Great review, you did outstanding job as usual.
You wrote: "It crashed (froze) on me twice in 3 weeks of regular use"
I am sure Garmin was aware of this problem, if it crashed(froze) twice in 3 weeks on you, I am sure it has happened to Garmin test Engineers as well, why wouldn't Garmin try to fix the problem prior to the release of the unit, unless they don't have a fix which is highly unlikely, I thought for sure they learned from the problematic 765T

I suspect the crash was due to having ecoRoute and/or screenshot enabled. When I turned both of those off, things were more stable. I'll investigate further and let you know.

Is the traffic information any better? In the SF Bay Area the radio traffic only covers the very major highways, but none of the expressways and similar routes. This means that even if it tells you there is lots of traffic on a highway, you have no idea if it is worth taking those lesser roads.

The lane guidance in the older models is also a little annoying as it only covers the next exit. For example if there are two lanes exiting a highway it will show both as the guidance. 100 yards further down the exit one lane may go left and one right so it would be far better if it only highlighted the appropriate lane for coming off the highway rather than both.

My experience with the radio traffic stuff is that if you are in area with traffic broadcasts and then move outside of that the traffic icon remains onscreen and grey till the end of your journey. Very annoying. They also continue to show you ads for several days even if you have had no further traffic reception.

It looks like the historical traffic speed data is an additional map overlay. Do you get that data with free updates forever or is it chargeable like regular map updates?

It would be really nice if the Bluetooth functionality read text messages out loud.

In your conclusion you mentioned the differences between using a GPS enabled smartphone vs. a dedicated PND (in this case the 3790T). Let's not forget that in remote areas w/o a cell signal, the GPS enabled smartphone is useless vs. a dedicated PND with built in mapping software. No service = no GPS! So, even though there are drawbacks to carrying two units, the idea of a PND is still not dead as of today (unless of course they preload maps into the smartphone down the road).

I saw your comment:

"Still can't manually exclude a specific road/highway from the route"

That's too bad. I suppose this means that once you have a trip planned you can't exclude a certain segment.

Can you specify a region to avoid like you could with some older units? There are some bad parts of downtown that I want to avoid. I think this was possible with the 880.

Can one use the bean bag friction mount? I suppose the ball joint is the same size. In some other models I think the way the cable was mounted kind of made it hard to use the bean bag (I think that was in one of your reviews).

Also is a wake up command the only way to use voice dial? Or is a physical button still an option? I didn't see any button available in the box nor as an accessory.

Thanks

You say "Inconveniently located MicroSD memory card slot means you have to remove the batteries whenever inserting or removing a MicroSD card". I am not sure what you mean by this. I have been able to pop the MicroSD card in and out with no problem. It is a little tricky because it is so small but it comes out by pressing down on the card a little and then it pops out.

Re the comments: You can use the old bean bag mount. The ball mount is same as other Garmins. There are no physical buttons for the phone but you can use voice commands to do a variety of activities or touch the screen directly.

I have found the traffic reception much better than my GTM-20 receiver I used with a nuvi 650. Very fast to pick up info and the display data is much more useful in making traffic decisions.

I have not had crashes but I have had difficulties getting Favorites to update using POI Loader or even directly copying poi.gpi to the device. There seems to be some issues with writing to the device's memory. I am hoping a firmware fix will take care of this.

Rumor is that the Ecoroute HD device will soon be compatible with the 3790T. This allows your car to feed data about the engine and fuel consumption directly to the 3790T through Bluetooth. That will be very cool if true.

My cell phone does not support voice dialing. But since you can type a number in and dial it, does the 3790t allow you to speak a series of numbers and then dial them via voice command native to the 3790t? That would be much safer way to dial a number.

Is there a way to pair the 3790t to a bluetooth headset and also dial the phone using the 3790t which is paired to the bluetooth headset?

Are the batteries user replaceable [based on comment above]. I did not see anything about replacing them in the manual.

What is not clear to me is: can you plug the mini USB connector directly into the unit or can this only be done into the mount clip? I want to do a stealth install but the clip wont fit.

