NEW GARMIN DEZL 780 & 785

I just got the dezl 785. It is OK
My cons are that the WiFi really sucks, can't see networks that are just a bit far when my phone can see them all around.
Now this dezl 785 is actually a bad or very low grade Android tablet, yes you read it right, it is a tablet where you can install other Android apps, for instance I installed Keeptruckin for my ELD
There is no Google play store but you can download the apk file on a micro SD card and install from there. Once installed which it took like 2 mins you can find under the apps/Productivity and run it like you normally do from a phone or tablet,you need to be connected to the internet all the time using your phone hotspot which is also good for making updates to the maps for the GPS and updates for the Android tablet OS although map updates are usually large, about 7GB so you are better of using another internet connection since phone hotspots will kill you $$$ and there is where I found out that the WiFi for the GPS really sucks big time. I can't wait to get home and use my Xfinity connection to download this gigantic 7GB file in one minute while my phone says 36 to 48 hours, it sucks, my phone can see an Xfinity hotspot near by the truck stop but the stupid low quality tablet can't see it otherwise it will be a done deal by now. Garmin dezl 785 is a low quality product but promising.
I am a computer expert, Linux guy

 

Ran into an issue today with my 3 week old Garmin 770. Arriving within about 3 miles of a destination in Conyers, GA, the device starting rebooting. Would restart and as soon as it would try and display the computed route, would reboot again.

It continued to do this once I got to the shipper and was planning my departure route back out. It would do fine as long as a destination was not plugged in. Tried a few things, but the thing that worked was disabling the "Foursquare USA map". I'm not real sure what the Foursquare module is, I think something to do with finding restaurants and other places of interest. Probably more for four wheeler use, than trucker.

Anyway, the device has a USA map, and a USA Foursquare map. Both are enabled by default. If yours starts acting up, you might try disabling (unchecking) the Foursquare map and see if that doesn't resolve any issues you're having. I did not notice anything "missing" or inoperable upon disabling the Foursquare map, but then again I never utilize any part of that feature, knowingly or unknowingly.

BTW I had updated the device the day I got it, and as far as I know there is no other newer current update for it. But I doubt it's an issue that a software update would correct, seems to be an anomaly in the Foursquare map database that probably won't get corrected until somebody specifically points out a problem in that particular area.

 

Does the 770 have gps and dash cam??

I would like one with both but I do not want a tablet in my windshield.

 

You may want to check again. Yes there are new updates for the dezl 770 as recently as yesterday, I believe the latest update is named 2019.20 Maps

 

Garmin dezl 785 is bad product,read my next post

 

Update on my dezl 785 GPS/Tablet, I return the device to Pilot $526 it's too much for a device that performs poorly. Just the GPS part is terrible,slow,recalculations,off track,piece of junk, the tablet part of it is also bad bad bad, very slow running apps. I went back to my simple dezl 770 GPS. it reminds me of the first Tablet Rand McNally brought out,horrible.....

 

I don’t think you want a combination GPS and dash cam. The idea sounds good on paper [to conserve space and reduce cord clutter] but sounds like you’ll end up with a device that can’t do either very well if at all.

 

My thoughts exactly. You either compromise your view of the display in order to capture the ideal dash cam view, or you compromise the dash cam view in order to have the best view of the display from the driver's seat. Sure, you might luck out and find a spot that is pretty good for both, but it's doubtful that it'll be the best for either.

 

This is very true.

On top of being barely adequate in the spec department, they also put a nerfed 60° or 70° Field of View camera in the 785 making capturing the whole front of truck view very difficult vs their seperate dash cams at 122° & 180° FOV for comparison.

The $100 price difference between the 780 & 785 could be better spent on a dedicated dash cam offering (like a Rexing) that could be positioned much better for its purpose.

The GPS part of the device itself works well for me, calculating/recalculating quickly, but the lackluster 1GB RAM is the biggest bottleneck IMO.

The processor is not the most impressive, internal storage not large enough to do a wifi map update without erasing current map & hoping update completes successfully, & RAM is definitely barely enough, but what bothers me more is the fact they only specced a dedicated GPS with only "GPS" connectivity; ignoring the very available Galileo, (European Union) GLONASS, (Russian) & Beidou (Chinese) alternative positioning systems which would give the device more options for connectivity in a low signal enviornment, lower Time To Fix, (searching for satellites) as well as pinpointing accuracy better.

Most modern cell phones have at least 2 of those included in their default GPS functionality, (including my 2016 phone vs a 2018 dedicated GPS device) & even some new midrange phones have all 4. (Motorolla G6S plus)

The additional workload of having a constant HD camera recording going on in the background is likely too much for its limited spec to do reliably.
I face the same issue using multiple additional apps on device; it can run them but does not have headroom & gets gunned up quick.

Still, the ability of having a blue light filter is immensely useful, as well as the general decent usability of the device.
They could learn quite a bit from Rand though on combined information delivery though...

 

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Too bad they just won’t release the software to iOS/Android and let everyone use an old current phone or tablet.