Figure 22: LG's LN740, Mounted in the Car

Figure 23: LG's LN740, Mounted in the Car

The LN740 looks larger on the windshield than most other GPS units I've tested. Although units like Magellan's Maestro 4040 and Garmin's nuvi 660/680 actually have slightly wider screens, LG's LN740 has the tallest screen, as the 4-inch display is square shaped instead of wide-screen format.

4. Powering on the LN740 for the First Time

Figure 24: First Use - Setting the Language Preferences

The first time the LN740 is powered on, a short wizard appears that guides you through the initial setup process. First, the LN740 asks what language you want to see the text and hear the audio prompts in.

The GPS supports English, Spanish, French text-to-speech audio prompts. If you can live without Text-to-Speech (text-to-speech allows the GPS to announce the actual street names instead of general turn instructions), the LN740 can support additional languages (Italian, Nederlands, Polski, Portugues, Cestina, Dansk, and Deutch).

Figure 25: First Use - Setting Display Preferences

The second screen in the first-use wizard prompts you to set the display preferences. By default, the map is set to the 3D viewing angle, Day mode color scheme, vehicle mode, and full screen brightness.

Personally I'd like to see the default settings for this page have Day&Night mode set to Auto.

Figure 26: First Use - Setting Route Options

The third screen in the first-use setup wizard asks you to specify how you want the GPS to handle default route options. From this page, you can tell the LN740 to avoid toll roads, highways, or ferry crossings, and specify whether you want the GPS to choose the route based on shortest distance or fastest time.

Unfortunately, you cannot have the LN740 ask for routing preferences at the start of each trip, as Magellan does.

Figure 27: First Use - Setting the Units and Time

The fourth, and final, step in the startup wizard is setting the distance unit and time zone.

Figure 28: First Use - Accept License Agreement

Each time the LN740 is powered on, you must accept the liability agreement. This is standard practice now, and units from Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom all require this.

5. LG's Map Screen

One of the most critical aspects of any GPS is the map screen. Most of the time spent using your GPS will be spent looking at the map screen, so it's essential that this screen be well designed. Displaying visual information in a simple and effective way is a more elusive task than one might think, and each manufacturer approaches this challenge differently.

Figure 29: Clockwise from left - Garmin, LG, TomTom, & Magellan's Map Screens

To illustrate the differences between each GPS manufacturer's map screen, take a look at figure 29, shown above. Clockwise from the top left are the map screens from Garmin, LG, Magellan, and TomTom. Each version has it's own strengths and weaknesses, but my overall favorite is Garmin's map; the color scheme is easy on the eyes, the 3D angle makes it easy to see the next maneuver, the large font on the green background (displaying the next maneuver across the top of the map) looks just like a real street sign, and the text on the screen is easy to read.