569 of 578 people found the following review helpful:
I'm impressed!
The Garmin nuvi 285WT is a winner.
The case for the Garmin 285WT is sleek shiny black plastic. The case seems very sturdy - in fact all the pieces appear to be made of quality plastic. It comes with the power adapter for the car, and a USB cable to hook up to your computer. (Some of the less expensive Garmins do not come with the USB cable, which is a...
389 of 432 people found the following review helpful:
More costs than meet the eye?
From [...]:
Question: I am looking at the 285wt and was wondering if it will act like the 265wt. There are so many 2x5's it's hard to keep it all straight. Garmins website doesn't offer any information regarding the 285wt since it appears to be a BestBuy only unit. Anyone own one, how does it compare?
This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program(What's this?)
The Garmin nuvi 285WT is a winner.
The case for the Garmin 285WT is sleek shiny black plastic. The case seems very sturdy - in fact all the pieces appear to be made of quality plastic. It comes with the power adapter for the car, and a USB cable to hook up to your computer. (Some of the less expensive Garmins do not come with the USB cable, which is a problem because you need a USB cable to register the unit.)
Pros:
The unit was extremely easy to set up. Upon first use, it guides you through set-up, which is simple. The icons on the screen are simple and intuitive. I started using it without even reading the directions.
After the initial settings are entered, it sets about finding the local satellites. I told it to skip that step, since I was just hooking it up to a wall charger (sold separately) to charge the batteries. Not only did it go ahead and find the satellites, it found them while sitting on my kitchen table. I don't know how it did that, but it did. There are green bars in the corner of the display showing you how many satellites have been acquired. There it was, displaying all four green bars after just a few minutes. That was impressive.
In the car, it locks onto the satellites extremely fast. It is much faster to find the signals than my friend's TomTom 910. To be fair, the TomTom is an older unit, but it was a much more expensive unit than the Garmin 285WT to begin with.
I am using the default voice. It is extremely clear and easy to understand. It has only messed up on one street name, as it assumed that N Street was the same as North Street. I am not in an area where there are street names in Spanish or other languages, so I have not had the chance to find out how well it deals with those. The voice is much more understandable than the voice in the TomTom 910 (I hope my friend doesn't read this...). (The TomTom also consistently mangled Spanish street names when we took a road trip to San Jose.)
If one drives past a turn that it has selected, the device instantly says "Recalculating," and immediately updates the directions. I missed a turn at night in a very dark area, (I would have had a hard time finding the alternative route) and it didn't miss a beat.
The display is extremely legible both in bright sunlight and at night. I had to turn the brightness down to the minimum because it was a bit too bright at night for my taste.
The 285WT comes with a feature that I really like called "Where Am I?" It's an emergency location feature - you can tap the screen to get your latitude and longitude. So if you get a flat tire out in the middle of the Mohave Desert, the tow truck from Trona will be able to find you. Assuming, of course, that tow trucks from Trona also have GPS devices.
Cons:
It gave me bad directions one time. It was a good thing I knew the area. Since I just got this unit, I don't know how often this sort of thing will happen. I am willing to forgive in this instance, because it seems to perform so well overall. (I don't know how forgiving I'd be if I had driven miles out of my way...)
Neutral:
This model is Bluetooth. I don't have a Bluetooth phone (I know, I know, I am using archaic technology...) so I couldn't test that feature.
The device also comes the MSN Direct (9 months free) which I found to be of very limited usefulness because I live in a rural area. I mean, c'mon, around here the 4H Club pancake breakfast at the volunteer fire department is a Big Deal, and MSN Direct is hardly going to tell me about things like that. I also don't have traffic concerns of the type that one would have in Los Angeles or San Francisco, for example. I also don't know why one needs a Doppler weather display on one's GPS, unless one is driving through Oklahoma in a thunderstorm during tornado season. It might be great for that, who knows?
If you live in an urban area, don't get too excited about MSN Direct, because Microsoft has already announced that they are killing it in 2012. It was originally developed for a device called a Smart Watch, which obviously hit the market with a big belly flop, or we'd all have one. More information can be found on MSN Direct and the planned demise thereof in an October 28, 2009 article at the PC World website.
