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January 15, 2009

Comments for Garmin nuvi 755T Review

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Verdict: The GPS I Tell My Friends To Buy

Garmin nüvi 755T Review

Map Screen 3D Buildings 3-D Lane Guidance

REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

  • The best GPS for those who just want top notch navigation, & don't need Bluetooth
  • New nüvi 755T replaces older nüvi 750
  • New map screen enhancements, features, & HotFix GPS technology, make the 755T a significant improvement over the nüvi 750
  • FM Transmitter still underpowered

The nüvi 755T is a major upgrade from the older 750, and introduces free lifetime traffic, 3-D lane assist, 3-D building view, faster screen redraws, route planning, and host of other new enhancements.

Continue reading "Garmin nuvi 755T Review" »

67 Comments

You don't mention if the SD card slot is SD only (ie max capacity of around 2GB) or SDHC (4GB and beyond). When you have lots of music, podcasts and audiobooks the space soon fills up.

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It's SDHC compatible. I put a 16GB SDHC (Sandisk) card in the 755T and it worked fine.

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I have used an 8gb class 4 card with no issue, I have not yet tried by 16gb class 6 card

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Fletch, what are your thoughts on the 7x5 series' less detailed (as in not as many roads, streets, etc. labeled) map screen compared to the 700 series? There's are threads about this floating around various GPS forums.

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I did a side-by-side comparison between the nuvi 755T and the 750, and it's true that fewer place names are displayed on the map while navigating to a destination.

However, the maps are identical in terms of places and locations, and any address that can be found on the 760 can also be found on the 755T, it's just that the 755T doesn't display as many labels when you're driving.

It didn't bother me at all, and if I hadn't been looking at the two units side-by-side, I never would have noticed. In my opinion it's a negligible difference and shouldn't impact your decision to buy.

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i have the 755 and prev had a 760. the features of the 755 are terrific. the only negs so far, i havent had a lane assist as of yet in the AZ area, also, when planning a route, if ou for whatever reason choose to "backtrack". the garmin will get to a via point, and isntead of listing the place name, it will say make a uturn. garmin says this is due to a software chg. hopefully fixed in an update

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I am considering updating my Nuvi 660 to the 755T. I am very interested in knowing if the 755T has a "backtrack" feature. Not included in the 660 & many times important to me in off road travel to find my way back over the same trail.I know this is a feature thats been around a long time but for some reason is not included in some units.
Also do you think this is a good unit for off road?
Hope someone can help
John

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That feature should be improved via map updates, the firwst of which will be available this month. As a new owner, I'd seriously consider purchasing Garmin's Lifetime maps. Best way to keep improving the Lane Assist at a very cheap $120 to get all the quarterly updates you want.

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hi gator,
which will be fixed on this month's updates,(for the 755) the lane assist (or lack of here in phx) or the uturn if u double back on a route? also how do u go about getting quarterly updates? is it 120 a year?

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Lane assist is part of the map package. Update maps and get updated lane assist views. The Lifetime Maps program is just that. $120 for the life of the device, all the quarterly updates you choose at no additional charge. . . ever.

Dang good deal IMO. Especially compared to the standard price of a single map for the TomTom 730 or 930. Each TT map update is currently $130 a pop.

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Great review!

You said: "Garmin's version is the best implementation I've seen yet"

However with very few intersections actually covered, the average user may never see the pretty graphics.

From what I've seen/read Navigon products do a MUCH better job as far as completeness of this lane information. Which means that while it may not be as pretty, lane assistance still beats no lane assistance.

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Is the POI database updatable? I have a Nuvi 350 and literally 50% of my destinations end up with the store or restaurant being closed. It's completely unacceptable I have refuse to buy another GPS until this is a feature.

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There's lots of poi files available around the web. One of the best sources is poi-factory.com. The Garmin included poi's are updated with each map release. New map=updated poi's.

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I am confused about bluetooth in this model, according to comparison earlier in the article it says no bluetooth but in the pictures there is a bluetooth icon, what gives?

