Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 368
 Good job Garmin October 10, 2008
Dan L. Nichols
380 out of 395 found this review helpful
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.
Best GPS I Have Used- Worth the Investment December 3, 2008
AA (Northern Illinois)
84 out of 88 found this review helpful
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.
Impressive little device December 30, 2008
Aubrey Louw (Chicago)
46 out of 47 found this review helpful
I received this unit for Christmas and could not be more impressed. We recently moved to the Chicago NW suburbs and I was in desperate need of some expert navigational help. While I have not had the device for very long, I have logged about 12 hours of driving time in the Chicagoland area with this beauty directing me.
Pros:
First, and this should be reiterated, it is a beautiful device. The rubberized metallic frame feels solid and looks stunning. The heft is just right and nothing rattles or moves when it is transported from car to house or office. It just gives off the appearance of solidity; it either looks nor feels cheap.
Second, the screen is incredibly vivid with zero distortion or rendering delays. I have used 3 different Garmin GPS devices in the past 2 years in some wildly different settings (a week driving in Charleston, SC; two weeks in Cape Town, SA; and a 4 days or so in the Loire River Valley in France) and all of them were plagued to some degree or the other with rendering delays or insufficiently distinct graphics. This unit suffers from none of these defects.
Third, the directions are solid. While it does not always recommend my favorite or preferred routes, the alternatives thus far were always the obvious choice. Unfortunately, it does not know that some roads are plagued by meteor-sized potholes or that certain diagonal streets in the city are not designated snow routes (and thus not plowed with the same frequency). These drawbacks I can live with as using a GPS unit does not mean one should surrender common sense.
Fourth, the lane assist has thus far worked every time. On my morning commute alone, I see the iconic 1st person lane assist graphic (see the main product image) no fewer than thrice; furthermore, I receive a visual indication (arrows in the top left hand corner) whenever a road branches off into multiple directions or I need to turn. Suffice to say, I am very impressed. From some of the other product reviews, it appears that this feature functions well in some areas and poorly or not at all in others. At the least I can vouch for the Chicago area.
Fifth, the built-in FM transmitter is a nice bell-and-whistle. Thus far I have not benefited whatsoever from its warnings about traffic as there usually is nowhere else to go and the delays thus far have been fairly minor. Furthermore, while the device usually is accurate within 1 to 2 minutes when traffic is rated green, even the slightest delay makes the estimated time fluctuate wildly. However, once the stalled traffic is behind me, the estimated arrival time calculation is usually spot on. The chief value of the FM transmitter though is the automatic updates of the MPH speed limit graphic in the lower left-hand corner. I am more aware of the speed limit now and thus also more conscious when I exceed it. Definitely very cool.
Sixth, the battery charge is excellent and functions as advertised. Depending on whether the voice is activated or not, it lasts anywhere from 4 1/2 hours to 5 1/2 hours on battery life alone.
Seventh, the screen touch sensitivity is perfectly dialed in. I do not find myself cursing as the slightest touch activates ten unwanted features nor do I jab at it several times before the desired function activates.
Cons:
First, I have yet to see the 3D view feature. Granted, I have not been downtown with the device yet, but to my mind I have passed through multiple areas where the office buildings are suitably tall and dense that 3D view was warranted.
Second, sometimes, and admittedly quite rare, the FM transmitter is slightly delayed and the speed limit is updated 15 seconds or so too late. This has happened only twice that I have noticed so far and both times the transmitter was blinking yellow (an indication that the signal is weak). I wish Garmin had somehow incorporated this indicator in the GPS unit itself - perhaps by changing the speed limit sign background from white to yellow whenever signal strength, and therefore accuracy, degrades. It is unsafe and annoying to have to glance down at the power cable to get a signal strength indication (note that I am here referring only to the FM transmitter signal strength - the unit displays satellite acquisition problems on the screen).
Third, the lack of a manual in the box is shocking. Furthermore, the one available online is so superficial one may as well dispense with it altogether. There are clearly multiple device features about which I know, as of yet, precious little. Garmin should realize that they have effectively wasted their time developing features rendered obscure by missing or incomplete documentation. For example, how do I configure multiple routing points and have the GPS sequence them logically? The product page claims this as a feature yet I have yet to figure it out. Another example is the mouse pointer that appears on the screen when one double taps the map - what does this do? how do you use it?
