5 Responses for "Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic"

1. table9 December 4th, 2009 at 6:00 pm 1

   exactly msn of discontinuous FYI its commercial service à the end of début 2011 of 2012. There you have more détaillées - the fine functions of généralistes right like n& #039; it concerns another what Garmin libéré récemment. The traffic oà ¹ I am outside I am d&amp more; #039; nouveauté. Nonfodder qu& #039; he m& #039; to never aidé à éviter an exit of the traffic. Habitually d&amp is better; #039; to ignore itinéraires alternative. Whenever j& #039; it considers the était delay how long against l& #039; itinéraire alternative without the traffic was better always d& #039; to ignore the substitution. As far as the service of MSN c& #039; très is a device expenses that tôt goes like notable more. Thus in l& #039; it buys runs this if it wants fonctionnalité basic of généralistes, but that is cautious from the traffic and it becomes account from the cession of services of MSN.
   Estimation: 2/5

2. James A. Smith December 4th, 2009 at 7:08 pm 2

   Exactly a right warning: The MSN direct dà ƒ ©clarer of Web site qu& #039; cerrarÃn the whole service downwards in 2012. Asà if d&amp buys this in view; #039; to have accà ƒ ¨s to the time, trÃfico, to pelÃculas, the flat statute, etc, soon à ƒ   this trabajarÃonly during two annà ƒ ©es, aprà ƒ ¨s that, volverÃagain in trà ƒ ¨s to prÃctico and the útil pumpkin of GPS, the glass bellboys and dressed tuna serÃn allà ƒ ©s.
   Estimacià ³ n: 1/5

3. M. Clark December 4th, 2009 at 9:55 pm 3

   I bought this unit to replace a Magellan 1400 that was stolen out of my truck. That was a middle of the road unit, but after trying this Garmin, it was an amazing let down. Sorry folks, but I found that Magellan about 10x better in overall rating in all ways that make it feel like a good value, good performance, ease of use, the map detail and POIs on the map on the Magellan.

   A couple of times, the unit had no idea where I was and it took a long time for it to figure that out. I returned it.
   Rating: 3 / 5

4. Peter Huynh December 4th, 2009 at 11:27 pm 4

   This is a great unit if you want a GPS that gets you from point A to B. Alot of the neg reviews are from the fact that the MSN traffic is going away. Well I wasn’t going to pay an extra $50/month for that service anyway. Picked this up for $129 during Amazon’s deal-of-the-day, and am very happy with it.

   Intuitive, easy to operate, not a bunch of options that gets in the way. Voice speaks street names clearly, volume is just right. Overall excellent product. There are bells and whistles as well, Bluetooth, FM tranmitter, picture, etc. But the only feature I’m using is the Bluetooth, no need for the other stuff. If you need traffic updates, get the 265WT, but from what I’ve heard, traffic accuracy is spotty, and you’ll have to deal with advertising.
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. Bob Feeser December 4th, 2009 at 11:31 pm 5

   I have the Garmin nüvi 780 4. 3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Serviceand was glad to acquire the 285WT as well. I could talk about the side by side comparison of features between the two, but the chart on this page identifies them for you already. What I want to share with you is something that I consider to be very important, and I don’t notice many covering it, and that is the sound experience. When I am driving down the highway, first and foremost on my wish list is to be enjoying the radio or CD. Having automated directions is just as important, but not at the cost of not being able to listen to music. The 780 which sells currently for around the same amount of money as the 285WT is a full featured premium version including the MP3 playback feature, whereas the 285WT does not. Both units accept the SDHC cards with the latest update, but only the 780 has music playback. The beauty of that is when you are listening to your tunes, and the voice with the directions comes on, it momentarily silences the music, and speaks the directions, and then resumes the music again; that is sweet. What is even better is that it has the audio out jack that connects to the face mount auxiliary input jack on the front of the cars stereo so I can hear the tunes, and the directions right through the cars stereo system. With steering wheel mounted audio controls I have a lot of control with the volume, but miss the ability to skip over songs, or be able to select a playlist the way an iPod does. Nevertheless it is a great way to experience the Garmin. Both units have a built in speaker, and you can play your tunes through that on the 780 the same way, or just listen to directions on the 285WT. The problem with the 285 speaking directions at normal or mildly loud music levels with the radio on is that they are both going on at the same time. It gives you a frustrated feeling that there is too much voice traffic at once, and leaves me a little annoyed. It’s like hearing 2 people talking at the same time. You can decipher both communications, but it requires more attention than you would feel comfortable with during a repeated performance. In plain words it wears on you. So the 780 eliminates that, and makes for a more enjoyable experience, since it controls the music and directions from the same source, so it has complete control. My advice is to get an 8, 16, or 32 Gig SDHC card which is the size of a postage stamp, and holds your entire MP3 collection. I also suggest that you get the SDHC that comes with the USB stick so you can easily plug that into any PC. Transcend 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card with USB 2. 0 Card Reader TS8GSDHC6-S5W

   So what does all of that come down to? Namely this, with the 780 you can go moving on down the highway with your tunes blaring, and never miss a turn. With the 285 you can enjoy your tunes, and do so at moderate listening levels. The 780 is a discontinued model so it is going for a bargain. It actually only sells for a fraction of its original price. I must admit the 285WT is a newer unit, according to Amazon’s first sale date. The 285WT does have a clearer picture. Let’s elaborate on that. Both screens are bright, and do a great job of being able to see everything, but if I had to get critical, the 285WT has whiter whites. The 780 has a manila tint to the white, and the picture is not quite as sharp. Let me emphasize not quite, because side by side you can see a very small difference, but if you saw each one of them alone, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

   Neither one of these has lane assist, and that comes in handy when you are coming over a bridge, or going through an intersection area, and want to know which lane to get in ahead of time, instead of making a last minute lane cross. It is not much of a problem most of the time.
   The audio is much like the video. The 285 has a slightly, and I mean slightly better sound coming out of the tiny speaker, but not enough difference to write home about.

   General comments: These things are not God. They are dependent on other people’s maps to navigate, and that means that they are not always perfect, but I wouldn’t want to live without one. The feeling of being able to hit the open road, and now you have an assistant that will take you anywhere you want to go, makes any GPS worth having. I am lousy with directions, and quite frankly don’t care to become a direction expert; I have better things to daydream about when I am riding along. I always like it when the person I am riding with becomes the navigator. Now I have one that is always available and doesn’t take up too much room.

   Couple of closing thoughts. The FM transmitter on the 780 isn’t very effective. I have a rear mounted radio antennae, and I can’t get the output signal to be received unless I get outside of the car, and move it within 2 feet of the antennae, so I am thankful that there is a hard wire audio output, and that I have a radio with an auxiliary input on the face. The 780 also boasts an additional hour of battery life, after all it was a unit priced in multiples of the price of the 285. They both have Bluetooth, MSN Traffic, a 4. 3″ widescreen, and Garmin’s features. To tell you the truth I wish it was a slam dunk, but it’s not. If you don’t have an aux input on your radio, and only want a GPS for a GPS then I guess the 285 is newer and a better way to go. If you want to rock out occasionally, or ride with the windows down in the summer, with an auxiliary input, the 780 is tough to beat. Hope this helps.

   Rating: 5 / 5