Features I miss: Bluetooth capability (available with Nuvi 760 but I did not think it was necessary at purchase of this unit); No provision for tunnel exits (it should indicate the name of the exit and the distance to travel when the car enters a lengthy tunnel and the car is to get out of one of the intermediate exits other than the end of the tunnel). Unavoidable: Inaccuracy near skyscrapers or under overhangs of freeways. Needless to say that the unit does not work inside buildings or underground although you may wish it would navigate you even in those circumstances since it is a portable device.

FM transmitter is useless - don't waste your time unless you want static and to readjust every 5 minutes. 3. Internal speaker is tinny sounding and even with volume at 100% I had trouble hearing the directions at highway speed.

I followed this advice, let my nuvi charge for 4 hours via a USB cable connected to a PC, but the unit still refused to power on. In the end, Garmin's support suggested that I return the unit to the place of purchase for an exchange. Now...as bad as all of the above sounds, I think that I just happened to get a bad unit.

I bought this product because Amazon said in its description that, "All of the 700-series navigators also feature a rich array of features including ...integrated traffic receivers..." This isn't true and is greatly misleading to the buyer. When I downloaded the operating manual from Garmin, I found that I would have to buy a receiver from Garmin for $145.00 to get traffic information. This lack of an expected major feature has caused me to be very disappointed in the product and even more so with Amazon.

I contacted Garmin regarding the slow acquisition time at which point they directed me to perform a master reset. That did not help. After another week or two I obtained an RMA from Garmin and returned the unit.

The MP3 player is no iPod but it is usable - while it only recognizes MP3 files, it is easy to make playlists on the computer and transfer it to the Nuvi. A feature that I like is that the Nuvi will actually pause the music while announcing, not merely mute it. I have not tried the FM transmitter yet and probably won't, I suspect it will work as poorly as the rest where we live.

POI Loader reported success, but all those (13,000+) nice custom POIs were nowhere to be found (they were supposed to be under Extras). I figure a part of the problem might have been the format of the POI files I used (despite them being uploaded "successsfully"), but I cannot say more about this since I was not able to test my freshly-created POI file due to nuvi's failure to power on. Apart from the above, I was quite happy with the unit until it refused to work altogether.

Even though only a week old, the software on my unit was two releases back and the upgrade to v2.60 happened quickly and without incident. This is the software that runs the unit, and is not the maps themselves, which are current until the next update expected in the summer. Summary: does all I want and much more that I will likely never use (MP3 player, photo viewer).

- poor satellite reception, had to reset almost everytime it is turn off, sometimes had to reset several times - touch screen map scrolling not very sensitive, have to press and drag really hard - no prompt keep straight, i took a wrong split several times

1. The unit saves tracklogs, but I've been unable to download them. The standard answer from both internet groups and Garmin tech support is to use Mapsource, but the unit doesn't come with Mapsource (the data is preloaded).

I was very excited about this series(700s) for getting rid of the flip up antenna. I had very high hopes but was very disappointed. Pros:

- no prompt to indicate if i have to make a turn, magellan has this feature and it was very helpful - no prompt to indicate if i made the correct turn, mapopolis had this and it was very helpful - poor orientation, it does not know which direction i am facing most of the time

In the morning I expected the unit to be ready, but found out that it would not power on at all. Not if turned on with the power button, not if connected to a power charger in the car, nor if connected to a computer via a USB cable. Called Garmin's tech support, which was easily accessible (I was glad about this aspect of my experience).

My Magellan RoadMate 700 completely died after 2-1/2 years, two costly map updates, and one very costly out-of-warranty factory repair.

Some people said that some 7xx units have sirf and some do not. I saw tips on how to find out what my unit has, but I couldn't get the instructions to work for me. I have no idea whether I have sirf or not, but it's working great so far (depending on where it's mounted).

It seems to me the processor is slow as it takes a number of seconds to make changes in route. It doesn't provide the most direct or fastest route. The screen "rewrites" in different resolutions as you approach a congested area or change in route; this can be confusing if you are not directly looking at it.

I disliked the screen locking and power-up mechanism where I had to agree with the legal policy every time I turned it ON! The points of interests are not very accurate and its map is not quite up to date. It doesn't have the Monroe, Louisiana new streets details but then, Google too, doesn't have them!