Just to clarify the above comment - I mean the cigarette lighter cord with the antennas etc. straight into the unit not the mount.

Is there a way to enable the Garmin Bluetooth to use the car's audio system (also Bluetooth) to bypass its own speaker and have voice directions make use of the car's audio system?

"PROMPTED DETOURS" "CUSTOM AVOIDANCES" "EXCLUDING ANY ROAD MANUALLY" is a feature that tomtom, megallen, have in all their models. it is such an important feature that whomever uses it once can't purchase a GPS unit without this. I HOPE GARMIN WILL SEE THESE COMMENTS ON YOUR SITE AND PUT IT BACK INTO THEIR NEXT HIGH-END MODELS. they had it in all the 800 series. i cant figure out why they took it out.

Thank you for your great review. i think you do the best job on GPS reviews through out the whole world wide web. joe is absuloutly right. the missing feature called "STILL CAN'T EXCLUDE SPECIFIC ROAD/HIGHWAY FROM THE ROUTE" is very annoying. all the so-called replacement feature like Nuroute with trafficTrends technoligy doesn't come close to the manual way. MAYBE THEY WILL ADD THE "CUSTOM AVOIDANCES" FEATURE IN THE NEXT MODEL UNITS.

I have used the 3790T for almost a month now. My son used it for four days driving back and forth to his job (about 30 miles each way, on congested freeways). To this date, neither he nor I have observed any noticeable changes in the the GPS that we can attribute to Garmin's nuRoute technology.

The trafficTrends has not demonstrated any noticeable changes in behavior, nor has the myTrends. Basically the 3790T is behaving pretty much like our nuvi 255T and our older StreetPilot C580.

Besides, without nuLink, its traffic routing has even less traffic coverage by area than our 1690 nuLink did.

I wonder if Garmin is planning a 1695 nuLink which would incorporate nuRoute. I would buy it. I doubt that they would go the other way and create a 3795 nuLink. That would probably dictate having a "fatter" case, which Garmin seems to be trying to get away from, in order to compete with "skinny" iPhones and iPads, etc.

Back to the point. Has anyone noticed any significant behaviors in the 3790T that would qualify it as a "keeper", other than just getting by on its looks? Of course, as the saying goes, beauty is only surface deep, etc.

Thanks,
Gene

Another superb review, Fletch. Nobody does it like you, in great detail. Somehow I feel like we aren't getting all the pertinent information we need until we hear from you.

A quick question. Did Garmin restore the user option to turn on an attention chime before turns? For me, not having this could be a deal breaker because it gets your attention that a maneuver is coming up and without this, I sometimes don't pay attention to the Garmin TTS instructions, especially if listening to talk radio or having a conversation with others (or myself periodically ;) ).

I hope it's an option, because I'll buy one pronto. If not, Garmin will have to wait for my money till they restore it.

Rob

How do I transfer my Favorites from a Nuvi 350 to a 3795?

does anyone one know how fast it takes for the GPS to "RECALCULATE"? when i didn't follow the directions - for whatever reason and needs to find a alternate route..

Looks like iPhone..

Nice review but I didn't find any mention to custom POI, i.e speed camera database. I've heard this option was disabled...

I am glad that when you are not on a route that the upcoming street is now displayed in the green bar atop the unit. I missed this in my 755t and 1450. Screen looks tiny now are using 1450.

My 3790t runs very hot. Anyone else experiencing this?

It is a lot quicker than my nuvi 1450.

The 3790T had lockup issues, to the point I had to do a master reset. My power button would no longer respond reliably. After a master reset, it appeared to fix the problem. Garmin did release software to fix a HOST of known bugs. So far so good.

I have to admit, I hope Garmin will add the feature to exclude specific roads in future updates. If there is one thing that I believe hurts garmin, it's the inability to avoid a known problem spot. For a 400 dollar GPS, lack of road exclusion is a HUGE oversight. Take note. Please add the functionality in to the 3790t via a software / firmware update!

Is there a background light sensor (like nuvi 765T)?

