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The nüvi 780 adds enhanced MSN direct content to the multi-destination routing and "Where Am I?" features and gorgeous widescreen display of other nüvi 700s to create a superior navigation device for business as well as casual drivers. As with all nüvis, you get Garmin reliability, the fast satellite lock of an integrated high-sensitivity receiver, a slim, pocket-sized design with a gorgeous display, an easy, intuitive interface, and detailed NAVTEQ maps for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with more than 6 million name-searchable points of interest. All of the 700-series navigators also feature a rich array of features including spoken directions in real street names, integrated traffic receivers, MP3 player and photo viewer, and an FM transmitter that will play voice prompts, MP3s, audio books, and more, directly through your vehicle's stereo system.
 Garmin's nüvis pack top of the line features into a slim form factor. |
An integrated receiver allows you to access enhanced dynamic content from the MSN Direct service. Check the weather, avoid traffic backups, compare local gas prices, get enhanced movie listings, stock information, news and local events when you travel with your unit. Even plan trips from the convenience of your computer, via Windows Live Local, and wirelessly send custom to your nüvi.
- Free 9 month trial subscription to MSN Direct services, activation instructions provided
- MSN Direct Traffic Receiver included in the box
- Extended MSN Direct service subscriptions available for purchase: 12 months for $49.95 + tax (visit MSN for further details)
Multi-Destination Routing
Wider screen lets you see more of what's around. Compare these actual size views of a 3-inch (diagonal) screen and a 4.3-inch diagonal widescreen  |
This lets you enter several spots into the device (day care - supermarket-cleaners - office - day care, for example) and it will plot the fastest route. And once you've found the best router, the "Route Planning" feature lets you save up to 10 different routes, Garmin touts the feature for providing, "the most efficient route for errands, deliveries and sales calls." The feature also makes this an instant essential accessory for anyone who shops garage sales (you know what we're talking about).
A trip log provides an electronic bread crumb trail of up to 10,000 points, so you can see where you've been on the map.
Where Am I? Where's My Car?
The nüvi 700 series is the first to answer two common questions: "Where am I?" and "Where’s my car?"
At any time, with a single tap of the screen, drivers can display their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. And to help drivers find their car in an unfamiliar spot or vast parking lot, the nüvis in the 700 series automatically mark the position in which they were last removed from the mount.
See Better, See MoreThe super-bright, 4.3-inch (diagonal) touchscreen display gives is anti-glare for ease of viewing during the day and automatically changes its color profile for easy viewing at night or in dim light. It offers 2d or 3D perspective views.
The widescreen format gives you 70% more actual screen area than a 3.5-inch screen. Primarily this translates into a better view of the area through which you are driving. This is especially useful in showing you what parks, restaurants, ATM, gas stations, etc. are nearby, or in letting you know whether a detour is a good idea. Also, the device itself is larger, meaning controls on the screen are more widely spaced and somewhat easier to push.
The nüvi 780 is preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT road maps for the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. This map database features nearly six million points of interest (POIs), including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions. Garmin gets its map data from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping.
Hands-Free Calling
In more and more places, it is becoming illegal to use cell phones while driving without a hands-free kit. The nüvi 780's Bluetooth capability, microphone and speaker lets match it to any bluetooth-capable phone to make hands-free mobile phone calls. Simply dial the phone number with the nüvi's touch screen keypad to make a call on a compatible phone. To answer an incoming call, just tap the screen and speak into the built-in microphone. Making and taking calls on the road has never been easier, or safer. In addition, Garmin makes it a breeze to look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or even tap into your cell phone's call history log.
Garmin Lock
Garmin's patent pending theft prevention system that disables the unit from performing any functions until the user types in a specific 4-digit PIN or takes the unit to a predetermined secure location
Easy To Use Interface
Garmin's interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.
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Beyond Navigation
 Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer. |  A handy MP3 player lets you play songs stored on SD memory cards. |  nüvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs). View larger. |
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 780 features travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, MP3 player, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map.
This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via SD card, such as the Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nüvi for your travel needs.
Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.
Trick Your GPS Ride
 Custom vehicle icons let you ride in style, at least inside your GPS. See more icon option |
With this GPS system on board you'll be prepared to steer clear of traffic with the integrated FM TMC traffic receiver. The nüvi is designed to receive alerts about traffic tie-ups and road construction that might lie ahead on your route. All you have to do is simply touch the screen to view traffic details and you'll be ready to detour around any problem area. And if you end up missing a turn, or you're forced into a detour that is not relayed through the traffic receiver, the nüvi's sophisticated automatic routing will get you back on track in no time.
