Nuvi 850 and 880

Very nice. Can't wait to see them in stores.

Hi Nick
Gosh those prices make me wonder.. Wow lots of toys in one box, $1000.00 for a gps. Not for me thanks, however here is some more info for the two units.

Here is a link to them:
http://www8.garmin.com/ces/nuvi800/index.html

$759 to $1,010 at 42 stores Nuvi 880
http://tinyurl.com/4lpeum

$607 to $800 at 43 stores Nuvi 850
http://tinyurl.com/4ofqon
Bob

Assuming the Voice Activation Navigation really works well, it's a very nice unit BUT...

*The map update issue is still there: the "new" maps are obsolete even as you are installing them.

*MSN Direct's gasoline prices are not that accurate.

*Even though Garmin still has the best routing algorithms out there, you've got some competitors who are coming out with some really nice GPS's. Garmin is still Garmin, but is it REALLY worth paying over $1000 for an 880 in today's market?

*Maybe if Garmin concentrated their efforts on maybe 6 models instead of over 30, they could save enough in production costs to lower their prices to something more realistic on the high-end units.

*Maybe if Garmin looked at what the competition was putting out feature-wise and did some focus groups, they'd discover what Dash did: people don't care about currency converters. If I want to listen to audio books or MP3's, I'll get an adapter to listen to them through my car stereo, not Garmin's little speaker; especially on MP3's.

Give me a Nuvi with continuous map updating, a voice command system I don't have to repeat myself 5 times to be understood over the road noise, real-time traffic with true multiple detour capability, and give me the ability to program in my own preferred routes, and a hands-free that is usable and, when blue-tooth is enabled, won't try to steal the connection away from my Oakley Razorwire's hands-free and THAT's a Nuvi I would like. Get rid of all the other stuff or make one model for the .02% of Garmin users that actually want it.

And don't make me sit for an hour doing comparisons on 30 different models from $199 to over $1000 just to figure out which one best suits my needs...BEFORE I have to go and compare that against the latest from TomTom and some others to see what is my best option.

Garmin needs to be more consumer-friendly, realize that the market has changed, "borrow" some of their competitors better ideas, and lose some of their "luxury" features, except for maybe one highpriced "it has all the bells and whistles" unit.

The new GPS user doesn't know crap about routing..in the $200-$500 range, they're going to look at features. If it gets them where their going in the end, they'll never know Garmin could have done it better.

Garmin needs to focus.

Here are some reviews of the new Garmin 850:
http://tinyurl.com/5qqkgf

thanks for the info

In looking at Garmin 850 and 880 and comparing these two units, Garmin say the 850 does not have blue-tooth. But in looking at the ad in Circuit City, they advertise that the 850 does have blue-tooth. Does anyone know the facts about the difference between the two units?

The Circuit city ad now correctly states bluetooth is not available on the 850
.....and the price is changed as well.

Here is the link to compare the difference between the two.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare.do?cID=134&compare=compa...

Fry's is currently selling the new Nuvi 880 according to their Ad dated 6/27/08 for 999.99 if anyone is interested in being the first to get one

But it is too much money for a GPS.

They were showing the voice commands, of course.

Loadingzone, I agree with your well-stated observations and recommendations. That's why giving advice on this board or on any other board can be tricky - it all depends on the model that the user is working with. And even for a given model, it may depend on whether the unit is a widescreen or not.