Garmin Nuvi 885T

Just got a Garmin Nuvi 885T. My wife has a Nuvi and I've read a ton on the GPS websites so I knew the maps, POIs and other standard features would all work great, so what I really bought this unit for was the Voice Recognition.

I'm happy to say that so far it's fantastic. The voice recognition works great. Entering my home and other addresses, set-up and options, accessing MSN and my phone have all worked great. So far anything that can be done thru the screen I've been able to do with the voice commands. Granted you can't be flying down the highway with all the windows open and the radio blaring, but this morning I was doing 30 with the roof open, the radio on low and a semi next to me and it picked my commands.

Bluetooth connection worked great even though my phone wasn't listed on the Garmin website. I've yet to talk to anybody on the phone through bluetooth but I was able to dial into my voice mail hands free and it came through loud and clear.

Lane assist is a nice feature and kicked in twice on the highway this morning with voice notification and then a picture that was dead on the actual lanes and signs.

Easy set up of everything including the MSN Direct trial subscription. Simple phone call to MSN, two minutes on the phone, no credit card or cancellation necessary and it was working in 15 minutes. Option to purchase an additional 6 mos for $20 or for $99 go thru 2014 is valid until trial expiration.
I'll let you know how the traffic and other features work out as time goes by

Like all Garmins FM transmission isn't the greatest, but I knew that going in.

Very happy feeling that the extra money I paid to get the voice recognitions was actually worth it. Amazon had it for $399, but just happened to check Best Buy yesterday and they had it on sale for same price so I got member rewards and extended return policy.

I'll provide an update after the new toy sensation wears off, and my initial joy over the voice recognition working so well isn't clouding my judgement on all the other features.

Congrats on your latest "toy". I have the 680 and its great fun.

How are you going to mount it? Here's how I did mine.

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26255

Garmin Nuvi's are a good choice. I've used TomTom and I think it's hard to follow road changes in areas where there are multiple roads. I bought my wife the Nuvi 765T and she loves it.

Over all I think the of all the Navi units I've used (at least 5 different brands) the Honda one is the easiest to use though, two downfalls are that it's not portable and updates are extremely expensive.

I am thinking of getting a Garmin 660 Zumo for my motorcycle. Though I have been so busy with work for the last 6 months I haven't had much time to ride.

755t here. Had no need for bluetooth and didn't want to hassle moving the voice button every time i swapped vehicles with it. If it was going to stay in one vehicle, i'd have gotten an 8XXt for sure!

I'm also with the 755T. One thing that you can do (and is cool), plug your GPS into the AUX port and hear the voices through the speakers. You can also use the SD card to play mp3's along with the GPS commands through the speakers.

Downfall, you can not listen to the radio or CDs at the same time. If you get a 2-1 splitter, you can plug the GPS and XM radio into the AUX port and enjoy both

Congrats on your latest "toy". I have the 680 and its great fun.

How are you going to mount it? Here's how I did mine.

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26255

E Piph,

Thanks for the feed. I really like the look and location of your mount. I was going to discuss mounts with guys at the local truck customs shop, but now I think I'll just show them your thread.

I guess I'm lucky the wife already has a nuvi so I don't have to swap it in and out of vehicles, although I'm a little worried that once she sees how the voice recognition works she may want to swap:eek:

Costco.com has the Garmin Nuvi 885 on sale from 5 Jun-5 July for $249.99 (that's $100 off), for anyone who's interested. I think that the 885 differs from the 885T in that it doesn't have a traffic feature, but that's just my guess. You might not need that anyway if the price is right, which I think it is, but that's JMHO. Hope this helps someone......

One thing with Costco is that you can try it for 90-days and if you don't like it you can return it to ANY Costco store. That way you can give it a good test to see if it fits your needs. (Sorry for the double post on this but I forgot to mention that in my first post).

Costco.com has the Garmin Nuvi 885 on sale from 5 Jun-5 July for $249.99 (that's $100 off), for anyone who's interested. I think that the 885 differs from the 885T in that it doesn't have a traffic feature, but that's just my guess. You might not need that anyway if the price is right, which I think it is, but that's JMHO. Hope this helps someone......

Hey RotoRay,

Costco actually has the 855 for $249.99 (really good price) not the 885T. The differences are no Bluetooth, and you have to purchase the traffic receiver, but you can get this for about $90 and that includes a 1 year subscription. I had looked at this but wanted the Bluetooth.

Another thing to note, is that if buying a traffic receiver will cost you a subscription after one year, you may just want to buy a model that already has it. They are all lifetime traffic included. No more subscriptions. There's some small advertisements that pop up here and there but you don't even hardly notice them.

780 here and I love mine too. I was a former Magellan user and other than the voice, Garmin wins hands down.

Thanks for the feed. I really like the look and location of your mount. I was going to discuss mounts with guys at the local truck customs shop, but now I think I'll just show them your thread.


Bitman, rather than pay 29.99 to proclip for their nuvi mount, buy from here and save $$.

http://www.semsons.com/amstmo.html

I won a 205W the other day in a golf tournament. (oddly enough, I suck at golf but apparently have a knack for 30 foot putts....)

I tried trading it in to Walmart for a 265WT and paying the difference but just as i was about to have a done deal, a crabby manager put a stop to that. With no receipt they couldn't verify it came from Walmart and thus wouldn't take it back.

I understand, but i'm bummed. Oh well...