9. Favorites

Figure 67: Favorites

Saved locations are stored in Favorites, the nüvi 785T's personal address book. The list of saved addresses, or favorites, is accessed by tapping on Where to? > Favorites.

Figure 68: Address Confirmation Screen

Destinations can be added to the Favorites list by tapping Save on the address confirmation screen.

Figure 69: Saved to Favorites

Figure 70: Favorites

The Favorites page, shown above, allows you to view all saved addresses, or view only those entries belonging to the Lodging category.

Figure 71: Viewing Favorites

Favorites are always sorted by distance to your current location. Notice that the nüvi 785T allows you to associate a photo with each saved address. JPG or JPEG files are supported. Once a photo is copied to the nüvi, it can be attached to a saved address. When navigating to a saved address that has a photo attached to it, the photo is displayed on the nüvi 785T's screen upon arrival.

Figure 72: Editing Saved Places

Touching Edit on the details page of a saved entry allows you to change the name, photo, map symbol, phone number, and category of a given entry. You can also delete the saved address by touching Delete.

10. Traffic Information & MSN Direct

Figure 73: Traffic Map

The nüvi 785T is the only 7x5 model that uses MSN Direct for real-time traffic alerts instead of the FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) service used on other models.

MSN Direct provides various services based on your current location, including weather, gas prices, movie times, local events, news, stock prices, and more. The MSN Direct receiver is built into the 12v power adapter, which is constantly downloading information from the MSN Direct network.

The nüvi 785T includes three months of MSN Direct service for free, after which you'll have to subscribe for about $50/year if you want to continue using the service. In contrast to MSN Direct's subscription model, Garmin's other nüvi 7x5 models include free lifetime traffic via the FM TMC service.

Ultimately you'll have to decide whether the additional services MSN Direct provides beyond traffic are worth $50/year. For some, the ability to find the cheapest gas is worth $50 alone. For others, traffic avoidance is their main concern and MSN Direct's additional services aren't compelling enough to warrant the service fee. Another important factor to consider is coverage; in some areas MSN Direct has better coverage, in others FM TMC has the advantage.

Before signing up for service (or buying the nüvi 785T, for that matter), you'll want to make sure there's MSN Direct service in your local area. You can check service coverage using MSN Direct's Coverage website, and viewing the coverage map for your area.

Figure 74: MSN Direct Service Coverage Map for North America

Figure 75: MSN Direct Service Coverage - Hartford, CT

Zooming in on MSN Direct's coverage map allows you to view more detailed coverage information for your local area.

Note that MSN Direct service coverage is NOT the same thing as Traffic Information coverage. Traffic coverage is much more limited than service coverage, and is generally only reported for cities and major highways. In other words, just because you can receive MSN Direct signals doesn't mean you're in an area of traffic coverage. You can check if traffic information is reported in your local area by visiting MSN's Data Availability Chart.

Be sure to check the coverage map before signing up for MSN Direct; coverage in the United States is improving, but it's still wise to check first. Second, if your primarily subscribing for the traffic data, consider that traffic information is generally limited to major highways and cities.

In order to begin the free 3-month MSN Direct trail, you'll need to go online and activate the MSN Direct receiver at Garmin's MSN Direct activation site.

Figure 76: Entering the MSN Direct Product Key

The product key is printed on a yellow sticker attached to the 12v power adapter/MSN Direct receiver. Enter this number to begin the activation process.

You don't need a credit card or have to input any personal information to start the 3-months of service.

Figure 77: Associating MSN Direct with your Windows Live ID

MSN Direct provides the option of associating the device with your Windows Live ID, if you have one. Using Windows Live allows you to send addresses wirelessly to the GPS.

Figure 78: Choosing an MSN Direct Service Plan

Microsoft provides a lifetime activation option, at $130, or yearly service for $50 per year. You can also choose the last option, and just begin the three months of free service. If you decide the MSN Direct features are worth $50/year, you can always renew the service at any time.

Figure 79: MSN Direct Service Activation

Once the activation steps have been completed online, power on the GPS, plug in the MSN Direct adapter, and make sure you're in an area of MSN Direct coverage. The GPS will automatically pickup the activation signal and turn on the MSN Direct features within 20 minutes.

I had a hard time getting the MSN Direct service activated in areas of marginal signal strength. After two unsuccessful attempts from a location with only one bar of MSN Direct signal strength, I tried again from another location with full reception and was able to activate within 15 minutes without issue.