9. Automatic Map Scaling

Figure 69: Garmin nuvi's Automatic Map Scaling Feature

As you approach an upcoming maneuver, the nuvi 780 automatically adjusts the map scale, zooming in closer as the turn approaches. Once you've successfully made the turn, the map automatically zooms back out to show more distance.

Take a look at the two map screens shown above in figure 69. Notice in the left image that the nuvi has automatically zoomed the map to a street-level view in order to clearly illustrate the next turn. Having completed the maneuver, the next turn isn't for another 4 miles, so the nuvi slowly zooms back out to show more of the map, as shown in the map on the right side in figure 69.

Automatic map scaling works well on the nuvi 780. Scale adjustments are made smoothly over a few seconds and feel logical as you drive.

10. Finding a Restaurant

Figure 70: Searching for a Point of Interest

In GPS speak, a "Point of Interest" is a business address saved on the GPS. You can think of the POI database as a pre-loaded yellow pages. Most modern GPS devices come pre-loaded with a Points of Interest database, allowing you to find nearby businesses, such as restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and more.

Like most other Garmin nuvis, the 780 ships with around 6 million POIs pre-loaded onto the unit (Magellan's highest-end GPS units only have 4.5 millions POIs, so 6 million is a respectable number).

To search for a "Point of Interest", tap on Where to? -> Points of Interest, as shown above in figure 70.

Searching the pre-loaded POI database is a simple affair, requiring a few screen taps to choose a category (i.e. Restaurant), sub-category if appropriate (i.e. Restaurant -> Chinese), and how far away you want to search.

Figure 71: Selecting the Search Category and Proximity

In this example we'll be searching for a restaurant, so I'll tap on Food from this menu. The following POI categories are available to choose:

• Food
• Fuel
• Transit
• Lodging
• Shopping
• Bank/ATM
• Parking
• Entertainment
• Recreation
• Attractions
• Hospitals
• Community
• Auto Services

If you're not sure what category a given business would be found under, but know the name of the place you're searching for, tapping on "Spell Name" allows you to search all POI categories at once for a specific name. However, in my testing I found searching all POI categories extremely slow. In some cases I gave up after a few minutes, assuming the search would never finish. You're better off searching within a particular POI category rather than searching all categories. Hopefully Garmin will address this issue in subsequent software updates.

Figure 72: Telling the nuvi Where to Search

By default the nuvi 780 searches for Points of Interest (POIs) close to your current location. If you want to search for a business near a specific address, along your planned route, or near your destination address, tap "Near..." (shown in figure 72) to access the "Search Near..." screen, shown above:

• Where I Am Now - Searches for businesses close to your current location
• A Different City - Searches for businesses in a city (you will be prompted to enter the city name)
• My Current Route - Searches for businesses along your current planned route (you must be navigating to a destination for this option to be selectable)
• My Destination - Searches for businesses near your destination address (you must be navigating to a destination for this option to be selectable)

Figure 73: Setting the POI Sub-Category

Some POI categories have sub-categories. For example, if you choose "Food" as the main category, the nuvi 780 asks if you also want to enter a sub-category (in this case, a food cuisine type). If we wanted to find the closest Mexican restaurant, for example, we could choose Mexican as the sub-category, and the nuvi would limit the results to just Mexican restaurants.

If you don't want to narrow the results by cuisine, choose "All Food" to list all restaurants.

Figure 74: Viewing the POI Search Results

The POI search results list displays each restaurant in order of closeness to our current location, along with the exact street address, distance, and direction indicator.

Figure 75: POI Details Page

Tapping on a POI in the search results list displays the details page for that particular POI. This screen displays the POI's street address and phone number (which can be dialed via the hands-free speakerphone once a Bluetooth enabled cell phone is paired with the nuvi 780).

This screen also lets you view the POI on the map before navigating to the address (Show Map), save the POI to the address book (Save), or begin routing to the business by tapping on the large green "Go!" button.

11. Telling nuvi Where To Search

Figure 76: Expanding the POI Search Scope

When you search for POI's, the default behavior on the nuvi 780 is to search close to your current location. But what if you want to find a restaurant near your destination address instead? Or a shopping mall along the way to your destination? Tapping on Near... from the Where to? menu allows you to specify where you want to search for a given POI.

My eyes skipped over this button the first few times I used the nuvi, but it's an important feature you'll want to be familiar with.

Figure 77: Telling the nuvi Where to Search

The nuvi 780 allows you to specify one of four options for setting the POI search radius:

• Where I Am Now - Searches for businesses close to your current location
• A Different City - Searches for businesses in a city (you will be prompted to enter the city name)
• My Current Route - Searches for businesses along your current planned route (you must be navigating to a destination for this option to be selectable)
• My Destination - Searches for businesses near your destination address (you must be navigating to a destination for this option to be selectable)

For example, if you wanted to find a restaurant near your destination, you would tap on Where to? -> Near... ->My Destination ->Points of Interest ->Food and so on.

12. Setting the HOME Address

Figure 78: Setting the Home Address

The Home address is a special saved address on the nuvi that provides quick, one-touch access to the address you'll use most often: home.

The first time you tap on Go Home from the Where to? menu, the nuvi 780 will prompt you to input your home address.

Figure 79: Entering a Home Address

The nuvi 780 allows you to enter a street address for the saved "Home" address, store your current location as the Home address (especially handy if your street address isn't located exactly where the map thinks), or pick a recently used address as the Home address.

Once the Home address has been set, it can be changed by tapping on Where to > Favorites > Home > Edit

13. Favorites (Address Book)

Figure 80: Finding the Favorites Icon

Garmin calls the address book "Favorites". The list of saved addresses is accessed by tapping on Where to? > Favorites.

Garmin orders the favorite addresses by closeness to your current location. That makes sense if you want to know which favorites are closest to you. However, I find the inability to sort the favorites alphabetically annoying, especially once the favorites list grows into more than just a few addresses.

For example, suppose you save an address for a friend's house under the name "Bob's House", next time you want to drive to Bob's house you'll need to scan the Favorites list until you find the saved entry for "Bob's House", which depending on your current location could be the last entry on the list. I'd like to see Garmin include the ability to sort on proximity OR alphabetically.