Feature questions about Garmin Drivesmart 76 (Pre-buy)

[JimAvanti]

I am considering buying a new Garmin 76 to replace my Nuvi 2555. My Nuvi has been good to me, but there are a few things I want to make sure about before upgrading. I can't find these answers on Garmin's site.

My old Nuvi has lifetime map updates. I notice that the Drivesmart says it includes map updates, but it doesn't say if they are lifetime updates or not.

My old Nuvi includes traffic (antenna built into car power cable). The DriveSmart includes traffic, but it doesn't specify if it uses an antenna, or if it requires connection to a smartphone (I don't have a very good data plan).

I understand many of the advanced features (Alexa, music,...) would require a decent data plan on my connected cell phone, but if the basic features such as traffic also require use of data, then I may have to reconsider. I only have 500MB of data per month.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

I have seen adverts on the net saying :-

"These maps can be updated FREE for the life of the product, when you register your DriveSmart 76 with Garmin UK."

NOTE. This is NOT from a Garmin site, also a lot of 'radio' traffic services have stopped and are being replaced by 'online' services

 

[billgiblet]

Pretty sure the Drivesmart uses the shield of the included USB power cable as the traffic antenna, you don't need anything else.

I use mine with the suction mount on the windscreen of my motorcycle, but the vibration apparently broke the shell of the USB jack in the Drivesmart loose from the circuit board. That's when I started getting popup dialogs (extremely annoying, Garmin! They have to be manually cleared, and keep coming back) telling me I was using the wrong cable. I found a youtube video, opened it up (not for the faint of heart) and managed to repair that solder connection. Cured the problem, for now.

I know it isn't intended for use on MC, but you can buy two or three Drivesmarts for the price of one built for MC.