probably should be improved. It’s a cheapy speaker…BUT…I CAN hear the directions perfectly fine and can here the other person talking to me when using the bluetooth phone capability. Side notes: You HAVE to turn down your radio if you want to be able to hear it. Also, I was driving with the windows closed (it’s friggin winter), so I cannot say how well you’d be able to hear the directions/phone with your windows rolled all the way down.

   Bottom line – it has met or exceeded all of my expectations! I bought it on the day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday) and I got an incredible deal! $199.99 with free shipping, no tax, and got %50 off a $25 case logic travel case. I would have spent an extra $150 if I would have bought the same unit from a local retailer.

   Finally if your in the market to buy any GPS my suggestion is wait until it gets closer to X-mas and see if the price drops. I’m guessing they’ll do it again. I was fortunate to get it when I did and hence saved a nice chunk of change.

   Hope this helped!

   Reply
5. 
   K. W. Ford permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by K. W. Ford for Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   I was a bit confused at first by the 265w label on the device and on the screen during boot up; however, this unit does have the FM receiver built into the power adapter cable and works exactly as advertised. The routing software is much more intelligent than a previous model I’ve owned, the interface is notably improved and the text to speech for street names is a very nice addition. Hands-free phone features also work flawlessly.

   Reply
6. 
   Dan L. Nichols permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Dan L. Nichols for Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   I’ll address what was my biggest apprehension in going for an ad based, free traffic program. No issue! The ads are small and not at all intrusive. My eyes never were pulled in a way that was a distraction. I can even envision the few occasions that it might even benefit both the advertiser and the user. If you think about it … newspaper, radio, internet, TV … advertising is very much a part of our culture and in this case very tastefully done.

   Before further review, good grief … now I sound like a sports caster; I should say that I’ve owned GPS units forever. Started with laptop programs then I started buying all of my vehicles with factory GPS. Acura, Toyota’s (two of em) over the years have all been GPS equipped. I travel a lot for work and it was just more convenient to own stand alone portable units when I rent auto’s. Magellan and Garmin were my last two portable units. I’m not a nerd or engineer so I’ll give this my best shot and hope the average Jill and Joe will get something out of this.

   Next, I’ll talk about routing and traffic. Garmin (in my opinion) has always been rock solid in terms of routing. With this unit they have taken the art to a new level. I looked at the new TomTom with its smart routing and almost pulled the trigger on that unit but, with what happened today I am not one bit sorry with my choice. This morning I had to make deliveries to a number of Lowe’s Home Improvement stores in the Metro Phoenix, AZ market. I went to the “Points of interest” icon typed in Lowe’s and after a short wait was rewarded with all of the Lowes stores in the area. I touch on each one and saved it to a sub category I made (Lowes Metro Phoenix), gave each their appropriate store number (the search came complete with address and phone) and then scheduled my day. From home to the factory first, then to four stores, then back to the factory. During the day I had to insert another unscheduled stop. Fantastic! If I could have asked for any improvement here it would have been that each way point was somehow shown as I progressed. It did announce my arrival at each location complete with what side of the street it would be on; in the long run I am so happy with the result that I couldn’t bring myself to diminish the 5 star rating. Also, at each stop when I turned the car off the unit powered down. When I got back in the car I needed to go to the “custom routes” icon, where I built my route, and touch the button to activate my named route. Garmin, if that could be automatic I would love it … and maybe down the road I’ll learn something that I don’t yet know and this unit is capable. Honestly, it was so quick and easy and the routing picked up right where it left off so not a big deal to me. Traffic probably should have its own paragraph except it ties into the routing. I understand that this is dependent on how your town is covered. Even here in Phoenix only the major highways are covered. I submit that if you need to travel inner belts and outer belts as well as the highways in and out of your towns you will be very pleased. I watched the traffic icon turn from green to yellow to red and back again as road conditions changed. The icon showed how long the delay would be and if you touch it, it shows where and how far away! Garmin gave me the option to bypass each delay but when I answered yes with the touch of the button it reminded me that my route had been optimized including all other options … with the delay it still had me on the quickest route. Because I had multiple destinations it kept me posted to the delays even in the opposite directions when my routing would require back tracking.