I too am enjoying the 3790T very much, its great, but what i"m really annoyed about is why the option to "Exlcude Any Specific Road from route" is missing! i had it in my Garmin 855 model. Every time before traveling, if i knew about a road thats closed due to construction etc. i excluded it from my route, the GPS recalculated and gave me a new route. (sometimes even a better route then the original one) it was just so handy. i don't know why Garmin would take out this usefull feature? Btw excluding tolls or highways isn't so usefull because most of the time our trips are combined with some freeway - so to exclude "all" freeways is usually not practical vs. excluding one specific highway. hope you get my point. FLETCH IF NOT FOR YOUR REVIEWS I WOULD BE LOST! THANKS

If I had a nickel for everytime someone mentioned the "exclude road from route" feature, I'd be able to actually buy the 3790T.

I smoked cigarettes for a very long time. I recognize it injures my health therefore I must give up smoking but it's harder than you can imagine. None of the quitting techniques worked for me. Then I stumbled upon the e-cig. It has basically made all the difference. No more breathing toxic chemicals feels great!

Great review, as always. GPSmagazine is one of the most reliable and trusted sources for (Garmin’s) GPSR.

Few comments/questions, though:

>The windshield mount holds the nuvi firmly in place and >vibration-free when driving, even at highway speeds.

What highway speed has to do with vibration-free? I find ‘highway speed’ ride always smooth otherwise you would see accidents everywhere. Should this ‘vibration free’ be better referred to the ride on country roads or unpaved surfaces?

>Drivers should take note that it can be difficult to remove >the mounting disc later without damaging your car.

I do not stick anything on my car’s inside but am curious: is glue on mounting disk based on plastic dissolving chemicals? Does bond happens on molecular level? If not then goo-gone will remove it.

>…FM Traffic receiver. It's a little unsightly, but it's >still an improvement over having a separate FM Traffic wire >to deal with.

If you put and fasten it neatly Behind nuvi you will completely hide it and improve reception. Initial FM receivers have been incorporated with power adapter and due to bad reception Garmin redesigned it.

>Notice that highway signs displayed in the Junction View >mirror the actual signage on the road, further enhancing the >usefulness of this feature.

You could really emphasize this statement providing REAL picture of the junction shown on nuvi (any junction close to you) otherwise this sounds like Garmin’s paid advertisement.

What is the point showing elevation on trip computer screen? I am in the car not in the flying vehicle so do I REALLY care if I am at 10m or 2000m above the sea? Unless you are falling from the cliff AND look at the nuvi at the same time this is useless info for car driver.

MapSource part of the review is exact copy from nuvi 1490 review. I am glad copy/paste still works well on your computer.

Hello Fletch,

Congrat for this excellent and complete review. I also read the review on the 3760. One question about those reviews: Are you 100% shure abouth creating routes and waypoints on a pc then downlaoding them to the GPS?. I've read many posts on the subject where people where complaining about the impossibility to do it. Also, looking at pictures # 154 to 160 of the present review and more specifically # 159, the unit ID shown is 1490 and not 3790??. I really miss that possibility that I used a lot on my Etrex and it might be a dealbreaker if its not there. Also what about the heating concerns of the unit considering the recent recall from Garmin for other models. Is this a real problem with the 3790 or 3760?

Thanks again
Daniel

Fletch, please do some real testing of the trafficTrends feature?

One reason I'm somewhat dissatisfied with the traffic features in some areas is that, when a superhighway is clogged, the unit diverts me to some nearby side streets with intermediate speed limits -- think 45mph. This is bad because in many parts of the country, these roads are posted at 45mph -- but festooned with traffic lights, and in practice you're lucky to average 15mph, especially during certain times of day. There's no way the unit could detect a one-time blockage on the side streets if they're not part of the traffic reporting, but it can detect problems that occur regularly.

I would be interested in hearing from you whether you've run the unit on an itinerary where an apparently faster road clogs and should not be used, so trafficTrends can prevent abad routing.

Do you have any insight as to how this information flows? The database for the entire country [168 numbers per street, if the resolution is "hourly"] would be quite extensive. Do you get data for the entire country when you connect, or only for your vicinity?

