Garmin’s interface is a key to their success and one of the things that makes their devices such a pleasure to use. Simple controls and sub-screens make it easy to enter or search for destinations and get data about your trip.

The nuvi 800s aren’t the first GPS navigators to offer voice recognition, but the level of flexibility they offer sets a new standard for simple and intuitive use.

The device comes with a little remote control that mounts on your steering wheel. It has two buttons. One is, “listen.” The other is, “stop listening”. Hit the “listen” button to start voice recognition. Then you can speak any of the words that appear on the display, and the device will understand, or you can ask questions based on most points of interest. Say, “find nearest Italian restaurant,” for example, and you’ll get a list of nearby spots. Say “go to” and name of the one you want, and you get turn-by-turn directions to dinner. The nuvi 880 also knows the names of many large business brands, so you can just say, “find place, Starbucks,” if that’s your coffee mojo.

Of course, if you know the address you want to go to, you can say that too, and the nuvi will give you directions, all without having to reach over to the dashboard and touch it.

Speech recognition is available for American English, British English, European French, European Spanish, German, Italian, and Netherlands Dutch languages.

Check out a full description of MSN Direct content features, or a coverage map for MSN Direct services.

A 3-month subscription to MSN Direct is included with the device. After that, subscription fees are $49.95 per year, or $129.95 for a lifetime subscription.

In addition, nuvi accepts custom points of interest (POIs), such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs

Important note about map updates: Due to our high volume of sales, almost every Garmin portable GPS navigator sold by Amazon.com will come with the most recent map version. If you ever do need a map update, you can purchase one from Amazon.com at our Garmin Store.

Navigation is just the beginning. The nuvi 880 features travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, MP3 player, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map.

This device is compatible with optional content plug-ins available via microSD card, such as the  Garmin Travel Guides and Garmin SaversGuide provide detailed data for attractions and information on nearby merchants offering discounts, so you can customize nuvi for your travel needs

note that the 800 series is unique among nuvis, in that the 800s use microSD cards, where all other nuvis use SD cards..

Garmin has also added the ability for customers to add custom points of interest (POI’s) from third parties such as school zones and safety cameras.

• Choose from Panoramio’s collection of photos from around the world.
• Easy to use interface displays photos on Google Maps.
• Search for photos by location name or map area boundary.
• Transfer photos directly from Garmin Connect to device with the Garmin Communicator.
• View photos in Google Earth.
• Supports Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ on Windows and Mac.

1. Hook up your Garmin to the computer via it’s USB port
2. Search for the location you want
3. Click the Send link in the info window for the address. That will bring up a popup “Send to” form.
4. Pick GPS, then pick Garmin and hit the “Send” button. 

The address will instantly transfer to your Garmin device, The point will be saved as one of your favorites, and you can navigate to it or view it on a map just like with any other favorite.

The process does require a small plugin, which you can get at Garmin’s website at http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3739. You can send business addresses to your Garmin device from these countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

• Find the best route through traffic. Your GPS device uses MSN Direct traffic data to select the best route for you to avoid traffic congestion.
• Check traffic flow. Know at a glance where to expect slowdowns in traffic.
• Get accident warnings. Receive warnings about accidents, road closures, and construction in the area that may affect you.

• Compare local gas prices. See a list of recent gas prices in your area and an indication of how recently the prices were reported.
• Find your way to the savings. Once you find the best price in your area, use your navigation system to guide you to the gas station.

• Stay on top of current conditions. View the current weather conditions in your area, including today’s high and low temperatures, chances of precipitation, and more.
• View the three-day forecast, Plan ahead by checking the three-day weather forecast for your area.
• Check weather in other cities. See current weather conditions in major cities across the country.

• Search for a movie. Find the theaters in your coverage area that are showing the movie you want to see.
• See which movies are playing. View which movies are playing in your coverage area or at your favorite theater.
• See show times and get directions. Once you find a show you want to see, check the show times and use your GPS device to guide you to the theater.

• Powerful trip planning: Use Live Search Maps on your computer to look up an address, search for a business, or plan a trip
• Choose your favorite location, and then MSN Direct delivers the address, phone number, and more straight to your navigation system.
• Visit Live Search Maps at http://maps.live.com.

• See what’s happening near you. Find nearby events to see what’s happening in your area.
• Find the events that interest you. Browse events sorted by category.
• Search for an event. Get details about a particular event.

• Watch the stocks that interest you. Select stocks that you want to keep an eye on, and then see regularly updated stock prices and daily changes.
• Get a little more detail. Touch a stock in your list to see daily highs, lows, and trading volume.

• Browse the headlines at a glance. See breaking news and other major news stories of the day.
• Read more details. Select a headline to read all the details about the news story on your navigation system.