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Garmin Nuvi 855 Reviews

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Garmin Nuvi 855

Garmin Nuvi 855 Rating


Average rating: (4.5 based on 28 ratings).
Lowest rating: 2 | Highest rating: 5
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93% of our reviewers recommend this item.
 
 
 


Renald
Terebonne,Quebec
January 26, 2010
 
NICE GPS

Purchased this gps for my wife she love it small and fast reading the map

Pros: fast
Recommend: YES

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Canamgi
Calgary
January 24, 2010
 
WORTH WAITING FOR.

My 3rd Garmin and I love it. All I could want. Much faster start and much more detail. I can go anywhere. Hands free is the only way to go.

Pros: can be used with fm
Cons: voice recognition has trouble when sound off.
Recommend: YES

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Al
Calgary, AB
January 18, 2010
 
MY FIRST GPS

I especially like the voice activated navigation. It only takes a quick galance to call up next menue or screen.

Cons: volume could be a little louder.
Recommend: YES

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Dale
Thessalon, On
January 10, 2010
 
EXCELLENT AUTOMOTIVE GPS

This is a terrific GPS, very user friendly, easy to use, with a very quick response, excellent display and very easy to read while driving.

Pros: very easy to use with excellent results
Cons: none
Recommend: YES

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Earl.
Tumbler Ridge BC.
January 7, 2010
 
VERY GOOD AUTOMOTIVE GPS

Have not used it much yet, but tried it out in Saskatchewan. It is very accurate and even told me where to park at a hospital in a small town and which way to go to the entrance doors. Voice recognition works alright if you are not using the radio or other people are talking. Speaker volume could be louder. Otherwise I am very impressed with the unit and would definitely recommend this unit to other customers.

Pros: voice recognition is great
Cons: speaker should be louder
Recommend: YES

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tres bon service et rapidite pour envoyer commande
laval q.c
December 25, 2009
 
TRES BON CHOIX

mon premier gps tres heureux pour cette achat les fontion sont tres bonne me dirige exactemment ou je veux

Pros: pour le prix tres bonne achat
Recommend: YES

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George
Ottawa, Ontario
December 9, 2009
 
NUVI 855 TALK TO IT !!!!

This GPS distinguishes itself by the fact that it has hands free voice commanded functions. Now you can use the GPS in the car even if new laws prevent you from touch screen controls while driving!! The unit works straight from the box .

Cons: ubject to touch screen lockup but garmin offers f
Recommend: YES

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Digger
Caglary, AB
November 16, 2009
 
GREAT GARMIN

Used this unit for the first time in San Diego for a vacation. The lane assist works great on the busy freeways. Haven't tried the voice recognition yet.

Pros: great package, quick satellite pick-up
Cons: doesn't take a sd card
Recommend: YES

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grumpy_north
Waterloo Ontario
November 14, 2009
 
GREAT GPS

This purchase is my 4th Garmin gps and I am very happy with the unit. It is more comprehensive mapping and roads. I was quite surprised the even the bush road into our hunting camp was shown on this latest model. I am very impressed. I must also state GPS City does an excellent job, handling orders, shipping and backing up the products they sell.

Pros: the lane assist get you in the right lane early
Cons: gps voice is a bit weaker than my older models
Recommend: YES

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Tony
Scarborough, ON
November 11, 2009
 
MIXED IMPRESSION

The antenna of my trusty 360 died and I needed something to replace it with. I was going to get the 765T, but end up with 855 due to lowered price during Thankgiving weekend. Upon receiving the 855, I quickly restored my favorites and POIs, also added a few voices, all went well. However, when I try to simulate a route while on battery power, the system restart itself shortly during the simulation. It happened not once but 3 times in a row. I charged the GPS overnight and it seems to be fine now. I also had one instance where the GPS will not turn on after I left it in my car's glove box for too long. I had to remove the battery and put it in cradle, then it start again. The battery life seems to be shorter than my 360, which I could still leave in glove box for weeks and still able to work. I guess this design on 855 is to speed up the boot up time of the GPS, which is good for stop and go. The voice control is nice and maybe necessary due to new Ontario law. I am still learning how to better "talk" to 855. It seems to like numbers instead of words, and it take each voice command quite slowly. So, I don't understand why they can't put more buttons on the remote and solve all the voice related issue altogether. Screen is bright and clear. Sound seems to be as loud and clear as my 360, but audio quality degrade if I put it higher than 80%. Not too sure if lane assist is useful. The lane assist screen came up a few times while I drove on 401. I don't miss the bluetooth and traffic(uses special power plug). One other feature I looked at really carefully was the mount and power adapter. I really liked the standard mini-usb mount on my 360, but I guess Garmin need to add more functions on the mount so they now uses a proprietary connection. Well, at least they use the same mount on various models. I hope they use the same mount on my next Garmin, so I don't need could reuse the accessories.