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The 755T does NOT have bluetooth. I had re-used a screenshot from the 765T in the review. I've corrected the image now, and replaced it with the 755T screenshot.

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FEATURE LACKING IN ALL GARMIN GPS units: None of them will list your favorites automatically in alphabetical order. Imagine that problem on your cell phone--you'd get a different brand. Unfortunately, Garmin is the only gps with the most user friendly features. The only way addresses can be in alphabetical order is by entering a list of them in ascending order. In other words, from Z to A.
I suggested to a Garmin Tech person that they should update the software downloads to make that available. Or, at least have it in new units. Response was they never thought of it before and why should they add that feature. I said the only one that would make sense to them: you can make money on that feature; although, some competitors offer it already.
My second suggestion was to include the choice of a loud bell sounding when to turn or speak name of street (present method). As I wrote in my comment to the review of the Garmin 205,
I'd rather have a loud bell sound when to turn. There is no confusion of names when you have the radio on. And, I'm not interested in the names of streets that I may never travel on again. Quite often there is no street sign where you are turning.

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Actually, even if you enter all your saved addresses in alphabetical order, they won't necessarily show up in that order. The nuvi sorts favorites by distance to your current location.

While this is usually the most helpful sorting order, I do agree they should allow you to sort alphabetically too. The nuvis do at least allow you to search within the favorites for a specific name.

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You are correct Fletch. I forgot to mention that the Nuvi gps sorts by distance from where you are. The Z to A method was suggested by the Garmin tech person. Goes to show that they don't know everything.
By the way, Big Lots sells an AC 110--220 Volt to 12 Volt converter/charger for $3.00. Works fine with any GPS or cell phone to charge it at home or when traveling, even overseas. Just plug your 12 volt car charger into it and plug unit into wall outlet. Even without a LED light, it is a great deal. It is sold under the Wireless Gear name and has a lifetime warranty. Model 3DC7003. U.P.C. 6-80988-22003-6. Mfg by ESI Cases & Accessories, 240 Madison Ave., NY NY 10016. Their tech support# 212-883-8838.

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New firmware v3.00 is out.

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What are the fixes in firmware v3.00?

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What's up with the woodshed in the pics? I can hear banjos. Also, could you vacuum out the cookie crumbs in the nooks and crannies of your stick shift console before you take a picture of it? What kind of car is that? An Audi? Buy American! I love GPSmagazine.com!

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It's a Volvo. We are fortunate to have real-life pix posted in these reviews. The stock pix tend to blur into each other after awhile...

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* Added support for new MSN features - Weather Radar and Alerts, Send Routes to GPS, and Flight Delay Status.
* Added support for ecoRoute features.
* Corrected VIB support.
* Updated to support new Audible book format.
* Avoid Highway option now avoids limited access roads over long distances.
* Adjust FM transmitter performance for Europe.
* Corrected several issues with Language Guide support.
* Enhanced A2DP (Stereo Bluetooth) support.
* Added AVRCP (Bluetooth Audio Remote Control) support.
* Added 3 way calling support.
* Decrease traffic delay automatic recalculation threshold.

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I live in the desert and it gets very, very hot here in the summer. If I leave my new 765t in the car during the summer, will the rubberized paint melt?

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i, too, live in the desert, and have not exp any melting. however, i am told it is not good for the unit, itself, or the screen to have intense heat, so when not in use, nightime, i bring it in the house, and during the day, for the unit and secutity, i hide in glove box or under seat

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Well the 765t just came out. Mine hasn't experienced the desert summer yet since I got it in December.

We'll see how it does. I always leave my Nuvi 760 and StreetPilot c580 in my cars during the summer (covered up of course) and haven't had any problems with them.

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One more thing I forgot to mention in my last comment. In the review you mentioned that lane assist knows what lane you are in and will direct you to the correct one. This is unfortunately not true, although with the interface I can see where it would appear that way.

The system will simply show the arrow going to the appropriate direction based on which lane you should go to.

