Shopping CartGarmin nüvi 3790LMT 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates
date : November 25th, 2011Garmin Nuvi
Review : 3 Reviews
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List Price : $ 499.99
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Tags : 3790LMT, 4.3Inch, Bluetooth, Garmin, Lifetime, Navigator, nüvi, Portable, Traffic, Updates
- Preloaded with street maps for the U.S., Canada & Mexico
- Lifetime map updates
- Lifetime traffic updates
- Lane assist with Junction View
- Bluetooth wireless technology
Garmin nuvi 3790LMT Automobile Portable Navigator 010-00858-21 Automobile NavigatorsExperience uniquely personal navigation from the elegantly slim nüvi 3790LMT. It features a multi-touch glass display, nüRoute technology with trafficTrends and myTrends, voice-activated navigation, 3-D building and terrain view, lane assist with junction view, hands-free calling compatibility and subscription-free traffic alerts.
Less than 9mm thick
Includes Free Lifetime Map Update
Excellent “Quick Release” GPS,
As a GPS Unit, the 3790LMT is phenomenal, and I’ll get to why in a bit, but first, I decided to write this review for those who, like me, live in a part of the world where the climate is extreme enough to make it a necessity to take your GPS in and out of the car on a regular basis to prevent damage (or crime).
I used to have a Garmin 765T, which was a great little unit, for all the reasons I personally purchase a GPS. I don’t care so much about playing MP3′s or viewing photos, or even bluetooth, I just want a fast, accurate, and user friendly GPS. And, I’ve come to discover that I also NEED one that is easy to take with me when I leave my vehicle.
So, when my 765T’s maps were out of date I was faced with a decision whether or not to upgrade the maps, or just get a different unit and I decided that for about the same price I’d “upgrade” to a new GPS that came with lifetime map and traffic updates rather than paying for a couple month upgrade to my old Garmin 765T.
After shopping around I settled on a TomTom XXL500TM. As a GPS, it was a good unit, but I immediately missed the “quick release” feature of my old 765T which allowed me to just pop it out of it’s charging cradle on extremely hot or extremely cold days or when parking in areas where having a GPS in plain sight might tempt the criminally minded beyond what they were strong enough to resist. After a couple 20 second episodes groping around at night in the dark to hook up the charging cable and snap the TomTom into its cradle, I’d had enough and I sent it back. It was simply impractical for where I live. If you live where you can leave your GPS in the car most of the time without it growing legs, melting, or freezing into a sub-zero brick, then save a few bucks, but if you don’t, read on…
Next, I began a search of the web looking for ANY gps units that had lifetime traffic and maps and some form of a quick release charging mount. That was literally all I cared about in terms of features, and I sadly came to discover that it was going to cost me a small fortune to get a GPS matching those simple search criteria.
Finally, after comparing mounts between the TomTom and the Garmin I broke down and tried the Garmin 1390LMT.
Same story, while the Garmin 1390LMT proved to be similar in quality to the TomTom XXL500TM in terms of response time and features. And while I did find its car charger and mount to be slightly easier to hook up in a dark car (maybe 15 seconds of fiddling around with the power cable and mount instead of 20), it was still a no-go.
That only left me with a couple other GPS models offered anywhere, by ANY manufacturer that had quick release mounts (at the time of this writing) and I was hesitant to spring the $499.00 sticker price (again, at the time of this writing), for a Garmin 3790LMT just for what I saw as “a few extra features” I’d likely never use, and a return to a somewhat quick release mount.
But then luck struck and I was able to pick up a 3790LMT here at Amazon for a little over 20% off and I simultaneously sold my old 1390LMT for more than twice what I’d just recently paid for it making the upgrade a wash. And what an UPGRADE it turned out to be!!
This GPS does what it is supposed to do, and it does it well. It’s quick. It’s sleak. It has great battery life. AND, most importantly to me, it has a fairly quick release mount (not the same old button release as the 765T, but it can still be done in a second or two using one, stiff, cold, gloved hand. And for me that’s not too bad at all).
Added Bonuses:
I quickly came to appreciate the 3790′s “voice command” feature. NEVER thought I’d even use it, and really didn’t care one tiny bit about it when I bought it, but now I have looked up all my frequent destinations via Google Earth and entered their lat/long in as “Favorites” and using voice command I am quickly routing my next destination, and adding via points for coffee or gas, all while driving down the road, with my hands and eyes fully engaged in driving. On trips with frequent stops, the time savings really does add up.
Voice Command Tip: The Voice Command feature works nearly flawlessly with good diction, but even when munching on a snack (aka talking with food in my mouth… shhhhshh, don’t tell mom), it has still proven to be almost “false detection” proof when using the numbered destinations saved in my “favorites”.
Can it be improved upon? Yes.