   There was slow downs along the way and one accident and I was notified well in advance. With the accident, I passed the location about 15 minutes after notification. It was minor and had already been moved to the side of the highway yet I could see the remnants of broken head-lights in the lane it happened. I was prepared to be disappointed with the traffic because not all the traffic reviews are complimentary. Again, I tend to feel where you live and the roads you travel could affect your opinion. For me, I would add extra stars here if I could. It amazed me when it routed me a different way from the factory to my house (different from the one I took in the morning) because the road conditions were different. It was right on based on years of living and driving these roads.

   The Voice and the timeliness of prompts were strong. I tried all the voices and ended up with Australian Karen. She is very understandable in “text to speech” and very pleasant. Even my wife likes her … I’d like to meet Australian Karen someday but she wouldn’t give me her phone number … like my wife would like her if she did! With my Magellan I liked the way it would ding just before the turn. This Garmin announces the turn and the timing was very comparable to the Magellan and that is a good thing. Some of the previous Garmin models had problems in this area if you read the posts. Also, loudness with the unit on external speaker was OK to Good, I’d like to see it a touch louder for times when road noise or blasting AC is an issue. I have not tried piping it with FM to my radio and probably won’t.

   On my wish list to Garmin (you think they read these?), I’d like to see a little more information around the edges of the screen. You can program the “arrival time” button for things like altitude, time of day, direction of travel and many more, but you can’t program the “speed button” for anything. I’d like to see my altitude … just for giggles, and my ETA. Who needs the time with clocks in the car & on every cell phone? Who needs to know how fast you are going with a speedometer in every car? I would also like to know the street I’m currently on. Sometimes you can see it depending on how you are zoomed to the map but sometimes not. I’d also like to know what direction I’m traveling in without hitting another button or giving up my ETA or 3d view. The speed limit of each street is a fantastic thing to have especially when your in areas you don’t know or rural roads that go for miles without a sign. I can tell you that when the speed limit changed as I entered different zones the changes were very accurate in their timing.

   The last thing for today’s review is lane guidance. I went thru some pretty major interchanges today and not once did I see the Navagon style or Garmin advertised type of full screen preview. Again, I’ll see if there is a setting I missed or I will just have to live with what I’ve got for awhile. I understand that Garmin will be adding to their data base as they go along. What I did see though was plenty good. The “distance to turn” indicator in the upper left corner of the screen listed with arrows how many lanes to the interchange and which lanes you should be in. It also listed the lanes not to be in as you transitioned from one highway ramp onto another highway. It was good to have advance notice that the right lane would not continue and you needed to move left before it got crowded.

   I’d say buy this unit and help me find Karen!

   I have had no reset issues and use the unit 6 to 8 hours per day. This is not to say it hasn’t been an issue with others though.

   10/18/08

   I found the neatest thing on this unit today. I tapped the car on the screen while I was driving and noticed every few seconds the screen updated with the exact address I was located. I could see the street I was on, the numerical location, and I could see the addresses going up or down as I traveled. Also it showed the elevation changing up or down. I have used this exact screen many times when stopped to mark locations I wanted to save to favorites but never on the go. I’m not sure exactly how one would use this information but I thought it interesting.

   I have had much more experience with the traffic option now. I have found it very useful during rush hour. Only once… so far, has a delay been so severe that it changed my routing automatically. But, during that occasion I felt gratified in that I was guided off the freeway before other drivers. from my detour route I ended up with a view of a bumper to bumper full stop on the highway that was backed up for miles. To be honest, after a while you take the traffic icon for granted until it turns yellow or red. Even the yellow icon doesn’t change things in terms of routing, just information about how many minutes the delay will be.

   I can say that sometimes the information is not exactly timely. A yellow indicator may show and when I reach the location the traffic may be moving more normal or a little slower than indicated. The minutes of delay indicated seems not too far off though and arrival times are pretty accurate.

   Other that no Junction view’s in the Phoenix area at this time I’m still thrilled with the 755t. Garmin support is working on a free update (I spoke with them) for the Junction view.

   Additional questions have been ask and answered in the comments section if you would like to read more.
   