On a long drive, do you know whether the unit is sophisticated enough to use trafficTrends for a street at the time you're projected to reach that street, and not at the time you're programming the unit? This can be a problem because I understand that GPS navigators "grow" the route from both ends. Since they don't know how long the route should take until it's built, they don't know what time to use for the distant end of the route calculation.

I've asked these questions on the tech support email a couple of days ago. No response yet. Shame on you, Garmin! Fletch, I'll bet they answer your emails a lot faster than they answer mine.

-dk

I corresponded with Garmin tech support.

Earlier this week, they claimed that trafficTrends data flows into your unit every time you download maps. This is stated in the Amazon description of the trafficTrends feature for this unit, which was copied from the Garmin description shortly after the device's release.

Now, if you look at the Garmin description of the 3790T, it states that trafficTrends data is only created from your own driving.

This makes it unusable for visits to other parts of the country.

An email correspondence with Garmin chronicles this change. On Thursday, September 9, 2010 6:41:29 PM they said in part: "The Traffic Trends are sent to your device as part of map updates. These include data for all the US (rather than isolated parts)." . However, on Fri, September 10, 2010 4:43:26 AM they stated "The features myTrends and trafficTrends are not loaded to your unit. These features calculate and store the data on your specific unit as a function of the operating system and your specific driving patterns." .

-dk

I have had a 3790T for a couple of months. It locks up and freezes on you so you can't turn it off. You have to connect it to a computer and do an undocumented button push to turn it off. The maps also blank out at times. The unit randomly reboots itself in the middle of driving. The styling on this unit is great, the software is half baked. It is NOT worth the money, as you have always have to reboot it or reload it to get it to work. Don't buy it!! (And I am a Garmin stockholder!)

Nice review. Like many others, there are a few locations I go to with my StreetPilot 2820 and use the Detour by Specific Street feature on a regular basis, and have used this feature to get off of an interstate when traffic backs up. The other feature I use everytime I select a route is the prompt for Faster Route or Shortest Route.

I have also had to deal with Garmin customer support after purchasing the lifetime map updates for a C330. Everytime I called, regardless of the time of day, I was on hold for 30 minutes. Completely unacceptable.

The Map Update process is problematic at best. At one point, I was able to download the individual region about 750mb (the c330 can't hold the entire country), but didn't put it on my local computer (a mac book). I downloaded the manual (couldn't find the printed one) and went to Best Buy and purchased a 2gb SD card. The c330 didn't "see" the memory in the sense that the map update tool would let me download the entire US. I called Garmin Support and waited the required 30 minutes. I found out that if I download and install on my macbook, I would then be able to download additional maps and could load them into the c330 by hand (awkward).

Well, after downloading 1.8gb 3 or 4 times and having it fail during part 3 of the download/installation process, I gave up and called Garmin. After waiting the required 30 minutes, I was able to get through to someone who transfered me to the mac support desk. What I found out was a bit disturbing to me. Instead of installing the additional map information and the mapping information on the computer first, the process must successfully complete the download to the GPS before installing it on the computer. If it fails for any reason, you have to download the entire 1.8gb again. After a couple of more times downloading the 1.8gb I sent and email to the mac person that was helping me.

When the person called me the next day, I asked for my money back on the map (not sure if they have done that yet) and to have the c330 returned to the original map data that was on it. The c330 had to be sent back to Garmin in order to restore the original map data. The email with the RMA number said that the GPS would be sent back to an address in FL (which was great because that's where it the GPS is currently residing), instead, it was sent to MD (which is where I live.

Not sure who's GPS I'll be buying next.

My 3790t was returned. Great screen, and everything downhill from there. Techs at Garmin admit it is not a true route type GPS. Miss one point or detour and your route is gone, unless you want to hear u-turn for the next hundred miles. Way too much money for this kind of quality.

Thanks for the excellent review.

Would you compare the readability of the 3790T screen with that of the 1490T? Is the higher resolution or larger size easier to read at a distance?

We're finding this slim design very difficult to use because it's so easy to slip out of the hand. Any suggestions on silicone non-slip tape, or some sort of a silicone bumper kit?

One note is that the review mentions about being able to use MapSource, however I believe that the nuvi 3790 is not compatible. Should this be mentioned in your article or am I misunderstanding something.

