With its voice activation features, you don't have to take your hands off the wheel when you have a Garmin nüvi 850 guiding you along your route.

Garmin nüvi 850 Review

With this navigation system you have the voice driving directions but instead of having to touch the screen for additional options, you only have to speak to the device and it obeys your command. The preloaded maps make it easy to plan a route for your trip. Once you enter your destination, you will be able to see the map displayed on the 4.3 inch display screen and hear the driving directions for every turn.

The nüvi 850 comes with a connection to the steering wheel so that you only have to push a button to activate the speech recognition features. Then when you speak any of the menu functions, these come up on the screen. For example, you only have to say "Find Address" and then say the address to which you want to go and you will receive the driving directions. This is the perfect choice for anyone, but especially for taxi drivers and delivery personnel.

As you drive along, you don't have to worry about watching for exit numbers of street names where you have to make a turn. The voice of the nüvi 850 will announce the names of these streets and exits before you reach them giving you plenty of time to execute the change. The maps are also preloaded with points of interest if you want to see the popular tourist attractions in a location. You can further customize the device using free software in which you can pre-load the points of interest you want to visit.

There are many entertainment features essential for travel included in the nüvi 850.

These include an MP3 player, a JPEG picture viewer, an alarm clock, Garmin Games and currency converters, which is extremely helpful when driving in another country. The FM transmitter, which comes with this system, allows you to hear the voice prompts through your vehicle's stereo system. The Bluetooth wireless technology provides you with a hands free telephone so that you don't have to take your hands off the wheel to make or receive a call.

This device is not just for driving though. You can also take it with you when you fly to a location so that you can use it in an unfamiliar city to help you find your way around.

Garmin nüvi 850 Review

You may love the Garmin nüvi 850 if you want voice recognition, user replaceable battery & front mounted speakers and don't mind paying a slight premium for a brand new model. Read user reviews to see potential pitfalls with voice commands if that is the main feature you are interested in.