Overall, the Nuvi 755T is an excellent navigation assistant but definitely not a perfect product. It is the best GPS unit I have used thus far and I cannot wait to take it on a longer drive.
As good as it gets January 10, 2009
mathboy (San Diego, CA)
39 out of 40 found this review helpful
I have owned GPSs from Garmin since they came out I think. My first one was a StreetPilot and cost around [...] in 2000. I used to pull it out to go somewhere and my passengers couldn't believe such a thing even existed.
When it came time to replace the old workhorse, I REALLY looked around for days and days. I think I compared and read reviews of every possible model from all known makers including the one-offs. So I feel like a qualified buyer.
There are whole sites dedicated to reviewing these things:
[...]
and more so do your homework or just copy mine ;
I settled on this unit for the following reasons:
* excellent experience with previous unit- these things are built to last. Garmin can make a GPS
* excellent feature set on paper. I like audiobooks and it can play Audible's format and MP3, both.
* FREE traffic for life- that was the cincher for me.
* cool lane-assist
*cool 3d building representation
* ability to upload GPS coordinates and images of a place on earth you visit and have other Garmin owners download them.
*music player
*multiple destination routing
So how did all these features turn out?
haven't used audiobooks or MP3 feature yet.
traffic:
traffic is well worth it. When I am driving to work, it just comes on and it will warn you if there's bad traffic on your route, show you what part of the road it's on (it shows up red or yellow depending on how bad it is) and offer to route you around it. It's real time and pretty much up to the minute so you don't get stuck when there's an accident or bad road conditions. If you're in a strange city and you don't know the traffic patterns, it's even more fantastic.
lane assist:
lane assist is pretty cool, but it's not on every highway. I first saw it when I was in Chicago. It really does help a LOT if you're in a big city and you're not sure which lane to get in so you make the right exit or continue in the right direction. Basically, it shows you an image of the lane and the signs over each lane including the actual text of the signs. The sign that is telling you where to go is green, it looks like the real sign, and the others are grayed out but still readable so you know they aren't for you.
When there's 6 different lanes with merging traffic and 10 different signs, it definitely disambiguates the situation for you. It's as if you've lived in that city your whole life and drive that way every day. It has to prevent accidents; people with this feature should probably get a break on their insurance rates.
My only gripe is that it comes on when you're still a little ways from the signs and if you look up at the very moment it comes on, you may not be looking at the right set of signs, that is, the signs its showing you are the ones up ahead, not above you right then. You just have to get used to that.
3D building representation:
Again this isn't on all the time, but when it does come on, everyone goes "wow look at that..." It's probably cooler than it is useful, but there's no question about what you're seeing or where you are when it comes on. Basically you get a 3d architectural view of the building's exterior. Cool.
multiple routes.
Nice and useful, both. If you're on your way somewhere and you decide you want to stop at say, a Starbuck's on the way, you can search for the nearest Starbucks and add it as a way point. The GPS reroutes you without forgetting your original destination. My only gripe is that when you search for places to , say get coffee, it doesn't seem to understand what direction you're going in, and will suggest places in back of you instead of ahead of you, on your way to your destination. This is nice if you want to go back a mile but if you just want to go forward there's no way to get it to limit itself to those ahead of you.
The only time this became a factor is when we were traveling in the country (and I mean the real midwest no one lives here country ) and it only found things in back of us and nothing ahead. It seems to stop searching for, say coffee houses after it finds a certain number of hits and they were all in back of us. To be fair it looked a good number of miles in each direction, and well, there probably was nothing ahead of us for the next hundred miles while there were lots of things 10 miles back.
Finally, you can tell it to look only within a certain town or city, so In probably should have done that to find things ahead, but it's more fiddly to have to do that and I wouldn't want to do it while driving.
Uploading and downloading images of places and their coordinates:
haven't done it yet.
experience of using it:
it's much simpler with the touch screen. Back in the day, you were just glad it could do things at all. Now it's so easy. Everything you want while driving is just a touch or two away. The graphics are very easy to read and distinguish, easy to hit, the screen is sensitive and the layout is very well thought out. This is really manual free operation.
odds and ends:
You can put in custom waypoints, name them and even categorize them into different folders. The computer will even say their names back to you. Basically it will say anything you type in as a name when you navigate to that place. You can get creative with this feature.
