IMHO ,, for our purpose ,, Garmin is a POS!
Maps cost arm and a leg.
Like you've said battery life sucks. My 755T ,, battery goes dead in 20 minutes.. have to keep charging with a cigar jack on the bike.
Their A/S non perform. anything goes wrong damn thing has to be shipped back to Taiwan.
80% of the time ,, it says "recalculating" while, enroute.
Openstreet maps not reliable,, I've found.
Internal USB port kaputs a lot,,after certain amount of shake on the bike,, pins get warped,, no charge , no data transfer.
MP3 keeps skipping during the best part of the music.
Their mapsource software sucks,,, never download their webupdate software for 700MB,, it is there to spy on your unit.

I am now using Galaxy S2 Android phone, which we all need,,, with Locus app(pro version for 5 bucks) ,, I have choice of some 8 maps including Vector, Google, Nokia et al... whole world map already installed and new update automatic and free. All the Geocache I want to download. Also for USD 10 a day, from my carrier SK Telecom, in Korea,, I have unlimited data 3G access in 90% of the countries I am traveling, including Russia on MTS.
https://market.android.com/details?i...id.locus&hl=en
You can load KML, GDB or GPX and routes,, from your phone or EM direct ,, so easy to use but complex,, you need to really study it. Try the free version first.

GRMN on Nasdaq ,, is a short ,, they are the new RIMM... RIP peace Garmin. For Android and Iphones will replace you.