Pros: voice control, cost effective, good interface
Cons: battery, slow vc, even cheaper now...
Recommend: NO OPINION

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DarrenB
Calgary
November 10, 2009
 
VOICE RECOGNITION IS GREAT, BUT SOME SHORTCOMINGS

I really like the voice recognition feature much more than I had originally anticipated. That has sold me on this GPS. But there are a few very annoying shortcomings with this unit, as well. The speaker volume is ridiculously low, even at full volume. It has an option to play through your FM radio, but of course, the FM signal is also ridiculously weak (so much so that neighboring vehicles with FM-iPod transmitters routinely overpower my GPS). There is no Bluetooth in this model, but I would not use it anyways. Overall, good unit for the price, but only if you like the voice recognition feature (which I do love).

Pros: voice recognition is top notch quality
Cons: audio output (speaker or fm) is very weak
Recommend: YES

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jc
St. Catharines, ON
November 10, 2009
 
855

Enjoy using it. Am still learning. The manual could give better and more detailed "how to's".

Pros: clear and concise directions
Cons: manual lack detail and clarity
Recommend: YES

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vkvhawk
Chalk River, Ontario
October 14, 2009
 
EXCELLENT

i've had great luck with this product. The voice recognition software is top notch, its easy to use and picks up satellite signal quickly. great product.

Pros: mentioned above
Recommend: YES

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Frank
Welland, Ontario
October 9, 2009
 
GOOD PRODUCT.

My first gps and it's worked perfectly so far. Amazing to be taken right up someones driveway! I can be guided to an address in a strange town, not know where I am, and be guided right back home again. Fantastic! The voice tranmission system via radio is great as without it the voice prompts would be useless for me.

Recommend: YES

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Sylvain
Ottawa
September 26, 2009
 
GET ME THERE BUT...

I have been using my Nuvi 855 for several weeks now and I'm happy to say to does what it says on the tin. I give it a destination and the Nuvi gets me there most of the time -). The voice control works reasonably well as long as the radio is off and the passengers are quiet. Voice control is kind of neat but in most cases it is much faster to click through menus manually.

Lane assist is a gimmick. I'm not sure if the feature is more useful in the US. Here in Ontario the feature is laughable. I drove from Ottawa to Waterloo Ontario and even with all the interchanges I drove through lane assist only appeared once east-west and twice west-east. That was with the latest firmware and maps!

The 401 is arguably the busiest highway in Canada, and the 855 managed to get it wrong. East to West crossing Toronto the GPS kept directing me to travel on the collectors. West to East the GPS made even less sense with the GPS directing me from the express to collectors and back again several times.

My wife's Nuvi 255 with old maps manages to get the 401 right. I'm not sure why the 855 performed so poorly on the 401. It had nothing to do with traffic as the 855 is not equipped with a traffic receiver.

I have also had two strange occurrences where the Nuvi 855 rebooted itself and the sound turned itself off. In both cases the sound could only be restored by pulling the battery and restarting the unit.

I'm a big fan of Garmin. I have been using their GPS units since 2001. I have mixed feelings about the 855. It works, but it has a few annoying issues. From a purely functional perspective the unit works. Routing on the 401 (I'm sure other places as well) is somewhat disappointing. Lane assist appears all but useless at least in the 401 corridor. If your shopping for a GPS don't make your decision on the lane assist function. I got this unit for a reasonable price so I'm still happy with my purchase in spite of the modest shortcomings.

Pros: voice control, clear display, easy to use.
Cons: lane assist a gimmick, routing on the 401 poor.
Recommend: YES

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Al Marshall
Russell, Mb.
September 1, 2009
 
I LIKE THE NUVI GPS FOR EASE OF USE

I previously owned a Nuvi 750 and went to the Nuvi 855 for the lane change assistance.

