Customer Reviews:
 Garmin 780 September 7, 2008
I bought Garmin 780 almost a month ago and since then traveled to other states with it. I must say that I am extremely impressed with its quality and accuracy. The only accessories I bought were the screen protector and the leather case. I would highly recommend it to protect your investment.
I think it would be nice to have an easy one-touch button (soft or hard) to return to the navigation screen from any menu/screen instead of going back through multiple menus.
 Nuvi 780 September 5, 2008
This is a great product, competitively priced through Amazon, probably too expensive if you pay full retail. The bluetooth with my Blackberry didn't work properly, but after a series of emails with their tech support people I downloaded and installed an upgrade to the bluetooth software and now it's fine. Still haven't figured out how to play it through my car radio, even though that should be simple. May require more discussions with them. The MSN add-on (about $10/mo after a free three-month trial) is a must -- traffic alerts work perfectly, weather alerts are useful.
 Great Routing, Lousy Price, Limited Features August 29, 2008
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
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.
 Fine while it still worked August 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Unit purchased 8/8/08 worked fine for 10 days. Unit would then not Load Maps for over an hour. Powered off the unit, reset User info. via Garmin provided solution. Unit will now boot - however after driving 2-3 miles - screen continually locks up and unit is non-responsive. Read numerous reports of 760/770/780 lockups on other sites. Until Garmin provides a solution- I would not recommend this generation - my Nuvi 680 and '09 Map upgrade has been trouble free for well over a year, and my handheld GPS60CS has been fantastic.
*update* After subsequent FW4.0 upgrade- unit would not get past Loading Maps.... Returning unit to Amazon via RMA for one try at a replacement. Crossing fingers as I've been a happy Garmin customer previously.
*9/10/08 update* Returned and received new 780 from Amazon with next to no hastle. Very smooth return/replace procedure. New unit is functional - but failed to boot a few times with 4.0 Firmware, which has now been pulled by Garmin. Overall - I like the appearance of the new unit - but functionally - I give my older 680 the thumbs up due to more responsive touch screen, one less button to get to MSN, faster response when using menus. Big plus for the 780 is the handling of multi-dest- routing. Would bump rating to 3 stars after replacement, 4 stars if initial unit had not locked up.
Good deal August 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Pretty accurate with GPS, I have only found one local road in which the speed limit was off, and it was listed lower than the actual. There was construction in the area a while ago and not sure if it ever incrreased after they were done, but it is on the roadway. Great to have gas prices, and they are fairly accurate. Nice to have weather, news and traffic too. All the things that TOMTOM 930T have, but cheaper
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