4. Navigating With the nuvi 885T

Figure 33: Garmin nuvi 885T's Main Menu

Power on the nuvi 885T, and within a few seconds the Main Menu appears:

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 885T 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.

Figure 34: nuvi 885T's Map Screen

Whether navigating to a destination, or simply driving around, you'll spend most of your time with the nuvi 885T looking at the Map Screen, shown above.

The nuvi 885T benefits from an updated map screen design that improves on Garmin's already excellent layout. An upcoming turn indicator has been added - a most welcome addition that now displays the direction of an upcoming turn, or lane guidance information when appropriate.

Let's take a closer look at the information displayed on the map:

1. Upcoming Turn Indicator - Displays the direction of the next turn, or lane guidance information when appropriate. Touch this icon to view the Next Turn page, or the Lane Assist page (if available).
2. 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)
3. Zoom - Touch the plus or minus icon to zoom in and out on the map
4. Highlighted Route - The highlighted route is "painted", or marked, in magenta color
5. 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)
6. Speed Limit - When available, the nuvi 885T displays the speed limit for the current road you are driving on
7. Speed - Displays your current speed. Touch this icon to view the Trip Computer
8. Menu - Tap the Menu icon to return to the Menu page
9. 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

Figure 35: Lane Guidance

The upcoming turn indicator (top left on the map screen) now displays lane guidance information, when available. When approaching highway intersections, this indicator shows which lane or lanes you should be driving in.

Tapping this icon displays the Next Turn page, or Lane Assist page, shown below.

Figure 36: Lane Assist Page

The Lane Assist Page automatically appears (where available) when approaching highway intersections. This view realistically displays road signs and junctions on the route, along with a large arrow that indicates the proper lane for navigation.

TomTom, Magellan, and Navigon have all released GPS units with similar 3D Lane Guidance features, but Garmin's version is the best implementation I've seen yet. The 3-D rendering is visually appealing, and the map angle does a very good job conveying where you'll need to drive. Highway signs depicted in the Lane Assist view mirror the actual signage on the road, further enhancing the usefulness of this feature.

Garmin's Lane Assist page also knows your current lane of travel, and adjusts the 3-D rendering accordingly. So, if you're driving in the right lane, for example, the Lane Assist page might display an arrow saying to merge left and continue on the highway. But if you're already driving in the left lane, Lane Assist would instead display arrows pointing straight ahead.

Figure 37: Turn List

Figure 38: Next Turn Page

The "Next Turn" page displays a 2D split-screen view of the turn, along with the distance and time to the turn.

When available, the Lane Assist button displays the 3D view of 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 39: Trip Information Screen

Tapping on Speed data field on the Map screen (the left bubble on the information bar) 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 40: Map Page, While Navigating To A Destination

A well designed map is essential for any turn-by-turn navigation system. Garmin's map is easy to read, uncluttered, functional, and automatically intelligently adapts to various driving conditions. The automatic zoom feature automatically adjusts the map's zoom level based on your speed and proximity to a given turn.