If you are a first-time GPS buyer, you can't go wrong with this one. If you are a repeat buyer, you likely won't be disappointed either.

You can't, for example, upload selected destinations from Outlook; there is, however, a points-of-interest loader (free download) that might help though I've not yet tried it. (3) the routings I chose to use are those generated in "fastest" mode. They are not always the fastest routing and lean very heavily on Interstate roads even when the extra mileage takes longer in time than a non-Interstate route.

Although the 760 comes with 3 months of free traffic, it's $60/yr after that. I was not interested in bluetooth, after reading the poor reviews, so it was really a matter of traffic or no traffic.

- poor satellite reception, had to reset almost everytime it is turn off, sometimes had to reset several times - touch screen map scrolling not very sensitive, have to press and drag really hard - no prompt keep straight, i took a wrong split several times

- no prompt to indicate if i have to make a turn, magellan has this feature and it was very helpful - no prompt to indicate if i made the correct turn, mapopolis had this and it was very helpful - poor orientation, it does not know which direction i am facing most of the time

- The unit does not steadily display the current street being traveled. While there are those that believe that its only the next turn that is important (the next turn is always displayed at the screen top), to me it is important to also know the current road. You could push a button or 2 to display the current road but, in my opinion it should always be displayed.

Thinking maybe I had gotten lucky I decided to put it to the test. By traveling to other areas with the unit turned off I would then turn it on to see if I could duplicate the problems others are claiming but have had no success in doing so.

The only problem is that the volume control is not on the outside so you can't turn it down while driving.

This was a problem, because I did not know where to turn and just had to keep driving until the unit recalculated again. This happened twice the first day using it. Example scenario, I missed my exit so the unit recalculated to get off the next exit which I did.

Sometimes slow to give turn information. In a quick turn situation this is not good. Also at highway speed, when you have to switch lanes this is a problem.

I like the ability to put in routes with multiple stops (waypoints) which is one of the key reasons I purchased this model. Its graphics are nice and the turn instructions are timely. This 'review' may sound like I hate the unit which is not the case but, I believe in pointing out areas where the unit could be improved.

It also periodically confirms you are on the right track. I give turns by street name not merely saying "turn right next corner" (that was very important to my wife). It's basically that simple.

Features I miss: Bluetooth capability (available with nuvi 760 but I did not think it was necessary at purchase of this unit); No provision for tunnel exits (it should indicate the name of the exit and the distance to travel when the car enters a lengthy tunnel and the car is to get out of one of the intermediate exits other than the end of the tunnel). Unavoidable: Inaccuracy near skyscrapers or under overhangs of freeways. Needless to say that the unit does not work inside buildings or underground although you may wish it would navigate you even in those circumstances since it is a portable device.

I followed this advice, let my nuvi charge for 4 hours via a USB cable connected to a PC, but the unit still refused to power on. In the end, Garmin's support suggested that I return the unit to the place of purchase for an exchange. Now...as bad as all of the above sounds, I think that I just happened to get a bad unit.

The MP3 player is no iPod but it is usable - while it only recognizes MP3 files, it is easy to make playlists on the computer and transfer it to the nuvi. A feature that I like is that the nuvi will actually pause the music while announcing, not merely mute it. I have not tried the FM transmitter yet and probably won't, I suspect it will work as poorly as the rest where we live.

POI Loader reported success, but all those (13,000+) nice custom POIs were nowhere to be found (they were supposed to be under Extras). I figure a part of the problem might have been the format of the POI files I used (despite them being uploaded "successsfully"), but I cannot say more about this since I was not able to test my freshly-created POI file due to nuvi's failure to power on. Apart from the above, I was quite happy with the unit until it refused to work altogether.

Most of the POIs look more or less the same, and they are difficult to tap on. I also wish icons were freelly assignable to POIs, so that the icon itself would tell you something useful. As far as I was able to see on my nuvi 750, icons are only changeable (selectable from a pre-loaded set of small icons) for custom items (e.g.

After compatibility problems I returned it and got the Garmin nuvi 750. It does all it's supposed to do and works well with my Apple computer. At first I didn't want to pay the higher cost for the Garmin, but as with most things you get what you pay for.

