Garmin nuvi 765T Automotive GPS Receiver

I researched many different GPS units before purchasing the 765T. I believe the 765T is the best value of all the Garmin units. It has every available Garmin feature except voice recognition, yet is sells for a very reasonable price.

The 765T includes FREE lifetime traffic updates without the need for any kind of subscription. The lane assist feature is very handy when approaching an exit from a multiple lane highway. A zoomed in view of the exit lanes pops up on the display, with an arrow showing the correct exit lane to take. The current speed limit is also shown on the screen and I find this very helpful. Before purchasing this unit, I was often unsure of the speed limit because speed limits sometimes change very often. This information is updated instantly and seems to be very accurate. Driving through a major city last week, there were electronic speed limit signs on the interstate that are changed based on weather conditions, and the 765T even recognized those signals and displayed the correct speed limit at all times. I also like the wide screen format of this unit better than the smaller screen models.

We purchased this unit to replace our Nuvi 360 which we have enjoyed using for several years. The on-off switch is getting flaky on that unit so we decided to purchase a newer unit since many of them offer far more features than the 360 for a much lower price. When it came time to purchase our 3rd map update for the 360, we decided to purchase the new 765T instead.

Like our older unit, the 765T has its own internal battery and can operate while walking around on foot. This is a feature we're accustomed to using while on vacation and would not have a GPS without it. We have not used it enough on the batter to judge how long it would last between charges. But our 360 usually gave us about 4 hours, although rated for 6. I suppose turning the light level way down, could have probably made it last longer.

Overall the 765T is a very good unit, and all the features appear to work very well. We are very satisfied with it.

The only negative thing I could say about it is sometimes there is a slight delay when typing in an address on the on-screen keyboard. The keystrokes buffer up and then appear all of the sudden. This does not happen every time, but it can be annoying when it does happen. Overall I rate the 765T quality VERY GOOD, and the value for the money EXCELLENT.

Final Note: We did not purchase the optional sleeve-type carry case because we saw reviews that indicated this unit does not fit properly in it. We also purchased the Garmin brand bean-bag type dashboard mount, and it is excellent. The generic mounts I saw did not seem to be as functional.

Garmin makes the most reliable, accurate, and convenient GPS units on the market.
They are also the best value for the price, and an even better value here on eBay.

We have 10 drivers (including parents, aunts, children, and grandchildren) in our family; plus 4 friends; that all use Garmin GPS units. They include a 4 yr old C330, a 3 yr old Nuvi 350, 4 Nuvi 255Ws, 3 Nuvi 265WTs, a Nuvi 1490T and 4 Nuvi 765Ts.

The 7xx series and the 1490T are great for trips … they support multiple stops en-route, and they store up to 10 different routes - that you can create at your desk … while you plan your trip.

The only bad review I saw on eBay included a comment that Google Maps route was I-5 to “the 610” to Whittier,CA; while Garmen used I-5 Exit 120.
One omission and one problem: Google said the Exit 120 route was 20 minutes faster in traffic … and “the 610?” may be I-610 - the Houston, TX Loop, I-605 goes past Whittier, CA.
This same reviewer claimed they couldn’t send Google Maps to either Garmin they tried.

If they had searched on “Google Maps to Garmin” they would have found at least four references that tell you to:

Download the FREE “GARMIN COMMUNICATOR PLUGGIN” from Garmin first

You Can Send Google Maps Data To Your Garmin GPS In Less Than 3 Minutes

1. Connect your Garmin GPS to your computer with a USB cable
2. Open Internet Explorer
3. Enter the address or business name, with the city and state, in the Google search window
4. Click on the center of the displayed map to enlarge it
5. Click on the Icon in the center of the map to display the information
6. Click on more (lower right) to open the data options
7. Click on Send to select a destination device email, Phone, Car, or GPS
8. Click on GPS to display the supported products
9. Select Garmin
10. Click on the Send box … Garmin Communicator opens automatically and displays your device
11. Click in the box next to your device to select it
12. Click the “Send To GPS” box to save the information in your Garmin “Favorites”

When you get in your car:

1. Connect your Garmin car cable
2. Press “Where To?”
3. Press “Favorites”
4. Scroll down to your destination
5. Press your destination to select it and display the name and address, you assigned or the business name, address, and phone number. (You can even press “Show Map” to preview the destination area.)
6. Press “Go!” to start getting directions.

I like: the direct and simple approach. I have worked with a Magellan Maestro which I liked also. However the Garmin Nuvi 765T has live traffic feed and will tell you what lane you need to be in for that up coming turn. It is clear and direct. The equipment itself feels very sturdy, well made. Not flimsy. I like that it tells you the speed you should be going and shows what speed you are actually going. The arrival time adjusts according to the delay time and how fast or slow you are going. This GPS also shows you a turn-by-turn list or the mapped out version; pretty cool if you ask me.
I dislike: the fact It does not have an internal battery that I can change, AA or AAA, maybe others will see this as a plus. The GPS charges by way of a USB, or Car plug which comes with the GPS or, you can buy an adapter to charge it from home.
I decided on the Garmin Nuvi 765T because of it's excellent reviews on other sites, I liked the features explain earlier and the price on ebay was just right.

I bought this product since my last one broke. I really like it. I needed something easy to use for my wife and this did the job, real easy to use, it has a lot of very useful features. The design it real nice, not so bulky.The diplay is one of the best I've seen for the price, it is definately worth the money.

I purchased this specific GPS because of the built-in advanced lane guidance feature, the real-time traffic function, and general navigation.

The quality of the unit is excellent - Garmin used high-quality materials and assembled it well. It feels like it will last a long time. The UI is simple and easy to use, even while driving.

Startup is quite slow, taking a minute or more before it's ready to accept input. Screen transition (and acknowledgement of a screen touch) is occasionally very slow (up to 5 seconds) so I will frequently try the touch again, assuming that I missed the target or didn't touch hard enough ... then the unit catches up and I've accidentally navigated to the wrong screen.

Prompts will sometimes come too late to make a turn when navigating city streets. The recalculation of route then takes a second or two, and you get a prompt to turn onto a street that's already passed, causing a recalculation ... not good.

Once, when starting out on a route from an unfamiliar starting point, I was on a road parallel to the target road, the unit recognized that I was on the wrong road, but did not give me a route to get to that road - I just saw the "highlighted route" next to the road I was on. The route was not recalculated even after the roads diverged. I made a turn onto another road and finally a recalculation occurred.

If a single expressway exit is used to feed both directions of another expressway (i.e. the exit splits into two lanes which go in different directions) the unit will announce that you should take the exit, and then 50% of the time specify the *wrong lane* - it picks one of the available directions, seemingly at random. A second announcement then tells you the correct lane, leaving almost no time to correct lane choice. This happened to me both in Rochester NY and Waltham MA.

My biggest issue is in the way Garmin advertises the 765. I was left with the impression that the "advanced lane guidance" displayed a large graphic view of the upcoming intersection. This is *not* the case. "Advanced lane guidance" is a tiny graphic in the upper left corner of the screen. The full-screen intersection graphic is available only for a few major intersections, according to Garmin customer support.

Overall, this really isn't a bad GPS. A few bugs which Garmin should put some effort into fixing, and a little dishonest advertising, but it will eventually get you where you need to go.