Garmin 770 LMT

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Heli_av8tor

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NW Illinois
I've used Garmin GPS units in my autos and airplane for a long time. Now as a Class A owner I'm looking for a GPS for it. The 770 LMT seems to be the latest - greatest offering from Garmin and I'm thinking about ordering one.

However, being so new, there is little info on how well it is performing. I've seen some complaints about poor routing with it. I know complaints get more mileage on forums than praise so I'm looking for reports from people who have actually been on the road with it.

Thanks,
Tom
 
There are quite a few less than glowing reviews on Amazon.
 
I bought the 760 LMT and am pretty happy with it. Reading through the reviews on the 770, there doesn't seem to be a consistent specific complaint, though a few reported some navigation errors that don't make a lot of sense.


One thing, though, I plugged mine into a lighter plug that is always on, left it plugged in while parked, and the thing drained my battery in about three days.

And the app for your phone will suck the phone power pretty quickly if you leave it running.
Also,
Make sure that you update the maps and firmware before using it, and drive around an hour or so before trying to use it.
 
 
Jeff in Ferndale Wa said:
Why? What happens if you don't

The maps loaded in the device may be fairly old, and out of date, as might be the microcode.
The thing can get lost, and take you with it.

 
My brother-in-law just got a 770 RV LMT and he's letting me borrow it for an Illinois to Georgia trip. I had it in the car today and voice-commanded it to take me to an address in the next town on the highway. It took half a dozen tries to get it to understand the address, but finally succeeded.

This should have been a 10 mile trip continuing on the U.S. highway I was already on. It was showing a route almost 30 miles long. One half mile before the highway crossed an interstate it directed me on a 20 mile loop down county roads, putting me on that interstate (ten miles away) and exiting back on the original highway within eye sight of where it sent me on the loop.

Hope that was easier to follow than write  :)

There were no weight or height restrictions or any other reason to possibly trigger the ridiculous route. When I switched it to the auto profile it routed correctly.

I'll run it beside my old Garmin Nuvi on the Georgia trip just to see if if repeats but at this point I have crossed it off my "buy" list. Hope they fix it soon as it does have a lot of nice features.

Tom
 
Every time I consider upgrading to one of the new 7" RV GPSs (have considered both the 770 and the dezl) from my 5 year old (but updated) Garmin nuvi I read reports like this and decide I'll wait on the nearly $400 purchase.

We usually fire up the GPS and get going, then do an Apple maps or Google maps cross check to see if they're all going to the same place and routing the same way. If it all looks good, we shutoff Apple/Google and carry on. Very rarely we have found an instance where the GPS, even though updated, did not have a new street or some other change. This is very rare. Also, this applies to the west, we haven't yet taken the rig "back east".

Wouldn't mind having the weight and height restrictions built in, but if the unit can't reliably navigate it's not much good.
 
We have the 760 RV LMT and love the large screen, being able to put in our rig weight and measurements and switch from auto to rv profile. I don't think there is a GPS unit out there that doesn't have some problems with directions and this one is no different. Some problems can be solve by changing the programming from "shortest route to fastest route" or checking or unchecking what to avoid. We've left ours plugged in and haven't had any battery problems.
 
Even Google maps is not immune to strange routing. I made several trips using Google and printing the output. The route chosen led me off the main highway exits and back on a bit later for no apparent reason. Depending on the map scale, it was not always visually apparent.  Setting a waypoint after the errant exit fixed the problem but made it apparent that VERY close checking was required.

My current Garmin has not done this sort of thing to me yet but "trust, but verify" really applies to GPS chosen routes as well as to many other things in life.
 
Been using my 770 RV for a bit over a month now.  Really like the screen.  Routing performance has been comparable to my older Garmin, good but not always the way I think it should go.
Note the initial firmware had major issues, got an update about 2 weeks after purchase which greatly improved things.
So far very satisfied.
 
Two thoughts on this: First, the unit has now been out long enough to begin garnering more objective reviews by people who know how to use PGS. Second, many of the routing problems and user problems appear to be happening because the people don't follow the instructions on how to set the unit up initially before getting excited and trying to use it. The unit HAS to be fully charged before turning it on. You HAVE to download Garmin Express if you don't already have it on your computer, plug the GPS into the computer, and THEN turn it on, allowing to download ALL updates, including software, firmware and maps. If that isn't done before trying to use it, it's not going to give you good results.
 
There were no weight or height restrictions or any other reason to possibly trigger the ridiculous route.

Does it have a Avoid Toll Roads feature?  We had ours do that one time, giving us an extra 100 from Maryland through WDC to Virginia because there was a toll bridge out of Maryland to Virginia.  Little things like that really can trip you up when routing!  In this case the toll was leaving Maryland, not entering which we had done a few hours previously.

ArdraF
 
Yes it does, but that was not on in the original route that prompted my OP. Also, all updates were current.

I've since bought my own RV 770 and have been from Illinois to Georgia, and have almost completed a loop IL - IN - MI (upper peninsula) - WI - IL - IN - IL. I've been generally happy with the performance. There are many features I don't understand or haven't used yet.