I can't explain why I've had such good satellite performance when so many others have had trouble. Before buying it, I googled "nuvi 750 sirf" and read a handful of discussions about whether or not the 750 has the sirf chip for satellite reception. There are stories that Garmin tried a proprietary chip for the 7xx series and quit using the sirf chip (which is in the 6xx series).

I have found in one or two instances that the nuvi lost its way temporarily for no apparent reason, but every time it got back on track within a matter of seconds.

If you have no problem waiting over 5 minutes to have the nuvi 750 lock on to Satellites, despite having clear skies above your head, then go ahead, buy it if you don't mind the cost of course. Mind you, you can drive a good number of miles towards, or away from your destination before this 'thing' can start working! Very frustrating which is why I knocked off two stars!

4. Routing features are present that were lacking in many previous nuvi units. What's lacking:

- poor satellite reception, had to reset almost everytime it is turn off, sometimes had to reset several times - touch screen map scrolling not very sensitive, have to press and drag really hard - no prompt keep straight, i took a wrong split several times

I can't explain why I've had such good satellite performance when so many others have had trouble. Before buying it, I googled "nuvi 750 sirf" and read a handful of discussions about whether or not the 750 has the sirf chip for satellite reception. There are stories that Garmin tried a proprietary chip for the 7xx series and quit using the sirf chip (which is in the 6xx series).

Now that the satellite issue is behind me, I could not ask for more. This is in response to some posts I've seen. To get back to main menu from several menus deep, hold t

I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the satellite acquisition latency. I actually would rate it 4.5 stars if I had that option.

It intially took several minutes to locate the satellite but that seems to be improving.

Initially, I noticed the long satellite acquisition time. This was usually confined to the first boot-up of the day or after a long lay off. I continued to use the unit hoping it would improve.

After reading the reviews before purchasing my 750 I was greatly concerned with some of the comments I had read regarding long satellite acquisition times, tinny sound from the speakers and poor navigation at times.

It seems to me the processor is slow as it takes a number of seconds to make changes in route. It doesn't provide the most direct or fastest route. The screen "rewrites" in different resolutions as you approach a congested area or change in route; this can be confusing if you are not directly looking at it.

You can't, for example, upload selected destinations from Outlook; there is, however, a points-of-interest loader (free download) that might help though I've not yet tried it. (3) the routings I chose to use are those generated in "fastest" mode. They are not always the fastest routing and lean very heavily on Interstate roads even when the extra mileage takes longer in time than a non-Interstate route.

I don't like to have to wait until the unit randomly decides to display it. When glancing at the unit I expect this information to be there. In 3D mode the route number seems to appear on a more regular basis but, if you don't want to view the roads in 3D its meaningless.

However, I was very disappointed with it because it often took 10 to 20 minutes to find any satellites. Also, it chose the longest route possible to get to my destination and wouldn't offer an alternate route.

- I like to view highway travel in 2 dimensional mode. When on the highway in 2D, the current route is not always displayed.

During my initial tests I've noticed that it takes some odd turns to get to places that I normally go, dont know if that's because it chooses streets with easier traffic patterns or what but several times I intentionally went off route due those "unnecessary turns", with the unit recalculating pretty quickly.

All you see is the line/road, passing streets, and car on the display. If you change the scale to view the display from a higher 'altitude' then the route information appears on a more regular yet still intermittant basis.

- poor satellite reception, had to reset almost everytime it is turn off, sometimes had to reset several times - touch screen map scrolling not very sensitive, have to press and drag really hard - no prompt keep straight, i took a wrong split several times

It seems to me the processor is slow as it takes a number of seconds to make changes in route. It doesn't provide the most direct or fastest route. The screen "rewrites" in different resolutions as you approach a congested area or change in route; this can be confusing if you are not directly looking at it.

I disliked the screen locking and power-up mechanism where I had to agree with the legal policy every time I turned it ON! The points of interests are not very accurate and its map is not quite up to date. It doesn't have the Monroe, Louisiana new streets details but then, Google too, doesn't have them!

