Buy Garmin StreetPilot 7500 Portable GPS NavigatorGarmin StreetPilot 7500 Portable GPS Navigator Product Description:
- Uses integrated XM radio receiver to deliver real-time traffic information, weather, and entertainment
- Massive, automotive-grade touch-screen display automatically dims and brightens based on ambient light conditions
- Built-in MP3 player, A/V input allows connection to a DVD player
- Text-to-speech technology speaks the names of streets and tells you when to turn and in what direction. Dead reckoning technology maintains accuracy.
- Includes MapSource City Navigator NT North America maps of the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico
Product Description
The StreetPilot 7500's huge 7-inch touch-screen display means you'll always see where you're going from anywhere in the vehicle. Designed for larger vehicles such as RVs, semi-trucks, and buses, our 7000-series are premium automotive units that come preloaded with City Navigator NT detailed maps and display navigation, entertainment, traffic and weather on a grand sunlight-readable display. All of this, combined with the StreetPilot 7500's dead reckoning capabilities, makes it one powerful urban navigator.
Traffic
With the purchase of an optional sensor, the StreetPilot 7500 and its counterpart, the StreetPilot 7200, notify you of accidents, road construction, and weather-related traffic delays before they are encountered, and then offer an alternate route. This optional traffic management capability makes driving with GPS essential, even if you know where you're going.
Traffic is delivered to the 7000 series through the GTM 10, GTM 11 or GXM 30 antenna (purchased separately). Get traffic alerts broadcasted by Clear Channel in select U.S. cities with the GTM 10 or GTM 11 FM TMC traffic receiver. Traffic services accessed with the GXM 30 Smart Antenna require a subsription to XM NavTraffic.
Weather
View real-time weather conditions with the optional GXM 30 Smart Antenna and a XM NavTraffic subscription. Find out the local forecast for your route or campsite down the road. Available weather information includes current conditions, city forecasts, and warnings for tornados, thunderstorms, and floods.
Entertainment
The StreetPilot 7500 and 7200 also include a host of features to keep you entertained during your travels, including an internal MP3 player, XM radio, and audio books. The built-in MP3 player lets users browse music by artist, album, song, or genre. Music can be loaded onto an SD card and is drag-and-drop" easy no special software is required. The XM Radio (with the optional GXM 30 Smart Antenna and
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
160 of 160 people found the following review helpful.
By Johnny V. Shumaker
I bought the 7500 after much research. It's the most expensive unit, but Garmin seemed best, and the 7200 and 7500 have the largest screens. I only rate it two stars not because of technical short-comings, but rather because it's not what I expected.The Pros -* All the maps (US) are included. No need to pay for extra unlocks and deal w/ getting them going.* Truly did work right out of the box.* Works well with XM (I pay $17/month for XM Radio and Nav Traffic service, both of which interface seamlessly w/ the unit) (You also have to purchase a Garmin/XM satellite antenna for this, but once you do, you essentially have a portable XM unit as well as a Nav system. )* Easily plugged into my computer, for loading of mp3s and books.* Interface is probably not the easiest, but that's because there are so many ways to do what you need to do. If, however, you don't want to muck w/ anything, it's ready to go, and you could just go w/ the default interface.The Cons -* Calling customer service is brutal. Once I reached them, they were absolutely knowledgeable and easy to understand. But reaching them meant several failed attempts over several days. If it's not busy, and they're open, you'll be on hold for a long time. After the first few tries I went with their email support. They do respond after 2 days, but after our 3rd back and forth, they told me to call because I had complex questions. I wrote them back, told them calling was difficult, and never heard back. So I did call.* At issue in that call was the fact that the 7200 and the 7500 are identical except for the couple hundred dollar price tag and the dead-reckoning (ability to calculate where you are even if you lose satellite signal). Reading the online descriptions mentioned nothing about installation. Garmin's own site said that it "requires minimal installation". When I got the unit, the owner's manual said that installation of the dead-reckoning cable must be performed by a Garmin-authorized, licensed technician, and basically involves connecting one wire to your car's speed sensor, and another to the cars backup light wire. So my portable GPS unit is slightly less portable, and `minimal installation,' which I agreed w/ customer service is relative, involves getting behind your car's dashboard, and probably a couple hundred dollars more if you choose to go the Garmin-authorized route, as they suggest. The customer support rep told me that was just to cover themselves, but while I'm not entirely thumbs, I'm not comfortable drilling around in the dash of a new car. Incidentally, the Garmin rep (again, knowledgeable and helpful) told me that I should have read the owner's manual BEFORE buying, online. Ironically, I had browsed through it, and attempted several times to call Garmin to ask them about the dead-reckoning before purchasing. In the end, I did what most people do, and just bought.* Because of its excellent screen size, don't expect to just let this sit on a bean-bag on your dash; better be ready to bite the bullet and put the adhesive mount on your dash, or buy one of the smaller units.So the long and short of this is that unless dead-reckoning is an absolute must, and you're willing to do the drilling, go with the cheaper but otherwise identical 7200. Even the owner's manual is the same.A final note, if you're thinking about buying one, try to figure out when their next update is due. They update once per year, usually in the summer. If you purchase within one month before they come out w/ their new release (Aug 2006) you are entitled to a free update. If not, you either run w/ the software shipped, or you pay $75 to upgrade.
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful.
By T. Leary
I have been using the garmin 7500 (without the dead-reckoning cable attached, with the XM Radio Antenna) since March 2006 and have loved the unit. The screen is large and very easy to read.I've used the unit mounted on a dash-board and sitting in our cup-holders. In both cases the system found my location with at least 3 or 4 satellites and worked well. While driving through the mountains, in tree covered roads I will often lose the XM signal, and occasionally lose the GPS. I believe the GPS would be improved once I install the dead-reckoning cable.I greatly appreciate the ability to connect directly to my computer and download updates, languages, points of interest, extras, and the ability to change the start-up screen to an image of my choice. It has also helped to have the SD card for storing music and audiobooks while driving.While the navigation system is excellent, the XM interface and MP3 player is only average. The MP3 player has no way to fast-forward or reverse within a track, which is ok for music but hard for audiobooks. The XM service would be better if it stored the last 30 minutes of audio (as most units do today) and it was easier to switch between preset channels (it currently requires about 4 clicks, and you can only store 6 channels per preset).The navigation has been excellent. The maps are up to date and I believe updates will occur when synchronizing with the computer.It is essential to read the manual. Most features come as extra downloads when connecting to the Garmin service, which isn't clear from working with the unit.The large screen makes the 7500 a bad choice for cars and SUV's with small front windows. The screen blocks quite a bit of the window. This isn't the case in our minivan, but would be unusable in vehicles with less window space.Overall this is a great product, and I recommend it to others.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
By Vincent Kaniatobe
First off, not for the faint of heart, this is one heck of a GPS unit. Too big for most cars, but one you would love to have. I have a Mistubishi Montero 04 and it fit perfect in the dash, however to veiw movies I had to tilt it making the install look less professional than if I placed it in the center console exciting angle. I love the XM radio which I already had, and the features aren't the best in garmins package, but it functional. Viewing videos are a nice touch, I purchased a vehicle DVD player for it also, but the angle to view is limited in a fixed install. All in all, love it, great deal on Amazon on price, but didn't like the cost of the add on XM antenna, $250.00 bucks more. but my savings on Amazon made the bitter taste easier to swallow.
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