Customer Reviews

Great Device and Easy to Use
This is my first automobile GPS, and I did a lot of research before settling on the Garmin 780. I live in the Washington DC Metro area, so all of the extra features work here. Upon its arrival, I downloaded and installed the latest Garmin WebUpdater v.2.41 and then updated my 780 from software version 2.50 to 2.90. I also updated the Bluetooth and other firmware, along with the languages that I use. This all worked flawlessly in a Windows XP virtual machine on a Linux host. FWIW, the 780 will charge off of the supplied USB cable.

The 780 acquired the necessary satellites in just a few minutes when first activated, and does so in less than a minute for subsequent activations. I found the screen brightness to be fine for both day and night. I'm using the 780 with the Garmin Portable Friction Mount. Smashing windows and stealing GPS devices is the sport of choice in the DC Metro area, so I wanted no evidence of a GPS extant when I left the car. The friction mount works perfectly on my Honda Accord dashboard and stores easily in the center console, leaving no trace of a GPS behind. Very cool. The 780 easily fits in a shirt pocket, so it's not necessary to leave it in the car.

I tested the 780 immediately by driving during rush hour to a residence across the river in a tangle of park roads off of the beaten track, then returning at night. The Garmin had no trouble creating a very fast route to the destination that bypassed most of the heavy traffic during rush hour. On my return, I bypassed a turn on its preferred routing. It recalculated a new route in less than a second which was the exact right answer. The new route wasn't a recapture of the original route, which wasn't possible from that location, but an entirely new route. The routes it picked were appropriate for the times of day traveled, which can be a daunting task here if you don't know which roads go which direction during the appropriate rush hour. DC is a notoriously difficult area to navigate, but so far the Garmin seems up to the challenge.

I found the volume of the internal speaker to be more than adequate even with the radio, air conditioning, and windshield wipers going. Voice notifications led upcoming turns by an adequate amount, and the voice prompts always helped me get into the correct lanes in plenty of time for upcoming turns. During a particularly tricky section where several major roads converge on a bridge, then diverge on the other side, the Garmin gave almost constant appropriate guidance to ensure that I took the correct forks and turns. I was quite impressed.

The Bluetooth paired quickly with my Motorola Razr V3. It even provided its PIN code at the appropriate time. The phone functions work great and it's easy to hear over the 780 speaker. The party on the other side of the phone said that I sounded like I was in a tunnel, which is typical for remote devices for autos. I have another BT hands-free device and it garnered the same comments. The Garmin's on-screen phone cues make hands-free easy.

Activation of the MSN Direct service was simple over the Net. On initial activation of your free 3 month trial, they offer a 6-month extension for $9.95 which gets you to 9 months of service total for less than $10--a very good deal. MSN Direct information took a while to load the initial information, but then it said that in the Quick Start pamphlet. Once loaded, the traffic, weather, and news worked great. Gas prices were behind by several days, which is an eternity these days. My favorite (and cheapest) station wasn't listed.

Overall, I'm very happy with the 780. I'll be working it out heavily in the coming weeks, including on a road trip to another city with MSN Direct service. I can't believe that I waited this long to take the plunge to a GPS device for my car. Even though I'm a master with maps, the Garmin suggested a clever routing that I did not previously discover on my own. From what I've seen so far, the 780 will be a highly valued addition to my road warrior kit bag. I can recommend the 780 without reservation.

Great Routing, Lousy Price, Limited Features
I purchased a Sony NAVU-83T, a Garmin 680, and a Garmin 780 to compare their features and routing capability. I kept the 780 and returned the others, but it was a very difficult decision.

The Sony unit [...] at Costco, and has a 4.8" screen (1/2" larger!). It has one of the best user interfaces on the market, primarily due to a few things: 1) you can always get back to the map by pressing one button, regardless of where you are, 2) you can always get to the main menu by pressing one button, regardless of where you are in the menus, 3) it has a split screen function that gives you lane guidance visually so that you know which lane to get into, well before the turn, 4) it has shortcuts, for instance to GO HOME you make a V shape on the screen and it takes you home...no menu navigation required!

