Garmin nuvi 880 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin nuvi 880 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
Customer Review: Best there is for a handheld
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently bought an 880 having using a 660 for the last 1.5 years. I have owned 5 Garmins, 3 Lowrances, a Magellen, and have borrowed several of the latest TomTom's on occassion and I can say that, without a doubt, this is the most complete and easy to use hand held/portable navigator I've ever used. Let me explain....
Capability
Garmin packs an amazing amount of capability into this device - Routes, amazing POI search capabilities, a HUGE database of POI's, extensive customization options, beautiful, easy to read display, decent battery life for use when walking, an array of charging methods (will even charge via USB from your computer) MSN, and many more. No other portable navigator has the breadth of features of the 880. It's truly the "top of the line". For this I give it a 5+
Ease of Use
Thte Nuvi OS in general is quite easy to use. It was the first ever GPS navigator that my wife, who is not into gadgets, could use with absolutely no instructions. In fact, it's so easy to use she WANTS to use it. Same goes for my father-in-law who is completely technology challenged. He learned how to use it with only about 5 minutes of basic instruction. As easy to use as it is, you still get access to advanced features and the "ease of use" doesn't get in your way. Once you learn some of the "shortcuts" (like holding down a "back" button to go all the way back to the main menu in one press) it becomes even easier to use. Without a doubt this is the easiest to use of all portable navigators I've used (which is quite a few). I give ease of use a "5".
Searching
Searching for POI's on the Nuvi continues to be quite good. However, I'd like to see some improvements to the categories. For instance, it's amazing that all Nuvi's don't have a category for RV related POI's like "RV Resorts", "RV supplies", etc. You have to search by spelling for "RV" which also returns things like "Joe's Soft SeRVe Ice Cream". A nice improvement on the 880 is the capability to skip putting in the city when searching for an address. Over all the search functions are the best I've seen on a portable GPS navigator but because there are some small and basic improvements I give searching a 4.5 rather than a 5.
Maps
The maps are "good enough" for the most part on the 880 and the other Nuiv's however, having used quite a few other navigators I have a few gripes.
1. My overall biggest complaint is WHY doesn't Garmin have a more frequent update capability for their maps? They know how to do this stuff because their aviation products have it where you can subscribe to updates every 28 days. Other manufacturers are no better but Garmin has the know how (in partnership with Jeppesen). We should be able to get incremental updates rather than waiting for 1-2 years for a complete map database update. This is a huge issue.
2. Accuracy. The maps Garmin uses (which they buy from Navtek) are "acceptable" but in my travels I find annoying errors. For instance, I'm currently staying with my son at a USAF base. The Navtek maps are mostly accurate for the base (missing one of the entry gates) and surrounding areas but when I ask the 880 to take me somewhere off the base it tries to route me straight through a 10 foot tall barbed wire fence rather than through the main gates. This is a map problem not a GPS software problem.
3. POI's display. The 880 and the other Nuvi's give you the option of displaying POI's on the map page but they don't show all of them for some reason. This is not a map problem but rather they way Garmin has choosen to display the maps. If I tell it to display all POI's on the map then it should do it.
4. Map Detail. My aviation Garmin units have very detailed maps which include lots of detail on unpaved roads and associated POI's and when you use them in automotive mode you get to see this detail. My cheap, difficult to use and unreliable, Lowrance 350 shows a lot of this as well. This is very useful for off-roading. To get this for the Nuvi's you have to buy Garmins Topographical maps.
Overall, I give the maps on the 880 (and other Nuvi's) a "4". The maps are probably good enough for 90% of owners but could be improved in my opinion.
Voice Recognition
To be succinct, the voice recognition is AWESOME. It works incredibly well even in the high noise of my Jeep Wrangle. It is nearly flawless. I'll caution that I do not have any sort of accent though and I have no idea how it behaves if you do not speak "standard" english. Of course it would be great if it was just like "Hal" on 2001 A Space Odessey where you can just talk to it conversationally but that capability is still a few years away because of the computing power required. The 880 only responds to specific commands but it works amazingly well. Give that I understand the state of the technology, the only improvment I'd like to see is the ability to optionally turn off the voice prompting. For example, when you select a POI to navigate to, it takes you to a screen which requires you to say "Yes" to begin navigation but before you can say "Yes" you have to wait for the GPS to say, "Say Yes to navigate to this location" (or something like that). Once you are familiar with the unit you don't need those prompts and you can use it much more quickly without them. Overall, I give the voice recognition a 5 given the current state of technology.
