Garmin Nuvi 765T
Occasionally we feature opinions and reviews from our forum members. SergZak, a very advanced and knowledgeable Nuvi user has written this about his experience with the Nuvi 765T.
I spent some quality time over this past weekend with a two different nuvi 765T units. The units have since been returned and I thought I would post the following obsevations to help any users out there who are “on the fence” about purchasing this unit to perhaps replace their 7×0. Many of the things I will comment on have indeed been mentioned here and elsewhere before but I will include them despite that fact for completeness. This will mostly be a comparison and will touch on the differences between the units. All comments are my opinion only and I’m sure others here will feel very differently. Both units were updated to the most recent unit software version 2.50.
Overall useage & feel
In spite of the newer & faster processor, the 765 has a more sluggish feel in overall use. Map screen redraws while navigating were fantastic and very smooth. Bravo to Garmin on this. I feel my observed sluggishness has more to do with navigating the menu system as the screen changes “slide” in/out instead of instantaneously changing. The screen “slides” were also a bit jerky as compared to the map redraws which were very smooth. I much prefer the menu system used by the 7×0 as it just feels snappier and quicker.
LCD observations
Both units had the brighter LCD used in the older 7×0 series. Touch screen sensitivity was average…not as bad as some units I have used but not as good as my current 760 which is very sensitive and a joy to use. However, *both* of the unit’s LCDs had issues with screen touches being misinterpreted, especially on the bottom row buttons. Many times the button pressed triggered not that button but the one just above it thus triggering a different press than what was expected. Despite numerous screen re-calibrations, I could not alleviate the problem and even tried to fool the calibration process by pressing slighty to the left/right/up/down of where the calibration required you to press. Using the diagnostic mode’s screen press test page (also available on the 7×0) showed the random screen touch errors, with some being way off compared to where I pressed. The test icon would “jump” to a random area about 10% of the time, mostly to just above where I pressed.
Screen panning/dragging was painfully slow and very frustrating. Given the faster map redraws, I really don’t understand why this would be the case unless it is somehow related to the touch-screen since my 760 (with the sensitive LCD) is very fast and smooth in map panning.
New features
The new UI & lane guidance was quite useful and I wish my 7×0’s had it. However, I found the junction view quite annoying the times that it popped up since all you see is that screen for seconds at a time. There is no means to disable it through the menu system but I was able to force the unit to NOT use it by simply renaming the junction view file in the x:/Garmin/JCV folder.
The new map zoom button placement is ideal and very handy. Initially, the new zooming in/out motion was impressive but after a while, I wished for just the direct zoom in/out as on the 7×0 series. I felt that the new zooming was no faster than the old way…but it was cooler to watch though.
3D buildings was also useless to me since I use 2D mode exclusively. Even if I did use 3D mode, I would turn this feature off since it did nothing for my situational awareness. In fact, it may be a distraction to some people since you should really be watching the road while driving, not looking at 3D rendered buildings on your GPS screen.
The ability to configure the data fields is also a welcome change that I wish the 7×0’s had…I will miss this feature using my old 7×0’s
Odds and ends
The North pointer is back once again. Thanks Garmin!
I could no longer use voice dial with my RAZR (Verizon) phone on the 765. My 760 works just fine using voice dial.
Your Favorite’s names are no longer displayed on the map screen. Boy this annoyed me to high heaven. I rely on seeing the Favorite’s names along with the icon on the map and having them gone was a big deal for me. The Favorite’s icon size has also been increased slightly which may be good but not being able to see it’s associated name is pretty pointless to me.
The map screen can no longer display the same detail as the 7×0 series. Smaller streets only display at .03 of a mile and below while the 7×0 series can display the same streets at .05 and .08 of a mile. I think I -may- see the reason for this inability…the map & streets drawn seem to have a higher degree of anti-aliasing(AA) applied, thus giving a smoother look. However if the same amount of AA were applied to the map at the “most” detail setting of the 7×0 series, they would all blur together.