   Reply
7. 
   Young Professional permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Young Professional for Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   Background: I had always rented vehicles with a GPS until recently my frequency of travel to unfamiliar cities had reached a point where it made sense to purchase my own. I was not looking for a GPS to play MP3s, make phone calls, take photos, or fill out my taxes. I simply care about its ability to navigate from point A to B and to get around an unfamiliar place, and so I’ll limit this review to those features. I tried two devices: the Garmin nuvi 755T (same as the 765T minus the Bluetooth) and the much cheaper Navigon 2100 max with the bundle that included lifetime traffic.

   Garmin Nuvi 755T

   Pros:

   -Could use all the features right out of the box
   
   -Always got me from Point A to Point B
   
   -Map very pleasing to my eyes
   
   -The lane guidance is useful, but not as useful as I thought it would be (I find that keep right/left voice commands can stand alone).
   
   -Considerable more Points of Interest than Navigon 2100 Max. Also many more Points of Interest categories and the ability to simply enter a category if it’s not listed and still get good results (e.g., Salons or Dance Studios were not categories, but I entered them and the device retrieved many nearby options [you can also search in a different city]).
   
   -Really good recalculation, it doesn’t waste time just trying to get you back to the original route if a different route from your current location is better. It also recalculates at blazing speeds (I had a new route before I made it to the end of a 800 foot block).
   
   -Text to Voice is really good (far more useful than I would have guessed). This really allows you to keep your eyes on the road and gives you peace of mind that you’re turning in the right place.
   
   -Very useful visual layout indicating direction of the turn and the street onto which you should turn (but the voice prompts, especially with Text to Voice, are so good you never need to look at the display).
   
   -Local speed limit always posted with your current speed nearby (more useful than I imagined)
   
   -Good volume and easy to change volume while in use.
   
   -Easy to turn on or off with an external power switch.
   
   -The traffic feature was extremely useful and the information was easy to access during use. The much discussed ads will not be an issue for you, trust me.
   
   -The 3D navigation created a nice view, but honestly, even in strange areas with tall buildings, I didn’t find this feature to be of any additional value.

   Okay, But Could Be Better:

   -The screen could be more sensitive, but it’s a lot better than the Navigon 2100 Max.
   
   -The device did not always properly locate me (this can be avoided by turning it on and setting the route about 45 seconds before actually leaving).
   
   -The power source plugs directly into the mounting cradle, but it’s still such a chore to remove the device from the cradle (pressing a button on the bottom on the cradle, which is mounted on a moving ball, while tilting the device forward) that the time advantage of a direct cradle plug in is lost.

   Cons:

   -The turn warning distance is way too short (only 0.2 miles)
   
   -There’s no ability to exclude particular streets from a route (you can set it to avoid highways, tolls, etc. though).
   
   -Initial estimate of arrival time was a complete farce in every single test. It estimated a standard 45 minute trip to be only 25 minutes and pushed back the estimated arrival time nearly every minute never reflecting the accurate arrival time until I was at the final destination. Easily bested in this category by the much cheaper Navigon 2100 Max.

   Navigon 2100 Max

   Pros :

   -Always got me from Point A to Point B without deep confusion
   
   -Always correctly located me
   
   -As in the Garmin Nuvi 755T, the lane guidance is useful, but not as useful as I thought it would be (I find that keep right/left voice commands can stand alone).
   
   -Good turn warning distance (0.5 miles)
   
   -The recalculating is quick, but not as quick as the Garmin Nuvi 755T
   
   -Ability to exclude particular streets from route (a hidden feature: after the route is initially calculated, open the turn by turn and simply x out the streets you don’t want to use).
   
   - As in the Garmin Nuvi 755T, the Text to Voice is really good (far more useful than I would have guessed). This really allows you to keep your eyes on the road and gives you peace of mind that you’re turning in the right place.
   
   -Very useful visual layout indicating direction of the turn and the street onto which you should turn (but the voice prompts, especially with Text to Voice, are so good you never need to look at the display).
   
   -Warnings when speeding (And the ability to set how far above the speed limit [separately for city streets and highways] triggers the warning)
   
   -Ability to have local speed limit either shown constantly or when a speed warning is triggered
   
   -Good volume and easy to change volume while in use
   
   -Initial estimate of arrival time very reliable. Estimated a standard 45 minute trip to within 1 minute and pushed back estimated arrival time only once (adding a minute).
   
   -Easy to turn on or off with an external power switch.
   
   -The traffic feature was extremely useful and the information was easy to access during use.

