honda1971's Full Review: Garmin nuvi 885T Car GPS Receiver
This is my second Nuvi (have a 660) and third overall Garmin that I've had now (started with StreetPilot 2620). Each I had for over two years and replaced with the new model only because a "must have" feature was introduced. It was never to replace because the other had broke. From 2620 to 660, it was the text-to-speech. From the 660 to 885, it's the voice command. The 885 is much improved over the 660, but falls short in several areas.
My review will be on the performance of the unit, along with what I can compare it to, which is my 660 unit. So... without further delay, here are my thoughts:
At $399 (shipped), this is the most expensive unit I have purchased thus far, so my expectations were high for performance. The unit is a 4.3" widescreen unit, like the 660. It is a black cover with some gunsmoke trim. There is no flip antenna like on the 660, so it makes for installing into the dash/windshield interface easier. Without the flip antenna I was afraid that reception might suffer, which is does in some instance but not as much as I had feared. Will explain later.
Out of the box, the 885 offers less than the less expensive (at time I bought it) 660. There are no "leather" case, Travel SD card, or AC charger. You only get the windshield mount, a dash disc mount, the interface, MSN/Traffic antenna/power cord to connect to car, and instruction manual CD (not hardcopy, just CD). Basically, the basics to get you started, but I had hoped for more coming for a unit that was $100 more expensive than the 660.
Positives:
1. VOICE COMMAND !!!! The #1 feature that made me get this unit. You don't have to bend over, take your eyes off traffic, and get distracted with having to touch the screen and toggle around the commands. For being the main attraction for me to this unit, it performs this function very well. Links easily, takes my voice prompts accurately, and does a splendid job. So, from the main map screen, I click a button, say "favorites" and it jumps to the main favorites screen. I say "all favorites" and it jumps to all favorites mode (you can option to go to a specific category, i.e. Attractions). The I either say "page down" to browse through a listing, or I say the actually listing name "Joe's Tavern" and it goes to Joe's Tavern and asks if I want to navigate. I say yes, and I'm done.
2. BLUETOOTH. Had it on the 660 and can't live without it now. Linked to all three of my phones fine and works like a charm. The main reason that I choose this over the 855, the BLUETOOTH !!!!
3. No antenna to have to flip open and close so that it can attach to the interface. This is a convenience for sure, but it does take away from the reception, so this is sort of a negative, as outline below, also.
4. Screen color is deeper, sharper, and more contrast than the 660. The color combinations are better so that it appears brighter even in sunlight. Where I had trouble some times in direct sunlight with the 660, the 885 thus far is very good.
5. The newer City Navigator map (NAVTEQ) has places on the unit that were not there on the 660 (two years old) and has more POI (points of interest) so that makes it "better" I guess. The navigation is the same Faster, Shorter, Offroad options as on the 660. There are slight changes to the mapping matrix used because I have plotted routes that the 885 now gives me slightly better "short" routes than the 660. It's also slightly faster to redirect and make note that I'm off-route than the 660 and give me the new route faster. In my 660, doing 45 mph, I would some times pass the street to turn on from the re-routing.
6. Satellite locking is much faster from startup to navigating than on the 660. Where the 660 took some times about 20-30 seconds to establish satellite link,the 885 takes about 5-10 seconds on average. What I have found is that lock somehow is still in place inside tunnels (Holland Tunnel) whereas it use to go "no satellite" with the 2620 (instantly) and 660 (about mid way through). I'm not sure if the 885 really has antenna reception, or if it's just slow to detect that it has lost satellite reception. I can't tell because once I go into my office complex's parking lot, it loses signal within 15 seconds.
7. Comes with games, both full and demo versions. You get Sodoku, Solitaire, and another game as full versions, while Missile Command, Tetris-ish game, and about four other games, as demo versions which you can purchase from Garmin site at $4.99/game, of a lifetime $19.99 bundle pack for all games now, and in future.
8. Uses the same power adapters as the 660 interface does, so many accessories I could carry over from the 660.
9. Battery is now removable, which means you can replace it. Not like past units which were built in, so once they started going bad, you had to keep the connected. The battery is still of a Li-Ion design, so no need to wait until depleted to recharge.
Cons:
1. The same antenna that was a positive is actually a negative in terms of reception in "tall buildings" environment. When I had my 2620, it would drop at the first sign of trees or tall buildings. Basically,if the sky was not clear, you could be driving blinding. The 660 with the flip antenna held good and true through almost all situations, except tunnels. When the 885 with internal antenna was received, it actually picked up satellite signals, even though I was inside my house. The 660 picked up signals in homes also, but you had to slip the antenna. Anyway, the 885 has not lost reception in wooded areas like the 2620, but a recent trip to NYC revealed that it was dropping satellite signals and going crazy on coordinating. It would show me correctly driving down a street, but then once I stopped, it forgot where I was and would jump me to an Avenue or another street and start "recalculating" the route. Then when I start moving, it then locks correctly again. Seems to be when stopped, it forgets where I am. This has only occurred in NYC thus far.
2. The voices are fewer than on the 660, and the text-to-speech voices on the 885 are somewhat more synthetic. I use to use the female British English voice because it had a more "natural" voice, but that same voice on the 885 is more synthetic. There are only English, British, and Australian English voices, in both male and female that have text-to-speech. Other anglo voices are only speech (i.e. turn left in 200 feet).
3. Already the unit has frozen mid-navigation twice, whereas I don't remember the 660 ever having froze. It only took a shut-off and power on to resolve, but it has frozen and that's not good.
4. The NUVI security lock for some reason did not work when it was in battery mode and I shut down. It seems you need to slide the power button to "off" and hold until the unit goes off. If you just do a quick slide and let go, the screen goes off, but I think it's in "sleep" mode so when you start up later, it doesn't go into the full security access.
5. I list this as a con only because I have a boat-load of SD cards and the 660 used SD card. The 885 uses the mini-SD card for additional storage. If you have mini-SD cards, then move this to the positive for you.
6. The battery life is no where near 4 hours. The unit does not come with an AC charger, so you can only charge while in the car with the DC plug. So, if you're doing small 30 minutes trips, you're not going to charge it up much. Good thing I had my old AC charger from 660 I used that to recharge the first time. I came to a full charge in about three hours and I would say it lasted about 2 hours of navigation. The rated 4 hours time from Garmin is pretty much standby, doing nothing. Active navigation, I'd even dare to say, 1.5 hours tops.
7. For having the speakers in the front now, the unit's sound is very low. The 660 which had a single speaker in the back was not SUPER LOAD by any means, but it was louder than the 885, which has two speakers in the front. From what I can tell, the sound is not lower because I did a side-by-side test of the two. The problem could be the actual "acoustics" of the vehicle. I am theorizing that because the 660's speakers were in the back, that when the sound was bounced off the windshield, that it produced a higher resonance back, whereas the 885t just comes straight at you so the sound is scattering wider. Anyway, whatever reason, it's not very high once it gets to your ear.
8. FM transmitter, not even an option for me. I live in a metro area, so almost every station is used up, can't get a clear channel for the FM transmitter. And what I can get, is so staticy, that can't hear a thing. If you live in the suburbs or rural areas, you might have better luck.
FINAL:
So, as you can see, there are still more positives for the unit than negatives, but unfortunately a few negatives have to do with the basic functions of a GPS, to navigate properly. I would say if you had a 660 and the voice command is not critical, then stick with it. If the voice command is a must, then expect to make some compromises like sound quality, reception, and lack of included accessories.
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