Nav 740 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)I have now had the Nav 740 for two months. I bought the Nav740 because I wanted to have a GPS device that I have learned to use before I take a trip this summer.
Why I bought the Nav740:
- It cost much less than a Garmin and Navigon with comparable features
- It had more features, such as, multi-stage trips, trip tracking log, set destination by longitude and latitude, etc.
- I had downloaded the manual before I bought the device from the Ingram V7 site and found the features to be what I was looking for.
- I had read that the basic software was based on a proprietary version of the same software that runds the Mio GPS units.
- The Nav 740 unit promises the largest Points of Interest (POI) database that I have seen advertised, something like 12 million.
- It has a removable battery
- It has a headphone jack which can either be used to listen to music or to amplify the GPS voice
- It uses an SD card with 2 Gigs, but I have read that a larger card can be used
- It has an external volume control
The unit has an opening menu of 4 touch "buttons" (software not hardware). One is the setting button for time, date,etc. Another is a calcuator. This is not so important to me, but it can be a help as it has three calculators - normal, scientific and conversions. It might help in a pinch.
Another button is for Multimedia. I haven't used it yet since I have other multimedia devices. I did not buy a GPS unit to play my multimedia.
The last button is for navigation. I find the choices offered with the navigation mode to be fairly well organized and I have used it often. You can navigate by entering an address, a recently used destination, a favorite destination you have programmed in, a POI, coordinates and Work and Home choices that the user programs. When entering an address you can go to the city center, a street intersection or a specific address. Not bad choices.
The Nav 740 has a nice 4.3 inch screen. It is plenty bright except with sunlight light shining directly on the screen. It's a good screen.
It is easy enough to switch between the map view and the options.
Some have complained about the sound of the voice. I find the two tts (text to speech) voices are very clear and the speaker is plenty loud. I tried the two English tts voices (Dave and Samantha) and found that the female voice cuts through the cabin noice better for me. Both are good, however, and work over anything but real loud radio or wind noises if I open the window.
I have found that recalculation is quite acceptable. It is not a supercomputer so that it takes a few seconds. It also has to sense that you really are going in a different direction.
There are three map views: 3D, oriented to North, and "Airplane view". I have used all three and find them helpful, although I prefer the 3D view. You can cycle through them with a tap of "button" on the screen. If I am not careful and the road is not smooth I sometimes hit the Route Options button but that is easy to get out of.
After two months of using it, the unit has only crashed once, and that is when I was going through a certain menu, and I was probably being too impatient. It has never stopped working when I have been navigating.
POIs have been helpful. I traveled to a city using the Nav 740 and since I had time to spare, I checked to see if there was a Starbucks in the area. It had one a couple miles away and took me there. It did not have the location down perfectly, but it was close enough to get me there.
Two cons:
I find that adding favorites to the list should be as simple as inputting an address list, just as the unit asks for to program the Work and Home button. It is a little more complicated. There is not reason for this. A simple programming change could easily make this simple.
When I try to move the map around with my finger, the unit does not do this smoothly. It either jumps back to the starting point or does something else that I don't understand. It's easy to get out of, but this could be better. Fortunately, this does not make or break the usefulness of the unit.
Over all comments.
A GPS unit, and I've looked at many of the current models, is not perfect. There are too many variables that the human brain is processing. I have found that you still have to keep your wits about you and not accept the GPS directions 100 percent of the time. That said, I needed to drive out of San Antonio at night in an unfamiliar area and I set the unit to go Home. It flawlessly talked me through turns through neighborhoods and got me home. I have tried other routes in the country and the unit wanted me to go on roads I would not have normally used. The driver still is master and commander of the trip.
Finally, I have appreciated having the Nav 740. It is good to know where I am and have options on where to drive. I find the unit easy enough to use and there are features that I still need to learn. I am satisfied. Before I bought this device I bought the HP 310 model and found it to be totally unintuitive. Having become a recent owner of an Apple iPhone and seen the ease of use and integration of addresses and map function and all the rest, I just say that if Apple ever decided to make a dedicated GPS unit, they would blow all the competition out of the water, including Garmin. That will be the next generation.

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4.3" 480 x 272 WQVGS color touch screen displayPre-loaded maps of 50 US States Basemap pre-loaded on SD -cardSirfStarIII 20-channel high sensitivy chipset (WASS enabled)Text-to-speech functionality (English only)Turn-by-turn directions in multiple languages (up to 20)11 million points of interest (POI)Built-in 1-watt speaker Rechargeable Lithium-Polymer battery (1600 mA) holds charge for up to 5 hours or 3.5 hours with GPS navigation4 7/8" W x 3 1/4 H x 11/16" DIncludes CD with manual DVD with map loader/backup maps cradle with gooseneck mounting bracket USB AC adapter DC car charger and quick start guide

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