What's in the Box
nüvi 780, Preloaded City Navigator NT for North America*, MSN Direct receiver with integrated vehicle power cable, 9 months free MSN Direct service*, Vehicle suction cup mount*, USB cable, Dashboard disc, Quick start manual
Notes
- Optional software for language translation, detailed travel guides, and savings programs allow you to customize your nüvi to fit your travel needs
- The FM transmitter feature is only available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
- Like most USB Mass Storage Devices, the nüvi is not compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me.
Which nüvi is Best for You?
Note: All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.
| Device | Screen Size inches (W x H) | Included Maps | Text-to-Speech (Directions in Real Street Names) | Traffic | Bluetooth | Media | FM Transmitter (audio through car stereo system) | Multi-Point Routing | Battery life (hours) | ||
| Cont. U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico | AK and Canada | Europe | |||||||||
| nüvi 205 | 2.8 x 2.1 |  | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||||
| nüvi 205w | 3.81 x 2.25 | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||||
| nüvi 255 | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 255w | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 260w | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | Photos | up to 5 | |||||
| nüvi 265T | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 265WT | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 275T | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 285WT | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); | | Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 465T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 755T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 760 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | |
| nüvi 765T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | |
| nüvi 775T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 |
| nüvi 780 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 5 | |
| nüvi 785T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | |
| nüvi 850 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 855 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 885T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (receiver included; 9 months free); FM (with optional receiver) | | Photos, MP3s | | | up to 4 | |
| nüvi 1200 | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | |||||
| nüvi 1250 | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 1260T | 2.8 x 2.1 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 1300 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | |||||
| nüvi 1350 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (with optional receiver) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 1350T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | Photos | up to 4 | ||||
| nüvi 1370T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 1390T | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | up to 4 | |||
| nüvi 1490T | 4.4 x 2.5 | | | | MSN-enhanced (with optional receiver); FM (receiver included; Lifetime Traffic) | | Photos | | up to 4 | ||
| nüvi 1690 | 3.81 x 2.25 | | | | NAVTEQ Traffic, 2 years free (Garmin nüLink! service) | | Photos | | up to 4 | ||
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Technical Details
- GPS navigator preloaded with City Navigator North America NT- 4.3-inch diagonal touchscreen display with 2D/3D mapping perspective
- Turn-by-turn directions with Voice Guidance/Text-to-Speech feature
- Includes MSN Direct receiver with Version 2
- Weighs just 1.8 pounds and measure 0.8 x 4.8 x 2.8 inches (W x L x H)
See more technical details
By Tom DTee (New Mexico, USA)
I used this on a very long trip: Arkansas to Florida to New Mexico, then back to Arkansas. There was only one part of the route (went mostly on back roads, not freeways) where the database was a little off due to new or rerouted highways. Modifying routes can be a little clunky, especially if you do it by selecting points off the map (you have to zoom quite a bit). For you glass cockpit pilots out there, like me you'll probably wish it had a "legs" page method for adding/deleting waypoints that is a little more intuitive, but it's not too bad.
Garmy, as we named the voice, gets a bit petulant when you do an "unauthorized" course deviation. After a bit, I turned her off. The course recaculations when you do deviate were for the most part excellent. I chose not to implement the MSN service, so can't comment on that. I did purchase the beanbag dash base; although a bit overpriced, I'm very happy with it and it's much easier to use that the windshield mount.
I would like to have the option to change the displays a bit to always show direction and perhaps some other things (when you are on a route that you have programmed, it doesn't show the direction, just the map, estimated arrival time, and speed).
By YIXING WANG (MI USA)
I bought this iterm just for the occasional travel. So I have not so often used it. I tried several times. It seemed working properly. The only thing I do not like it is that the remiding worked not so well within 1 mile of the turning. It won't tell me which lane I should keep and keep remiding me continusly.
Another thing is that it did not work well in the city like boston. I guess the buildings may be too high. Even when I was on the street, there is totally no signal. I do not know whether there is any satellite-signal-enhance device which can give my GPS any help. One time I used my friend's GPS-receiver plusing PDA, it can work easily in the Detroit and chicago where the buildings are even much higher.
