Figure 136: Call In-Progress

During a phone call, the above page is displayed. Tapping Back returns to the map page, where you can continue using the phone while navigating on the map. End Call hangs up the phone, and Call Options displays the Call Options page, shown below.

Figure 137: Call Options

The Call Options page, shown above, allows you to enter touch tones (useful for voicemail systems), take a call off speakerphone and return the call back to your phone, or mute the microphone.

Figure 138: POI Details, With Bluetooth Enabled

Most Points of Interest entries contain telephone numbers. Once the nüvi 785T is paired with a phone via Bluetooth, POIs can be dialed directly from the POI details page by tapping on the phone icon displayed next to the phone number.

Figure 139: Phone Menu

Touching the Phone icon from the map or Main Menu brings up the Phone menu, shown above. The following functions are supported:

• Phone Book - Access your phone's phone book
• Points of Interest - Search for POIs
• Dial - Use the on-screen number keypad to manually dial a phone number
• Call History - View your phone's call history
• Call Home - Dial the stored Home phone number. If no Home phone number has been specified, the nüvi will prompt you to store one
• Voice Dial - Dial a contact using your voice (if your phone and carrier support it)
• Status - Displays your phone's battery life and cellular signal strength

Figure 140: Phone Status

Figure 141: Adding A Second Bluetooth Device

It's possible to pair the nüvi 785T with multiple phones, but only one phone can be connected to at a time. You can, however, connect to a phone and a headset at the same time.

22. Playing Audio Through Your Vehicle's Speakers

The nüvi 785T has an internal FM transmitter that lets you broadcast the nüvi's audio over FM to your vehicle stereo system. Set the nüvi and your car's radio to the same, unused, FM frequency, and the nüvi's audio is heard through your car's much better, louder speaker system rather than the nüvi's internal speaker. Combined with the nüvi 785T's Bluetooth capabilities, you can also use your car's stereo as a better speakerphone, using the in-car speakers to hear callers, and the nüvi's microphone as a hands-free device.

Figure 142: Main Menu

To switch the audio output from the internal speaker to the FM transmitter, touch Main Menu > Volume > Audio Output > FM Transmitter.

Figure 143: Audio Output

Touch Audio Output.

Figure 144: Current FM Frequency

Touch the large blue frequency button to change the FM frequency, if needed.

Figure 145: Adjust FM Frequency

Find an unused spot on the FM dial using your car's stereo, then use the Plus and Minus buttons to tune the nüvi to the same frequency. Once both the nüvi and your car's radio are set to the same channel, you'll hear the nüvi's audio output via the car's speaker system.

Figure 146: Mixer

It's also possible to adjust the volume levels for navigation prompts and media (music, audiobooks) separately via the Mixer.

The ability to hear the nüvi's audio on your car's speaker system is a potentially powerful feature that can turn the GPS into a full fledged a media hub, linking cell phone, navigation, and music all into one seamless combined system.

Unfortunately, the nüvi 785T's fatally underpowered FM transmitter remains totally inadequate, just as it has been on previous Garmin nüvi models. Even the weakest FM interference causes static, and the nüvi isn't powerful enough to broadcast over other FM frequencies. The result is an endless hunt for unused FM frequencies that must be re-adjusted every 10 miles or so.

I became so fond of using the car's speaker system instead of the nüvi's internal speaker for hands-free calling, mp3 playback, and navigation prompts, that I ended up working around the poor FM transmitter and using a cassette adapter (one that's designed for use with mp3 players) instead, plugging the cassette adapter into the car's tape player and the other end into the headphone jack on the nüvi.

Garmin says the poor FM transmitter performance is the result of FCC regulations that limit the power output of the transmitter. However, I've tested GPS units from Alpine and TomTom where the FM Transmitter works very well.

Simply put, the FM transmitter is so underpowered that it's almost useless.