Nuvi 855 and voice commands?

Voice activation is both a curse and a blessing. I have an 885. Because of where the mic is on the unit, it tends to pick up any sound in the cabin and that will confuse the command. It's more easily used to verify something such as traffic, weather, gas prices or something similar which you can quickly return to the navigation screen by saying "View Map." As for doing searches or finding addresses, it's very clunky because you have to wait until the unit is ready for the next command, and if it interprets what you told it wrong, then you start over.

There is an external mic you can buy which helps. The one Garmin sells is NOT noise canceling. I understand Clarion has one that will plug into the cradle. An external mic will also help the bluetooth, but your unit doesn't have that feature.

I have read rumors that there may be some voice recognition in one or more "1800" series nuvi's (if and when they are ever released). As you probably know the 8x0, 8x5 and 5000 nuvi's are kind of odd-ball cousins to the other nuvis as they have a Linux based OS while the other nuvi's have a proprietary Garmin OS. I think the 1800 series is also supposed to be based on a Linux kernel.

I like my 855 and wish I could combine it with some of the things my 755T has that are missing on the 855 (fast refresh rate, automatic time zone, configurable data field, MP3 player that automatically pauses for navigation prompts). I also think the 855 is a litte more awkward to center and snap in the cradle than the 755T is. But otherwise the 855 has become my preferred PND.

a_user, do you have a part number for that Clarion mic?

I have had more trouble with 855 than 350/650/255 models. My old custom poi files with wav alerts locked it up exerytime I passed one. I had to convert them to mp3 sound files. It has rebooted just driving down the road. It also froze when routing on trip and I did not notice for awhile (almost missed turn). It also drains battery quickly because it only goes into sleep mode when turned off.

I use the voice commands some, but I think I am just about a distracted as trying to manually touch screen when driving.

It does have routing feature and mp3 player features, but I have not used much.

You may want to search for 855 on this site for more info. Also, refer to Gary's site:
http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/pageinfo.htm

The 855 does have a separate wireless mic that attaches to the steering wheel. I have noticed that it works fine while the cab is quiet in basic modes.

I sometime have problems locating places like Texas State Parks unless you know the address.

I have the 760 and the 85and I like them both. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Both units are updated to the latest firmware and maps (NuMaps Lifetime) and neither one has given me any grief.... yet at any rate.

Voice commands are okay... not great, not bad. It is nice to be able to return to the map with a push of a button and one command "View Map" from anywhere.

One BIG BIG advantage I have used on the 855 was the ability to exclude a specific route. It took me to the Ottawa Senators game (The one where they beat Chicago ) and allowed me to exclude the Queensway "Parking lot".

I find both are great units.

Dom

jthawkin, I have only had my 855 for about a month, but so far I have had none of the problems you identified, and I sure hope I don't. I do use .WAV alerts on my POI's and so far they seem to work OK with no freeze up's or reboots (fingers firmly crossed). I can see that the sleep mode battery drain could be an issue, but I use mine frequently enough that it has not gone below 2 bars. Just out of curiosity, have you tried a hard reset to clear up any of your problems?

Also update your firmware. This made my 855 work better.

Are you referring to the remote button (round button with steering wheel strap) that is bundled with the unit? If so, I don't believe that contains a mic.

It's not a mic, it's just the activation switch.

I love my GPS 855. It has all the bells and whistle . I may not use all of them, but they are there when I need them.

Sorry about that I'm very new at this but wanting to learn.

Hey, I spent almost 3 weeks talking to it.

Not to worry, we're a pretty forgiving bunch. And the sum of knowledge and announcements made by members to this site are simply amazing.

I came here originally for the POI downloads but get at least as much info from forum discussions. I can almost guarantee that you will hear here first any new map update or firmware update for your GPS.

Welcome!

I like my 855 a lot. I use the custom route feature, and this was important to me in selecting a new GPS.

Believe others have commented on the features that I also wish were a little better. A configurable data field in place of my current speed would be nice. I would really like to have time to next turn (it shows distance to next turn) and distance to destination (it has time to destination). Wish it had a true off switch.

The voice recognition works fine with no compliants, but I could see it improved in the future as processing capacity increases. The speed limit display is nice, lane assist it good but it is not fully implemented everywhere. I like the MP3 player and the micro SDHC slot.