Garmin nuvi 765T

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/handhelds/0,39030065,49300774,00.htm

Reviewed 27 January 2009

Reviewed by Brett James

Garmin seems to have developed the nuvi 765T with an old adage in mind: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' The 765T looks almost identical to a model from last year, the nuvi 760.

On the one hand, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the changes have been made internally. On the other hand, however, the likes of Navigon have shown that design does play an important part in sat-navs' functionality, especially in terms of the Traffic Message Channel receiver.

The 765T is available for around £250, if you shop around.

Positives
The 765T retains the slim profile of the 760, but the exterior has been coated in a rubberised material for extra durability.

Internally, the familiar 'Where to?', 'View map' and tools icons remain, and animation is also now employed when scrolling through menu options.

Additionally, you can navigate to destinations using geo-tagged images, downloadable from Google Panoramio, or create your own custom points of interest, which appear on the map as an icon of your choosing.

You won't find voice-recognition software included, but you do get an MP3 player, Bluetooth hands-free support, the ability to add third-party programs (via 'Extras') and a TMC/FM receiver, which provides traffic reports and the option to link the quality text-to-speech voice direction through to your car's speakers.

In a controlled environment, the TMC traffic alerts compared well to a live Web site, and Garmin has equipped the device with a dedicated traffic map view that displays any traffic incidents on your route.

While the majority of map views are similar to those of previous Garmin models, there are a few more driving aides on-board to help. You now also get a road-speed warning symbol, 3D landmarks in major cities and motorway lane guidance.

We found the 3D landmarks distracting

The latter produces a large, real-time, graphical representation of the correct lane to be in when approaching junctions or exits. While we found the graphics distracting, they don't appear on the screen for very long.

Location-acquisition time is vastly improved from previous models, thanks to the supplied HotFix technology.

Negatives
Though aesthetically pleasing, the 765T's design looks a little old-fashioned, as a result of, for example, the SD card slot and framed 109mm (4.3-inch) screen.

The car charger, with its attached TMC receiver/antenna, produces a mass of cabling that occasionally interfered with our gear changes.

The FM transmitter was also fiddly to set up, but this could be down to our car's stereo, rather than the product itself.

While the motorway lane guidance was accurate, the signposts were on the small side and there was some corruption at the bottom of the image. Our biggest concern was that, on a few occasions, the 765T simply froze and reset itself. A firmware update helped to alleviate that problem.

3D landmarks are limited to major cities. While they enhance the elevation of the map, we felt they were a distraction when driving.

The TMC may compare well to a live traffic Web site in a controlled environment but, out on the road, the receiver didn't filter through updates quickly enough. Likewise, initial route calculations were fast but reroute calculations were sluggish.

We also noticed that voice directions were difficult to hear when the device was running on batteries and there was substantial background noise, such as heavy rain.

Conclusion
An opportunity has been wasted to improve the Garmin nuvi 765T's overall design, especially its car charger and TMC combination. The 765T's new features, such as geo-tagged image support, lane guidance and improved location-acquisition time, are good, but a firmware update was required to alleviate some early problems. Garmin's support has always been top-notch, however, so we hope to see more improvements implemented quickly.

Edited by Charles Kloet