5. Nuvi 880's Main Menu

Figure 35: Garmin nuvi 880's Main Menu

When you first power on the nuvi 880, the Main Menu appears, shown above.

1. GPS satellite strength (Tip: touching and holding this icon brings up a more detailed satellite page)
2. Bluetooth status
3. Battery status
4. Current time (Tap to change time settings)
5. Where to? - Tap to begin entering a destination
6. View Map
7. Phone Icon - this icon only appears when the nuvi 880 is paired with a Bluetooth compatible cell phone. Tap this icon to make a call
8. Volume
9. Tools menu

Garmin's menu is clean, uncluttered, and easy to understand. The text is large enough to be easily read from the drivers seat.

6. Map Screen

Figure 36: nuvi 880's Map Screen

The map screen is displayed automatically when navigating to an address. The route the GPS has calculated is marked with a magenta line, as shown above in figure 36. The map screen can also be manually invoked by tapping "View Map" from the Main Menu.

Figure 37: nuvi 880's Map Screen

Garmin has one of the best designed map screens of any GPS. Information is displayed in a clean way and the text is large enough to be read from the driver's seat.

1. Text Bar - This text bar displays the current navigation instruction. Tapping on this bar opens the turn list (a list of all up-coming turns)
2. Zoom Out - Zoom out the map display
3. Speed Limit - When available, the nuvi 880 displays the speed limit for the current road you are driving on
4. Vehicle icon - This customizable icon represents your vehicle on the map. Tapping on the vehicle icons allows you to save your current location (even if there's not a valid street address at your location)
5. Arrival Time - Displays your estimated arrival time. When not en route to a destination, your current speed is displayed here. Tapping this icon opens the Trip Information page
6. Menu - Tap the Menu icon to return to the Menu page
7. Turn In - Displays the distance to the next turn. Tapping this icon displays the Next Turn page (a detailed view of the upcoming turn) and repeats the last voice instruction
8. Highlighted Route - The highlighted route is "painted", or marked, in magenta color
9. Zoom In - Zooms in on the map display

Figure 38: Trip Information Screen

Tapping on Arrival Time from the Map screen brings up the trip information page, shown above. This screen displays a running counter of various statistics about the "trip", or since it was last reset.

Figure 39: Turn List

The Turn List is a list of all upcoming maneuvers. The turn list can be viewed by tapping on the text bar (the horizontal green bar across the top of the Map Screen). Each turn can be selected to view a more detailed view of the turn, as shown below.

Figure 40: Next Turn Page

The "Next Turn" page displays a detailed view of an upcoming turn. This split-screen view shows a 2-dimensional drawing of the turn on the left side of the screen, and a text description of the turn on the right side. Also displayed are the distance and time to the turn.

Tapping the up/down arrows in the lower-right portion of the screen cycles through the upcoming turns, one at a time. Voice prompts are also announced as each turn is viewed.

Figure 41: Speed Limit Indicator

When the nuvi 880 knows the posted speed limit for the road you are traveling, the speed limit is displayed on the map screen, as shown above.This feature can also be disabled if you prefer not to see it, although I found it very useful during my testing -- especially during long highway stretches between posted speed limit signs.

Garmin's map screen is well implemented and carefully designed. It is easy to read and does a good job displaying key information without being cluttered or confusing. For example, notice how the green information bar across the top of the map screen mimics the color and font used on actual highway signs. Also notice how the angle of the 3D map makes it easy to see upcoming maneuver, and how the magenta highlighted route is easy to see.

The map screen is one of the most important aspects of any GPS, and the nuvi 880 gets it right.

Figure 42: Automatic Map Scaling Feature

As you approach an upcoming maneuver, the nuvi 880 automatically adjusts the map scale, zooming in closer as the turn approaches. Once you've successfully made the turn, the map automatically zooms back out to show more distance.

Take a look at the two map screens shown above in figure 42. Notice in the left image that the nuvi has automatically zoomed the map to a street-level view in order to clearly illustrate the next turn. Having completed the maneuver, the next turn isn't for another 4 miles, so the nuvi slowly zooms back out to show more of the map, as shown in the map on the right side in figure 42.

Automatic map scaling works well on the nuvi 880. Scale adjustments are made smoothly over a few seconds and feel logical as you drive.