Unfortunately the resolution of GPS devices currently isn't good enough to determine which of two parallel lanes you are currently in.

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Hi!

Silly question, but is it possible to use portable mini speakers to be used though the headphone jack? What would the sound quality be like? I am interested in the nuvi 755 but it seems to much of a hassle to use the FM transmitter.

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Hi!

Silly question, but is it possible to use portable mini speakers to be used though the headphone jack? What would the sound quality be like? I am interested in the nuvi 755 but it seems to much of a hassle to use the FM transmitter.

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Fletch,

Please clarify something for me. Your Garmin nuvi 700 series comparison matrix (included in your nuvi 755t review)identifies that the nuvi 775t is the only one that "includes" or can "upload" European maps? My wife and I travel frequently between the USA and Spain, and we would like a version that we can use in both locations. Can the 755t upload European maps? If so, what are the associated costs? We don't need the Bluetooth feature on the 775t, and we'd hate to pay the extra money if it's not necessary. Thank you for your assistance.

Mike

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I am reading both pro and con on the sound loudness and quality for the 755. I have some hearing loss but without my radio on I can hear pretty well. Can anyone clarify this issue? Is this something that can be addressed in a software update or other mean. One thing I do need is sufficient volume adjustment and excellent sound quality.

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I have one of the really older Garmin GPS with a motorcycle mount that has worked well for a good long while. I want to upgrade. Any chance I can find an after market motorcycle mount for one of your 7x5 Garmin models? Please give me a steer if they are available.

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Check RAM MOUNTS for this item-I've seen them on other m.c.s, specifically Gold Wings.
I too am considering a 755 for my m.c. and am concerned with the water resistance of the device.
D

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I just purchased the Nuvi 755t. Is there a way to display the pre-loaded POIs on the map as you are driving? TomTom offers this and it's very nice to see POIs as you are driving.

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hi, a silly question, do i need to turn on my raido in order to use the traffic alert feature? if yes, which channel i am supposed to use? can i listen AM radio channel while the 775 unit can still give me the traffic alert? thanks

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The traffic receiver is built into the 12v powered adapter. It has nothing to do with your car's stereo.

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hi 775 onwers, can POI icons be shown on the map? does the unit tell you your destination to be on your left or right side when you arrive? and does the unit give you a ding-dong sound when you are approaching to next turn? thanks

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POI are not shown
Yes, it will tell you right or left
No ding, it will announce you x# of feel/miles to a turn on the right/left

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Stop leaving your GPS navigator in the car. If the thieves see any sign that you have one, then they break in and look for it. For example if they see a suction cup mark on the windsheild. A power cable etc. Not worth taking a chance. Thousands of them have been stolen when they have been hidden. I've written too many reports on the hidden ones being stolen.

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Hello,
With my Nuvi 750 I did not have a problem with inputting addresses or searching for poi etc. With the 755T, I find if I type a letter or a number, it somtimes give me a different character which are not even close to what was typed. Sometimes strolling through the poi using the down arrow it automatically goes to the screen that says GO. I have read in your review that the on-screen keyboard is "typo-prone" Is there a fix? I have calibrated it several times and its the same problem. I have this unit for 2 weeks now.

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Sounds as tho that one needs to be exchanged.

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how hard is it to make your own custom route?

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When in the car and hooked to the power cable, does the 755t use battery power until it's drained and then switch to the power provided by the car battery? My unit is brand new and the unit said that the battery was low, even though it was hooked to the power cord. Just a little curious about this. Any thoughts on this?

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When in the car and hooked to the power cable, does the 755t use battery power until it's drained and then switch to the power provided by the car battery? My unit is brand new and the unit said that the battery was low, even though it was hooked to the power cord. Just a little curious about this. Any thoughts on this?

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By plugging the device to the FM transmitter which is also a charger & then unplugging when not in use of the car [ first so as not to be stolen, second to avoid the high heat in TX] would this shorten the battery life. I know that we are supposed to charge the battery when it is completely discharged to lengthen it's life, or is this not the case with a lithium battery?