Pros: lane change feature
Cons: security sometimes clears with one digit
Recommend: YES

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Roman
Chertsey, QC
August 11, 2009
 
SUPERB

What more can I ask for? It was exactly as advertised. Worked great right out of the box. Map updated very easily thru Garmin's website. A few days after I updated the map to 2010.1, I received a message that 2010.2 was available at a cost of around 100$ I believe. I passed on that one but may go with the lifetime updates in the near future. Voice recognition is superb and the FM Transmitter works well with my car audio's system (Taurus) meaning I can listen to 100's of mp3's thru the car's speakers, very ingenious. Many of its options I will probably never use, but I believe this product is great value for your $$$. I would recommend this unit and GPSCity without even thinking twice. Great people on the phone and delivery was as stated with tracking number, what more can I ask for. I even took out the extended 2 year warranty on this unit with an extra battery and carrying case. Highly recommended.

Recommend: YES

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bobteri
Cranbrook, BC
August 3, 2009
 
NUVI 855

This is my first gps. I received it in 3 days from my order and it works great, only problem i had was registering it as i only had shaw light i had to get high speed to down load the newest maps. The voice allows you to keep your eyes on the road while driving.

Recommend: YES

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DR
Texas
July 30, 2009
 
GREAT AUTOMOTIVE GPS

Easy to use. Works great out of the box. Speech recognition and lane assist are very helpful, especially when navigating in vehicle alone.

Recommend: YES

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MJ
Ottawa, ON
June 30, 2009
 
GREAT UNIT

Simple to use. Works great. Clear and easy to read screen. Suction cup that came with unit has excellent grip it has been on my windshield for about 2 weeks and hasn't moved at all. Easy system and map updates available through Garmin.com website. Unit worked as advertised right out of the box. No complaints here! Recommended.

Recommend: YES

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ALan
London
June 22, 2009
 
GREAT GPS

worked great right out of the box

Pros: easy to use
Cons: volume could be louder
Recommend: YES

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csonni
Goose Bay, Labrador
June 22, 2009
 
BUGGY UNITS

Had to return 3 units due to the GarminDevice.xml file always getting corrupted which in turn kept the computer from recognizing the device. Finally decided to connect only to my Mac and, so far so good. For some reason, this particular Garmin doesn't like going between Mac and WIndows. The 4th unit kept crashing until I updated the Voices. It also came with a bright green stuck pixel on the lower left of the screen. I'm not going to pay any more return shipping costs so I'm going to ahve to live with the stuck pixel. Try TomTom.

Pros: good tech support.
Cons: buggy, volume not the best
Recommend: NO

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Don
Mount Forest, ON
June 16, 2009
 
A GREAT UNIT

The first unit that I purchased seized up while trying to register it by computer. The replacement (under warranty) works fine, very easy to set up and use. The speech recognition program is great and I use it often. The only complaint I have is the off/on switch which is very difficult and frustrating to operate. Surely the maker can come up with something better than this.

Pros: speech recognition
Cons: the on/pfff switch
Recommend: YES

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Robert
Deep River, ON
May 21, 2009
 
REVIEW OF GARMIN NUVI 855

Based on one month of use our family has found the Nuvi 855 relatively easy to use manually or by voice. Although the unit is good for calculating driving instructions from point A to point B it is not intended to take the place of paper maps which give an overall large-scale picture of the general layout. The unit appears to have problems finding addresses in some rural areas, likely due the provided incorrect town/city/municipality names which is not always certain. The street can be found by driving around to visually locate the street and it then may appear on the nuvi display but the nuvi may yet fail to find an inputted address on that street (likely due to not knowing what city the nuvi believes to be associated with that address).It is necessary to input exact details as known by the unit - for instance, meadowbrook is not the same as the two word equivalent meadow brook one of these addresses will not be found by the nuvi. Points of interest are sadly lacking in many rural areas and searches need to be manually inputted (as opposed to voice commands). The nuvi 855 is designed to work best in cities and large population centres where information obtained by Garmin is usually up-to-date.

Pros: easy to use and hands-free operation is important.
Cons: not always accurate in rural areas
Recommend: YES

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Crankshaft45
Ortonville, MI
February 26, 2009
 
EXCELENT TRAVEL COMPANION.

The unit is great for planing trips. It is easy to follow, and has the ability to give accommodations and phone numbers at your destination.

Pros: easy to read, easy to program.
Cons: havn't found anything bad to say about it yet.
Recommend: YES

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Rob
Portland OR
February 11, 2009
 
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 think Tom Tom would have been a better choice. Good luck.

Pros: voice recognition
Cons: micro sd and on/off switch - bad volume
Recommend: NO

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