   Okay, But Could Be Better:

   -Screen sensitivity
   
   -It sometimes took a couple of minutes to initially locate me, but was always spot on when it did.
   
   -The power supply is plugged into the device which is mounted on a cradle, but the cradle provides such limited range of motion that it’s difficult to get the device in the most desired position and I was forced to accept it slanting slightly during every use.

   Cons:

   -Thin Points of Interests (more important than I thought) and no ability to search categories not already listed (a real problem). You also must select a city each time you search; it doesn’t just automatically pull up nearby locations like the Garmin Nuvi 755T.
   
   -It’s hard to see ALL of the display icons including information on speed and your current speed
   
   -The dull, mostly gray, maps with an orange route indicator are hard on eyes.
   
   -The keyboard takes up only half the screen making it chore to type in anything. This is especially problematic when trying to switch states or from letters to numbers (or vice versa) as these display buttons are extremely narrow and it was difficult to select them without long fingernails.
   
   -The recalculation kept trying to send me back to the original route even if it was no longer the best. For example, it took the device 15 minutes to stop trying to reroute me to 16th St. (in DC) after I had purposely driven up Connecticut Ave. Had I taken its recommended rerouting (thus backtracking), my trip would have taken 20 minutes longer.
   
   -You can’t use all the features out of the box. I was forced to register the device and thus provide an email address in order to use lifetime traffic and fresh maps features (but, in all fairness, you can opt out of spam, and I’ve yet to receive an unwanted email).

   Conclusion:

   The Garmin Nuvi 755T was about $350 versus the $160 for the Navigon 2100 Max with lifetime traffic included. I think both devices performed solidly, but the edge can only be given on personal preference. All said, the Navigon 2100 Max is probably the better value for the buck, but such a statement is relative to what’s important to you. I personally went with the Garmin Nuvi 755T because: 1) the map coloring and icon size was easy on the eyes, 2) it was much easier to type on the Garmin Nuvi 755T, 3) the number of Points of Interest, and the ability to type in your own category, are of particular importance to me, and 4) I personally find not losing time on rerouting to be worth the additional costs. Hope this helps.
   

   Reply
8. 
   Traveler permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Traveler for Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   The graphics and interface on the 755T are some of the best I’ve seen on the few GPS units I’ve tried. I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the interface to be honest, but it’s better than others in terms of being intuitive.

   The colors are crisp, the directions I received were accurate, the voice was clear. The unit was excellent on the highway alerting me to each exit before I reached it – loved that feature.

   I didn’t try the traffic function as I didn’t enter a major city so I can’t comment. Ditto on lane assist.

   I generally drive 30,000 mils a year and I’ve done quite well without a GPS unit. Maps and getting print outs from Google have been mostly sufficient when I don’t know exactly where I’m going. A GPS would be better, of course, and I wanted to go with the best brand I could. Source after source pointed to the Garmin and specifically the new 7×5 series.

   Another person who’s in the same line of business as me told me how he receives proximity alerts for specific points of interest (POIs). He didn’t say which brand he used and I assumed that was a basic feature. It’s not. These POIs are already programmed in the Garmin. Everything I need is right there. However, I cannot program the unit to link proximity alerts with those preexisting POIs. I received this from Garmin customer service:

   “This can only be done with Custom POI’s. You can set
   
   a distance for the POI within the CSV file. You would just need to find
   
   a database of xxxxx in a CSV format. I am sorry it is not possible
   
   to do this with the POI’s currently in the unit.”

   I’ve looked and looked, I could not find another source of these POIs. But why should I have to find them or pay for them? They already exist on this unit! It is baffling to me that a proximity alert preference is not built in. This is extremely user unfriendly.

   It took me all of 3 minutes to discover that TomTom has proximity alert preferences built right into their units. I’ve tested several and I can already see they have their own flaws. The maps are not as easy to read and the interface is not as good. TomToms also have a major flaw of their own that’s a deal breaker for others – when entering an address you must know the town. As one TomTom reviewer pointed out, this can be difficult when boundary lines change quickly within a metro area (like Boston). Me, that doesn’t matter so much.

   I generally know where I am. What I frequently don’t know are these specific POIs that I might not be even aware exist. This is an important additional asset to my business.