Upcoming street names are no longer displayed as on the 7×0 units. Only the name of the street/highway you are currently on now is displayed instead. I have heard that the upcoming street display was removed due to the fact that another manufacturer has the rights to display the upcoming street data. Regardless, this is yet another step backwards.
The volume setting is no longer saved between being cradle powered and battery powered. If you set the unit’s volume for say 90% while being cradle powered and you then run off the battery in your house, the unit will still be set to 90% volume. You end up with a very loud unit on battery power/indoors until you turn the volume back down or mute it. When you put the unit back on the cradle in the car, you again have to unmute or increase the volume back up. I found this very annoying since I use the unit indoors frequently and having to constantly mute/unmute the unit was just plain silly. The 7×0 series saves the volume setting being cradle/battery powered just fine.
Summary
In my *personal useage*, I felt that the 7×5 series was a step backwards from the 7×0 series, due (for the most part) to the last four items listed under “Odd and ends” above. It seems like more effort was put into creating new visual “eye candy” for the user. While this is all good, it’s actual usefulness was really not important to me. Instead of being constantly impressed by this, I was constantly wanting the older features of the 7×0 I mentioned above instead. The new features like lane guidance & the new user interface are fantastic though and may be enough to steer 7×0 users to the new 7×5 series. I think that if your first nuvi is going to be a 7×5 unit, you will be very pleased with it, not knowing what the 7×0 series is capable of doing despite that fact that it’s an older unit. If you’re a current 7×0 user, you may in fact be rather disappointed with features (again) being removed and missed.
Occasionally we feature opinions and reviews from our forum members. SergZak, a very advanced and knowledgeable Nuvi user has written this about his experience with the Nuvi 765T.
| Store | Rating | Best Prices |
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I had bad luck with three different Garmin nuvi 765Ts. Bought the 1st one and set up and fully charges, but it turned off each time I tried to view the map. Never did see the map on that one. Exchanged #1 for a new one and set it up and charged it and all seemed fine, but on a trip on day two, the map cycled on and off every minute and never showed the map again. Exchanged #2 for a new one (#3) and it lasted one day and then began to cycle on and off. It was fully charged (like the others) and cycled on and off when on battery power or plugged in. My verdict, based on owning three Garmin nuvi 765Ts in one week and using them in CA and VA, is a “don’t buy”. It appears that there is a bug in the software.
I had the exat same issue as Dave. I was out in the middle of nowhere when mine started to cycle on and off. One note; each time it cycled on it gave me accurate distance to next turn before it cycled off. Unit also seems to get hot.
i have returned 4 nuvi 765t’s from overheating,shutting down,and leaving me when i needed the most went back to 255w that is failsafe not very many options but always works
I love our 765T. Until yesterday, that is. We’ve owned it for a month now and yesterday each time the spoken words feature (text-to-speech) activated an extremely annoying high-pitched ringing sound accompanied it. The noise would start just before “jill” started speaking and shut off when she finished. It was seriously bad! It didn’t matter if volume was at 10% or 70%, unless we turned the volume completely off, muted, the noise was present. If the unit was at ten percent, or 90 percent the ringing noise was the same high level. Extremely loud and almost unbearable pitch! Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions on what it could be and why? Thanks, Lucas
I’m torn between the 760 and 765T. I’m a first time GPS user so I have no benchmark to compare to. I’m mainly looking for Bluetooth, Traffic, and Lane Guidance, and of course solid GPS navigation. I was leaning towards the 765T based on the reviews [snip], but now that I’ve seen your review I’m not so sure. I was thinking of possible adding the MSN service to the 760 and using that instead of the base 765T traffic service. Any sugguestion would be helpful.
The 756T I have has been MUCH more solid than stated here…
the junction view alone so me
Slick
My 756T keeps zooming out to the point you don’t see the side roads even in town. I zoom it back in and then it will zoom back out. Today it didn’t even show the road I was driving on.
