Customer Reviews

Garmin nüvi 850 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Voice Command and FM Transmitter (Soft Black)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have owned the Garmin nüvi 850 for a couple of months, and have made several trips with it. I find it to be a mostly reliable GPS navigation unit, and recommend this product, with some reservations.

Its principal benefits are:

* Voice recognition works under most conditions, at least where substantial noise is not an issue. It is necessary to interact at the speed of the unit, waiting for your turn to speak, which is indicated both visually and audibly. The voice-activation remote control is a clever tool for accessing this feature, although placement of the remote on the steering wheel in such a way as to avoid accidental activations is difficult. Once voice recognition is active, the unit does not always understand commands on the first attempt, but I found that reducing fan speed on the vehicle's air conditioner (to reduce background noise) usually helps with this.

* The menus are generally user-friendly, although there is a learning curve that requires some practice for less frequently used areas. The menus are not always intuitive. For example, having user-defined routes as an item separate from favorites, rather than as a sub-menu under favorites adds a memory component when trying to access that feature.

* The directional voice prompts are timely, and match the visual cues provided on screen. I found the male British voice to be the most easily understood under most road conditions.

* The low-glare screen is consistently viewable in a variety of lighting conditions, although somewhat less so in the brightest light. It is, however, difficult to keep clear of fingerprints and smudges that produce their own glare and can interfere with viewing.

* Routing and re-routing is fairly quick. The initial route calculation tends to take several seconds, and slows for more complicated mapping. The closer you are to the destination, the more rapidly the calculation or re-calculation seems to take place. Most routes seem quite efficient, with only an occasional questionable route selection offered.

My principal complaints with the unit are:

* Battery life is short. Expect to run this unit under car power for trips much longer than an hour. Also, removal of the battery between trips was the only means I found to reliably keep the battery from draining with the unit off, even in as little as a couple of weeks on the shelf. The inability to charge the unit via USB with the unit turned off is not a great concern, but does lengthen the charging time requirement.

* Maps that do not reflect current information. Usually this was most noticeable for highway speed limits that had changed, sometimes several years earlier, and for points of interest that did not match actual conditions. Routing can sometimes be misleading as well. For example, when trying to locate a Post Office, I was routed to an adjacent highway from which there was not a direct entrance.

* FM transmission is a feature without much reliability, given the constantly changing nature of radio signal interference on trips of more than the shortest distance. However, the audible prompts are loud enough to be heard from the unit directly, and sound even better over headphones.

* While rare, I have experienced lengthy (several minute-long) delays in satellite acquisition on system start-up. When it happens, it negates the value of the product, but the nüvi 850 still outperforms an earlier GPS unit that frequently dropped satellite connection while in transit. At least I have not experienced that problem with the nüvi 850 yet, and most of the time, it acquires satellite information in a matter of seconds on start-up.

Well my original monochrome Streetpilot was called back into action but I couldn't get new maps for it. That unit still works perfect after 10 years and is used frequently on canoe trips since it's waterproof to 3ft and can use batteries.

So I needed a GPS that could handle 100hrs of usage per week and have a replaceable battery with good routing and a music player that transmits to the car stereo would be nice.

After 4 months/1600hrs usage I have not been disappointed. Maps are great, it's found 895/900 addresses in the Chicago suburbs and never complained of sitting in the direct sun all day. I have a deep voice and the voice recognition works surprisingly well for me with the windows up in a noisy van. A nice feature would be able to increase the priority of highways, quite often it suggests me taking a more direct route that is slower, since traffic usually moves well over the posted speed. I am happy that the unit offers Flat Map Viewing with the option of Track Up or North Up, the 3D view just isn't for me. The FM transmitter sends my music nicely to the radio and has a volume mixer that will announce directions while playing the music and gives me a heads up about when approaching heavy traffic (MSN Direct receiver). Another nice feature is that you can use the button on the steering wheel to control all the functions of the gps including changing the volume or skipping to the next track or play list. My dashboard is fairly free of clutter since there is only one wire that plugs in the cradle. Another routing feature I use frequently is the ability to avoid Tolls. You Can detour by roads in the route or by distance, a few reviews posted said that it wasn't an option. Apparently Garmin listened and implemented it for free with it's painless updating.

