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nuvi 885T reviewed - speech recognition 'great,' detour function 'not so much'
Sure, when we first caught wind of Garmin's nüvi 885T a while back it seemed like the hotness (if your measure of hotness begins and ends with a GPS), but how does it really stack up? GPS Magazine just got their hands on one of these bad boys, and they've been kind enough to share their thoughts with us. "Great," they say, "if speech recognition is your number one priority." Besides voice recognition, the reviewer was really into the Enhanced MSN Direct (traffic, fuel prices, flight statues and more), the ever-useful Where Am I? feature, MP3 playlist support, lane assist, and well behaved Bluetooth. Problems? For starters, MSN Direct for this model costs $50/year (or $130 for life), while many cheaper nüvis get it gratis. Additionally, a few oversights -- there is no way to exclude a specific road from a route, for instance, and a very limited detour function -- and this reviewer thinks that some users would be better served by another Garmin, such as the nüvi 7x5. But don't take our word for it -- for the exhaustive review hit the read link.Update: Then again, maybe it is too much to ask for users to get free, unlimited MSN Direct. According to Garmin tech. support: "No Garmin unit receives MSN information gratis. Some do have a free trial period, but Microsoft does not give the information out for free." Thanks for the heads up, guys!
Garmin's new nuvi 885T, zumo 660 and G5 GPS units for drivers, bikers and golfers
Garmin's gone all diversity-happy on us this morning with three new chock-full-o-features portable GPS devices. The nuvi 885T is the real flagship here, offering speech recognition, lane assist junction view and MSN Direct traffic info and other cloud-based services. The unit centers on a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 touchscreen, and offers up Bluetooth for hands-free calling and an FM transmitter to pump turn-by-turn instructions and music through your car stereo. Unfortunately, the hotness doesn't come cheap: the 855T goes for $800, with an MSN and Bluetoothless version going for $700. The zumo 660 is built for motorcycle types, with a 4.3-inch glove and sunlight-friendly touchscreen display. There's Bluetooth for pumping turn-by-turn directions to your helmet headset, and more of that lane assist goodness, but the $800 pricetag might quell your enthusiasm. Finally, the G5 offers up a 3-inch touchscreen, with what sound to be some pretty intuitive tap and drag functionalities. Pictures of the 660 and the G5 are after the break. Read - Garmin nuvi 885T Read - Garmin zumo 660 Read - Garmin G5