All in all, I am extremely happy with this device, and recommend it without reservation. In fact, I am buying one for my son for Christmas.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program(What's this?)
Length:: 6:36 Mins
Over the years I have purchased over a dozen GPS receivers for myself and even more as gifts for family and friends. When I got a chance to use this new Garmin nuvi I jumped at it. Garmin is known for their ease of use and the 285WT is no exception. With the addition of MSN Direct, traffic and BlueTooth this is a real value in an entry to mid-level GPS.
Garmin makes a lot of different nuvi models and understanding the difference between them can be quite daunting. Essentially the nuvi 285WT and the 265WT are the same unit. They are both MSN compatible and NAVTEQ FM Traffic compatible. The difference is that the 285WT comes with the MSN receiver (with some free months, then a monthly charge util Jan. 2012 when the service will be discontinued) and the 265WT comes with the NAVTEQ receiver and free lifetime traffic (complete with pop-up ads when you use it). You can buy the NAVTEQ receiver for your 285WT at any time as well as buying the MSN receiver for a 265WT.
If you are a professional driver (limo, taxi, truck, delivery or route salesman) you might be better off with a higher end unit such as the Garmin 1690 (it will auto-sort multiple destinations and then provides the most direct route, lane guidance with junction view, the nuLink service and more) or the TomTom version, the 740 Live. If this is your first GPS, a gift for a new user or if you are upgrading from an older model, I think that this is an excellent choice.
No GPS is perfect and even the best is dependent on third party maps which are bound to contain some errors. Also, businesses open and close frequently so you need to use your own common sense (and even your sense of humor) at times. Having said this I find that having and using one is much better than not. I seldom get lost don't need to print out directions.
The only negatives that I found for the 285 WT is that I wish that the screen was bigger and that the body was thinner. Magellen has these features at this price point (and even lower). Also, I think that Lane Assist should be standard on all newer GPS receivers. All in all though most users would not miss these features and I recommend it for new users and up-graders. I hope that this short video review is helpful to you.
This is my second Garmin GPS; the first one was the GARMIN 010-00656-00 Nuvi 250W Widescreen Travel Assistant which I have been using since December 2007. Should anyone reading this review be interested, I refer that person to my review of the older unit.
This particular one, recently introduced, is really an incremental update of the 250W in that it too is a "basic" unit, though it does have more features - many of which may be useful to most people but also a few which hold no particular interest, at least to me. Naturally, having additional features makes operation more complex but, fortunately, some of these can be ignored and/or disabled should the owner so desire.
I must mention that I definitely prefer simpler units to more complicated ones, especially when I am driving at 65MPH on a crowded highway! I do not think that GPS units (or ANYTHING meant for use in a moving car) should have all sorts of unneeded "bells and whistles" which can make operation difficult, if not downright dangerous. I think a cell phone should be a cell phone, a camera should be a camera, a radio should be a radio -- and a GPS should be a GPS. Period. Obviously many, many people will disagree with my preferences but, if you are one of the few who do agree with me (and even if you don't), then I hope that this review will be of use to you. At least you know my perspective.
I have noticed that, when adding new features to newer models, Garmin attempts to keep the interface similar to past ones. Unfortunately, though well intentioned, this sometimes makes the interfaces somewhat awkward in use as anyone who uses this new instrument will quickly discover. I mention below the necessity of deleting data in several separate locations (screens); this is one disadvantage of trying to keep the older interfaces.
Now for my review: I shall first discuss some of the new features that the 285WT has that the 250W did not which I do not like and/or do not use.
For example, there is a new feature called ecoRoute. If you activate the "Vehicle Profile" within this feature, the unit will calculate your fuel costs and approximate gas mileage. Frankly, this is of little, if any, use, in my opinion, as the data will only be a general approximation. But when you wish to delete this data for each trip as well as general trip data, you must do so separately within each screen in which the data is stored (as many as three separate screens). To delete such data in the 250W, you need delete the data - maximum speed and mileage data - from the same screen and this is relatively simple. Not so with the 285WT. Of course you need not activate a "Vehicle Profile" and I recommend that, in the interest of simplicity, that you ignore this feature. After all, of what real use is it?
