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Nuvi 855: Outstanding Value, despite some shortcomings
This is an unusually long product review, but I just couldn't help but brag about the Nuvi 855, as well as express several complaints about Garmin shortcomings.
Pros and Cons of the Garmin Nuvi 855
PROs: Custom routing; ease of setting unit options; responsiveness to my spoken commands; quick map scrolling via finger movement; Lane Assistance arrows are helpful; map detail is better than on the 755/765; place names appear on screen as you drive; extensive and easy use-to-use Poin...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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06/11/2009
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97%
(286 of 294) Users Found This Review Helpful
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May be worse than the 7x5 models
If you assume the 8x5 models are automatically better than the 7x5 models, you may be surprised depending on what features are important to you.
The most impressive feature of the 855 is the voice command. Many voice commands, such as "volume up", can be done from any screen. Doing "volume up" on the touch screen would have involved 5 presses: "menu", "volume", "+", "back", & "view map". You do have to keep an eye on the screen and speak only after you see the green symbol on the u...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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05/10/2009
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95%
(142 of 149) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Excellent Unit - answers for "Problems"
This GPS works exactly as expected. The remote button attaches easily to the steering wheel. Wait until the green indicator shows up on the screen. It has an excellent voice recognition interface, and the advanced GPS features that I want. This is really helpful when you are traveling alone and can't stop. You don't need to use the touch screen
It reads street, and highway lane names.. The where am I ?, Point of interest (POI) features are very useful. It stores location when you remove ...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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05/20/2009
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95%
(40 of 42) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Voice recognition is a must-have for GPS!
I bought the 855 as an upgrade to my StreetPilot C550. I was reluctant to buy it, based on the less-than-stellar reviews on here, but after using it for a week, I have no complaints at all. Maybe that's due to the fact that I'm upgrading from the ancient 550, and not the 7X5 series. The other reviewers are right, the on/off switch can be awkward, and you need a fingernail to push it over to the left. But that is such a minor complaint, in my opinion. Also, some people say they like the smoo...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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05/19/2009
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94%
(84 of 89) Users Found This Review Helpful
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855 has "buggy" software
I am an experienced Garmin Nuvi consumer. I have had a Nuvi 350 for over two years, and it has been a good GPS unit. I got the Nuvi 855 for its voice activation and lane arrows prior to each turn at the top of the unit. Out of the box, the unit did not work properly...a "battery charging" message would pop up on the screen whenever the screen was touched between commands (the Nuvi has a touch screen) indicating it was charging, between screen changes. This happened even when the battery was fu...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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07/07/2009
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85%
(17 of 20) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Just OK, a couple big flaws but no worse than other brands
Overall, the thing works. When you consider what an amazing thing any GPS is, the complaints seem small, but here they are:
I HATE that this unit displays your speed constantly instead of being able to select to display your distance to your destination as on my older Garmin Streetpilot. Doesn't every car have a speedometer? Why in the world would I need my GPS to tell me how fast I'm going? I don't like have to touch the screen to have it show my distance to destination, then aga...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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08/08/2009
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81%
(9 of 11) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Garmin RUSHED this to market and missed the mark
I sold my nuvi 750 to purchase the nuvi 855.
Garmin changed the on/off switch from something you could use to something you have to fumble to turn on and off.
I didn't think they would dump the SD memory card, so I didn't give it a thought when I bought the 855.
Garmin switched to a Micro SD memory.
The volume on the 855 is lower than the nuvi 750, even on max.
Garmin told me that the nuvi 855 included life time maps. NOT TRUE. You have to pay another $119.00.
I th...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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02/11/2009
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79%
(70 of 88) Users Found This Review Helpful
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The jury is still out on this one
I call myself upgrading from the nuvi 760 to the 855. From day one, I can agree with Mr. Perry about the Off/On switch. With me upgrading to the later model, I was a lot surprised that the 855 did not come with the FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) or Bluetooth. The jury is still out with this one.
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Review Date:
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03/25/2009
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70%
(29 of 41) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Major features absent, broken or crippled
The feature I bought this GPS unit for is a fraud. They advertise everywhere that this unit has lane guidance and junction view but it does not have it for Seattle. Seattle is apparently not a big enough city to have it enabled.
I was looking forward to being able to send the sound through the radio, but the built in FM transmitter is too weak to show up on any of the clear frequencies I tried.
The speaker is small and weak which defeats the point of an mp3 player.
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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07/21/2009
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70%
(12 of 17) Users Found This Review Helpful
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Too many flaws on this unit ....not worth a buy....
Currently I have the 780 model...reasons why I would not get this model:
>>no bluetooth, no mp3 player auto start, no 3-d buildings, no smooth scrolling<<< A small and not obvious feature in the 780 model BUT NOT in the 855 model is the mp3 player auto start. Think of it like a cd player in your car that would not turn off. For some people like me, my music is always on in my car. SO I need the music to be always on even if the gps powered OFF and ON. This way I don't have to al...
[Garmin 0100057731 GPS Navigator & Personal Travel Assistant w/ Speech Recognition review can be read at Amazon.com]
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Reviewed by:
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Review Date:
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05/14/2009
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28%
(11 of 38) Users Found This Review Helpful
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