GPS for Travelers

Garmin nuvi 850's Speech Recognition

With their nüvi series of personal navigation devices (PNDs)--that is, a vehicle navigator that also slips into a pocket as a handheld GPS--Garmin set the benchmark for the current generation of GPSes and continue to raise the bar.

The key breakthrough on the Garmin nuvi 850 is speech recognition. Using the steering wheel mounted remote simply speak menu commands, category names, and even addresses and business names. Reviews have complemented Garmin on getting the voice recognition right--cnet said "We were blown away at the accuracy of the speech recognition, the range of features you can use it with, and its overall ease of use."

What is a travel GPS?

Traditionally a GPS receiver was a rugged tool for explorers, soldiers, and surveyors. As the technology started to move towards consumers, both as handhelds and as car "sat nav" systems, market leader Garmin saw an opportunity and brought out the first nüvi models announced in September 2005.

Since then the category has exploded, and with good reason. The nüvi not only bridged the gap between techie GPS users and the general public, but also that between handheld and vehicle units. A nüvi, just a little bigger than a deck of playing cards, works just as well on the dash of your car guiding you through the freeways and streets of a new metropolis as it does in your hand as your walk through the lanes and alleys of a European old town. And, unlike a built-in car satellite navigation system stuck in your car back home, you can put your nüvi on the dash of a rental car and use it when you really need it, in a strange city far away.

A travel GPS adds a lot of new features (optional on some models) that had generally been absent from handheld GPSes, including:
- 3-D view of street maps
- Bluetooth connection to your cell phone
- Real time traffic information to route you around congestion
- MP3 music and audio book player
- Travel guides and language translators

A nüvi will be there for you when you need it most.

Garmin nuvi 760 and 260 highly rated

We already know how good the Garmin nuvi 760 and nuvi 260 GPS personal navigators are, so we're not surprised to see them come out top in a major consumer review, according to reports at GPSTrackLog and other news sites.