This unit also features Bluetooth. If you are one of the many people who enjoy this feature for use with your cell phone, this will be of value to you. But, as I do not use a Bluetooth cell phone, I have disabled it.
I also have no interest at all in the Microsoft Network; I see no need to have stock market reports on my GPS. Nor do I need their traffic reports, for which you must pay $50.00 per year after the trial period (I cannot accurately determine how long the trial period is: the instruction manual states "3 months" but Amazon, and at least one other review, states "9 months.") But, whatever the trial period is, I have no interest in activating MSN Direct and I'm sure you have read in other reviews that it is to be discontinued in 2012. And it is certainly easy enough to get such information as it offers from a local radio news station.
In order to use the MSN Direct, you must use the power cable which Garmin supplies with the unit. This contains the MSN receiver. If you use an older power cable, such as this one Garmin nüvi Vehicle Power Cable the GPS itself will function normally but there will be no MSN. That's fine with me - I have three of these older cables. I keep one in each of our two cars and one in the house. (I keep the actual GPS units in the house too when they are not in use.) I will not be using the supplied power cable with MSN receiver with my 285WT. (I recommend that everyone buy at least one spare cable, of whatever type, "just in case.")
The case on my older 250W is a flat gray color. The new 285WT has a glossy black finished case. While the glossy black is somewhat more attractive (but really - who cares?), it shows all of your fingerprints. The flat gray case does not do this. Thus I much prefer the older case.
I had hoped that Garmin would have improved the "Detour" function but they have not. When driving and desiring a detour, you must touch the Menu option at the bottom of the screen and then click on the Detour function in the next screen. This is the same as on the 250W. I wish that Garmin would place the Detour function button on the main screen. That's where it belongs, in my opinion.
Okay, those are the "bad" parts. If you're still with me, I shall now discuss the "good" parts, the improvements (and they are many and considerable) over the 250W.
First and foremost - this new unit locks onto the satellites FAR faster than does the older one. This is VERY noticeable and very welcome. Three days ago, we visited some friends who live about 35 miles away; traveling to their house is my Garmin "test-bed" to see how well it functions (the trip is convoluted). Both units take us there flawlessly but, when restarting the 250W when we wish to "Go Home," for some reason the 250W will not pick up the satellites until we have driven almost one mile from their house. This is strange (because it "knew" where we were when I turned it off) and annoying. (Of course we know how to get home; we do not really need the Garmin - but this is a "test.") This happens consistently, each and every time we visit these friends.
Not so with the 285WT - as soon as I turned it on at their house, it instantly locked onto the satellites. We were very pleased with this performance.
I have also noticed that the 285WT consistently locks onto satellites in my house, even with all the blinds drawn. Obviously there is no "line-of-sight" here so this performance improvement is quite amazing and is much improved over the 250W which rarely, if ever, locks onto the satellites in my house (and is much slower in locking to them even outdoors, although this is not a major disadvantage in MOST cases).
So far, no matter where we have gone, or for how long the unit was turned off, or where we were when we turned it back on (we were not always at the same location as we were when we turned it off), it almost instantly locked on to the satellites. Frankly, this is remarkable.
I should also mention that the boot-up time on the 285WT is much quicker than on the 250W.
The next improvement I note is the virtual keyboard. You have your choice of a QWERTY keyboard or the one ABCDE featured on the older Garmins. The QWERTY is a vast improvement. It also features numbers as well as letters thereby making it unnecessary to go to another screen to enter numbers. In addition, to get to the symbols (@#$%^), you need only go to one other screen (as opposed to two on the 250W); this is indicated at the bottom of the Garmin's keyboard screen.
In addition to the backspace control found on the 250W (which deletes each letter/number as you backspace), there are cursor controls as well on the 285WT which allow you to move the cursor to whichever point you desire and then use the backspace control to delete only the one undesired letter and replace it with the correct one - just like on a computer.
All in all, this is a major and welcome improvement and makes typing in addresses, etc., much more convenient.
