The nuvi 705 series replaces the nuvi 700 series, and offers a number of significant improvements. Compared to the older nuvi 760, the 765T offers:

• Free lifetime traffic
• Lane assist
• 3-D buildings
• Faster route calculations
• HotFix for faster GPS acquisition times
• Faster screen refresh rate that makes map scrolling much smoother

Several new map screen enhancements make the 765T easier to navigate with than it's predecessor, the nuvi 760. The nuvi 765T now displays an upcoming turn indicator on the map screen, and can also show arrival time, remaining drive time, remaining distance, direction of travel, or the current time.

The 765T's new 3-D Lane Assist renders upcoming highway exits in almost photographic detail, and does indeed make complex highway intersections much easier to negotiate. But 3-D data it isn't yet available for most highway intersections, and 3-D Lane Assist only appeared once and a great while. No doubt this will improve over time, as NAVTEQ (Garmin's mapping provider) continues to build out its 3D database).

Transparent 3-D buildings and photo-realistic landmarks, available when driving in larger cities, bring a new level of realism to the map screen. And speed limit information is also displayed on the map, when available.

Traffic alerts are displayed in an intuitive way, and it's now possible to view traffic conditions along the planned route, as well as in surrounding areas (this isn't possible on the nuvi 760).

Physically, the nuvi 765T is identical to the 755T and 785T. Elegant and simple, all 705-series models share the same 4.3-inch widescreen display, and black rubber-coated case. A headphone jack and SD memory card slot allow the nuvi 765T to function as a basic mp3 player with expandable storage, and an internal FM transmitter can pipe audio through your vehicle's stereo system.

The 755T, 765T, and 775T models include Garmin's GTM 20 FM traffic receiver, and free lifetime traffic, while the 785T uses MSN Direct and requires an annual subscription.

Features are nicely integrated and the layout is uncluttered. For example, telephone controls only appear when the nuvi is actively paired with a Bluetooth phone. Similarly, audio controls only appear on the map when listening to music or an Audiobook

Like its predecessors, the nuvi 765T benefits from Garmin's high quality windshield mount, large POI database, and unmatched ease of use. Thankfully, the addition of new features doesn't come at the expense of usability, and the nuvi 765T is both intuitive and powerful..

The 765T does a good job choosing routes that make sense, and gracefully handles missed turns, automatically recalculating a new course within a few seconds of missing a turn.

HotFix technology dramatically reduces the time it takes the nuvi 765T to determine its position, and GPS sensitivity is excellent on all the nuvi 705-series models. The 765T's GPS receiver outperformed even the venerable nuvi 660 (which is equipped with both a fold-out patch antenna and SiRF's StarIII receiver). The 765T had no problem maintaining GPS signals, even in challenging conditions like New York City.

The new map screen refreshes at a much higher rate than any previous Garmin nuvi, and map scrolling is ultra-smooth. However, manually panning and zooming the map is tediously slow, as is searching the POI database for a specific business by name. .

Compared to other GPS device on the market, Garmin allows relatively little customization. For example, you can't change the map colors (other than the default Daytime and Nighttime modes), turn off automatic map zooming, or exclude specific roads from the planned route.

The nuvi 765T's internal speaker isn't nearly loud enough to use for hands-free phone calls, and the FM transmitter is hopelessly underpowered. A workaround is to use a cassette adapter to connect the nuvi's headphone jack to your vehicle's tape player, or audio input jack if your vehicle has one, or pair the 765T via Bluetooth directly to the car's Bluetooth system.

The nuvi 765T's free traffic service is advertising sponsored, which isn't nearly as bad as you're probably thinking. Depending on your own tolerance level for advertising, reactions to the news that the 765T's traffic service is ad-sponsored traffic will range from apathy to outrage. I fully expected to hate yet another intrusion of advertising into my life, but quickly found that the ads are intelligently enough displayed that most users won't mind. You have to manually take some action (tap on the ad) in order to see the full-screen ad, and the smaller ads only briefly appear are are contextual with the current activity (i.e. searching for a POI, or arriving at a destination).

The nuvi 765T brings a number of important new features that do actually improve the navigation experience, make it easier to see where you're going, and warrant upgrading from earlier models. Garmin's new 7x5T series is peerless in terms of ease of use, feature set, reliability, and hardware quality.

Those not planning to take advantage of the 765T's Bluetooth features should look at the nuvi 755T, which is otherwise identical, and costs around $80 less.