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Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 15271 Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject: Garmin Nuvi 710 Review
Having been an advocate of Garmin since my first PND (StreetPilot i3 in September 2005 – I can’t believe it cost £200!) and subsequent Nuvi 360 and Pink Nuvi 200 (it’s the wife’s, honest!) I was quite looking forward to reviewing their latest offering, the Nuvi 710.
At present the 7xx range of Nuvi’s is Garmin’s flagship range (until the recently announced 8xx series is actually released!) and features a host of extras such as Bluetooth hands-free calling, FM transmitter, FM Traffic module (on the ‘T’ model’s only), Route planning (up to 500 WayPoints) with optimisation, GPS data logging, MP3 player, picture viewer, pin-lock, language guides etc etc etc… Note that text-to-speech directions are only available on the 760/770 – the only other differences are the map data (760 has European mapping, 770 has Europe and America). Each of the 7xx range has a sunlight-readable 4.3inch widescreen and with dimensions of 12.2 x 7.6 x 2.0cm (WxHxD) is nice, slim and easily pocketable.
Oh, and Garmin have finally added a QWERTY keyboard option!
Not exactly a resounding yes to the 710, sounds like the Tomtom 520/720 is a better bet and cheaper. Incredible no text to speech on 710. I still don't understand why Garmin seem determined not to include a direction arrow in the map display, although it may come looking at the 'Nuvifone' in the link below.
Not exactly a resounding yes to the 710, sounds like the Tomtom 520/720 is a better bet and cheaper. Incredible no text to speech on 710. I still don't understand why Garmin seem determined not to include a direction arrow in the map display, although it may come looking at the 'Nuvifone' in the link below.
There decision not to display a direction arrow and the way they handle roundabouts was one of the main reasons I picked the Tomtom again!! the sooner they add it to there screen the better
Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 15271 Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:50 pm Post subject:
john877 wrote:
the way they handle roundabouts was one of the main reasons I picked the Tomtom again!! the sooner they add it to there screen the better
how are roundabouts handled differently? both tomtom and garmin tell you which exit to come off...?!
other than tomtom saying 'cross the roundabout, 3rd exit' and garmin saying 'at the roundabout take the 3rd exit' i don't see one being better than the other?
portman wrote:
Not exactly a resounding yes to the 710, sounds like the Tomtom 520/720 is a better bet and cheaper. Incredible no text to speech on 710.
unfortunately not...! the 520 IS a good unit but lacks the multiple waypoints - this is a BIG plus side to the nuvi 710 so it would be very user specific as to whether or not it would be needed by an individual (delivery drivers etc would welcome the 500 waypoints!)
having said that though, ther were lots of things i wasn't happy with on the nuvi (as you probably noticed from the review!)
Is there an option to display "current speed" on main screen while navigating, on any nuvi 7xx ? I think this would be really usefull as I once got "flashed" by a camera in southampton while driving a greek car with no mph on its dashboard. I only had to quickly estimate my speed on mph by converting to kmh (50kmh is roughly 30mph and vice versa) British cars display both miles and kilometers on their dashboard but as far as I know no other european cars display miles on their dashboards, so having the GPS calcuting your speed to miles is really usefull !
the way they handle roundabouts was one of the main reasons I picked the Tomtom again!! the sooner they add it to there screen the better
how are roundabouts handled differently? both tomtom and garmin tell you which exit to come off...?!
other than tomtom saying 'cross the roundabout, 3rd exit' and garmin saying 'at the roundabout take the 3rd exit' i don't see one being better than the other?
portman wrote:
Not exactly a resounding yes to the 710, sounds like the Tomtom 520/720 is a better bet and cheaper. Incredible no text to speech on 710.
unfortunately not...! the 520 IS a good unit but lacks the multiple waypoints - this is a BIG plus side to the nuvi 710 so it would be very user specific as to whether or not it would be needed by an individual (delivery drivers etc would welcome the 500 waypoints!)
having said that though, ther were lots of things i wasn't happy with on the nuvi (as you probably noticed from the review!)
MaFt
The roundabouts just seem to appear as a blob until you are on them also with the directional arrow you can just glance at the map and you can see well in advance if you need to move into the right hand lane .
The roundabout may have six exits if it says take the third exit you could be going straight on .( you do not know how many exits till you get there)
I know its all down to personal choice and I am in know way saying the garmin is an inferior product in fact its the opposite !! I would have preferred to buy the garmin but was not happy at the way the navigation screen was laid out
Good detailed review; very useful since I was considering one of the nuvi range as my next system. The 3-D display seemed 'uncluttered'. Is it possible to selectively add in (simultaneously) other information, eg ETA, speed , direction, etc? Also, how many custom POIs will it accept? Thanks.
Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 15271 Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:09 pm Post subject:
Dabri wrote:
Good detailed review; very useful since I was considering one of the nuvi range as my next system. The 3-D display seemed 'uncluttered'. Is it possible to selectively add in (simultaneously) other information, eg ETA, speed , direction, etc? Also, how many custom POIs will it accept? Thanks.
the display IS nice and clear. current speed displays when you are not navigating but this is replaced with eta when you are navigating. direction cannot be displayed.
ive not seen any limit to custom pois on the 710 - the older units sufered from a limit BUT this was resolved with a firmware fix.
personally i'd go for a 3xx range unless you'd need the multiple waypoints. or if you're not fussed about bluetooth or mp3 etc then the 200 is very good to be honest and you can pick them up for under £100
Joined: Apr 18, 2006 Posts: 121 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:27 am Post subject:
That was a very good article which I found very useful, I purchased the Nuvi 670 last year and touch wood has never given any problems. As to the FM transmitter normally mine likes to be at 88.1, on long distances you keep losing the signal, I found out by chance that you have to keep retuning it in diferent areas that the FM signal changes.
It will be interesting to see what the new 880's are like.
I have the 770 and I mostly agree with your review although I do see the 770 as a nice evolution from my old 670.
One point and one question.
On my 670 the power cable inserted underneath the windscreen holder and it worked well.
Now the power input is on the righthand side - this means that I have to wrap the cable over the unit to stop the cable getting tangled in the gear stick. I think I know why this flaw wasn't spotted by Garmin; the holder was designed in America for leftlane cars which would have the cable exiting on the opposite side for US drivers. What do you think?
Could you also tell me if it is possible to just have the display list the road you are driving on all the time instead of the upcoming road or intersection?
Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 15271 Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject:
kevmac YTY wrote:
Could you also tell me if it is possible to just have the display list the road you are driving on all the time instead of the upcoming road or intersection?
Joined: Aug 30, 2007 Posts: 51 Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:14 pm Post subject:
I own a nuvi 760; I think MaFt did a good review, which I mainly agree with.
I don't find the TMC /power cable to be as bad as MaFt indicates. Yes, the mount was obviously designed for LH drive cars, but is not a big problem. I have shortened my lead by looping it to the correct length, then covering it all with spiral wrap (spywrap) from Maplins. This does make it a bit bulkier, but it tidies it all up and does stay out of the way.
Bluetooth phone settings: As reported in other threads, when the call home option is used, the last digit is omitted, on my unit, at least, even though the nuvi displays the correct number in home details. (The phone display shows that the last digit was missed.) Garmin UK say this problem is being addressed and will be fixed in a forthcoming s/w update.
On my phone (Samsung D600) the address book has to be manually downloaded. Not a major problem, as long as you know!
I very much like the ability to store up to 10 routes, each with multiple waypoints. For me, this means that I can "force" the nuvi to calculate the route I choose to use.
Finally, I like the routing display, including roundabouts, which I find very clear and have no trouble following, as has been said, it's a matter of personal taste! The text to speech function is also excellent. (Not in the 710)
Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 15271 Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:21 am Post subject:
bradders2 wrote:
Bluetooth phone settings: As reported in other threads, when the call home option is used, the last digit is omitted, on my unit, at least, even though the nuvi displays the correct number in home details. (The phone display shows that the last digit was missed.)
hmm... i didn't try that - i'll have a go tonight!
bradders2 wrote:
On my phone (Samsung D600) the address book has to be manually downloaded. Not a major problem, as long as you know!
really? that seems odd as my wife's older model did it automatically and my old d900 used to do it automatically with the nuvi 350. i had to leave it a few minutes while it got the data though and it didn't say anything while it was doing it? the only thing is if you had multiple numbers for a contact then it would only show the 'default' number.
bradders2 wrote:
Finally, I like the routing display, including roundabouts, which I find very clear and have no trouble following, as has been said, it's a matter of personal taste! The text to speech function is also excellent. (Not in the 710)
i agree - the screen is ver lear and i've never had any issues with the overlaid white arrow etc for turns and roundabouts.
also, i've had experiance of the TTS on the nuvi 350 and yes, it is very good! i assume they use the same method on the 7xx range.
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