1. Garmin could go back to the old button release mount they used to have in the days of the 765T.
2. Voice Commands could have more options such as zooming maps in and out, lane assist and junction view.
Conclusions:
I heartily recommend this unit as one of the best all around GPS units at the time of this writing. All opinions and brand preferences aside, it is one of the…
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|Nice GPS ANNOYING Pop up ads Buyer Beware,
The 3790lmt is a really nice GPS. There is a lot to like about it. But, there is one HUGE drawback to this unit or other lmt units. If you use the traffic service you will have to deal with pop up ads. Yes, can you believe it? You pay $400-$500 for a nice GPS and you have to tolerate pop up ads. You can’t get away from this annoying pop up junk. Internet, cell phone and now your GPS. I had to take away 2 stars from a product that has the potential for 5 stars. Garmin should at least give you the option to see these ads or not and not force them on you. I called Garmin support and was advised not to use the traffic service if I didn’t want to see the ads. Excuse me?? The traffic service is one of the main reasons I bought the thing. Had I known about the pop up ads, I would not have purchased. Buyer Beware.
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|So far, an excellent GPS overall,
The 3790LMT is my 6th Garmin GPS, and it’s my 2nd GPS which is designed specifically for vehicle navigation. So far, it has not disappointed. The size, brightness, and resolution of the display is excellent. I’ve found the touch-screen to be very responsive without being overly sensitive. The speaker in the vehicle mount is loud and clear. Satellite acquisition is fairly quick.
After I received it, I registered it on Garmin’s website right away which then allowed me to download the latest software update for the device, as well as the most recent maps. Software updates for the GPS are fast (a few minutes), but map updates take hours because of the amount of data being transferred, so make sure you have enough time before you begin. [I do have broadband internet service.] The ‘myDashboard’ interface on Garmin’s website is fairly intuitive, and I found it easy to navigate around and locate exactly what I needed.
As far as using the GPS, I really like the fact that the power cable goes into the mount, and not directly into the GPS device. This makes the removal of the GPS from the mount fast and easy, without having to deal with any cables. The GPS itself is slim enough to slip into a coat pocket.
As opposed to my SteetPilot 2720, the 3790LMT does have an internal battery, which means it can be used in ‘pedestrian’ mode if needed. The battery is only good for about 3 hours, but it’s not designed to be taken on long hikes. It’s a vehicle-based GPS device, with a supplemental battery good for short-duration excursions, and I’m glad to have it. I own a different hand-held Garmin which is designed for hiking outdoors, so I don’t expect my vehicle’s GPS to pull double-duty.
For those who are concerned about the pop-up ads when using the FM Traffic Receiver, there’s a few things you should know. The ads only come up when you are receiving FM traffic signals. If you are outside of a traffic coverage area, you won’t see any ads at all. At this time, there are only 98 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada that offer this FM traffic service. Geographically speaking, the coverage area is extremely small, and obviously geared more toward areas with higher population density.
To see a list of the areas that have this FM traffic service, as well as an overall coverage map, you can visit NAVTEQ’s website. If the thought of those pop-up ads still bothers you, all you need to do is replace the GTM-35 power cable with a normal power cable (Garmin part number 010-11478-03) for about $20. You’ll lose your traffic info, but there won’t be any more ads popping up.
The 3790LMT comes with a Quick Start Guide, but not a full-blown owner’s manual. You’ll need to download that from Garmin’s website in PDF format, and it’s about 80 pages long. There is a help menu that you can access directly in the GPS device, but I also recommend downloading and reading the owner’s manual. The 3790LMT has a lot of great features and functions, and you’ll want to get the most out of it. Some of the features are accessed by simply touching the screen in the right spot, but others require a longer “touch and hold for a couple seconds” in order to get there. It’s actually quite easy to use, but you’ve got to know the feature exists before you can take advantage of it, so the manual is worth the time.
<<< Sept. 1, 2011 Update >>>
After using my 3790LMT to navigate through Milwaukee and Chicago several times, I have become a huge fan of the Turn Indicator and Junction View features that appear on the map while in navigation mode (navigating to a specific destination).
The turn indicator appears on the top left corner of the map page, and indicates which lane(s) you need to be in to navigate through an upcoming interchange. For a large, multi-lane junction, the turn indicator will let you know if you need to be in the two right-most lanes or the three left-most lanes, etc., and it provides enough advance notice so you have plenty of time to maneuver accordingly.
The Junction View automatically appears in a split-screen on the map page as you near a large interchange, and it is a photograph-like image of the actual interchange as you would see it from the driver’s seat. An arrow appears in this image of the upcoming interchange to show you the exact path you’ll need to take to successfully navigate through it.
Both the Turn Indicator and Junction View features were incredibly helpful, accurate, and made navigating in and around these large cities quite nice, as I was able to avoid those last-minute lane changes that sometimes happen when you’re on unfamiliar highways.
The only improvement that I would want in this GPS so far is the way that it handles toll booth locations on the tollways. Because of the separate lanes used for “open road tolling” and “cash only” toll booths, it treats these…
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