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"Outstanding Upgrade Over Previous Nuvis!" on by D-Miller
Pros: + Display brightness, color, resolution and ability to rotate the display is great
+ Great user interface, nice graphice
+ Excellent features and functionality, fast location of satellites, voice control
+ Voice command is greatCons: - Phone connection is not great, The speaker quality is tinny and hard to understand the caller
Summary: This is my 7th Nuvi (I upgrade and pass along the old ones to family members) and definately the best. Well worth the money if you use a GPS a lot.
*** P.S. If you will buy this Garmin I suggest you have compare prices before you decide at: www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003EYVHH4?ie=UTF8&ref_=dp_olp_new&condition=new#?ie=UTF8&tag=***************&********=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
On opening I was quite impressed with the thin form factor and appearance. Unimpressed with the lack of any type of protective cover for it. You need to purchase a separate cover to keep it from getting scratched during storage, travel (in suitcase/bag) or handling.
The display brightness, color, resolution and ability to rotate the display is great. I now use it in portrait mode about 99% of the time so I get more area ahead of me rather than to either side. You do need to put it to landscape on occasion to read long POI descriptions. The 3D terrain isn't valuable per se' most of the time but is nice to look at especially when traveling through mountains. Traffic color coding is now displayed on the primary navigation screen, which I really like, as well as on a separate screen. Navigation is easier through the menus than previous units.
Voice command is great. I rarely touch the screen now. It sometimes requires me to repeat the command up to 3 times (I'm from the midwest US so shouldn't be too difficult for it to understand). However, the value you get from not playing with the unit while driving is worth the minor frustration of repeating the commands while driving. It even picks up the commands with windows and sun roof fully open and radio playing. Very impressive. Since I can access anything in the GPS via voice, it's easy to use and MUCH better than my GPS system built into my car (other than smaller screen). Man, if I could upgrade my car GPS with the features from this Nuvi I'd be a real happy camper!
Phone connection is not great. The speaker quality is tinny and hard to understand the caller. It works, but I'd consider it a backup system at best. It does do voice dialing pretty well so it's easy to use. Better in that respect than my Grand Cherokee bluetooth system.
The main routes to / from my office are very heavy traffic so I take back roads that do not have traffic sensors. GPS systems never reccomend these back routes because theoretically the main routes are all better choices. This GPS learns your preferred routes and starts to apply them rather than continually telling you to turn around and take the main route. This means it is actually useful to me at times my old systems weren't. Of course, not that I need the GPS to find my way home at night - usually.
I use the Garmin portable friction mount for the dashboard and travel with this. Never any problems with it with any Nuvi.
The only problem I've had with this Nuvi is that on occassion, when inserting the GPS into the mount, the speaker (which is in the mount) doesn't connect so there is no sound. By pressing down on what would be the upper left of the GPS (if it were in landscape mode) this pushes the contact pins on the left side into better contact and sound engages. Push down on the upper right and sound goes out. No visually apparent pin damage. Contacted Garmin and they are going to send me a new mount first and see if that fixes the problem. If not, then they say they'll send a new GPS.
I highly recommend this Nuvi. The voice command is great to keep your eyes on the road and is easy to use if you don't mind repeating yourself. Since I'm married, that's not a problem.
Updated on Aug 25, 2011
Updated on Oct 9, 2011Edit Link
I suggest you have to compare prices before you decide at: http://nuvi-3790T.url-Site.com -
"Some things get better with use. The 3790T does not." on by correzpond
Pros: Not enough to recommend.
Cons: Too many to neatly summarize. See my review.
Summary: HITS
Thinness: iPhone thinness = sexiness.
High Res Screen: High resolution capacitive screen very responsive to touch.
Voice Recognition: Mostly good and usually faster than screen-entry, but it doesn't learn accents (so not much good unless you can speak in Oxford English), has a problem with any background noise (even rain on the windscreen), and is limited in the type of addresses (e.g. not intersections) it accepts. Did I call this a Hit? Anyway a promising but not yet great feature.
Always Up: Inbuilt accelerometer that senses how the unit is oriented and automatically adjusts for portrait or landscape mode (yes, just like the iPhone).
Junction View: Clear photorealistic images of complex junctions showing route clearly with yellow arrows. If I have any gripe about this feature it is that it comes up at erratic distances before intersections & has a tendency to disappear just as you need it.
MyTrends & Predictive Routing: Will guess commonly taken routes (e.g. work to home) and will predict travel when it is in a known tunnel (e.g. Sydney Harbour Tunnel, Eastern Distributor) when it looses satellite signal.
3D Terrain: Quite useful to be able to see the terrain ahead on long freeway trips and doesn?t get in the way of routes the way that 3D Buildings does.
Map Updates: Currently free updates for life are included in the price.
MISSES
Slow to Lock: And I mean REALLY SLOW if it has been off for anything more than a few hours. Hello! Is there is SIRFII chip in there??
TrafficTrends: Powered by SUNA (the traffic alert service in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane). Remember that the "S-U" in SUNA stands for "Simply Unreliable"? 'Nuff said.
GPS Signal Lost: Floods the screen with a message that obliterates everything from view and doesn't go away until the user presses the OK button. A really smart idea (not) for a unit focussing on hands-free operation, particularly when there is the same persisting alert at a perfectly acceptable size on a bar at the top of the screen.
Pronunciation: Some truly odd local pronunciations.: Giffnocky for Giffnock and Carly for Cahill (yes, that?s right, the main expressway on the Sydney Harbour Bridge is an ex- of Warren Beatty).