The screen information has been somewhat improved on the 285T and is slightly easier to read and comprehend quickly. But, while the new unit shows the next turn (and there is a pictogram showing the turn), the green "line" at the top no longer shows the road on which you are traveling as it does on the 250W. It shows the next turn you must make - even when that turn is many miles away. This is a step backwards, in my opinion. You can see the road you're on if you wish - but you must touch the magenta line (which shows the correct route to your destination). I feel that the green line should show the actual road on which you are driving until about four or five miles from your next turn (you would be able to preview the next turn, if you wished, by merely touching the green line which will then show you all the steps subsequent to get to your destination); the pictogram could constantly show the next turn (as it does now).
The 285WT shows the speed limit on the road you are using if such data is available to Garmin. Unfortunately, it is not always accurate - so you better read the road signs and not depend solely on this feature. (There is a local road which, for years, has had a section of about a half-mile in which the limit is 35MPH. When I first got the 285WT and drove on this section, it showed the limit to be 40MPH. When I registered my unit over the internet, I was "forced" to update the firmware and I took advantage of their free one-time map upgrade. After doing so, I noticed that now the speed limit listed on that section was 45MPH, the same as the rest of the road! This is not good! The upgrade made the error worse! I have seen many people pulled over on that section of the road, the number depending, I suppose, upon just how strapped for cash the township is. In any event, I do not think anyone should rely on the speed limit shown on your Garmin even though most of the time it DOES seem to be accurate.)
There is a particularly welcome new feature on the 285WT within the Tools section; you click on the Tools icon at the bottom of the screen (which, for reasons best known to Garmin, is now to the right of the Volume setting instead of to the left of it, as previously). You click on that Tools icon and, directly in the center of the following screen, is a "Where Am I?" icon. Click on that and you will see the actual coordinates of your location (including elevation), the nearest address, and the nearest intersection. In addition, and most important, there are buttons for the nearest Hospitals, Police Stations, and Fuel.
If, while driving, you touch the Vehicle icon on your screen, the same location information is shown. (It's best to have your "co-pilot" do this however as it is with most of the options the Garmin has.)
All in all, this is very easy to use and very welcome even if the nearest address shown is not always "spot-on" accurate (it's close though).
There is also, within the Tools screen, a My Data section which features a particularly easy means of setting or changing your Home location. This is quite useful when traveling, for instance, or, when using the Pedestrian setting, for changing your Home to the location of your car in a crowded shopping center. Do that and you'll never have trouble finding your car again! (You can do that with the 250W as well but it is quicker and easier with the 285WT.)
I have the screen brightness set to 50% (you'll find the settings within the Display option under Color Mode), both for Daytime and for Nighttime. Of course, after the adjustments, I set the Garmin's Color Mode back to Auto; this changes the screen as the sun goes down. My wife and I have found that 50% in both options works for us; your preferences may differ.
I noticed that I had to set the Volume to 90% on my 285WT to achieve a comfortable sound level which is easy for us to hear; the corresponding setting on my 250W is 70%. However I am sure that this is a sample to sample variance and you will have to experiment to find your own desired volume level.
You have read about Text-to-Speech in which the GPS says the street names rather than just "turn right" or "turn left" as on the 250W.
Well, at least on this unit. this feature is a bit of a mixed bag. First, not all of the available "voice" choices feature text-to-speech (TTS). Only some of them do - and the voices which do so may not please you. For example, American English does not feature TTS; American English-Samantha (TTS) does and this is what we're now using. On our 250W, we use British English, which we prefer. British English is also an option on the 285WT but "she" doesn't feature TTS. For that, if you want a female British voice, you must use British English-Serena (TTS) - and "she's" awful, in both my and my wife's opinion. She speaks too fast and none too clearly, in our opinion, especially in her pronunciation of road names, and she sounds more "Irish" than "British" (not that that matters much). But, for us, "she" is unpleasant sounding and, therefore, essentially unusable. The male voices, in our limited - thus far - experiences, are more difficult for us to understand in a moving vehicle so, for the moment, we are staying with our American English-Samantha (TTS) "companion." (We haven't tried any of the other languages offered as we speak only English.)