Summary
The 880 is an AWESOME unit. The initial price is rather high compared to other navigators but it most certainly will come down. I tend to wait for the first price drop on such things these days but I found the 880 so compelling, capable, and desirable I bought it only a few weeks after it was released at only a slight discount and have no remorse. I feel the 880 is the absolute best consumer handheld/portable GPS automotive navigator available today - bar none. I give it a pragmatic and objective 4 only because of the Map issues I noted however I will say you can't do better than the 880 at this point in time and relative to all other units on the market it is definitely a "5+".
Customer Review: Nuvi 880
Summary: 4 Stars
Garmin nüvi 880 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
This is my first GPS and overall, am enjoying it and have found it to be a great tool, especially in metro areas. I enjoy the features of MSN Direct as well. I purchased this unit in mid-July directly from Amazon. I tend to like more fully featured units as I appreciate technology. I was willing to pay more for this unit (versus the 850 for example) to try out the extra features.
I used the unit locally (smaller city west of Grand Rapids, MI) for a week or so before I took it out of state to Virginia for a family trip so that I would gain a decent understanding of its abilities and features by seeing how it would route me to work and other known points before trying it in a larger, unknown metro area. The unit was a real help, even within the Norfolk Naval Base.
Some frustrations:
Unit needed to be "reset" twice already. Once it simply locked up and the other, although it recognized and added the remote, it would not allow it to function. I followed all the instructions, new remote battery - no help. Reseting (removed GPS battery) cleared both issues.
Internal speakers are difficult to hear and people on the receiving end mention the clarity of my voice is not all that great thru the bluetooth connection. This is true even with no radio, no fan motor, no passengers talking, etc) Like another reviewer, I am also hard of hearing and found that using the FM option does not help much for a variety of reasons. Have to really turn up the volume on the radio to even hear the nuvi and quality was not consistent. Thank you for the tip of plugging into the AUX jack, which I have on my 2008 CRV - I will definitely try that. One thing that has helped with the sound issue it that, after experimenting a bit, I am able to locate the unit on my windshield next to and at the same level as the rearview mirror. This gets the unit as close to me as possible and gives me a clear line of sight. One learning point - on some cars, the "dot patterns" on the windshield around the rearview mirror on some cars are printed on the inside surface which the suction mount will not stick to - so you have to position the unit lower and farther away. On my car, I eventually found out that the dots are within the glass which allowed me to better position the unit as mentioned above.
WebUpdater - I am a Mac user and had to spend quite a bit of time getting the software to recognize/find my unit. I tried using a Dell laptop as well but got the same result except that it kept telling me that I might have to change an interface setting (somewhere/somehow) to "Garmin" or "Host" which I was not anxious to experiment with. Garmin does tell you that you might have to update the software on older models (which I did not expect the brand new 880 to be !!!) before WebUpdater will work. Unfortunately, they don't tell you your options for doing such - you have to nose around. After several hours, I was able to find and get thru a back door by going thru the "Additional Software" section on the Garmin website and found a link specific to the 880 to update the software. Once I updated the software to version 3.00 (from 2.50 as received), I connected my nuvi back to my Mac and everything now works fine. Better instructions would have saved hours here.
I am also a little surprised on how long it takes for the unit to find a sat signal. Not sure of other brands performance in this area though.
Not sure if any make or model would do better but when in situations where one turn or instruction needs to be followed quickly with another instruction (to turn again in a short distance or stay left for example), I found that the unit would sometimes be giving the second instruction after I already had to execute the move. Other times, traveling the same route, it gave both instructions right up front so that you knew that you had to pay extra attention.
Note to Judy - I also experienced the same "unit already registered" problem. There are multiple codes in the battery compartment of the unit that are "8 or 9 characters long". I got the same message using one number and then was successful using the number directly under the barcode. You think that maybe they could be a little more specific in the instructions on where to find the right code ???!!!
Overall a very helpful unit and would recommend to anyone. The 850 might be the better and less expensive choice for most.
Customer Review: Great GPS - Outdated maps Even 2009 version
Summary: 4 Stars
I was using Garmin SP2720 for almost three years. Last year I brought a Lexus RX400h with built in Navigation surprisingly supported by NAVTEQ, the same company support GARMIN. However, I found that the Lexus Navigation is outdated by atleast 3-4 years and is totally misleading in route calculations. So I decided to buy a Garmin 880 to keep in my Lexus. However, I was shocked to see the unupdated map in the Nuvi 880, though it has came with 2009 version map preloaded. In my town they re-directed a route with some modification to the existing route almost 2 and half years ago. I updated my SP2720 last year with Garmin's map update 2008 and this change was not in that map. Now, Nuvi 880 came with 2009 version of map and still there is no update in the route change in my city. I have no clue what they updating in their maps every year and selling it for nearly $80 every year.
