Garmin nüvi 780 Car GPS Receiver

This review summarizes my selection process in purchasing the Garmin 780 GPS receiver. After reviewing nearly every review I could get my hands on about the various GPS devices on the market, I decided I could not get one of the basic untis. They were good, but too restrictive. I always wind up using more features the longer I have anything electronic. And I already have a GPS in my vehicle, so I knew what GPS devices can do. But I wanted one that was portable, and that I could use in another car, yet to be purchased in the near future!! I wanted a unit that could speak the street names and have the option of an actual traffic reporting system. I also knew that I would increase use of the features once getting used to the device. So I needed something that would grow with me. I also wanted my wife to have the same unit in her car so we did not have to adjust each time we got into each other's vehicle. After all the reviews, I narrowed the selection process to three Garmin units (265 WT, 760, and 780) and three TomTom units (Go 720, Go 730T and Go 930T). You really can't go wrong with any of the six devices. They all do a good job, but the mapping systems, ease of use, quality and clarity of the screens, fonts used on screen, and qualtiy of the sound, and focus on North American maps won it for the Garmin devices. Then after thinking about the future uses and upgrades, and the current features, I thought the best value would be between and Garmin 265 WT and the 780 as both had active traffic receivers already installed in the box. The 780 won out on features and potential. The pricing was very close. The 760 is basically the same device as the 780 except the 760 requires an addtional traffic receiver installation while the 780 already has it installed in the box when you purchase it. It really was a toss-up between the 780 and the 265 WT. Both are great units, and most reviews of upscale GPS devices usually have them in the final considerations. I can't give you an actual testimonial yet as we won't open the boxes until Christmas. My wife does not yet know that she will be getting a GPS for Christmas!!! So it will be a surprise. I think I did the right thing!! I am usually very careful about equipment purchases as the life cycle af any piece of electronic equipment can be quite short as technology is always creating new features improving on older concepts. You really are banking on overall company history of support and service. I will know after Christmas. At least that was the selection process.