My Nuvi just started saying that the maps are outdated and need to be upgraded, probably at a cost. I have had it for about a year now, and while I don’t regret getting it there are some things about it that I think are done rather poorly. The following is my pro/con list for the Garmin Nuvi 750.
Pro (in order of my favorite features):
1. Widescreen bright display. There’s plenty of space to look at this thing, and it is plenty bright enough even in sunlight.
2. Battery power. There is enough battery in this thing for most trips, and if I wanted to pull it out of the car and use it while walking around it has that capability.
3. Mostly accurate maps. I haven’t ended up on any train tracks.
4. Audible. I have some old Audible books that I purchased many years ago that have been brought back to life by this device.
Con (in order of annoyance):
1. It treats every Interstate intersection as a turn, even if I am not going to be turning. You may think, well, that’s not so bad, and in some respects it isn’t. There’s nothing worse than being unsure of which direction you should go when you are barrelling down the highway at 65MPH or greater with cars all around you. Since it tells me even when I shouldn’t turn, that might be a positive thing. I call this a con because it has negative implications as well. I was at a busy intersection recently where it was doing this “stay left on …” for a mile or so. When I finally got to the part where I was supposed to stay left it suddenly switched from that instruction to the next. Unfortunately the next instruction was to exit. So I went from “stay left” to moving all the way to the right and then exiting within about 500 feet. I was prepared because I had looked at the map beforehand, and because i knew from experience that this was standard behavior. The first time it got me and I passed the exit (which happened to be a left exit) and had to travel to the next exit and run a couple clovers to get back to my exit. How to fix this one? Make it an option to announce and include as a waypoint a “stay on this road” type direction.
3. The ETA display assumes you drive at least 10% over the speed limit. I’ve experimented with this some, and in some cases it assumes that I drive much faster than that, especially on highways. It knows what the speed limit is for interstates because it displays the speed limit all the time, however it calculates an ETA based on going faster than the speed limit. How to fix this one? Allow the user to specify how law abiding (or environmentally conscious) they want to be. 10% over the speed limit at 65MPH is enough to noticeably hurt MPG. You could take a rolling average of the last 10 minutes or so and use that as the baseline, however that would make a temporary traffic jam or temporarily slow traffic invalidate the ETA even after it cleared. Best thing is to make it an option.
4. It doesn’t display my speed when it is displaying directions. Instead it displays the ETA in the place where the speed normally is shown. Not a bad thing I know – I have a spedometer, but it is nice to have a second opinion on the speed. There is plenty of room on the widescreen display to display both these pieces of information, and it is disappointing that they made these decisions for the user. They figured the information was relevant when not getting directions, so why not while getting directions as well. In all there should be many things that could be displayed on the main screen. I realize simplicity probably saves lives so people aren’t as confused, but as a geek I like information and I’m able to read and process information very quickly, so the more of it the better.
5. Processing power/GPS accuracy/lag. I’m not sure what is really responsible for this, but frequently it will show an intersection in front of me even after I’ve passed the intersection. Whatever causes it, it is annoying. The best thing to do is to pay attention to the voice and look for street signs – you know the way we used to have to find places.
The overall issue I have with the Nuvi 750 is its lack of configurable options. It assumes what is best for you, when it would be better to let the user decide.
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Does that really do audible books? You may have just sold me on getting a Garmin. I’ve wanted to replace the old TomTom, but didn’t know what to get. Thanks for the information. I’m a big audio/e-book reader.
Yes, it does work with audible and is a registered device on their system. Looks like your site is a good place to go get one. Site review here.