June 25, 2008

Garmin nuvi 850 review

Garmin_nuvi_850

The Garmin nuvi 850 is a member of the 800 series nuvi family, the first Garmin products to feature voice recognition. I covered that feature thoroughly in my hands on review of the Garmin nuvi 880, so this review will primarily cover the differences between the two units and how to get a deal on the nuvi 850 with an MSN Direct receiver.

Basically, the two units are identical, except that the 850 lacks Bluetooth for hands free cell phone use (a dubious feature given the sound quality) and doesn't come with an MSN Direct receiver -- though one is available as an add-on. More on that later.

Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 850

Like the 880, the nuvi 850 includes the new "instant on" startup feature, which eliminates the long wait for maps to load when powering up the unit. Other new features include a consumer-replaceable battery and photo navigation, which I personally don't find useful. 

More Garmin nuvi 850 features

As you might expect, the nuvi 850 has a 4.3" color touch screen, built-in FM transmitter, MP3 player and more. It also incorporates the features that first showed up in the 700 series:

  • Multi-destination routing
  • Automatic sorting of multiple destinations to provide an efficient route
  • Tracklog recording (the blue lines below)
  • Speed limit display for many interstates and highways (also shown below)
  • The newer internal antenna found on the nuvi 200 series
  • Automatic marking of your last position when the unit is turned off (to help you find your car in mega-mall parking lots)
  • A "Where am I" safety feature that gives your current location, nearest address, nearest intersection, along with quick access to POIs for the nearest hospitals, police stations and gas stations

Nuvi_tracks_and_speed_limit

More Garmin nuvi 850 reviews

Other Garmin nuvi 850 resources

Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 850 at these merchants:

Get a deal on the nuvi 850 with MSN Direct

If you don't need or want the 880's Bluetooth feature (and I have to say that I am not impressed with Garmin's Bluetooth sound quality), have I got a deal for you. Both the nuvi 850 and 880 are compatible with MSN Direct. The 880 costs $200 more (at the time of this post) and comes with an MSN receiver and three month subscription.  But if you buy the GDB 50 MSN Direct receiver separately, it comes with a one-year subscription. You can get both the nuvi 850 and MSN receiver from GPS Now, one of our favorite vendors, for around $920, $80 less than the nuvi 880 that comes with a shorter subscription period.

From the official Garmin nuvi 850 web page.:

Simply speaking, nüvi 850 is one advanced navigator. It features speech recognition (SR), a widescreen display, preloaded maps, an FM transmitter and more. Like the rest of the wide nüvi 800-series, just speak a menu option and nüvi obeys your command.

Speak Commands

nüvi 850 not only tells you where to turn but listens to your spoken commands. With nüvi’s innovative speech recognition, you safely control nüvi’s interface with your voice — allowing you to keep both hands on the wheel. Simply press the button on the remote (which attaches to the steering wheel) to activate speech recognition and begin speaking menu options. nüvi even recognizes shortcut phrases for popular functions. Tell nüvi "Find Address" and speak an address to start navigating.

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Jun 25, 2008 5:30:00 AM | Garmin, GPS Reviews, Hardware

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