7. Entering an Address

The nuvi 880 allows you to input a destination address a number of different ways, including via speech recognition. We'll look at the speech recognition in more detail later in the review, focusing here on the standard touch-screen input method for entering a street address. In the following example, I'll enter a destination address in New York City: 135 Central Park West.

Figure 43: Accessing the Where to? Menu

It doesn't get much simpler than this: after powering on the nuvi 880, the Main Menu screen appears, as shown above in figure 42. From here, you can view the map, search for an address, adjust system settings (wrench icon), or adjust the volume (speaker icon).

Also notice that the Main Menu displays the GPS signal strength, Bluetooth icon, battery level, and current time. Outside temperature is also displayed if you are located in an area of MSN Direct coverage (and the 12v MSN Direct antenna/power plug is connected).

To begin entering a destination address, tap "Where to?" from the Main Menu.

Figure 44: Entering a Street Address as a Destination

Most of the time you'll probably be driving to a street address (as opposed to a business name or intersection). After tapping on Where to? from the Main Menu, tap on Address to begin inputting a street address.

Figure 45: Entering the State

The nuvi 880 automatically chooses the State you are currently located in (Connecticut, in this case).

If your destination address is in a State other than your current location, you'll need to tap on "Change State/Province", as shown in figure 44.

Figure 46: Entering the State Name

After tapping on "Change State/Province", the nuvi 880 prompts you to enter the name of the State or province of the destination address.

Spelling the State is straight forward. Use the on-screen keyboard to spell out the city name; one enough letters have been entered, the nuvi GPS will automatically produce a list of possible matching States to choose from.

Figure 47: Choosing a State Name From the Results List

I'm entering a destination address in New York State, so I type out N-E-W-space, and the nuvi 880 automatically produces a short list of matching States (just one, in this case) to choose from. I tap on "New York" and continue on to the next step.

The nuvi 880 feels fast and responsive, allowing me to enter the city name as quickly as I can type, without any annoying delays or sluggishness.

However, I did find myself wishing that the text entry system was more like Magellan's QuickSpell system, which dims out invalid letters as you type, only allowing you to press keys that would spell a valid city name. TomTom also has a similar text entry system. These systems reduce the likelihood of misspellings and make text entry generally easier and faster, and would be a welcome addition to the Garmin nuvi product line.

Figure 48: Entering A City Name

Now that the nuvi 880 knows we'll be entering an address in New York State, we're ready to tell it what city our destination address is in.

If you know the name of the city your destination address is located in, tap on "Spell City" to enter the name. If you're not sure what city the destination address is in, tapping "Search All" lets you search the entire State.

I'll tap on "Spell City" to continue.

Figure 49: Spelling the City Name

Entering the city name is identical to the process for entering the State name; once enough letters have been entered the nuvi automatically produces a list of results.

Also, just like the State entry screen, tapping on the folder icon in the upper left corner displays a short list of recently found city names.

Figure 50: Selecting the City

After tapping M-A-N on the on-screen keyboard, nuvi produces the results list, shown above. I'll tap "Manhattan, NY" to continue. Note that nuvi would have accepted either "New York" or "Manhattan" as valid city names.

Figure 51: Entering the House/Building Number

Like most GPS units, the nuvi 880 asks you for the house number before the street name, which some people find confusing at first.

One downside of entering the house number before the street name is that the nuvi cannot list the valid range of house numbers on a given street, as Magellan's GPS units do. For example, if you're trying to get to a house on "South Main Street", Magellan's GPS units will ask for the street name first, then show you the valid range of houses along South Main Street, allowing you to pick a house number even if you're not sure of the exact address.

Figure 52: Entering the Street Name

The final step in entering the destination address is the street name. In this test I'm entering an address on "Central Park West" in New York City, so I start to spell out C-E-N-T-R-A-L...

When entering a street name, you only enter the main portion of the street name, and allow the GPS to search for possible matches. For example, if you are looking for "North Main" street, you would only enter "Main" as the search criteria, and the GPS would product a list of matching street names, such as "South Main Street" and "North Main Street".

Note that tapping on the folder icon in the upper left corner displays a list of recently used street names.

Figure 53: Address Confirmation Screen

With the address fully entered into the nuvi 880, the address can be viewed on the map by tapping Show Map, saved to the address book by tapping Save, or the GPS can start driving to the destination by pressing the large green Go! button.

Figure 54: Viewing the Destination Address on the Map

Tapping Show Map in the previous menu displays the destination address on the map. This is a nice feature as it allows you to see what the streets will look like at the destination address before you start navigating.

Figure 55: Navigating to the Destination Address

Tap on the green Go! button and the nuvi 880 starts routing to the destination address.