Mobile Electronic News

The new Garmin nüvi 3700 series takes Portable Navigation Devices to a whole new level

There’s no denying that the Portable Navigation Device market has become increasingly competitive over the years, so it takes something special to get the attention of the end user. But with the nüvi 3700 series, Garmin believe they have come up with just the thing to grab that attention…and looking at the specs, it’s hard to disagree.

The first thing to notice is the outward appearance of the two nüvi 3700 series models, incredibly slim (just 8.7mm depth) with stylish aluminium and chrome finishes. The unique size of the units is a major achievement considering the features within, plus the fact they still manage to accommodate a high-detail 800x400 pixel 4.3in LCD display. There’s an iPod-esque look to the units too, despite being slimmer than something like an iPhone, but this is great for end users, as from the outset they don’t look daunting to use. In fact, switch the nüvi 3760T or 3790T on and it becomes clear that this is what Apple should have done with their navigation.
A first for satellite navigation is the incorporation of a capacitive multi-touch display, allowing for the pinch and slide movement that many of us are familiar with now thanks to iPods/iPhones. This means virtually every function is accessed via the touchscreen, with only the power on/off function on the body of the unit. Viewing wise, there’s also that familiar ability to view it as landscape or portrait mode, changing automatically depending on how the user holds it.

On the navigation side of things, there’s obviously the ultra-intelligent guidance you’d expect from Garmin’s nuRoute’s technology. This includes the myTrends™ feature, which analyses your driving behaviour and predicts where you are likely to go before linking to the trafficTrends™ application. The trafficTrends feature looks at what other people are doing using tools such as historical traffic information and period of day, then helps to ensure your journey goes as smoothly as possible, whatever time of the day it is.
The mapping also offers 3D terrain details and contour and 3D buildings and landmarks, yet there’s the additional bonus of PhotoReal™ junction view. The Garmin team visited all of the major motorway junctions in order to get this spot on and the result is further improved guidance thanks to the clarity this detailed view gives. Both units comes preloaded with detailed CityNavigator® NT street maps for 44 countries across Europe with the added bonus of subscription-free, pan-European lifetime traffic updates. They also give up-to-date alerts of speed cameras and offer useful functions such as Garmin Locate™ (which marks the position of where the device is removed from the windshield), Where Am I? (to find closest hospitals, police and petrol stations) and ecoRoute™ (for a more fuel-efficient route). 

The major difference between the 3760T and the 3790T models is the higher spec 3790T employs unique voice-activated navigation. Users simply set their own custom “wake-up” command to activate speech-recognition mode and nüvi 3790T acts on their spoken instruction for totally hands-free navigation. Give nüvi 3970T a name, tell it where you want to go and it’ll design a route specifically for the user. They can even give it a new voice using the free Garmin Voice Studio software.

On top of all of this both units are Bluetooth compatible for hands-free calling and have the excellent pedestrian route guidance feature too. With so many people taking weekend breaks to European cities, this added element gives a brilliant excellent dimension when trying to find their way around cities they’re unfamiliar with.

Not all mobile electronics dealers stock PNDs, but the feature-packed and stylish nüvi 3700 series re-invigorates the product and should appeal to the mass market. For those many drivers (and indeed pedestrians) who want a smart, compact and easy to use device to help them get about, then the nüvi 3700 series is the perfect choice. For more information or to place an order, contact Car Electronics on the details below.

NUVI 3790T MINI TEST

The unit is indeed remarkable slim and well built. It proved simple to get up and running with intuitive on-screen instructions and no prior charging needed. The test route included motorway driving which showed the merits of the PhotoReal™ junction view perfectly; incredibly clear and easy to follow, it navigated one tricky junction with consummate ease. The ‘voice command’ option added an excellent dimension, again offering a simple set-up (although re-naming it proved ‘KITT’ was not strong enough for it to recognise, but ‘OK KITT’ was). While it struggled to hear at high speeds in an old rattly car, at slower speed it was perfect, allowing us to re-route purely through vocal command, hands never leaving the steering wheel, which is great for safety. As you would expect from Garmin routing and rerouting was quick, functions like speed camera detection worked faultlessly and all-in-all the clear to view, simple to use nuvi 3790T was a joy to use. We’d have few qualms about letting our eldest and most short-sighted relative lose with this system and we’d fully expect them to have the same experience as we did.

Contact: CEL TRADE (the distributor division of Car Electronics), 0116 2559846 or celtrade.com

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