Bluetooth: Simply awful implementation. Maximum volume isn't nearly enough and callers always complain about the quality of the audio via the microphone. Why did Garmin even bother with this?
Safety Camera Alerts: These seem to trigger based on general proximity in any direction whether you are on the actual road where the cameras are placed or not.
The ?Continue To? Thing: As mentioned in my previous posts this seems to be a common Garmin bug that exists on the 3790T and on my previous 765T. When the unit starts up it frequently begins to plot a route that starts a block or a street away from which I am & will suggest "Continue to XXX street". This isn't usually a problem if I am in a familiar area, but it's unhelpful in unfamiliar territory. And frankly a GPS should be navigating from exactly where I am, not from where it wants me to be!
Snap-to Street Navigation in Car Mode: The 'feature' of the Garmin to "snap to streets" often means it snaps to wrong roads around business parks and shopping centres where road detail is not fully mapped i.e. it picks the nearest plotted road instead of figuring out that I am driving off-road (or at least off the known roads of Sensis maps which is a common occurrence in Sydney).
3D Buildings: The 3D buildings in Sydney's CBD are initially interesting however most buildings with a couple of few notable exceptions (e.g. Sydney Opera House) are rendered as grey formless objects which actually obscure the route. A shame there isn?t a setting to turn 3D terrain on and 3D buildings off.
Auto Day/ Night applies to Tunnels: Good in theory except that the 3790T ?cleverly? adjust to night mode when it thinks it is in a tunnel. On roads such as Sydney's Easter Distributor which move between closed and open sections this causes regular flickering as it refreshes and re-renders between modes.
Navigation on Multi-Level roads: Confuses routes when surface and tunnels coincide (e.g. Lane Cove Tunnel / Epping Road) & takes ages to correct itself (usually only when routes have hugely diverged) prompting the Garmin to infer impossible route changes.
Conclusion:
Some things get better with repeated use, however the 3790T does not. Now that I am quite over the sheer sexiness of the 3790T, the more aware I am of its flaws & can no longer recommend it. Frankly it is difficult to reconcile the problems in this unit against Garmin's long history in producing GPS units and the supposed 'flag-ship' status of the 3790T. On the other hand I guess that Garmin will never run into problems with pre-release units bar-hopping to the tech-press (viz a viz the iPhone4) since it simply beggars belief that these units are actually tested by anyone in the real-world before being placed on the market. -
"I don't get what all the hype is about this GPS!" on by turbochip62
Pros: Ok it has a very cool way to bring up the menu by voice that works well. But getting me to my destination is more important! Screen is clear and easy to read.
Cons: Power button had to be pushed down in just the right place for it to work. The directed voice is not very smooth. It took me out of my way more than once. Limited choices in the menu. AND HATE THE WORDS "Recalculating" if you miss a turn!
Summary: I have a TOMTOM GO LIVE 740 and had some problems that figured that I would go out and buy the latest version of Garmin's Nuvi 3790T. I open the box and was excited to test it out against the TOMTOM. It does have some cool features and the screen is very vivid. But in more that one occasion it either let me out of my way or was not able to figure out that I was on top of a bridge or on the road below. It takes forever to start navigating and leave you a little blind until it catches up.
Maybe its just me but the voice on the TOMTOM is clearer and just sounds less like a computer outputted want to be human voice!
I think that the whole process of the way the traffic is displayed on the TOMTOM is far better, you at least get an idea of where the traffic is going to be and offer suggestive alternatives. The Gamin just lets you drive with limited prompts to tell you that you are already in traffic.
I use a GPS at least 5 time a day going to different clients and I have a number of them saved as favorites which allows me to get from one location to the next a little faster especially if there is traffic. The Garmin really fell short of my expectations and I would rather pay for the traffic service from TOMTOM instead of the free traffic that the Garmin is offering.
One service that I was hoping that the Gamin would have is Google search, this is a great too when the normal location search is not giving you the results that you are looking for. Another is the weather either by current location or for your destination address. I just felt that the whole thought process in the way the route is displayed on screen was better on the TOMTOM.
And as far as lane assist goes again to the TOMTOM it shows the lanes in big green arrow that are easy to see and get the point across a lot better than the small arrows that the Garmin offer on the screen.
Look I am not trying to bash Garmin and I am sure that some people would like this product. But these are just some of my observations from a person that uses a GPS as a work tool and has had a chance to put the 2 units to the test at the same time and saw the results.. -
"Don't by it, it breaks too easily!!!" on by fsc_spinelli
Pros: Should good to be thin and portable.
Cons: Fragile!!! It breaks easily. It can break in your backpack or in your pocket without falling or crashing.
Summary: Don't by it, it breaks too easily!!!
This GPS is too fragile to be sold as a portable device. After a month of use the nüvi 3790t GPS broke in my backpack with two books and any other item (key, etc) or any pressure. I took it to Best Buy, where I bought it, and they said it was my fault, it was a pressure break. According to best buy this could happen by the pressure of my finger (amazing!!!). So, U$ 349,99 for only a month of use and went to the trash with no refund.
I have used Iphones for the last years and none broken in my backpack or in my pocket. This device has to be more resistant to be sold as a portable device. I don't recommend. Don't buy it. -
"THIS UNIT WILL FAIL ON YOU" on by unicornfriday
Pros: It is nice and slim
Cons: Unit failed. It is unreliable, how can my GPS help me when it keeps reseting and blacking out? The voice recognition is very inconsistent. Sometimes it worlds great, other times it doesn't respond to your voice. It randomly goes into a voice mode when
Summary: I wanted to love it, but I hate it! Do yourself a favor and don't buy this unit
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