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I bought a new Garmin 755T and was generally satisfied with it. Then five weeks later it died. Turns out there was a firmware problem wth the device. Garmin offered to fix it if I would ship it to them at my own expense, although it would take two weeks for them to do so, because athe whole line of Nuvi 7x5 models have this problem and they have been dying like flies.

Garmin should take responsibility for this defect in their GPS and ship new modles to their customers who have purchased this series of GPS with a free return lable so we can ship the defective units back!

I am very disappointed in the lax way in which Garmin has responded to this issue!

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Can anyone clarify something about the traffic function on a Nuvi 755T . . . is this function always ON, or is it just always AVAILABLE if you select the Enable Traffic choice and the unit is plugged into the combined car power cord/traffic receiver? I won't often need traffic info, and when I don't need it I'd also like to avoid the advertising that supports the lifetime subscription.

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Robert, The only way you will get traffic info. is if you have the reciever plugged into the vehicle. If you don't want to recieve Ads, just don't plug the FM Traffic reciever in. Hope this helps.

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Hi -
I am trying to see turn by turn directions as a preview without actually having satellite connection - is there any way to get those? I can custom-map the itinerary but so far have onlu managed to get a map preview - not any turn by turn preview.
Thanks!
Sven

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Turn on the GPS Simulator in the System settings

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Is there any difference between the 755T and the 765T other than the Bluetooth? Is the 755T a better unit? Seems that the 755T is rated higher than the 765T but that could be because the Bluetooth is not as good as it can be.

Robby

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The only difference between the 755T and 765T is Bluetooth. The ratings difference was the result of the 765T initially being much more expensive than the 755T (cost is factored into the score).

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I have a 755T. The original map was a 2009 North America. The Lane Assist feature displayed on certain highways as advertised by Garmin. When I upgraded to the new 2010 map the same intersections that displayed the Lane assist are no longer displayed. Fortunetly I managed to save my 2009 Map program and reinstalled it back in my GPS and the Lane assist was back on the same intersections.

My question is did Garmin release the 2010 mapping and forgot about the Lane Assist feature or is there another or different mapping for the 755T unit? My GPS does show the lane assist on the main screen but it will not display the junction view. I hate to pay money for mapping and then not get what I am suppose to have.

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I got mine for Fathers Day 2009 and it works great! It names the street you need to turn on, not just "take next right". I connected it to an external antenna and it finds satellites very quickly. It took me a little time to learn how to save music on it but once I learned how, I gave my old MP3 player to my wife and now I use the Garmin! If you're only going to use the MP3 player (with FM transmitter) you may want to figure out how to keep the unit from interrupting with directions.

My first trip was from NW Arkansas to Myrtle Beach. It was invaluable there because the streets are kind of confusing to a new-comer.

The biggest weakness is that it calculates the fastest route by figuring that you will drive the speed limit. Not so hot when you're in traffic. You can always figure alternate routes, though. Once it had trouble finding satellites and didn't know where I was. I was on the freeway and it thought I was on a cul-de-sac somewhere.

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2 questions. I just had a Nuvi 360 stolen and want to replace. Is the 755T a reasonable replacement. Priced very similar to what I paid for the 360.

Has anyone used the 755T USB adapter with a Synch system on a Ford? My 360 worked great and eliminated the need for FM transmitter. Will the 755T work the same?

thanks a lot.

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2 questions. I just had a Nuvi 360 stolen and want to replace. Is the 755T a reasonable replacement. Priced very similar to what I paid for the 360.

Has anyone used the 755T USB adapter with a Synch system on a Ford? My 360 worked great and eliminated the need for FM transmitter. Will the 755T work the same?

thanks a lot.

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Aside from the price and the Bluetooth on the Nuvi 765T, is there any other differences between the 755T and the 765T? Why? I have a 755T and it’s VERY TYPO-PRONE and I am getting really tired of it. I have no use for Bluetooth (yet) but to get rid of this annoyance, I think that will be the way to go. I have re-calibrated this unit several times but to no avail. This is my second 755T. I have read your reviews on this unit but I have not seen anything about a fix. Is there a fix?