- The unit does not steadily display the current street being traveled. While there are those that believe that its only the next turn that is important (the next turn is always displayed at the screen top), to me it is important to also know the current road. You could push a button or 2 to display the current road but, in my opinion it should always be displayed.

-Map switches from 3D view to 2D N up option when user selects the screen. Cons: -Does not maintain lock on GPS signal in downtown Chicago as well as Magellan Maestro 4250 which never lost the signal.

It would be nice to shut off some of the features to get more screen real estate, and it would be nice to have a field of user-configurable data fields like my older eTrex units. 3. You can't use the GPS when it's hooked up via USB.

POI Loader reported success, but all those (13,000+) nice custom pois were nowhere to be found (they were supposed to be under Extras). I figure a part of the problem might have been the format of the POI files I used (despite them being uploaded "successsfully"), but I cannot say more about this since I was not able to test my freshly-created POI file due to nuvi's failure to power on. Apart from the above, I was quite happy with the unit until it refused to work altogether.

Most of the pois look more or less the same, and they are difficult to tap on. I also wish icons were freelly assignable to pois, so that the icon itself would tell you something useful. As far as I was able to see on my nuvi 750, icons are only changeable (selectable from a pre-loaded set of small icons) for custom items (e.g.

I've used the pois only a couple of times, but it looks like they'll be really useful as kind of a yellow pages. I was also able to choose a destination by browsing the map by dragging it and then tapping on the map to select my destination. I agree with the other reviewer that the sound quality of the speaker is not impressive.

-Missing feature to see what services are available at upcoming exits. -Missing ability to view pois on the map.

-Missing Built-in AAA tourbook. -pois not as good as the AAA ones available in Magellan Maestro 4250 -No Ding sound when you should be turning!!!

favorites, possibly for custom pois). I also found nuvi 750 quite inefficient in terms of the import of custom POI files, but at this time I am not entirely clear if this is entirely nuvi's fault or maybe also custom POI files' fault.

Even though only a week old, the software on my unit was two releases back and the upgrade to v2.60 happened quickly and without incident. This is the software that runs the unit, and is not the maps themselves, which are current until the next update expected in the summer. Summary: does all I want and much more that I will likely never use (MP3 player, photo viewer).

2 1/2 minutes to acquire signal. After that, everytime I power on the device, it goes through the loading maps... and then it takes only 15 to 30 seconds max.

Had to rely on tour guide maps since my GPS failed every single time in and around Michigan Avenue and downton area of Chicago. It does not maintain lock on GPS signal in downtown Chicago.

2 1/2 minutes to acquire signal. After that, everytime I power on the device, it goes through the loading maps... and then it takes only 15 to 30 seconds max.

The only other complaint - if I start moving this unit can't seem to grab the satelite signal. If I stay still for 2-3 minutes it works just fine. Overall I think it's a pretty nice unit.

-Map switches from 3D view to 2D N up option when user selects the screen. Cons: -Does not maintain lock on GPS signal in downtown Chicago as well as Magellan Maestro 4250 which never lost the signal.

- The transmitter is unusable for me. The signal is not strong enough for my radio antenna to pick it up.

Had to rely on tour guide maps since my GPS failed every single time in and around Michigan Avenue and downton area of Chicago. It does not maintain lock on GPS signal in downtown Chicago.

- no prompt to indicate if i have to make a turn, magellan has this feature and it was very helpful - no prompt to indicate if i made the correct turn, mapopolis had this and it was very helpful - poor orientation, it does not know which direction i am facing most of the time

My magellan RoadMate 700 completely died after 2-1/2 years, two costly map updates, and one very costly out-of-warranty factory repair.

-Map switches from 3D view to 2D N up option when user selects the screen. Cons: -Does not maintain lock on GPS signal in downtown Chicago as well as magellan Maestro 4250 which never lost the signal.

Many other reviews have documented the plusses/minuses but for me the unit is all that I expected and need. I do wish to share a few oddities I had not expected from my experiences transitioning from the magellan: (1) there is no a/c adapter included; this is very strange to me as even the non-battery-powered magellan came with this.

-Missing Built-in AAA tourbook. -POIs not as good as the AAA ones available in magellan Maestro 4250 -No Ding sound when you should be turning!!!