By Scott Walters (Houston, TX)
If you are in or planning on travelling through the Houston beware as many, many, many maps are incomplete. Streets are missing (they are not new streets). I can be looking at a street and this Garmin can't find it. I have to use the navigation on my iPhone.
Interstate 10 travelling west is missing (and has been for the last year) interstate 45 is incomplete. If you try to use the navigation feature it will make you get off of the 45 south drive about 1 mile east then 5 miles south then get back on the 45.
If you contact customer service they will be happy to tell you an update is comming but it never arrives.
By Donna M. Hodo (Sledge, MS)
This is my first GPS and I love it. I purchased a TomTom for a friend and I tried it out but I am in love with the Garmin because of the ease of use, the way it recalculates faster than the TomTom and it gives you the shortest routes. Also, I love the blue tooth feature and the MSN direct feature. The MP3 player is okay; I wish this model had 2 speakers instead of one but I can live with it. I recommend Garmin gps units to everyone.
By Gadget Guru
I bought this to use on my motorcycle, since I tend to follow back roads and secondary highways rather than the interstates. Overall, I'm happy.
Because I avoid interstates and other areas people in cars usually drive to get places faster, I needed to be able to plot routes that stayed on curvy back roads. For one thing, they're more fun and for another, motorcycles get worse gas mileage on the interstates than back roads from all the wind.
It took me a lot of fiddling to get the avoidances and other settings just right for the unit to plot the type of route that I wanted. While you can set several waypoints along the route, for one road I wanted to travel on, the GPS was determined to take me off it. I finally realized that "highways" doesn't necessarily mean interstates in GPS lingo. I do wish it made the distinction between "interstates" and rural highway routes, though. A motorcycle-specific unit would do that, but those cost 2-3 times as much. Using the "shortest route" setting and using avoidances for U-Turns, Traffic, Ferries Carpool Lanes and Unpaved Roads, I was able to use two waypoints to point the GPS to the route I wanted. After that, things got much smoother.
The GPS faithfully steered me on routes with no trouble. I deliberately went far off one route and the GPS quickly plotted a new one within seconds.
The MP3 player is great, since I wear earphones anyway to shield my ears from the wind noise. The music is nice to keep my energy level up on long trips. When the GPS gives an instruction, the music mutes momentarily. The unit offers an FM transmitter to send the music through your car speakers. Transferring the music from my computer to the SD card I installed in the GPS was about as quick as any file copying process.
The GPS paired with my cheap little LG pre-paid phone via bluetooth. I was able to make a call (at home - I have no desire to try to talk on the phone while on the bike) with no trouble.
Battery life is decent, so those riders without power sockets will be able to ride for a few hours on the internal battery.
I haven't tried the traffic data service yet.
A few bad points:
- The unit froze up during power up a couple of times. Once, turning off and on again fixed it. The other time, I had to reset it by holding the power switch toward the left for the required 8 seconds to reset things. I didn't lose any data or settings when the unit came back on, though, so no harm done. It was just a bit annoying.
- There seems to be a bug in the software where, if a direction is given exactly as one song ends and another begins, you only hear and audio glitch instead of the instruction. Odd, but unlikely to happen often.
- Since I use the headphone jack on the bike (so I can hear the thing) and use the internal speaker in my car, it would be nice to have separate controls for those outputs since the headphone jack is way louder. The unit does provide a master level, along with separate levels for voice prompts and music.
- The unit won't turn off when connected via USB - even when connected to a USB to AC adapter. It always thinks it's connected to a computer and stays on to act as a drive.
- You can't build a true custom route on the unit like you can in a mapping program. Waypoints help a lot and the ability to save created routes is nice, but I'd like a bit more control.
- The unit doesn't tell your speed when navigating a route. It only displays it when just showing the map of where you currently are. When navigating, the speed indicator switches to show how long until you reach your destination. My old Garmin showed both, which is helpful on a motorcycle, since the speedometers aren't 100% accurate at certain speeds. It's not a big deal in cars, though.
- It would be a nice touch to have a "Back to Map" button in the various settings menus. As they are, you have to back out several steps to get back there.
Overall, a nice unit priced well below other similar ones. Higher priced units do offer more features, but the value is not there for most uses. I'm happy with this one.
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