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I have read a few different reviews on this unit and am curious why no one has mentioned the routing feature on it yet. It does have it doesn't it? Where you can program a route with up to ten stops? I am just curios if this is just not interesting enough to write about or if Garmin's site is wrong and the unit doesn't actually have this feature?

Also I would like to know if there is a way to turn off the 3D buildings? I think they would be more of an annoyance then they would be of use.

Thanks,

Petaris

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Yes - the 755T has the ability to create and store routes, and you can turn off 3D buildings if desired.

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I am considering this 755T and the Magellan Roadmate 1470. Based on both of the reviews, it is becoming a difficult decision. I like the features of the Magellan better, especially being able to select No Interstates; but the Garmin would seem to be the better over-all GPS -- especially the Map Screen.

My main question that would help in this buying decision is this: Is there any way to have the Garmin select a route that is Not Interstates -- in other words, using back road highways? If so, how can this feature be implemented.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Jim

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I read the on-line manual and there was a section called Route Preferences with a sub-section called Avoidances which states: "select the road types you want to avoid on your routes."

I e-mailed Garmin's tech. support and they rapidly provided the following information in two separate e-mails.

"The following is the list of road types that you can
select to avoid.

Highways, Toll roads, Ferries, Car pool lanes, Unpaved Roads.

The reference is to interstate highways, this would mean that
the Nuvi would route you over state highways avoiding only the Interstates."


So if anyone is on the fence between a Garmin or a Magellan based on Route Preferances, it would seem that this is not an issue. I was very pleased with Garmin's fast replies and if this is any indication of the quality of their tech. support, Garmin just may be the best.

Jim

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Yes – it’s true you can configure the avoidance preference on Garmin nuvi GPS units. However, unlike Magellan or TomTom, you CANNOT browse the list of turns along the route and pick a specific road to avoid. That’s a great feature for tailoring the route, or manually avoiding a traffic jam. Also, when you change that setting on a Garmin, it becomes the permanent routing method, and not just a one-time thing for the current trip.
It’s not quite as clear cut as you might think. In my experience, Garmin units have better overall routing logic than any other GPS right now. However, they are missing this handy feature of being able to exclude specific roads on an ad-hoc basis.

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Fletch,

You say: "the nüvi 755T's fatally underpowered FM transmitter remains totally inadequate." Since my new van does not have a cassette player, I can not use a cassette adapter to transmit the GPS sound through my audio system.

Can I use a cable plugged into the GPS audio jack and the other end of the cable into the car's audio system's AUX for an MP3 player to have GPS sound through my audio system?

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

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Yes - you can use the nuvi's headphone jack to connect to your vehicle's audio system.

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My 3 year old Mio GPS burned out in July 2009, so after doing homework which included this comments section, I bought a Garmin 755t. I'm not only very happy with it, but after 3 months of use, I still think it's heads and tails above anything Garmin has introduced since.

I do have some minor nits to pick. Here's one: Often, after pressing "Go," my unit often will not start navigating. I go back and re-select the destination, and it runs fine. Is this a characteristic of this model, or is mine an anomaly that should be returned to Garmin?

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I have one complaint about an interface downgrade.

On my nuvi 360, when I choose "3D map view", there's a north arrow on the left column of the map display. Your screenshots show no such thing. I can't imagine it takes much compute time to figure out which direction you're going or rendering that arrow.

Is there any way I can get a north arrow on the map page?

-dk

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After about 9 mos. and 6K miles I find the 755T a neat gadget but just above the toy level. Traffic info has never been accurate except for the 99% of time when the roads are open. Lane assist is very rare and unpredictable. Uses street names rather than route names so that now I am wondering is this some back street short cut or the highway I and trying to stay on. When twoing a travel trailer this if very important. The data base has many omissions for every category.

With that said it is cute, but keep your maps and use them. Also be willing to follow your common sense.

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