On the down side, the Sony took FOREVER to calculate or re-calculate routes, and in many cases I missed the newly recalculated turn because it took too long to figure it out. It also took longer routes than the Garmin, would avoid commonly used roads for no apparent reason, and would not take me down roads that were shown on the map and clearly the shortest route. Last of all, the Sony took forever to gain a satellite fix once turned on. And the Sony mount was soooo very cool and useful! For $249 you got the cool mount and a nice carrying case. I did not get a chance to use the TMC traffic service.

The Garmin 680 ($349 at Costco) was a fine device, with very fast and accurate routing. It found points of interest quickly and accurately (the Sony often could not find them). However, I really liked the thin size of the 780 and the fact that the antennae was built in, so I kept the 780 in spite of the extra cost.

What do I like about the 780 (and the 680):

1. The MSN Direct is VERY handy and I use it every day for weather, news, fuel costs, and movie listings.

2. Very fast route calculations.

3. I have never looked for a POI that was not present.

4. The tour routes that you can download (for about $12 each) are cool. You can take car tours of a few hours that are laid out for you, telling you where to visit along the route.

5. The ability to sort points along a route is handy. If you have 10 places to go in one day, enter them all in and it puts them in the most efficient order.

6. It can find rest areas on interstates. The Sony could NOT do this, which is annoying when you are trying to figure out if you should stop at a gas station or wait for a rest area when you have three kids in the car on long trip.

What would I change on the 780? Many things, and most of them would cost Garmin no money to implement. These are simple fixes that they should consider!

Bad Points of the Garmin 780:

1. If I go into the menu system, I can go 7 or 8 layers deep to get to what I want to do. To get back to the map, I have to keep pushing the "BACK" button, up to 8 times in a row, to get back to the map. Stupid!

2. If I go into a menu item and decide I'm done, but don't want to push "BACK" over and over, the unit stays on the menu or submenu screen forever.

3. It would seem that on a unit this expensive it could give you lane guidance. The Sony does. The Tom Tom does. Why can't this unit, at almost double the cost?

4. When you turn off the car the unit asks if it should stay on or turn off. If you don't answer, it turns off in 30 seconds. For people who are making deliveries, or running errands, this is a real pain. It would be nice to allow you to configure this once to set how long it should wait before turning the unit off (options like 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, for instance). This would allow you to run into Kinkos and back out again without having to wait for the unit to turn back on, get a satellite bearing, and then finally get to its map to tell you where to go next. Simple software change!

5. It would be nice to have the unit start up on the same screen where you left off. If you were on the map screen, then it should return to the map screen. If on the weather screen, then return to the weather. I like to keep it on the weather, but I have to hit about 6 different buttons every time I turn the unit on to get to the weather! Simple software change!

6. Most GPS units even at half this cost allow you to SEE your speed, direction, and target's relative direction while on the main map screen. This unit requires you to go to a dashboard screen to show you this information....so you have to choose the map or the dashboard to view. Since some people may not like this feature, it could be configurable. Simple software change!

7. I can't seem to figure out how to show the satellite signals/connectivity. ALL units have this, even though it is just for fun.

8. For $500 the Garmin should include a carry case for the unit. They sell it small size, light weight, and its "ability to know where you were when you take it out of the cradle, to help you find your car later", and yet don't give you way to carry it around safely. Just about every unit on the market, starting at the $149 units, include a case!

9. The 780 does NOT include an owners manual. You have to go online to view the manual, at garmin.com. Garmin may be surprised to know that not everyone has the internet (50% of homes don't). Although not perfect, the Sony included a fairly comprehensive start up guide and a CD based owners manual.

10. The display looks like a cartoon movie, and that causes a lack of detail. The Sony displayed a very concise map where you could actually identify road splits, acceleration lanes, etc.

11. There is no ability to show POIs on the map. You can route to one, but you can't just show them. The Sony allowed you to pick which POIs to show, and it actually showed you little BP, Shell, Cracker Barrel, etc. logos on the map so that you could know well ahead of time which POIs were near you.