I like almost every feature in Nuvi 880. I have had no problem in tuning voice with FM transmitter though my Lexus has the FM antena on the roof at the back of the car.
MSN Direct is not accurate though they have nearly full coverage in my area. Weather was in accurate. However gas prices were very accurate. Traffic was not covered in my town area.
Voice command is very accurate. I have typical "Indian" accent and Nuvi 880 had no problem in recognizing my commands whereas my Lexus always failed to recognize my voice commands.
Bottom line: Expensive unit. However, very user friendly and since a garmin it is the best amongst other brands available today. If bluetooth and voice command is not a priority for you, go for Nuvi 700 series and save nearly half or more of the cost compared to Nuvi 880. MSN Direct is not worthy for the price they charge! If your Nuvi 880 comes with a 2.x version of firmware, you will have a lot of problems. Your computer may not even recognize the unit by auto webupdater service. You should manually upgrade your firmware to current 3.x version. ***SOMETHING GARMIN TECH SUPPORT WAS UNABLE TO HELP ME***
Customer Review: Good, but not great
Summary: 4 Stars
I got the Nuvi 880 for my new vehicle. I decided that off-the-shelf solution was cheaper than factory installed. In my previous car (a Mazda3) I was using the factory installed navigation system.
I got the Nuvi 880 primarily for the voice recognition feature.
I find though that my Mazda navigation was smarter and more user-friendly than the Nuvi 880, even though it didn't have voice recognition.
VR works well. You need to turn down the radio though so that it can understand you. There is a small library of words that it understands. But for me, VR is well worth it because the unit is placed well forward of the dash, out of reach for me. One gripe though is that when you ask to spell the location or category, it gives you a keyboard to type, and you can't 'say' the letters. That is really annoying for a unit that's supposed to be accessible via the voice commands.
The MSN feature is ok. You can get weather info, movie times, and traffic updates. Though I don't think I will be continuing after the free subscription period expires.
One thing to note is that there is an annoying 'clicking' sound after you pair the unit with a bluetooth phone. Don't know how to get rid of it.
Another thing I don't like about the 880 is that it's not as smart as my previous nav system. For example, I recently entered a request to go to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Jackson, NJ from Rockland County (NY). The google route takes you down the Garden State Parkyway, to I95, then to I195. Highway all the way, for a total trip time of 92.1 mi - about 1 hour 41 mins. The 880 decided to make the route: GSP to RT9 thru Freehold NJ then to Monmouth Rd. The trip distance is definitely shorter 80.0 mi, but it was a much longer trip time with all the stop lights I had to go through. When I realized the error, there was no way to get back to the highway. I wish there was a way to program the route like my old nav system (eg., stay on highways, etc).
Customer Review: Very good product, but has an annoying bug
Summary: 4 Stars
The Nuvi 880 is really cool. It understands speech quite well. (although I had to use the add on external microphone because my vehicle noise is rather high since it is a diesel vehicle.) With the microphone, as long as I speak clearly and don't speak too quickly (normal speed is fine), and leave a slight pause between words, it works very well. It has lots of points of interest (6 million), although I have found a couple of POIs that the TomTom (which I used previously) had that this one does not. Also, my neighborhood is somehow missing from the map, although it was on the TomTom map. It does have some major roads on its map that TomTom was missing, though, so I guess you just can't get everything in one unit. My main problem with the unit is a bug when trying to play MP3 audio files via voice. If I say, "Music Player" to bring up the music player, and then say, "Browse" to browse my library, and then say, "1" which is listed on the screen as display all songs, when I get to the screen showing my songs, it lists 4 songs at a time with a 1, 2, 3 and 4 next to them along with page down and back options. If I say 1, 2, 3, 4, page down or back, it makes a beep sound indicating that it understood, but then it doesn't do anything. From doing some troubleshooting I have determined that if you don't have a lot of MP3s on the device, this works fine, but the more you have loaded, the worse it gets. If you have 6 or 7 MP3 files, you'll probably not see the problem. If you have 20-30, you'll see the problem some, but not a lot. If you have about 50-60, you'll see it fairly consistently, and if you have around 300+ like I do, you will be hard pressed to get it to work at all. I have reported this problem to Garmin, so hopefully they will get this fixed. If it wasn't for this problem I'd give the unit a 5 stars. Overall it is a very cool device.