Tom (the OP)

 
6 months ago I could buy a new 670 RV LMT For about $320.00, today they are $475-$583 on Amazon. I think people are passing on the 770 and the demand for 670s is driving the price increase.
 
Jeff said:
6 months ago I could buy a new 670 RV LMT For about $320.00, today they are $475-$583 on Amazon. I think people are passing on the 770 and the demand for 670s is driving the price increase.

Four months ago, you could buy a 670 on Amazon for $289.00. I kicked myself for not getting one at the time, waiting for the latest and greatest to arrive. The 770 has more features than the 670, but for many, has a major drawback of not including a traffic receiver and only getting its traffic updates via a smartphone app that will eat up your cell data. Before buying one, I wanted to find out just how fast the cell data would be used, and found out from Garmin that the average is about 2mb per hour. That's not too much to worry about and according to both Garmin and expert reviewers, the phone info is much more accurate and up to date than the old fashioned FM broadcasts, so I'm going to have to assume this feature is a plus rather than a minus. But you're right, Jeff, it's scaring off a lot of potential buyers who haven't taken the time to check it out. Rand McNally just decreased the price of their top unit (which unfortunately does not really compare to the Garmin) from $354 to $298, so I'm waiting to see if Garmin answers that with a price drop of their own on the 770. You won't see a drop in price on the 670 because they are no longer made and Garmin will probably stop offering updates and support for them in another few years. That's the main reason their price has gone sky high. Supply and demand.
 
John Stephens said:
The 770 has more features than the 670, but for many, has a major drawback of not including a traffic receiver and only getting its traffic updates via a smartphone app that will eat up your cell data.

The 770 dezl is advertised as having built-in traffic - is that an option?
 
Sun2Retire said:
The 770 dezl is advertised as having built-in traffic - is that an option?

The 770 DOES have built in traffic with lifetime updates. The difference is how it is received by the unit. In previous units, it was received by an FM receiver that was built into the device with the antenna built into the charging wire. This has been discontinued and a new technology, vastly improved for reliability, is now being used by the device getting its traffic information through your smartphone. If you do not have a smartphone, you will not be able to get traffic updates.

The reason this way of receiving traffic information is far superior is because it now relies on the smartphones of every driver who have their location services turned on transmitting a signal that is collected by satellite. The satellite senses when there is a slowdown of traffic because those smartphones are not moving at the normal speed, calculates how long the slowdown will take for you and tells you how long of a delay you're going to have. It updates every couple of minutes so you will see the number of minutes change as the traffic begins to once again move at normal speeds. In the past, GPS systems had to rely on information received from State Troopers, police and EMS about accidents that either had been reported or were being investigated. You can see how the new method is far superior in terms of accuracy.

Please keep in mind that this discussion is about the Garmin RV-770LMT-S. You mentioned the Dezi unit, which is designed for truckers. I have not researched that unit and cannot tell you how its traffic is received.
 
John, understand re the dezl, just wondered if it was a viable alternative. Currently using a Garmin nuvi (which I've generally been happy with) and have been watching the 770 thinking I'd get one before a trip back east we're considering. Just checked Amazon, fully 30% of reviewers are very dissatisfied with the unit based on poor navigation guidance. This is aside from the traffic issue. I routinely take secondary roads that wouldn't be considered "primary truck routes". I would want a unit that would tell me when I can't take a road, not just when there's a "better" way. The complaints are so numerous I'd be very hesitant to purchase one at this time.
 
Scott, I, too, have used a Nuvi that is several years old built for auto transportation that will no longer accept updates because the internal memory is full and I don't feel like sticking a micro SD card in it. These things only have a viable life expectancy of about 3-5 years anyway simply because the state of the art changes and improvements are made. I decided to go with a GPS unit designed for RV because the last time I drove through the Smokies, I followed the advice of my phone application and it had me take a turn that put me on a gravel road 23 miles long up one side of a mountain and down the other, complete with switchbacks so severe, it was taking me as many a five pull up/backups before I could get around the bend with the mountain on one side of the road and a sheer drop-off on the other side. I researched the best of the best and found for 2016, the two best were the 760 and the Rand McNally 7730. Each have their own pluses and minuses with different camping directories that are used. This year, the RM has a nice gas station feature while the Garmin has voice activation, which can come in very handy once you learn the range of commands. Is the 760 better than the 770? The only way to know is to buy and use both. It is my understanding from Garmin that the 770 is simply this year's model of the 760, which I believe was put on the market in 2013. After four years, it was time for an update. Aside from the new things and changes that have already been discussed, I believe these models are essentially the same.

I have read every single review on Amazon for the 770. You're right - there are nearly as many one star as there are five star reviews, which is usually a bad sign for any product, but if you look closely, you'll notice that many of the negative reviews must be discounted because the people appear to not know how to set it up properly, make sure the software and firmware is updated, and most importantly, make sure the maps are updated. If you read Garmin's responses to these reviews, you'll find they are offering solutions, not excuses, and that makes me think the reviewers simply didn't know how to use their product properly. There were a couple of reviews indicating bad routing that Garmin actually said they would have to address, but if I'm not mistaken, I believe they use the same mapping on each of their models, so this isn't going to be something strictly contained in the 770. The one thing that I found that I didn't like that has not been addressed by Garmin is the possibility of having too restrictive of road mapping for your specific RV because of the information you have entered. One guy said this was corrected by reducing the weight of his RV that he input. If Garmin has incorrect map information regarding max bridge weights, then this needs to be fixed and this is one instance where even if they use the same mapping for all their models, it will only show up on the models such as this one where you input your vehicle's information into the system.

