Montana 760i First Impression

[csewell]

Have you updated the firmware? Sounds like you may be on an older 'factory installed' version.

It's updating now. I'll check the settings when it's done.

Updated to 23.10. Those multitude of interface options are still there. But it connects as an MTP device always and shows up in both BaseCamp and Garmin Express. Express gets a little confused about what maps are installed after an update and has trouble reconnecting. You have to unplug and reconnect to get it sorted. I'll definitely check My New Garmin because this unit seems to have quite a few differences between it and the previous 7xx series.

Oh yes, syncing with Garmin Explore on my phone is still goofy. I'm not sure of the maximum track name length in Basecamp, but you are limited to 36 characters on the Montana. If this syncs to Explore, they are truncated to 31 characters in Explore. If you add back the missing 5 characters in Explore and sync again, either they sync back with 36 characters so the Montana matches Explore, or nothing happens; I can't tell which. In any case the names end up as 36 characters in both places and seem to stay that way after every sync. I'm not even going to go into the Explore Web interface which is a hot mess. I just wish it was consistent as to the lengths of track and waypoint names when syncing both ways.

[GPSrChive]

I'm not even going to go into the Explore Web interface which is a hot mess.

You are being too kind!

[csewell]

In order to activate my 760i, I transferred my existing plan from my InReach Mini 2. But I had suspended it since I don't hike in the winter. So I had to reactivate it. That's when I found out my Freedom Plan was discontinued and Garmin has come out with a whole new set of plans. Freedom is now Essential, at basically the same price and features I think. No more yearly fee, just a monthly fee. You cannot suspend your plan any more, only change it to Enabled State at a low monthly rate, where you pay per check in message, text message, track point, or weather. They suggest you cancel your plan entirely for the period you don't intend to use it. I suppose that could save some money.

Anyway, I am charging the 760i now and at a 2W charging rate it is very slow charging, slower than the 700 I believe. Probably because of the higher capacity battery. They haven't increased the charging rate despite it being USB-C now. Also the file transfer rate doesn't seem to be any faster.

I'll leave it on till the battery dies to see how long it will run for. Then I'll charge it fully and see how long that takes.

[GPSrChive]

Look forward to your battery runtime results

[csewell]

Look forward to your battery runtime results

This is not a controlled test of the battery by any means.

I charged it to 100% then started a new track and left it by a window so it had a view of the satellites. I checked it occasionally to see the progress. So the screen was off almost all of the time.

At exactly 24 hours, I got a 9% or 10% battery warning beep. I left it alone, and almost 4 hours later it turned off. So I was able to get 27 hours, 45 minutes out of a full charge with continuous tracking with the screen off.

To charge, I plugged it into a battery pack with a Watts readout. It started charging at 2W, ramped up to 3.5-4W, then hit a steady 7.1W, 1.4A, 5.1V for almost the rest of the charge cycle. At about 90-95% the charge rate slows down to 2W. That's where I got the initial 2W figure from since I started charging it when it was almost full.

All in all it took around 2 hours, 15 minutes to charge to 100% from 0. I can't say whether this is better than the 700 but it's acceptable to me as it will mostly be charged by a battery pack overnight when I'm on the trail.

[LostAgain]

......I'll definitely check My New Garmin because this unit seems to have quite a few differences between it and the previous 7xx series......

Did you find many differences between this and the previous series?

[csewell]

Other than the interface changes I haven't found anything significantly different from the previous Montanas.

[LostAgain]

Ok thanks for the info csewell.

My 700 was stolen, insurance has covered it's replacement but I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the extra $250 (AUD) for the base model 710 over the 700 as a replacement.
Seems to me the only real advantage is a USB-C connection instead of a Micro-USB.
And possibly Garmin might support the 710 series models a little longer than the 700 series.

I noticed you mentioned in your first post backlight bleed with the 760i, do you believe that was similar on the 700 series, or is it worse with the 760i?

[javawa]

The new series also have twice the memory and a battery with higher capacity.

The old series will be out of stock soon, they aren't made anymore.

[LostAgain]

Interesting...thanks.