Tim - Nice report. How did the 755T treat you on this trip, and how you liking it in general?
It did just fine. First of all, I have it handlebar-mounted with a $10 widget I bought on Amazon, and reinforced with a hose clamp. Second, I tapped a spare 12V receptacle directly into the wiring, so it's always powered.
I've been pretty pleased with the way the 755 handles routing. As long as I provide sufficient waypoints, it'll give me the route I want. And creating a route is quite easy. Actually, it's even easier to create the route with my MapSource software and upload it, but MapSource doesn't seem to realize there are roads in New Mexico. So I direct-programmed the 755 each time I used it on this trip, and it worked quite well.
I've also used it to plug in a particular map coordinate I was looking for - i.e. a picnic area along a dirt road - and it's been dead accurate in getting me there.
One minor annoyance I've had with it - this is a bit hard to explain, so bear with me. When I tap the screen to plug in waypoints on a route, I may accidentally tap the "left" side of an intersection when I'm actually turning right. That results in the purple line sometimes telling me I need to turn left, do a U, then come back to the right. Annoying, but if you're paying attention and have at least the IQ of a light bulb, it isn't hard to recognize what's going on and stay on your intended route.
Response was plenty quick enough - the 755 was always ahead of me - no waiting around for the map to catch up. Like all Garmins, it gives the display options of North-up or 3D - I used both at different times, depending on what I was doing. It's also pretty tough. It went through a couple of rainstorms without being covered, and it got dropped in the campground 2 or 3 times, with no ill effects.
A nice side benefit to the 755 is that it came with a built-in MP3 player. My aging Zen has never been satisfactory for riding, for a number of reasons. The 755 makes it easy to do touchscreen changes, and it has more than adequate volume. One shortcoming is that it has no EQ capabilities and the sound is very flat. I fixed that by plugging a Fiio E6 inline - it has 3 preset EQs that give me the needed bass/treble response that was missing. One thing that's missing on the MP3 player is the ability to play random tunes. You can play albums in order, everything on the player alphabetically, or a preset play list. But no shuffle capability.
One thing I DON'T like is the exit picture. On some intersections - usually exits on interstate highways - if I have an exit coming up, the map will disappear and be replaced by a 3D picture of the exit to show what it looks like, and which lane to be in. That's probably great in a car. On a bike the problem is visibility. It's already hard enough to see the screen; the exit picture is practically invisible if you're riding in bright sun. But touch the 'back' button and it reverts to the map. A plus, however (again, usually on interstates), is a graphic of arrows in the upper lefthand screen that shows you what lane(s) to be in, so you don't accidentally end up on some spur.
I'm sure the Zumos are far better for the MC application. But for the price, the 755 is a bargain. Also, I need some updated software on my laptop, but just don't know enough about it to know what to buy.