A slight disadvantage to TTS is that, if the road name is a long one, you could conceivably pass the turn before "she" could get it all out! (I think that this would be a rare occurrence however.) I still rely on reading the street names on the top green line.
Personally, I think it would be better for Garmin to offer various voices and languages and offer the option, for ALL of them, to have TTS on or off, as the user chooses. Perhaps some day they will be able to implement that.
Of course all the features in the world are of absolutely no use if the GPS doesn't take you where you want to go! In this respect, I believe that this Garmin nüvi 285WT is as good as any on the road, regardless of price. Is it perfect? Certainly not! As I stated in my review of the 250W, sometimes you still have to ask! But it is as accurate a unit as you're going to find. Thus far, in our limited usage, we have not noticed any differences in the routes chosen by our 285WT from those chosen by our 250W. But I have a Garmin nüMaps Lifetime North America Map Updates for our 250W and I do keep it updated so it has the same maps as the 285WT. (I recommend this "lifetime" option for most people though, as I have it for my 250W, I shall not be buying it for my 285WT, at least at this time.)
I think I have covered most of the incremental changes that Garmin has made from its 2007 model, the 250W, to its 2009 model, the 285WT. I should think, though I do not know, that the same changes will have been made to other new models within the 200 series. I think that, for the most part, the operational changes are improvements.
I should like to sum up this review by repeating that I am very pleased with the new 285WT and its performance. I have mentioned a number of things I do not like - but do not let that dissuade anyone from buying this GPS. The advantages GREATLY outweigh any disadvantages and the changes from the 250W to the 285WT are, for the most part, significant and good. And after all, NO product is "perfect" - and no product ever will be!
And though it doesn't "run rings" around the 2-year-old 250W (except in its much improved satellite reception), for the most part, it has been greatly improved over its predecessor, especially in its general ease of use (when certain "features" are disabled), and these improvements will be especially noticeable to anyone with Garmin experience. Within its class, this GPS represents excellent value for money. (It's a constant source of amazement to me that Garmin can offer such an excellent product at such a low price. And, by the way, if you are as interested in GPS pricing as I am, you will find that the ABSOLUTE best place to buy one of these things is right here - from Amazon!)
I want to thank everyone who has read my review and I hope that it has been of some help.
I highly recommend this Garmin nüvi 285WT to anyone interested in a "basic" Global Positioning System device.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I have owned 4 GPS units in the last 4 years. The first was a Garmin and was stolen from my car, the 2nd a Tom Tom that never worked right, and the most recent a Magelin. I've come full circle and gone back to Garmin and let me tell you, it's good to be back! I could go into detail about all the things that that 285WT does better than my old Magelin and Tom Tom but suffice it to say that everything this GPS should do, it does very well. The touch screen is easy to use and very responsive. Positioning is quick and highly accurate. The device is very well constructed and battery life is really good.
When I first powered up the unit it was never able to identify my location even after HOURS of waiting. I thought the unit was defective until after doing some reading online I realized that I probably needed to re-set the GPS unit. I did that, but was still unable to find my location (I live in Chicago, so this should be pretty simple). Finally I tried updating the firmware using Garmin's web updater. After upgrading to Firmware 6.10, the unit found my location after about 2 minutes. Since then it's worked flawlessly. If your unit hasn't been updated, I'd highly recommend taking 5 minutes to do so. Garmin's made it very easy with one of the simplest and quickest firmware updaters I've ever seen.
Navigation is flawless. I used this on a trip from Chicago to several locations in MI and it routed us correctly each and every time. One of the primary reasons I get a GPS is to make it easy to locate stores, restaurants, etc., while out of town. The Tom Toma and Magelin both suffered from the same problem: you could search by category, but not a specific name! If you wanted to find a Culvers for example, you could search restaurants, and then sort by name, but there was no way to make the search simple by typing in "Culvers." Garmin allows for this sort of search, which is very, very useful.