The saying of the actual street name is a huge improvement over "turn left" .."turn right" (no street names spoken). It works very very well with no misspoken names so far and really does help you confirm that it's THIS right turn NOW.
It automatically goes into night mode which is a darker map background with the route highlighted. If your unit doesn't do this, you'd have to adjust the brightness since it's quite bright and distracts you from driving at night.
It does a subtle camera zoom in and out when you're getting off an exit or have some decision point to maneuver. Basically, it zooms in a little on the lanes so you can see them clearly, then zooms back out when you've made the exit or turn or whatever. Nice, very nice.
It colors major roads a different color from side roads so you can tell all around you where the main roads are. Nice.
The only thing I miss is with the old ones you could see names of commercial places while you drove by them. On this one you see the icon of what type of thing it is, but not the name until you touch the icon. I imagine that the old way represented a kind of free advertising for businesses and now their business model is - if you want your name to appear on our GPS unbidden, you can pay us. That's why you get free traffic for life. BP Walgreens AM-PM and a few others paid them to pop little bubbles up with their names on them. Let me tell you, this is the most unannoying innocuous thing. It never happens when you're moving and the bubbles aren't garish colors or in your face in any way. I was worried about whether it would be obnoxious and you know what, it's just not.
The only other gripe I have is that sometimes when you go off route and it automatically reroutes you, it sometimes just tries to get you to go back to where you it thinks you went off course and essentially, do that part of the route again.
Probably what you want is not to go back but to be re-routed from where you are, going forward.
The way to handle this is NOT to go back and make it re-route you yet again. It will then decide you don't WANT to go back and do the right thing. Since this takes essentially no time, it's not a big deal.
Finally, the sirf chips which find the satellite are great. I once lost reception beneath very tall buildings, but that's going to happen once in a while. The only way out of that is if the unit does dead reckoning, and that will cost you a lot.
Expensive, but worth it December 1, 2008
K. Duffy (MN)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
I recently used our new 755t on a trip to Chicago, IL for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am very impressed with the user interface as Garmin made the menus very intuitive. I applaud Garmin for investing resources in getting this right as it makes the experience of using a GPS enjoyable and pleasant. Just ask anyone that has tried to use a programmable thermostat with a bad UI!
Route calculations were very snappy and it acquired the satellites in a couple seconds. The 755t only offers one route, however. Our older Fujitsu based GPS in our Toyota Prius would calculate 3 separate routes and let you pick which one is best (i.e. fastest, shortest distance, etc...).
The graphics are top notch. The screen resolution seems to be really crisp and the refresh rate is way smoother than any other portable GPS that I've seen. The 3D building feature appeared as we got close to Chicago and does cause the refresh rate to degrade a bit. I kind of liked the 3D building feature as it visually ties what you're seeing on the GPS to what's outside your window. I don't know whether I'd spend extra $$$ for it though.
The Lane Assist graphic appeared many times in downtown Chicago, which helped out tremendously. I did notice on I-90 one time where it said there's 5 lanes when there were really 4. The Junction View appeared twice on our trip on I-90 (one near Madison, WI and the other close to Chicago, IL). One thing that disappointed me was that the 755t doesn't know whether you're actually in the correct lane for an upcoming turn, so you still need to be paying close attention. The pretty Junction View graphic is simply a pre-generated static image that never changes and shows up when you get close to the freeway junction. The purple arrow that appears on the Junction View is not smart enough to know what lane your in and provides a generic sense of where you need to be. The same goes for the Lane Assist graphic that appears in the upper left-hand corner.
The time of arrival "estimate" was shockingly accurate. The 755t must monitor how you drive as it was consistently within 2-3mins of when we actually arrived. I've had older GPS systems that were lucky to be within 10 minutes.
The FM traffic info did help up get out of downtown Chicago by re-routing us around the congested I-90 expressway. I also tried the FM transmitter with varying degrees of success. It seemed to be more hassle than it's worth as I needed to keep changing the FM station to avoid interference. The internal speaker is just OK. If you go above 70% volume it starts to crackle and distort.
Overall, the 755t made our trip to Chicago, IL a breeze. I have some nitpicky things to complain about, but the overall package has me impressed. The 755t is well worth the money.
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