   I realize others might not need this function. So again, a lot of people will find the 755T more than acceptable. It’s a great unit to operate. But it just doesn’t have the function I need – a function that I think is pretty basic. It was basic enough that TomTom puts it on their GPS units.

   So I got rid of my 755T and will buy either a TomTom 730T or 930T and put up with their flaws that are more tolerable for me.

   EDIT:
   
   After using both the Garmin 755T and the Tomtom 730T for several days it gave me some new perspective on both strengths and weaknesses.

   Overall, if you’re looking for a straight out of the box user experience with no fuss or muss and little need to tweak the system the Garmin 755T is probably the better model. If you’re already familiar with how to tweak a Garmin (and there are many who are) then you’ll probably also find this a more than fine model.

   To use a computer metaphor, I found overall that the Garmin has the initial user interface of what you’d expect from a Mac, but has the user adaptability of a Windows system. The programs you have to download and the tweaking necessary to go beyond Garmin’s presentation is complicated for those who don’t already know how to do it.

   The Tomtom on the other hand has the initial feel of a Windows computer, but the user friendly adaptability of a Mac. I hate the Tomtom’s interface and colors, but WOW, is it far easier to change to my needs than the Garmin!

   It all comes down to knowing your own needs and abilities. Test the 755T before you buy if you can. If it’s all you need, then I would recommend it. If you know you’re going to have adapt to your needs (like the POIs) and you just want your GPS to do the job without having to go through a steep learning curve, then stay away from the Garmin.

   Reply
9. 
   Thorgils permalink

   August 11, 2010

   Review by Thorgils for Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
   Rating:
   After two months’ use in the Boston, Washington DC, and Portland (OR) metropolitan areas, and also on O’ahu, I now feel qualified to review this product. I’m both delighted and disappointed by the nüvi 755T. I chose this model because it combined the set of functions in which I was interested, and I’ll discuss its different functions in turn.

   Basic navigation functions
   
   I’ve not had much first-hand experience with auto GPS units since the first generation Hertz “NeverLost” model, so I’m not able to compare the nüvi with current competitors. However, I’m very impressed with the speed and spatial precision of this unit. Even long and complicated routings are typically computed in less than ten seconds. Adaptations because of route variations are detected quickly and a revised route is computed speedily. I will pass a speed limit sign and within no more than one or two seconds the changed speed limit will usually appear on the screen. And I’m impressed, too, with how the unit automatically scales the map to a level appropriate for current navigation purposes.

   Problems with basic navigation are few. The most serious one encountered so far happened only in Portland (OR), and so it may relate to the quality of the mapping there. The unit pinpoints the vehicle’s starting position within a rectangular grid of streets absolutely correctly, but when I then request a routing the unit sometimes tells me to “drive to the highlighted route” starting several blocks away from my current position (sometimes even off the current map). Yet it has no difficulty navigating me back correctly through the same grid all the way to the starting point.

   I have also experienced some variability between cities in what are regarded as network decision point nodes meriting the provision of route guidance there. On the Washington DC highway system, for example, merges and splits that in Boston would have been treated as decision points are not identified in the same way.

   One other improvement to “basic navigation” would be valuable. At the highest levels of map magnification, it would be very useful to have arrows showing the directions of one-way streets.

   Street name pronunciation
   
   The unit comes with a wide array of voices, languages, and national shades of English. I’m impressed with the capabilities of the name pronunciation feature; it works pretty well most of the time, and given the idiosyncrasies of the English language that’s quite an achievement. It struggles, of course, with unfamiliar word structures (such as Hawai’ian names) or non-standard pronunciations (e.g., “Van-cow-ver”), but there are a few more mundane peculiarities. In Washington DC, where a compass quadrant designation follows many street names, the “St.” is invariably taken to mean “Saint.” “Rt.” for “route” gets pronounced as “artee.” The most amusing and ingenious muddle so far has been “Ames St.,” which the unit interpreted as “American English Street.”

