NEW GARMIN DEZL 780 & 785

I just ordered the Garmin DeZL 580LMTS (6/30/18), should have it in hand by this coming weekend. After reading your post, I'm glad I chose this over the 780, now I'm just shopping around for a good mount....you wouldn't happen to have any suggestions? I was looking at this mount Arkon GPSCM117 14.5 to 18.5-Inch Extension Windshield Mount for Garmin Nuvi a... 47407121174 | eBay, but am undecided yet.

 

So you say the 780 or the 540?

 

Thanks kind of massive. But the extension to bring it closer to face would be nice since it’s such a smaller screen. I had mine up in top left corner of window and it’s never fell in the 3 months I’ve ran it with mount came with it

 

No idea on mounts, only have used the ones that came with the GPS.

780 If you want the 7" screen, 580 if you can deal with the 5" screen - totally personal preference.

I choose to go with the rand McNally 540 because its what I'm used to, the Garmin units are subjectively & objectively better for most people.

 

I have no experience with the iOS side of things, always using Android.
Hopefully they address that issue & is surprising it exists as Apple usually has less bugs in software developed for it.
Might it be related to the numerous iOS 11.x bugs?


2. You make a good point, I have not actually used the 580 so I didn't realize they didn't update the resolution like they did for the 780.

The following is a list of Pixels Per Inch, or how densely the screen is packed with pixels for its size.
This also is a factor to determine how "clear" a screen will be to your eyes; Apple made a huge deal about many years ago with their "Retina" display.

Its one of those things that if you don't have enough of will be readily apparent, but having a surplus doesn't really do much/anything extra. (based on your viewing distance)

Screens & the display processing unit use more power at higher resolutions, so some phones (like the Samsung S8+ for example) include the option to lower your displayed resolution to save some battery life.
S8+ high = 530.92 PPI (only necessary if holding phone close to face)
S8+ med = 398.19 PPI (pretty much ideal for normal use)
S8+ low = 265.46 PPI

The truck GPS standard however, is much lower:
Rand McNally
530 = 186.59 PPI
540 = 195.93 PPI
730 = 133.28 PPI
740 = 169.55 PPI

Garmin Dezl
570 = 110.34 PPI
580 = 110.34 PPI
770 = 133.28 PPI
780 = 169.55 PPI

These are direct figures based on specs (resolution + screen size) taken from the websites of the respective makers & plugging them into a PPI calculator.
As you can see, Garmin upgraded the screen resolution on the 780 vs the previous 770; while it kept the same (quite low) resolution from the previous 570.

The effects of low PPI can be offset by the distance the screen is being viewed from - eg. the closer your eyes are to the screen, the more low PPI stands out & makes the screen less detailed/clear.
The negative effect of low PPI is also lessened if the viewer has less than perfect eyesight.

Interestingly, Garmin uses the same (very low) 820mAh battery in both the 580 & 780, while Rand sizes their battery to the screen. (540 = 1000mAh & 740 = 2400mAh) (If all publicized figures are accurate)

Not really a big deal as these units are ran plugged in nearly their entire lives but still interesting to note.

 

Yeah I want to keep the unit low on the windshield and it's a deep dashboard in my truck, so hopefully that extended mount should reach across the dash to where I can read the unit easily and access it without taking it off the mount to enter addresses. I went ahead and ordered that extended mount, I hope it works out like I want. Maybey I'll give a review with pictures once I start using it.

 

In Freightliner Cascadia, I like mine way up in top left corner. The bigger GPS suction will eventually fail (smaller too, but probably not as soon). But in the upper left, for me, I was able to hook a small bungi (1/8") in the top of the a-pillar trim, wrap around the mount post as many time as necessary, then re-hook the other end in the same area. This provides a level of additional shock protection, and also serves as a emergency line to stop it from falling if/when the suction does fail. I had posted a pic of this setup somewhere in this same forum.

I won't/can't deal with the little 5 inch models but the are prone to stay up on the suction mount longer because of less weight and shock-load that comes with each major-bad bridge abutment crossing.

 

I mounted my dam iPad 9.7 pro. Has data. I’ve had copilot for years and I recently tried igo nav. It runs same routes Garmin does as it uses here maps. Has a bit more eye candy. I also use the iPad for music and podcasts that way my phones free.

With all that being said i wish I would have waited for the 780. The 580 just is way to small to zoom around and drag a route. They honestly shouldn’t even make one that small

I seen other day at Walmart Garmin has a new car unit edge to edge display. Wish Garmin would have done that with the 780 it sure looked nice.

I do like the Garmin but I really hate the small screen. I just don’t wanna buy another 400$ unit

 

With a bluetooth enabled Garmin, what happens if you're connected to the truck radio to play music and audio books off the IPhone, and you're also bluetooth connected to the Garmin? What happens if a phone call comes in and there's competing bluetooth phone devices ... never mind if you add a 3rd bluetooth headset component.

Am I going to have to hire a technology consultant or a secretary to manage my incoming and outgoing phone calls?

 

Good point.
I am unsure about this because although I had both my old BT250 Bluetooth headset & truck radio connected to my phone simultaneously with the 780, I believe it depends on your phone itself & available Bluetooth options.

For example, a device like my older Bluetooth headset is only allowed the option of "call" access to my phone, whereas the newer truck radio to which I stream audio books to has a "media" option.

By turning off the "call" functionality of the radio, it will not attempt to do anything related to the job of phone calls; all it worries about is playing the media when requested & pausing when a phone call comes through which is seamlessly sent to my headset without drama.

I am unsure if non Android phones have these options to specify a devices job when handling multiple Bluetooth inputs but I would hope they would.

Otherwise it is chaos incarnate.

By deselecting the dezl for "calls," you would relegate its Bluetooth connection entirely to the data tethering segment which would free your dedicated headset to handle phone calls.

Even though it shows the toggle as being off for data tethering on the dezl, it worked just fine; might be a phone glitch.

As my setup would show, you could have at least 3 simultaneous Bluetooth connections to one phone provided you limit each one to their specified functionality as nothing would work if every device is trying to answer a call.

This also probably depends on Bluetooth version, device design & capability, as well as general compatibility across how different functionality is handled by the OS. (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.)