Garmin Nüvi 880 Reviewed

The official Garmin blog links to the first review of the nüvi 880 in PC Magazine. The nüvi 880 is the latest and greatest in Garmin's nüvi GPS line, offering speech recognition for the first time. PC Magazine is definitely impressed:

Its well-designed speech recognition feature is the real showstopper, though. Frankly, I'm hooked. This is the GPS device I want on my windshield, and therefore it earns our Editors' Choice.

The nüvi 880 packs the features in, with a 4.3" high-resolution WQVGA screen, bluetooth connectivity, remote control, and the much touted speech-recognition. The Garmin nüvi 880 will be released in late May and is available for pre-order now.

Free 2009 Maps for Recent Nüvi Purchases

At the Amazon.com GPS discussion forums, user DarkBeer posted a response from Garmin after asking, "if I purchase a nüvi 360 today, would I be able to get the 2009 maps for free." Nathan T, a product support specialist gave him a definitive answer:

Thank you for contacting Garmin International.
I'm happy to help you with this. Yes it [applies] to the 360 as well and the update disk has begun to ship to our dealers so you would qualify to get it for free if you purchase it today. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.
With Best Regards,

Nathan T
Product Support Specialist
2nd Shift Automotive Team
Garmin International

This is good news for anyone looking to purchase a new Garmin GPS, as you won't have to worry about having outdated maps in a couple months.

Garmin Nüvi 370 Unboxing

The box the nüvi 370ships in:

The front of the box:

Opening the box:

Contents of the box:

The included leather case:

Size comparison:

The back of the unit:

The side of the unit, showing the SD card slot, mini-USB connector, and Headphone jack:

The nüvi 370 in action:

Top 10 Amazon.com Nüvi Bestsellers

Here's a list of the top 10 bestselling Garmin nüvi's on Amazon.com:

1. Garmin nüvi 660 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
2. Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
3. Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
4. Garmin nüvi 200 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
5. Garmin nüvi 260 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
6. Garmin nüvi 650 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
7. Garmin nüvi 200W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
8. Garmin nüvi 760 Portable GPS Automobile Navigator
9. Garmin nüvi 670 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
10. Garmin nüvi 250W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator

New Garmin Nuvi 610 Review

Rosemary Haworth over at PC Advisor has a new review up for the European-exclusive nuvi 610. She finds some faults entering locations and the processing power of the device, but gives it an overall 3.5 star rating:

"The Garmin Nuvi 610 satnav was slower and less responsive than some we've tried, but it covers all bases, feature-wise and is a solid model."

The nuvi 610 has a 4.3 inch widescreen display, integrated Bluetooth, and an FM traffic receiver for life traffic updates. Head on over to PC Advisor to check out the full review. The equivalent North American version is the nuvi 660 and is available with maps of North America, Europe, or Australia.