Apparenmtly the SW should be downloaded automatically when updating the maps on my nuvi however this does not happen. Am I doing somthing wrong?

Is there any in-depth discussion online about using an American-bought GPS Nav unit for driving in Europe? In-depth? Map/coverage availability for various cities, regions? How the nav comunicates with English-speaking drivers when street names, POIs are not English--example, local names in local language, but instructions in English? How well does nav work with maze-like one-way, constantly-changing-name streets, narrow lane, non-shoulder, Euro cities and/or "highways" and toll-ways? Can one rely on this technology, and what are its limitations in Europe (or elsewhere non-American/Canadian)?

EGG-CELLENT REVIEW GOOD SIR,
MEGA-PROPS for the detail

Did you verify the 1000 waypoint capacity? Can we modify if to make it store say around 5000? I desperately need help with this.

Can the microSD card aid in this issue? Or is that microSD slot just a ROM drive?

Custom tones? What about those?

The new series 24xx from garmin :
1. Main menu customization (up to 15 icons)
2. Advanced Detours
3. Custom avoidances
4. Powered Mount
5. Hardware Info

What do you think fletch?

I have a Nuvi 755T and when "deep" into the Where To menu finding a business, if I don't find the business it seems as though I have to hit 'back' about a million times to get back to view the map. Is the 3790 the same way or did they incorporate a quicker method of returning to the map?

Replaced my nuvi 670 to the new Nuvi 3790 MLT. Although I love the new 3790, I would have gotten the 2360 (if it was in stock back around xmas time) since it's got everything the 3790 has and a lot cheaper. One thing I noticed with the 3790 is that it gives the wrong side which the destination is going to be. I first gave the address of my home, then I told it to use the current location as home, but in either case the 3790 gives the wrong side of which the house is on! The old 670 never made that mistakes. Went to one restaurant that was stored in the old 670 and the new 3790 was wrong at which side the restaurant was on. Went to The Container Store in White Plains in NY and it was wrong again. Not sure if 670 would make the same mistake. Is anyone out there who's also noticed this discrepancy? I hate having to doubt every time we use the 3790 which side the destination is actually going to be on.

Very disappointing experience with the Garmin 3790 LMT and I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. Have had 2 units, both had same problem: screen freeze, but you can't manually reboot, but the unit will reboot on its own while driving randomly. Sometimes the screen goes black, or the screen will display flickering lightning like flashes and flickers. Did all of the software updates that are available to no avail. Have had several other Garmins that worked flawlessly. I like the screen resolution on the 3790, and it's a good looking unit, but it's virtually unusable because of the software problems.

2nd Unit in 3 months. 1st one would never get satellites, 2nd one ran hot all the time, and now it won't power up. There seems to be no POIs on this model as well. when it worked it looked real nice, I liked the voice command options. But the cost of over $500 a pop is a pretty steep tag for junk. I've had it less than 2 months, I wonder if its possible to get a refund so I can go buy another tomTom? Unit model is 3790lmt

Is anyone having "start-up" problems then turning the 3790 on? When powering-up, mine says "loading maps" then powers-off. Is there a specific procedure that I am missing? I'm not sure if I should power-off completely, e.i. hold the power button for 3-seconds and then press off; or just press the power button to place the unit in sleep mode. Will this make a diffence when restarting? This only happens when using the unit indoors (no power source) not when attached to the docking port.

I am living in Malaysia and got myself a unit recently after reading all the review and rating here. Overall, I am quite happy with it but I think there are a few improvements Garmin should make onto the new firmware as these features is available on MobileXT and my old eTrex (which it does point to point navigation)

1. 1 second track log recording.
2. is there a way I can view the saved track log?
3. There is no way to search the ONLY favorites (waypoint from mapsource)
4. During navigation, make sure the vehicle is not "stick" to the road (eTrex can disable this).
5. Disable the auto zoom.
6. Can garmin make the map display detail to least, less, normal, more, most.
7. POI doesnt show during navigation.
8. Where is the custom POI?
9. Make the unit more "hands-free" e.g. then the bluetooth connected, the msg prompt will close by itself after 3 seconds without user clicking "OK"
10. Enhance the voice command to enable quick access to "mute" and some other menu item.