   Lane assist
   
   I live in a state (Massachusetts) where the highway department’s motto appears to be “Never give a sucker any advance notification of the lane he needs to be in,” so Garmin’s “Lane assist” feature was a strong attraction to choosing this model. But as of now, it is the most disappointing feature. First, only certain areas currently have this capability, and (unlike the real-time traffic information) I have been unable to find on the Garmin website any indications of just where it is available. It appears to be available in the Boston and Portland areas, for example, but I saw no evidence of it in the Washington DC and Honolulu areas. Secondly, it appears to be currently primarily available on the Interstate system (where the standards of highway signage are relatively good), whereas it would be of much greater value to drivers in dense urban core areas (e.g., lane guidance for Dupont and Washington Circles and the Potomac bridges in Washington DC). But it isn’t clear to me whether the Navteq maps used by Garmin even have the basic lane detail to allow such guidance to be feasible eventually, even with a significant expansion of the geographical coverage for “Lane assist.”

   Free real-time traffic information
   
   This was another strong attraction to me of this model. I concur with other reviewers who have opined that the advertising that allows the information to be accessed without a subscription charge is not at all a distraction (it’s small, and appears only at the end of a trip or when the vehicle is stationary). But I haven’t experienced congested conditions often enough yet to form strong opinions about its efficacy. In the Boston area I’ve experienced slow moving highway traffic a number of times (an amber traffic symbol on the screen, along with an estimate of the traffic delay minutes) and have occasionally noted that the system’s information was not very current, but up to now I haven’t experienced a high enough congestion level for the system to generate an alternate routing.

   In overview, I’m very pleased with this model and glad that I bought it (particularly at a Thanksgiving weekend 43% discount from MSRP), but I would caution purchasers not to expect too much from either “Lane assist” or Navteq FM traffic at this stage of their development.

   *** UPDATE, February 2010 ***

   Here’s a second take after 13 months of use. I now have a stronger appreciation for both “Lane assist” (after using it in heavy traffic on the relatively unfamiliar Los Angeles and San Francisco freeway systems) and the real-time traffic information service (after being given good advance warning of serious incident-caused back-ups on the Providence road network, and diverted onto local streets to avoid those serious delays).

   On the other hand, the problem of computed routes starting several blocks away from one’s current location turns out to be more pervasive than I thought back last March; it’s not limited to just some cities. The nature of and reasons for the problem are difficult to understand, given that the unit (i) knows exactly where the vehicle is, and (ii) has an accurate map of the local network at that point. As well as being told to “Drive to the highlighted route” (which may be outside the limits of the then visible map), the unit also displays a street name . . . but in unfamiliar surroundings that isn’t much help either!

   Finally, two other issues have emerged. First, the touch screen detection is not very precise, so mis-entries can be annoyingly frequent. Secondly, the internal battery (which, remember, is not replaceable) seems to have a short life. After about nine months of use I started getting frequent messages of a low battery level when not connected to my car’s battery, and when I do a full recharge from my computer it quickly depletes. Since I rarely if ever use the unit off-vehicle, that hasn’t been a problem for me . . . but someone anticipating a lot of off-vehicle use (or considering purchasing Garmin’s “lifetime” map updates) should certainly bear it in mind.

   Notwithstanding those concerns, overall I’m still pleased with the 755t.

   Reply
10. 
    AA permalink

    August 11, 2010

    Review by AA for Garmin nüvi 755/755T 4.3 Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
    Rating:
    After much research I purchased the Garmin Nuvi 755T portable car GPS device. It has lived up to my expectations in every way after using it for a week. It was extensively used during a 250 mile day trip to Milwaukee from suburban Chicago. I felt extremely confident driving around in unfamiliar territory.

    *Sattelite load is quick- nearly instant except for (1) instance where it took about a minute.
    
    *Traffic alert and map showed congestion and offered the option to go around.
    
    *The selected routed for areas I am familiar with were nearly identical to the ones I have driven over the years.
    
    *The dislay is bright, clear and updates quickly. I did not experience any sluggishness.
    
    *The lane assist works on several exits in the Chicago area- not any in the Milwaukee area. These snapshots appeared at just the right time to illustrate the proper exit lane based on the highlighted road sign. I imagine this will become available for many more highways as maps are updated.
    
    *Mounting and connecting were first rate- the windshield suction worked very well as did the unit power adapter and cable.
    
    *I did not use FM transmitter- I see no need to do this.
    
    *The street names and voice commands were loud, clear and in plenty of time to navigate properly.

    I am not displeased about any attribute of this device. I highly recommend it.
    

    Reply

Leave a Reply