On the 765T in the tools-and one of the settings Ex(Navigation, Display or Map) there is a setting for heighth or something like that, I think one of them is “Low”. (My wife has the GPS with her or I could tell you what it is.)But if you select that option and save it, it should show you the srounding streets all the time. You won’t see the upcoming streets that are approx few 100 yrds or more ahead because they are out of view of the screen. The one thing that I like about the 7xx T series is you can customize your own routes. There are sometimes better ways to go from point A to Point B that is better than what the GPS Tells you. Ex> I live on the west coast of Fl and go to the east coast to visit relitives and there are two toll roads to get there. One toll road I take the second one (Fl Tpk)I don’t take even though the GPS tells me to; because it is just as fast going past the Tpk and staying on the State Hwy and saves a Toll. If I select in the settings to ignore Toll Roads then It cuts out all toll roads and sends you way out of the way. With the “Custom” feature I can delete the Fl Tpk and insert the State Hwy then continue East to I95 So.
I used to have navigation in my BMW, but when it got totalled bay a red light runner the new car didn’t have it so my wife bought me the 765t. Compared to the BMW system its not nearly as good. I have also got the problem of very slow map rendering, it only shows my possition every 2 tenths of a mile or so, which is really anoying if you are turning alot in small streets. Anyone else had this problem?
To All of you who are having trouble with your 7xx T or are thinking about buying one. I have been on the phone with Garmin a couple of times and found out that when you first purchase your unit and it hasn’t had the updates it is better to turn the unit on and aquire satillites and your location then turn it off and plug it into you computer and go the to Garmin web site and navigate to the “Web Updater” and run the updates. If you are having maping problems like off track or not keeping up or getting ahead of your vehicle icon run updater again to see if the updates are newer. they are constently upgrading to correct any problems they have encountered. In some cases you may have to even do a complete reset to set it back to what it was when it came out of the box. You will lose all your saved addresses and favorites when you do he reset.
We purchased the 7×5T and found it to be quite frustrating. We took a trip to Arizona and all was fine but on the way back it took us on a wild goose chase. It kept changing directions on us, inaccurate time frames, we ended up in no mans land and felt that it just wasn’t worth the money. I am returning mine today and looking for something better. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on which GPS would work more efficiently?
On your Garmin 765T did you go to the “WebUpdater” and update any of the new updates that show up except the forein language ones? Also check your “Avoidances” in TOOLS->SETTINGS -> NAVIGATION to make sure you have put a check next to any options you don’t want. Ex (Unpaved Roads, Ferries and anyother way you don’t want into the calculations. You may have to do a Factory Reset. You do this by having the unit unplugged and off. Put your finger on the lower right corner and hold, then while holding your finger on the lower right corner of the screen turn the unit on and in about 30 seconds to a minute a message will come up saying “Do You Want To Lose or Delete all data. Select “YES” (You will lose all favorites and anything else you may have stored in there including your settings).Turn unit off and go outside then turn unit back on to aquire the satilites at your location. If this is your home save it as such. I had to do all this and so far I haven’t had any problems (YET). In case you didn’t know there is a Manual that you can get from Garmin on line and download.
I have done the free map upgrade for my 765T. It still does not have some streets listed even though they have been around for several years. Restaurants are not up-to-date either. I had a TomTom and really liked the feature of \Make A U Turn\ instead of taking me around the world to get back to the street one block back. It also seems to have a Navigation problem. We live in New Mexico and some things are remote. We were on a remote road but it told us that it was 36 miles across it. That was correct but 4 miles from the intersecting highway, it told us to turn even though there was no road. It never indicated that we had not turned but showed that the next turn was to the right just as though we had reached the highway. Debating whether or not to just return it!!
I have the 765T which was purchased June 23 or 24th 2009 and the only problem I have had is my wife said it shut off on her once on a trip. When she got home I went to the web updater and dowloaded everything that was there except the foreign lanquages. I had other slight problems and called Garmin (if you have the time to be on hold for about 45 min to an hour) I recomend that you take that step and tell them voice to voice what is going on. As far as the maps and updated streets and roads go they have to depend on the area mappers to turn in the information to who ever does there maps for them. Usually Google Maps. I have the same problem. My daughter moved into some new apartment that was built in 2007 and they moved in in 2008 and the last I checked about two weeks ago on Google 2009 maps they still showed the buildings still under construction with the street completed but it never made into the 2009 ver CN North America NT 2010.10 and CN North America NT 2010.10 3D which is the latest version. ( side note ) In my searching the other GPS’s I guess they get there maps from the some source. but you can check to be sure.
