Garmin nuvi 765t

The basics

The Garmin nuvi 765t is an in-car GPS satnav with 4.3-inch, 480x272-pixel screen, pan-European maps, TMC traffic and Bluetooth. Navigation includes spoken road names, motorway lane guidance and optional 3D landmarks.

The good

What exactly is wrong with reversing up the motorway when you’ve missed an exit? Now Garmin has jumped on this perfectly innocent manoeuvre as though it’s something shameful, with new motorway lane graphics that make negotiating exits as tediously simple as following an arrow. If that’s not molly-coddling drivers enough, the 765t helps them navigate to geo-tagged images, see buildings that should be right in front of their eyes with 3D landmarks and even plan the most fuel-efficient routes. There are up-to-date maps, Bluetooth phone links and TMC traffic alerts, too.

The bad

Cluttering the screen with 3D landmarks doesn’t actually make urban driving any easier, especially in historic city centres cluttered with windy roads and ‘quaint’ buildings. While satellite lock on and initial route calculations are fast, traffic warnings can be sluggish and irrelevant, while re-calculating journeys after a wrong turn takes too long. Some users have complained about the 765t unexpectedly freezing up, too.

The bottom line

A decent enough mid-range unit thanks to its comprehensive new Euro maps, but the Garmin’s graphical gimmicks can actually make driving more difficult. Shop around for the previous 760t model to save yourself 50 quid - and some navigational headaches.