You can change the vehicle that moves across the map (changed mine to a canoe lol) and the voices for free. Tom Tom wants money for it. The MSN Direct Receiver pays for itself by showing gas prices in the area. The games even the demos are good enough to keep the kids busy for a while. The calculator comes in handy at times but the best feature about this GPS is it's reliable. :-)

The product works well enough, but you will need divine assistance if you ever try to update the maps. Technical support on the telephone is both rude and completely unhelpful. The software does not function correctly and e-mail support crashed on the Garmin website (generated an unable to send error message). If you never need to update (i.e., do not plan to keep the unit long enough to need to update the maps) and are technically proficient with GPS devices and will never need technical support, then this is not a bad choice. If you are not an engineer or expect to keep your GPS unit for more than a few years, then buyer beware.

Didn't work from the get go. I couldn't register it with Garmin, they said it was already registered! This was not supposed to be a refurb. It wouldn't charge. I tried to e-mail Amazon, but the help was very little. I returned it.

This GPS did everything it was advertised to do, including voice commands, etc., and did it all extremely well...for two days. On the third day it began freezing up immediately after initializing, and no amount of resetting or troubleshooting could resolve the problem. A call to Garmin customer support was met with a cautionary message that my wait for service would probably be 30 minutes or more. I have relied on Garmin products for years now. I am very disappointed to say I have had to send this one back for a refund.

I love this unit. Not noted in the other reviews, is a new and powerful, advanced detour feature. Namely, it lists all the roads in your route and permits selecting any road(s) you wish to avoid.

I had a street pilot that finally retired, loved it but for the cost of upgrading and buying newer, faster, better. I got a new Sony, didn't use it around home and when I finally went on a trip and found out I didn't like it it was too late to return it. Went on a multi-state tour with my son's motor home. Took the Sony even though he had his Tom Tom installed in the motor home. The Sony beat the crap out of the Tom Tom for ease of use but I still didn't trust the Sony. Finally ordered a new Nuvi 850, got it the day before a trip to California. Go to an open outside area to locate satellites the book says. Let me tell you, we have lots of open outside area in Nevada. During the whole 2 day 900 mile trip my nephew got it to acquire in the motel room in downtown Sac for a whole 18 minutes. Despite many attempts on the way home it just would not work. In the box and back to Amazon. I did elect to get a replacement but if that one doesn't work like a charm it will be on it's way back also.
I still think that Garmin makes the best GPS. Easy to use and understand, best maps, few or no problems.

It can't find my home, it can't locate long established businesses and addresses.
It's sends me in rediculas routes.
Best of all it does not interface with my radio FM band.
Garmin has issues.

The Garmin nuvi 850 performs excellently. This model is discontinued, so I got it cheaply at $200. (I originally saw it at a store about a year ago for $800.) The screen is large and well lit, automatically switching between a daytime mode (bright for high visibility) and a nighttime mode (dim, to avoid distracting reflection in the windshield). Voice-command is the unusual feature, and it works well. Full addresses can be entered by voice, with no need to touch the unit. (A steering wheel mounted button activates voice mode.) The car must be quiet (radio off) for voice command. The Garmin can be loaded with mp3 music files, which can be played through the radio. When thus used as an mp3 player, the Garmin automatically quiets the music during voice command, and issues its verbal instructions through the radio. Most Garmin functions can be operated entirely by voice command.

Cons: Voice-command is a bit sluggish -- you have to wait for the Garmin to finish talking to you (typically a few seconds) before you can speak the next command, and entering addresses requires a series of several voice commands. Linking the Garmin to the radio is easy, but slightly problematic. Legal limitations on the Garmin radio transmission power make the link to my radio slightly noisy (radio static), probably because my car antenna is in the rear window, far from the Garmin. I also am able to link the Garmin by wire to my car audio system (Garmin headphone output to car audio input), but then the Garmin is too quiet. The noisy radio link is not a problem for hearing Garmin instructions, but can be slightly annoying when using the Garmin mp3 music player feature. Because Garmin is a high-theft item, I remove it after each use -- but the suction cup is a bit clumsy to mount and dismount. When used with its own speakers (not linked to radio), the Garmin maximum sound volume is adequate for a quiet car, but not highly audible over a playing radio. Only 1 free map update is available, to be used within 60 days, to bring the out-of-box Garmin up-to-date. The map update is tedious, and takes a long time (over 1 hour) even with high-speed internet.

We looked at and read many reviews of the Garmin GPS systems after being impressed with my brother's 760. Purchased the 850 to take on a trip to Vancouver, BC and Seattle, Washington. We received it just a few days before the trip and did not have much time to review the item. It seemed to work well. Had no problem hearing the unit and no problem picking up a signal. Took us to a bagel/deli store that was out of business. Does not come with an instruction manual, it has to printed off the internet. Only complaints!