Garmin - Nuvi 750 Review

The Garmin Nuvi 750 is my second car GPS, replacing a smaller model.  Both used the same windshield mount technique, putting unit where you can see and hear it without looking away from the road, and it warns you about trying to program it while you're driving.  That's important for safety.  You have your choice of a man's or woman's voice in English, and it also speaks more languages than most of us have ever heard of.

The maps are amazingly complete.  The unit announces turns a good distance in advance, including left and right, and then reminds you as they get close.  The voice is well done and easy to understand and includes the street name, although it sometimes mangles pronunciation.  The name is also on the screen.  You can adjust the distance ahead that is displayed on the map.  The display changes to night mode at sunset.  You can subscribe to a service that helps alert you to real-time traffic problems for an extra fee.

It's easy to disconnect the unit and put it in your pocket or purse when you leave the car, so there's nothing important left to steal.  You can actually use it for walking around the town if you choose to.  Battery life is good.  It's easy to move from car to car.

There are a few negatives.  Garmin charges a hefty fee for map updates and releases new ones every year.  Skip them unless you're going to a lot of new areas.  In driving through some gated communities with multiple entrances, I found that it would send me out of a gate and route me into another that was locked -- a problem when I was visiting and didn't have the code.  It has told me left instead of right on a few occasions, but I could see where to go from the map.  The windshield mount can come loose and can stick if left on in hot weather.  Some states such as California don't allow windshield mounting.

It's not perfect, but I have never found a better one.  Somebody once asked Daniel Boone whether he had ever been lost, and he replied "No, but I was mighty confused for 3 days once!"  I've been mighty confused a good many times, but the Garmin wasn't and took me right to my destination.