PAGE 12 of this review is TOTALLY WRONG. The 3790 does NOT support Mapsource style Routes, not at all. It has a different concept called Trips, which do not serve the same purpose. Worse, you can NOT transfer 3790 Trips using Mapsource and you can NOT transfer Mapsource Routes to the 3790. You can NOT do any route or trip planning on your PC and then send to the 3790. Unfortunately for me, I believed this BS review and I just can't believe this author got it so wrong, and why it hasn't been corrected since. As of this date, Garmin support will not even guess as to whether the transferring of Mapsoure Routes will ever be supported or when.

The trip planner works nicely. As of yet mapsource is still not supported. Hopefully the next software update will fix this.

I just picked up my new 3790. I'm trying to pair up the GPS to my Bluetooth motorcycle head set. The only function I see for connecting up a Bluetooth device is for phones. The 3790 doesn't see anything except my phone. Is there another way to see the headset?

Conversely, my mp3 sees my headset, so I know it works well. I tried pairing the 3790 with no other Bluetooth devices on.

Any clues?

I can not understand the Garmin team .
The device made from this company is amazing..no doubt about this.Everyone here is clearly understanding that here we have very hard working and many intellect.The result is here -Garmin Nuvi 37XX.
BUT...one small problem, and not only, makes the possibility to lost the good positions. POI icons are not visible...not in 3D...not in 2D...laugh..this is ridiculous.There are some pleases where it is mentioned that the reason of that is company politic and safe care for the customers.Rubbish.As you see actually, some icons are visible, some not. If I install the china firmware...the icons are visible. OK, why, what about the safety of the china people? OK, 3D maybe sounds a little logic, but why in 2D i can not use this nice option? for me this is not e politic...this is not ended work.
I am strongly hoping that this issue will be fixed. It is clear that Garmin is the leader on the market. With the City explorer maps they clearly declare that the next plans are to keep this place. Actually, it is not easy to Imagen what kind of work is here to collect all this info for us.And in the end what we have...no icons. When i am driving I don't care what is on the screen like additional info. But when I begin to looking for some place i really need the icons and especially the info which is coming after I click on it. It is ridiculous... I know that the info is inside the map, but it is hard do find it.I know too that there is very easy way to make the way easer, but i am limited. All this, on the road, when the time is out, in some special situations sometimes can generate very strong anger.
Garmin, what are you doing? Are you trying to disappointing us? Please believe me, it is really very easy, and be sure that to make us good fаns is not easy. You are taking off our choices how to use our devices, what to like and what do not. Actually there is choice...putting the china firmware will fix this.Indeed the choice here is to make a try to kill the device or to leave it on this using conditions.This is not fair.
What is the point of the Garmins manager? To decrees the profits? Ok, go ahead...this is the right way.who is in charge there, why you are making this?Read the forums, see what the people says. Listen to us.
In the end, Garmin, congratulations about the nice device..and please ..finish you good job.
(Please excuse me for my bad English...I am from Bulgaria...)

As of 7/21/11, PAGE 12 of this review is STILL TOTALLY WRONG. You STILL can not transfer Trips or Routes to/from Mapsource. Garmin has withdrawn their estimated date when transferring Routes will be supported, and at least 2 firmware updates have come and gone with no hint of the promised update. Garmin has withdrawn their promise for Route support from their web page and tech support will no longer even estimate if or when it will be supported. If Route (or Trip) planning on your PC is important to you, do NOT buy this unit.

Fletch. No activity on this site for ages! What's happened?

I'm hoping for a review of the new nuvi 3490 to see if it's worthwhile returning my newly purchased 3790 if the 3490 is significantly better. Since I got the 3790 on sale, it would be about $100 more for the new model.

Anyone else here had a chance to play with one yet?

Whatever... a GARMIN GPS is USELESS once you move to another country. Buying new maps is as good as buying a new unit. I'm waiting when GOOGLE can bring an end to this monopoly of GARMIN in hardware and affordable maps etc.