Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I actually could not decide between the Garmin Nuvi 255w or the 750 model, so I decided to buy them both for comparison. I mounted them both to my car windshield and gave them various addresses to find together. I found that both models took the same routes and announced upcoming turns and street names at practically the same time. One thing I noticed about the 255w was that it was updating my position on the road more often, I'd say about 3 times as often as the 750. This made for smoother graphics on the 255w of the vehicle moving along displayed roads, where the 750's display was more of a "jerky" movement. I also found that the display on the 255w was a bit brighter, clearer, and more vivid than on the 750 in both daylight and at night. Another feature I like on the 255w is the graphic turn indicator in the upper left corner, which the 750 lacks. This is a small arrow which shows upcoming turns and the distance to that turn. It also show things like a fork in the road, (ie: a Y intersection), and which fork you will be taking. The 750 just displays text on the top line for upcoming turns without the arrow. It's just a little extra feature on the 255w which I happened to really like. The 255 also automatically adjusts the font size of displayed text so that even lengthy text will fit.
Another feature on the 255w is a display of the posted speed limit on the road which you are currently on right above your current displayed speed. I found myself not even looking at my car speedometer as I could easily see my current speed and the speed limit of my route at a glance. The 750 doesn't have this feature. I also like how they moved the zoom in (+) and zoom out (-) buttons on the 255w to the same side of the screen which makes it a bit easier. On the 750 the zoom buttons are on opposite sides of the screen.
Now there are some features on the 750 that the 255w does not have. The 750 can broadcast it's sound over your FM radio with the supplied cigarette lighter cable, and it has a headphone jack, which I found to be nice features. The 750 also has an MP3 player and an Audio-book player, which the 255w does not. Another really nice feature of the 750 is the car locater. This is a great feature if you are parking in a really big lot, such as at an amusement park or a fair. The 750 marks your location when you remove it from the car, then you take it with you and it remembers where you parked and takes you right back to your car. The 255w doesn't have the car locater.
I also thought the the voice prompts of the 750 where more pleasant sounding than the 255w's. The 750 sounds more like a real female voice, where the 255w sounds more robotic.
Another thing to consider was that I paid $50 less for the 750 and it came with the FM transmitter cable and a USB cord to connect it to your computer for updates and downloads.
My final decision was to keep the 255w and return the 750 because I really liked the graphic turn indicator and the posted speed limit and current speed indicators. I didn't find a need for the 750's MP3 player and Audio book player, but that is up to personal preference. Since the USB cable was not included with the 255w, I purchased it on this site for $10. I also intend to purchase the MSN direct cable when it is available in August 2008.

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Go wide and get peace of mind with nuvi 255W. This affordable, widescreen navigator leads the way with voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions that speak street names and optional MSN Direct® services to get you there on time and keep you informed. It's packed with millions of destinations and maps for North America or Europe. Like the rest of the sleek nuvi 2x5-series, this portable navigator is priced right and ultra-easy to use. See More With nuvi 255W's widescreen display, you'll always get the big picture. View map detail, driving directions, photos and more in bright, brilliant color. Its sunlight-readable, 4.3" (10.9 cm) display is easy to read, from any direction.
With the nuvi 255W's widescreen display, you'll alwasys get the big picture

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Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator Review

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(More customer reviews)I have had this unit for about 8 months. It has given me no problems what so ever. The bad thing about it for me is how basic it is. If you want bluetooth compatibility, traffic updates, movie times, etc on your GPS, then this is not the device for you. But if all you want is to get around and find places, then this unit will work well.
The price seems a little high right now for what it does ($180). For that price I would expect bluetooth compatibility. This unit does not say the road names, it just says turn left or turn right in 200 feet(not a big deal). When you look places up, it has their phone number and address (usually) which is nice because if its late at night, you can call first to see if they are still open.
This GPS has an SD card reader on the side, which can be used to view pictures in slideshow mode when you don't need the unit for navigation.
The screen is very bright during the day, so you can easily see the screen. And a nice feature is that when it gets dark, the screen automatically changes colors to 'night' mode, which helps when driving at night (the screen dims and the bright white background colors change to dark blues and blacks).
The trip features are nice. It keeps track of your average speed, how long you spent moving, how long you spent stopped, total travel time, how many miles you've gone, etc.
It takes about a minute to a minute and a half to find your location from a cold start, but if you leave it powered all the time (with a car in which the cig lighter stays on when you turn the car off) it never loses the location (not sure if that is bad for it).
The battery life is very good (about 4-5 hours).
There are many add-ons that a technologically advanced person can add to it. Such as custom points of interest (you can download them or even make your own, and you can set alerts so that it warns you when you are close to a certain place or when you are speeding in a school zone). You can add different vehicle icons to use as the car on the screen.
Overall, it is a decent, but very basic navigation device. Not many bells or whistles, but it gets you from point A to point B well.

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GARMIN NUVI 205W PORTABLE GPS

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