Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
- 4.3-inch widescreen touch display lets you view map detail, driving directions, photos, and more in bright, brilliant color
- Preloaded with detailed 2D and 3D City Navigator NT street maps, with over 6 million points of interest
- Voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names and HotFix satellite prediction
- Features Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker for hands-free calling
- NOTE: Model number on the box is 285WT because the traffic receiver is included; however, the model number on the device itself is 285W as the “T” in 285WT refers to the additional component
Amazon.com Product Description
This sleek widescreen navigator takes you there with preloaded maps and turn-by-turn directions that call out streets by name. It delivers real-time local weather, traffic, movie times, stock information, gas prices, news and local events as you navigate. The 285WT provides complete maps for North America and the handy Text-to-Speech feature, so you get turn-by-turn spoken directions with the real names of streets (e.g. “turn left in 50 feet at Nebraska W… More >>
Garmin nüvi 285W/285WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
Tagged with: 285W/285WT • 4.3inch • bluetooth • garmin • navigator • nüvi • portable • traffic • widescreen
Filed under: GPS Navigator
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just an fyi msn is discontinuing their direct service at the end of 2011 start of 2012. Here is more in depth – The gps functions fine just like any other Garmin released recently. The traffic where I am out is more of a novelty. I do not think it has ever helped me avoid a traffic issue. Usually it is better to ignore the alternate routes. Every time I estimate how long the delay was vs. the alternate route with no traffic it always was better to ignore the alternate. As for the MSN service it is a very cool feature that is going away as noted earlier. So in short buy this if you want basic gps functionality, but be wary of traffic and be aware of the MSN services demise.
Rating: 2 / 5
Just a fair warning: The MSN Direct website states that they will shut the entire service down in 2012. So if you buy this with a view to having access to weather, traffic, movies, plane status, etc., then this will only work for two years, after that, it will turn back into a very handy and useful GPS pumpkin, the glass slippers and the pretty dress will be gone.
Rating: 1 / 5
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
The Garmin nuvi line of GPS systems is consistently one of the top performers. The nuvi 285w is no exception and boasts some of the best featuers in the entire line.
The main advance in GPS systems over the last three years has been price reduction. The garmin 285w is failrly similar to the out of production Garmin nüvi 680 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator, my first GPS which originally sold for over $700 less than 3 years ago. The improvements are a slightly more feature-rich version of MSN Direct, faster and more accurate position tracking, faster lookup of POI’s, and faster computing of routes. Both have a 4.3″ widescreen touchscreen, bluetooth and a host of software tools that probably won’t see much use. For those with cars that don’t track mpg, there is a mode on the 285w that will help you track your fuel usage and compute mpg to help you curb your bad driving habits.
The routes are generally the fastest among other GPS units I’ve tried. All of the processing and database searching is fast and the tracking is very accurate. The only complaint I have is that the nuvi 680 had slightly better display contrast and touchscreen response. The 285w display always looks a few shades too blue. The housing is a nice glossy black, sleek and streamlined.
As other reviews have noted, Microsoft announced 10/27/09 that it would discontinue it’s MSN Direct service as of 01/01/12. According to their website, this means that every MSN direct feature, inlcluding traffic, will STOP WORKING. Obviously that makes it more difficult to recommend this unit above others in the nuvi line. However, I’d say the MSN Direct service was never a huge draw anyway given that the traffic is often inaccurate or outdated making it waste your time driving as often as it saves your time. The gas station pricing is helpful for those inclined to pinch pennies, but not likely to save you more than a few bucks a year. Obviously the problems with MSN Direct are now unlikely to be improved and may even get worse. I’d say the 9 free months of MSN Direct is better to have than not, but basically this unit should be priced between the 255w (no bluetooth or traffic) and the 265wt (bluetooth and free traffic with ads).
==ACCESSORIES==
My nuvi 680 still (mostly) serves it’s purpose well, but needed a couple accessories along the way. The accessories I purchased were the Garmin Portable Friction Mount [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] and GARMIN 010-10702-00 GPS Antenna Kit. The friction mount was neccessary after getting a new car where the suction cup mount wouldn’t stick to the windshield. The antenna saved me when the nuvi 680 stopped receiving reception almsot completely and gave me better accuracy than ever before. I would highly recommend the friction mount to anyone who owns a garmin nuvi and the antenna is something you should keep in mind if you ever have reception problems.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’ve Garmin C330, nuvi360, Sony unit and this one. I hate sony, and for me Garmin units are the only ones worthy of consideration. I have tested my new nuvi 285W extensively and just all the previous models works great, picks up satelite signals very quickly after being turned on and keep them solid. I know already i can depend on it just like on all of my garmin.
Rating: 5 / 5