Google doesn’t have their own maps– in North America they purchase maps from Tele Atlas for use on their site. In contrast, Garmin purchases their maps from NAVTEQ. So Garmin and Google Maps do not use the same map provider.
Just FYI, The 765 comes preset to avoid u-turns. all you have to do is uncheck that box in your navigation settings.
Also make sure u also update the software on garmin website. It is supposed to fix some issues.
I purchased a 765T 3 weeks ago after Sam’s Club brought them back (all their units were sent to Garmin for a software upgrade). I turned on the unit and it paired with the satellites in about 30 seconds. I connected it to my Netbook and took several voice and map correction updates (not the map itself). I have not had any problems.
This weekend when I connected to the PC, I was advised there was a “Free” map update. It took about 45 minutes to download, and another 12-15 minutes to install. never encountered any issues and the PND continues to work great! My only complaint, in the Texas 100 degree heat, the rubber mount fails about once per week. Anyone has suggestions on how to make it stay put?
In Florida, but so far I’ve not had a problem with the mount not staying put. It’s been firmly affixed to my windshield from the day I bought it. Make sure your windshield is spotless. Wipe it down with whatever you prefer to use for glass cleaner, buff it dry. Then use rubbing alcohol and let it dry for a few minutes. Don’t forget to clean the suction cup as well.
It also helps to stick the suction cup to a flatter section of the windshield. Some windshields are very curved at the sides/edges.
Also make sure you’re pressing the mount firmly against the window while flipping the lever. It’s not enough to just depend upon the lever mechanism alone.
Save your money. This model is garbage. I got mine from Sams Club. I think thats where they send all the rejects/refurbished things. Options I paid extra for not in the unit. When I replace this thing I’ll be doing my homework.
I have been a TOMTOM user for a long time and switched to the Garmin Nuvi 765T because it has a function to optimise the order of the waypoints of a route.
This function seems to work fine, but navigation the city sucks bigtime. It constantly freaks out, assumably because it looses GPS coverages…
Definetely go for the TomTom devices… way better quality!!!
Well, I have given up. I was in a relatively small town, fortunately knew where I was going. It showed going to a certain street, then turning to get on the Interstate. We were following other people so we turned long before the scheduled turn. The 765 showed us to be on the street we had been on along with all the surrounding streets (even though we had turned off it), then told us to take the ramp to access the Interstate even though we had been on it for a mile or two. THEN we were going down a remote road that had only one possible turn to get on the next highway. It told us to turn about 4 miles before we got to the turn and NEVER showed that we had not turned. That was the second time it did that.
If we had been in a city where we did not know where we were going, we would have been hard pressed to ever access the right road.
We are either going to give up on a GPS or going back to TomTom. Too frustating to deal with these problems.
Just want to add my unhappy-customer voice to the mix. Loved the 765t for 3 months. I used it to navigate all over Canada this past summer and it was priceless. But, as of 3 weeks ago–shortly after it began showing a “battery will not charge” message, it is useless! I am so irate. Even if this is covered, and I assume it is, I’ll need to buy a spare gps system to use while my original one is being fixed.
I wouldn’t buy this model again. This is not acceptable quality, and in my opinion, this model needs to be recalled/replaced by Garmin.
My first Garmin product and although I was satisfied with it for the first 60 days, it failed to charge within the first 60 days of use. The store replaced it and mentioned that that particular model did indeed present this problem (that was certainly not mentioned when I purchased it). Registration of the product also presents a nightmare of problems as the models are not updated online. I did purchase a second Garmin product…but that too has been a nightmare of problems trying to register. I would not recommend the model 765T. When I purchased the additional memory …. well nothing was actually added other than the presence of the card itself.
The products/models are difficult to compare due to a lack of any real definition or differences between models on the packaging.