I can't say enough about the touch screen. It's vastly superior to any other I've used. It's a matte finish which doesn't collect nearly as many finger prints, as well as making typing in addresses easier. It is also nice and bright and visible even in direct sunlight. Night mode is great as well and automatically turns on once the sun has set.
Menus and the GUI are both intuitive and easy to navigate. I was able to do everything I wanted to without reading a manual (although I'm fairly familiar with GPS units, so YMMV). I also LOVE that the unit can be removed from the mounting arm very easily. This makes it much simpler for your co-pilot to take the unit down and type in addresses or do searches. My personal co-pilot my lovely wife really appreciates this feature!
The battery life is excellent. I tested it out and got over 2.5hrs on a charge.
Overall this is a great GPS. Aside from some initial frustration in getting the unit to find our location it's been a flawless user experience. I'd recommend this GPS to anyone if you want a simple to use but feature rich unit.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
From [...]:
Question: I am looking at the 285wt and was wondering if it will act like the 265wt. There are so many 2x5's it's hard to keep it all straight. Garmins website doesn't offer any information regarding the 285wt since it appears to be a BestBuy only unit. Anyone own one, how does it compare?
Answer: Normally a model with an 8 in the number would indicate that it comes with an MSN Direct adapter cable and support MSN Direct traffic. This would be the only difference between it and a model with a 6 number. So normally a 285 would be a 265 with MSN Direct in place of the normal TMC or Navteq traffic.
In this case it looks like it is actually a device that was specifically made for Best Buy. I found this user review on their website which appears to explain the difference between the 2 models:
"This is a great product that was expressly made for Best Buy. It has several features over and above the 265WT, however a big word of caution. While all the other Garmin 2xxWT units come with free lifetime traffic, this unit requires a subscription (annual or lifetime) to MSN Direct. The added cost far outstrips the cost of the 265WT. Get the 265WT - it's worth it."
So it does appear that the Garmin "naming convention" holds here as well. The 285 is a 265 with MSN Direct.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I should say that I've never owned a GPS unit before. I was waiting until the price dropped to the point where you could get a decent one with traffic info, bluetooth, and text to speech for less than [...] bucks. This was it. I see it's slightly more expensive now.
The setup on this thing is fairly straightforward, but here are a few issues that I had. First, I tried to set this up outside and not in my car. Don't do that. You need the keycode for MSN Direct to set up traffic and while there is a key code on the charger cable, you need to make sure it's the same as the one on the actual unit. The only way you can access MSN Direct and find the key code is to have the unit plugged in via your car cigarette lighter because the car charging cable is where the receiver for MSN Direct is located. No cable means no MSN Direct.
Second, there is no full manual for this model. It's not in the box. You have to download it, but Garmin doesn't show the manual for this model on its website. Instead download the 265WT manual, which seems to be the generic manual for the 205 Series.
Third, it's easy to screw up on the initial set up and load a default for Spain instead of the US. If you hit the arrow button instead of press directly on the words "United States of America," this will happen. At least that's what happened to me. To reset the defaults, turn off the machine, then press a finger on the lower right hand corner of the screen and hold while you turn it back on.
As others have noted, MSN Direct costs 49 dollars per year (beyond the initial free 9 mos) and will disappear in January 2012. That's why this unit is being sold at such a high discount. I don't know how valuable MSN Direct will be over time, but by January 2012 there will undoubtedly be better and cheaper GPS units available so for me this is a non-issue. Supposedly there is a Garmin traffic receiver built into this unit in addition to the MSN Direct receiver, but I can't find any way of confirming that.