12. Many units tell you how far to your next turn AND the direction you will be turning in. The Garmin tells you how far to the next turn, but it does not tell you which way to turn until you get within about 2/10 of a mile. So on most multi-lane roads I find myself staying in the middle lane as I get close so that I can go either way. It should warn you which way you will be turning at least a few miles in advance! As soon as you get onto any road the Sony tells you that your next turn is "LEFT 123 MILES", and it is always displayed on the main map. Handy. Simple software change!

I like the unit, but I only give it 3 stars because of its price, its lack of common sense features, and lack of "in the box" support. It's strong points are fast, accurate routing and MSN direct.

Very good but not perfect
I'm a long time user of GPS devices, both hand held and vehicular. I bought this device to replace a Garmin c550 which, alas, was stolen from my car.

The 780 is much thinner and lighter than the 550 and, presumably, therefore less inclined to fall from the windshield just when you need it most. Tip: If you have trouble with your suction cup falling off after a few days, pop a hard candy into your mouth, suck on it for a bit, then lick the cup and stick it on. This may sound a bit unhygienic but the sugar mixed with saliva makes a great bond with the glass.

The pressures of marketing have motivated manufacturers to load gps routefinders with all sorts of stuff that I suspect few use. For example, in a time when most all new cars come with relatively good sound systems, how many people will use their gps as an mp3 player or am image viewer? Or rely on it as a currency convertor or a calculator? I dunno, maybe people use those all the time. In any case, those and more are all available.

To my surprise, the routefinding engine in the 780 seems slower than the 550, as are the map redraws, even at modest complexity settings. Not slow enough to be bothersome but noticeable by comparison. Unlike another reviewer, I have not found it to recommend inappropriate routes although none of the systems is smart enough to accurately anticipate traffic conditions and thus may put you on an interstate as the "fastest" route and leave you stuck in slow-moving traffic for long periods.

Speaking of traffic, I'm underwhelmed by MSN Direct with regard to either the timeliness or accuracy of traffic condition reporting. Too often a snarl or an accident has just occurred and MSN hasn't reported it yet or a problem that MSN does report has already been cleared. The other MSN functions work reasonably well, so far as I can tell.

I don't fault Garmin for either the map or traffic issues which, I think, simply reflect the limited state of the art.

The 2009 NavTech map set is quite complete, even in a rapidly growing urban area like mine. I find, however, that it has a few errors. For example, it thinks my home is four houses down from its actual location, a problem I never noticed with earlier units.

As to physical features, the build quality is excellent and the mount represents a real improvement over the 6xx series. Some have commented about inadequate speaker volume but this hasn't been an issue for me, even though I have some hearing loss and drive a performance car with a fair bit of engine noise.

As always with Garmin, the GUI is clear, direct, obvious, and intuitive. I haven't had to glance at the user's manual a single time. Screen brightness is superior to the 2xx series.

The SiRF Star III chipset and antenna implementation is excellent. Acquisition times are much faster than in the 550 and I have never lost signal, even momentarily, in the canyons of Manhattan.

To summarize...

PROS:
Wider screen is definitely worth the money if situational awareness is important to you.
Maps are highly detailed and up to date.
Screen resolution, color, intensity, and readability are top notch.
Menus are simple and obvious.
Build quality for both the unit and the mount is excellent.
Routing is accurate and appropriate within the limits of the technology.
Satellite acquisition is fast and reception is first rate.
"Where am I" is convenient and could be life saving.
Bluetooth pairs effortlessly, works perfectly, and has excellent sound in both directions.
Device is loaded with extras (this may be a con, depending on your POV)

CONS:
Routefinding and screen redraws are slower than earlier models.
NavTec maps contain some location errors not found in earlier releases.
Device is junked up with extras (this may be a pro, depending on your POV)
MSN Direct is only marginally helpful with traffic but has other features that may be of interest to some.
FM transmitter is essentially useless in an urban setting.
Rarely, voice prompts are a little slow.

In short, an excellent product that, with just a few tweaks, would be superb. Well worth the cash if bought at a deep discount.