why have they dumbed down 7xx so much?

I just received my 770 and can help it bu wonder why they dumbed it do wn so
much comapre to 2610.
Here are some of my issues:

- Great wide screen but used extremely inefficiently. It is wide and the
height is relatively small but all info is at the top (upcoming street or
next turn info) and the bottom (menu and other buttons) reducing visible map
in front of the vehicle significantly while showing huge useless areas of
the map on both sides (wide screen).
- No info which street you are driving on and next building number
- No way to show additional info on the side (like in 2610)
- Infuriating screen navigation - sometimes you have to click back button
6-8 times to get back to route screen. With all this screen width they could
have a permanent screen navigation buttons on the right side, taking you
straight to desired screens
- When switch to map browsing mode (panning and zooming) 2610 used to hide
all info tabs give 100% of screen to the map. 770 is not smart enough - it
still waste 1/5 of the screen height with info/button areas
- VIRTUALLY NOTHING IS CONFIGURABLE - take it or leave it
- Endless "keep left on I95" voice prompts - every time left line exits I
get this stupid message. I would appreciate such message when a road splits
or when there are more than 1 line exit but with just one line out of 4 (or
5) is exiting I do not want to hear it. On my way home I counted 15 messages
like this and yet first time I hit real interstate split the darm machine
was silent
- This unit claims to be your travel assistant with language guides and
travel guides and yet it does not have a loop for wrist strap. So when you
use it on foot in a busy touristy area without a wrist strap you will either
drop it or very likely it will be snatched from your hand while you reading
the map and gone for good. Not to mention that a non-replaceable battery
with 4 hours of time is not enough for full day of sightseeing on foot

My feel is that the unit has great hardware but user interface design is
really sucks

Alex

I decided against the Nuvi units for just this reason.

I went from a 2610 to a 2720 a while back because I wanted the audio street
names (and the son-in-law wanted the 2610). Wish they'd provided for
removable memory, but, with the NT format, haven't needed it.

When we got an RV and I decided I needed something with a larger screen, the
Nuvi units didn't work for me. I then took a look at the SP7200. It has a
large screen, large internal memory and an SD slot, and, to me, looks like it
has everything I found on the 2720 with the exception of buttons on the unit.
The touch screen and remote work as an alternative. The menu options pretty
much work the same. (Just found the routine for changing the screen data
fields which was the last bit I'd wanted.)

I was able to get a refurb 7200 which saved a few pennies.

Carl
--
Carl Heinz
cfheinz57@charter.net
(Remove number)

Short answer. --- Mass market appeal.



Bigger is better. HDTV screens are wide so therefore it has the perception
of being better. Please, you are confusing real usability with consumer
perception. You know what is more important.




Because 95% of the target market will never configure anything.




I wonder how many are sold because of the "travel companion" features but
are never used in that manner.



But 95% of the target market will never know that. You, and many of the
people posting here, are more informed, familiar with what a well designed
GPS unit is capable of, yet the real sales dollars is from the soccer mom
that can't find her way home from the mall. Give them another year or two
and the $99 GPS will be in every car. Seems like every sales flyer has them
on sale this year.

Yep ... mass market is correct. GPS for the traveling salesmen out there.
I have a screen dead 2620 and a 7200 I use in the motorhome so I am so I
feel your pain.

Why not give we experienced users a chance to turn some of this crap off.
Wait until you are on a big four lane, and a little window pops up and tells
you the speed limit. Is that the dumbest feature ever ?? As a fair amount
of time it is WRONG. Can't turn it off that i can find.

Also, on mine, the trip computer is off quite a bit as far as the average
speed goes. Reset going 70 mph, and the average steadily dropped to about
62 mph.

The auto zoom feature is the second dumbest feature ... wait till you are
out in the country, and the unit zooms out all by itself and you are driving
in an empty field.

I bought a 650, sorta hated it, bought a 750, and really hate it. Me
stupid.

John

John wrote:


John, send me an email if you'd like to sell the dead 2620, I have a
dead one in my "morgue" and would like another one for parts.

Thanks,

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at roadrunner dot com)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)