As for the unit, the text to speech is fine, the screen is crisp, and the bluetooth works well with my cell phone. It can take anywhere from several seconds to about 15 seconds for the unit to come up with a route for local runs. It mounts easily. It appears to be well designed. So far I've had one glitch in a heavily treed area where the unit thought it was in Evanston, IL (I'm in California). Aside from that it has been very accurate. But the unit should have come with a full manual in the box. To not include one is truly being too cheap.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
(Update 12-14-09): Con #7: After having the unit another couple of weeks, I have to drop my rating from 4 to 3 stars. I have noticed something this Nuvi 285 does regularly. It seems to always be "a step behind" when traveling at speed. What I mean is it always seems to show my location just a bit behind where I actually am. I can be going through an intersection and see that I am in the middle of it but the gps still shows me approaching it maybe a second or two behind. This becomes even more evident when navigating to a location but having to go off road temporarily. I'll go off road and the unit will correctly say that I need to travel back to the marked route. I'll finish whatever work I am doing, turn back onto the road and start driving again. A couple of seconds later, the Nuvi voice will tell me to make the turn to get back on the road that I have already made! This is consistant with it maybe being a bit behind. I don't know if this is because the unit overall might be a bit slow calculating location or if the maps are off a bit. Locations seem to be dead on though when stopped but then that's not what you really want a unit like this for.
(Original Review): I have had this unit just under a week. So far I am loving it. The Nuvi is much better then the old Magellan I upgraded from. I listed more Cons then Pros below but that doesn't mean I don't like the unit. Just listing them for people who it might make a difference for. I am much more satisfied with the Nuvi then not!
Pros:
1. The 4 inch screen is very clear and very easy to see. The various information fields are placed in a way that there is still plenty of room for the map. Road names are easy to read.
2. Searching for addresses is so nice compared to my old gps. You can either input a city to start the search or just type in a street address and let it find the closest match to you. This works well when in rural areas and you can't always be sure what city some out of the way address actually belong to.
3. Unit gives plenty of notice before actually arriving at a turn. Unit speaks the road name and shows a turn arrow on the map to be more precise when in areas where there are lots of side roads close together. There is one negative about the Gps voice notices that's listed in the cons.
4. I was not interested at all in the MSN traffic feature since I live in a smaller city. I am finding though that I do like the feature now that I have tried it. There is no actual traffic map for my area but I do get the weather forecast and radar, news, gas prices, movie times and more. Local events feature doesn't seem so useful here. It's too bad MSN Traffic will be going away in 2012 from what I hear. I might be tempted to subscribe when the free trial is over.
Cons:
1. I find the volume, even at maximum, is not quite loud enough for me. When traveling at higher speed or if the radio is on in the car, I sometimes can't make out at all what the gps voice is saying. My old Magellan was very loud and clear. I have missed a turn completely a time or two because I hadn't heard the Nuvi. Luckily, as long as you are not right on top of your turn, you can press the next turn indicator at the top of the screen to make the unit repeat the directions.
2. Bluetooth feature paired with my phone ok and I was able to make calls from the gps. It's a big disappointment though that when I am playing music on my cell phone, that audio does not come out over the gps.
3. One thing I miss is that when the Gps is navigating to a destination and is in 3d mode or Heading up mode, there is no North indicator on the map. You can switch to the Trip computer feature to see your heading. When not Navigating to a destination though, there is a direction indicator on the map. I sometimes use the Gps for my job and knowing your exact direction comes in handy with the coordinate system we used to find locations.
4. Would be nice to have a quick way to toggle between screen modes. You have to burrow into the settings to change the 3D/Heading up/North up modes.
5. Touchscreen is a little iffy at times. There a beep and small vibration as feedback when you touch the screen but sometimes you don't get that feedback for a keypress or two even though your touch apparently registered. This can result in you typing double or triple letters when you are relying on the feedback to know you pressed hard enough.
6. The process of updating maps for the unit seems way more difficult then it needs to be. Needed to install some special plugin into Firefox. Took me 3 days to finally get the update into the gps because the map file I downloaded several times always came up as corrupt. Had to disable firewall, disable screensaver, turn off power saver features per Garmin before I finally got a successful install. Also, the current map is still a bit outdated. I looked specifically for recently built roads that were not on my old Gps and they don't appear on the Nuvi either after the map update. Ironically though, the Gps software on my cellphone DOES show these roads.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I saw the low star ratings because of the MSN Direct shutdown in 2012. I don't see down rating several stars on a GPS because of such a accessory service which you can get other ways if you really need it. I see this as a great GPS and that is all it needs to be.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program(What's this?)
