GPSnewbie

How can I find out what Garmin nuvis have the SiRF chipset? I went to the Garmin homepage which didn't show it. I also tried the Best Buy homepage which didn't show it.

I called Garmin. Although they were very nice I was told SiRF was a brand name and that Garmin had its own "high sensitivity receiver."

In trying to get familiar with this site (which I'm so happy to have found) I've read posts from different GPS Discussion Forums. In one I read the Garmin nuvi 660 did have the SiRF chipset. Apparently Garmin technical support doesn't know this or the representative I spoke to didn't know Garmin uses SiRF with some of their GPS.

Is there a site I can go to that will tell me which Garmin nuvis do have the SiRF chipset?

Thanks for any help/advice.

Andy

The 660 definitely does. If you choose a few on Garmin's site and hit Compare, look for "High-sensitivity receiver."

That's the first I've heard of Garmin having their own "sirf-like" chipset though.

GPSnewbie

Hi Andy, thanks for answering my post. When going to Garmin's website and comparing GPS they all are listed as having "high sensitivity receivers." (at least all the ones I've compared have it)

I think the more I try to learn about GPS, the more confused I'm getting.

dav

While my older (6 months already!) nüvi 750 says Sirf xxxxxx on the splash screen as it starts up, I am not sure if it is really saying it uses a Sirf chipset, or if it uses licensed technology from Sirf to process what Garmin's receiver provides.

"Proprietary Information", I guess. But the most important point is that the Garmin "high-sensitivity receiver" works better than WAAS and comparable to a Sirfstar chipset.

GPSnewbie

dav,

And others that have helped me in learning about GPS and in giving advice, I thank you all very much!

jdkdss

My Nuvi 350 also says it at start up, but I think it says SIRF technology, so I am not sure what that means?

rapriebe

Most of the wide screen Nuvi's have Sirf, the others have a hodgepodge of different chipsets. My Nuvi 260 has the MTK chip, and in my opinion it's the best chip that Garmin uses. That opinion is based on personal experience and on reading about a lot of problems with various chips on this and other forums.

Mine seems to acquire and hold a satellite signal as well as any of the best reports I've seen. Mine never takes longer than 2 minutes to find a good satellite lock, and usually it takes 45 seconds or less. I've read about the 250W and 260W taking up to 10 minutes with the Sirf chip.

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Rick

alwaysGPS

The start up screen will display SIRF Technology if SIRF chips are used. In addition, you may go to system information page for details. For the 760, press and hold to the battery icon will bring you to this page which display detailed system information.

GPSnewbie

How do you like your nuvi 760? I actually bought that GPS, owned it for two days and returned it. It kept locking up on me. I'd be driving down the road and it would freeze.

One other comment/question... I'm wanting a GPS in order to drive from one area of the tri-cities to another and not get lost. I'm fairly new to this area and have no sense of direction. The other thing I noticed in the 2 days I owned the nuvi 760 (when it wasn't locking up on me) was that it would tell me to turn after I'd passed the turn. That just complicates things for me. Is this what I can expect from ANY GPS I buy?

Thanks for any replies.

alwaysGPS

My 760 thus far has served its function well. I upgraded its firmware to 3.0 after receiving it from Amazon and the set has been problem free - no locking up like what you described. Initially I was a little apprehensive with this design as the antenna is hidden (I used the 660 before and like the flip-up antenna) as I thought the reception will probably be bad. But this turned out not to be the case and TTL for the 760 has been quick.

Overall built quality is also better than the 660 - slimmer and more appealing. But I don't like its less cluttered map display as POIs and building names etc are filtered off.

GPSnewbie

Since GPS is new to me, if I'd upgraded the firmware after buying it, maybe I wouldn't have had the problems I had. I'm learning from reading this site and others.

Unfortunately, I doubt I'll find the nuvi 760 for the sale price of $349.99 at Best Buy (online which the store in town matched) in the near future.

Thanks for your reply, alwaysGPS.

alwaysGPS

If you can find the v3.0 upgrade, that should be fine. But kiv the upgrade to 3.1, which is available now, as there are users who uncovered problems with their GPSr after doing the upgrading.

GPSnewbie

Once again, alwaysGPS, thank you for the information.

seh2000

GPSnewbie - I am too a newbie - I got the Nuvi 880 some weeks back.
When driving in Florida I did not really find any "slack" when announcing a turn, but I am now on vacation in Europe (Denmark & Sweden) here I often find my self all most passing a turn as the announcement for a turn is given just a few feet before the turn. Also I found a difference related to speed e.g. when driving on a small road the announcement comes in time but not when doing 110Km on a highway, its like the unit don't understand the difference in speed.
I got the latest SW update and the latest MAP for Europe.

garion

Hi, I just got my Nuvi 760 for $348 from BuyDig.com you can also try searching on pricegrabber.com for Nuvi 760 and will get the competitive price listing.

Later,