I did not run right out and buy one when it hit the market a couple of months ago. I decided to wait to see if the reviews changed over time with more people trying it out and then making their comments, and this is exactly what has happened with more and more positive reviews now being submitted. My next vacation in the Smokies will be in August, meaning I'll purchase one in about another two weeks, giving myself plenty of time to play with it, get it set up properly, and make sure I know of its shortfalls before making the trip, if there really are any. This also gives Garmin more time to fix the bugs in the system as they are discovered by end users. In my opinion, electronics and computers are kind of like RV's in the respect that there is no manufacturer that has a perfect model. They all have their tradeoffs with some having issues with one thing and others having issues with other things. It is the nature of the beast for electronic manufacturers to market items that really are not yet market ready because they need the input of the public using their product in order to better it.
 
We just put our brand-new Garmin RV 770 LMT-S to the test.  We received the unit on May 16, 2017.  We charged it and downloaded all of the current software and maps. Why do I have to choose between FASTEST or SHORTEST?  I want LEAST CONGESTED!  I did NOT do any of the cell phone programs, like traffic or weather, etc.  The ONLY avoidance I set was for U-Turns.  We played with it at the house and tried to program the first leg of our trip before we left on May 22.  We were to drive approximately 2500 miles throughout California, Oregon and Washington in our 24? Class C with a toad.  We are savvy enough to know that we should never depend upon a GPS of any kind as our only means of navigation, so we had Google Maps on the phone and paper maps.

The Garmin was a disaster from day one. There is NO setting for a motorhome pulling a toad.  There is either a motorhome by itself, a vehicle with a trailer, or a 5th wheel.  All of the aforementioned rigs can be backed up.  We cannot back up.  This should be accounted for.

We wanted to program it to take us from the central coast of California up through the Golden Gate Bridge to a campground in Duncan Mills, CA.  We knew exactly how we wanted to go, but the unit would not program or ?shape? the route, either in map mode or in Trip Planner.  I wanted to avoid congested freeways.  I tried to zoom in on the route and ?shape? it by touching the highway I wanted to take, but the unit kept re-routing back to the original route, giving me a route which eventually ended up looking like the EKG of a very sick person.  I tried taking it out of RV mode and doing it with just the car mode, but that didn?t work either.  I tried using intersections, adding stops to a route, and points of interest, just trying to get the route to go the direction I wanted to no avail.
So we started out anyway, thinking that the talking lady would re-route as we went, once she realized she needed to.  But NO!  She kept trying to turn us around.  It does not say ?Re-calculating?, so if you deviate from the route you are unaware of why it is taking you on a wild goose chase.

We got so frustrated with the device that we finally had to shut off the volume.

The next test was to see if it could get us from point A to point B on a short road where there was no turns at all.  The crazy talking lady told us to turn left, turn right, MULTIPLE times!  Time to re-install the software and maps!?  Nope.  That didn?t work.  By this time I figured I wasn?t a techy as I thought I was and there was something I was doing wrong.  I really didn?t think that I was that stupid.  Calling Garmin Support was not an option because, as many of you know, cell service is pretty sketchy most of the time on the road.  We thought we should continue to give it a chance.

We programmed it to take us to a campground in Washington that was on the other side of the river.  It seemed to know that there was a campground there, but it directed us to turn left into it, which would have been fine if there had been a bridge!  The actual route was quite different.

The final straw was another campground in Washington.  I had programmed in the exact address and it appeared to know that this was a campground and the correct location, but when it drove us 6 miles further up the road (we caught it before it took us further and we had to find a place to turn around) we were ready to send the unit back.  At the campground I double-checked the settings, and indeed it was correct, but why it wanted us to go 6 miles further then backtrack was beyond comprehension.

Many many many roads have multiple names, or change names at an intersection, and the Garmin is limited in that capacity, causing MUCH confusion.

Other than leading us astray, this unit has way too many useless bells and whistles and we couldn?t figure out how to disable them.  All I really cared about was the ability to see far enough ahead at an intersection to know which lane to be in to turn.  This it WILL do, and does it nicely, once it figures out where you are going.  What I DO NOT need is the continuous alerts for school zones, speed limit changes, traffic cameras, animal crossings, sharp curves (totally useless), elevation changes (only downhill).  I would like it to tell me if there is a passing zone ahead, but NO!

It does show campground icons.  Finally got it to quit showing me ATMs and restaurants because all of those icons were covering up the view of the map!

I could further comment on features of this gizmo, but we have been gone a month and just got home today.  I have this thing boxed up and ready to send back to Amazon.  I have an email assuring me that it is OK to return beyond the 30 day deadline, so I do hope this works out because it is a $400 piece of *&^*(&(!
 
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