Earlier this year, my numerous trips around the Twin Cities and into Greater Minnesota convinced me that I needed additional help navigating the North Star State. So after doing some research, I obtained a base level Garmin and started using it immediately on expeditions all over the Cities and beyond. It became my indispensable companion.
This 285W reviewed here is my second Garmin unit.
The 285W is, really a base level Garmin unit similar to my first. Single point routing, text to speech turn by turn directions, accurate and detailed maps of the US and Canada, and classic Garmin reliability in getting you where you need to go. A nice widescreen (which is really the way to go with these devices, IMO). In those respects, the unit is exactly the same as my first unit, and provides a base level experience for any user. On those features alone, I would recommend this unit to anyone wanting to take the plunge into the world of having a navigation device.
The 285W does have two additional features that put it at the high end of the base level Garmin units:
Bluetooth:
The 285w is bluetooth enabled and allows for pairing with and taking on the features of a bluetooth compatible phone. While I don't like answering and using cell phones in a moving vehicle as a general rule, the bluetooth pairing worked perfectly for me. And I do admit that using the garmin to make and receive calls is a lot safer than fumbling with a handheld phone.
MSN Direct Traffic:
The traffic feature is somewhat more problematic, although this is not really Garmin's fault per se. The traffic feature on this model uses MSN Direct, and comes with a 3 month trial subscription. The subscription is fine, and I suspect that would be even more useful for those who live in more densely packed areas with larger coverage than the Twin Cities, Minnesota.
The problem is not that after 3 months you have to pay for the service (its MSN's service, not Garmin's). The problem is that MSN's service is going away at the end of 2011. Purchasing this unit and purchasing a subscription you can certainly do, but the MSN service will only last until then, and then the device will essentially be without the traffic feature, unless you purchase an additional device from Garmin that gives you access to the NAVTEQ traffic system (this is a one time purchase that replaces your charger with a receiver/charger and as of December 2009 has a list price of $120). Again, the fact that MSN's service is going away is not Garmin's fault, but its something to consider before obtaining this device. If you just want to use it for the base Garmin features and the Bluetooth, you're golden. Buy this and be happy. If you are looking for a solution that includes traffic updates reliably, I would recommend one of the Garmin units that comes with traffic such as the 760 and 770 models.
Aside from the traffic issue, I have absolutely no complaints about the product. Garmin devices such as this one simply make my driving and travel better, which is something valuable in this day and age. Period and end of the story.
This is my second Garmin, and I daresay it will not be my last.
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This review is from: Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic (Electronics)
I have owned about 6 different GPS's over the past 6 or 7 years. Several from Garmin, and one each from Tom Tom and Magellan. Overall, I would have to pick the Garmin's for the total package, and this is a nice unit, but, unfortunately, suffers from two fatal flaws. For whatever reason, Garmin has decided in the Nuvi line to eliminate the option for a Warning tone before turns, and, the Nuvi's do not show the name of the current street you are traveling one. Both of these useful features were on the earlier Streetpilot models, and that is why I prefer them. If you drive as much as I do, especially around unfamiliar roads, you know how important it is to know not only the name of the street that is your next turn, but your current street as well. I have NO idea why Garmin would eliminate this in these models. There certainly is room for it in the display. Tom Tom has it, Magellan has it, why not here?
The other distinguishing features of this model are the MSN service and the Bluetooth.
I have had MSN for a year now, and I can tell you it's better than nothing, but not much. ALL too frequently, it will show traffic where none exists, or none where traffic is. I would put it's accuracy in that department at about 50%, about the same as listening to the traffic updates on the radio. While it's nice it can route you around it if it's right, sometimes the side roads can take you longer than the traffic ensnarled road would've. The only other usefull feature with MSN is the Gas prices. There, I would put the accuracy at about 90%. There have been times when the prices have turned up wrong, and it only shows the price of Regular Unleaded and not whether that station charges higher for Credit Cards. The fact that the service is being discontinued is another thing to consider
Regarding the Bluetooth. It works well, on the surface, but the only knock is the built-in Mic. There is no noise cancelling, and callers mostly tell me I sound like I'm under water. Finding a suitable external mic has been a daunting task.
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