Reviews

Good GPS,used on trip did just fine.Only thing is theirs a thin blue line at the very top of screen,has any one seen this also,or is something going wrong.Would like to fine out while still under warranty.If any one knows something I would be most thankful.

I've had a Garmin over 4 years and feel that it's the most accurate & easiest to use GPS in the market place

I love my Garmin GPS. It is very easy to use. She tells you in advance where you are going to go then she tells you again when it is time to make your turn. I would recommend this Garmin. I like how it saves your previous addresses so you can choose it if that is where you are going. Also you can put your home address in the home spot so you can just choose home if that is where you are going. This Garmin has nice features on it. I had a Magellan and I did not know if I wanted to try a Garmin but I am sure glad I did. I use the features on this for finding restaurants. I never did with my Magellan.The price was a great deal.I would buy this product again.

Well I received my Garmin 255w today. Shipped overnight. I did all the updates, registered my device, and added extra features and new icons and voices. That aspect was somewhat difficult for people who aren't too good with technology and gadgets. But for myself I got it done fairly simple. Took about an hour maybe. I have to say that having a GPS for your car or bike is VERY convenient and fun lol. The screen size is perfect, and the volume is actually quite loud and I am hearing impaired! The touch screen is very basic, therefore easy to use. You can save your home address on the device, and if you're out somewhere far just click on Where To? then Go Home and you'll get instant directions from wherever you are straight back to your home. You can transfer maps and/or directions from google maps or mapquest to your gps. So if you are in your car headed to a new place or area and you want directions just type an address it'll search and go from there, wherever you are. The signal and time it takes to display and say stuff is pretty good for me. The Points of Interest feature is handy but has flaws. We searched for Food/a place to eat, and chose Bamboo Garden, it gave us directions but the place was closed down and another business was in its place. Nothing's perfect. But overall my wife and I really like having a GPS with us. I don't regret my purchase. Oh, one more thing: You might need to buy a mini usb cable, as mine didn't come with one. Luckily I found one in my closet from an old device.

We used this for our vacation for a week in Washington DC area visiting from greater NY area. It turned out Garmin 255w was an indispensable tool for our trip. It helped us to find POI and get there in a way never possible without it. However, we find the navigation was not always perfect. I itemize the problems: (1) Driving back from central DC to our hotel, we wanted to drop in to a grocery store. We picked a Safeway as the name was familiar to us. It gave us a weird route to get into it. It can be reproduced by turning GPS simulator on (all other examples presented in this review can be tested in this manner). Set current position to, say, the south side of National Air and Space Museum in downtown DC. Then go to POI/Shopping/Grocery and Spell Safeway. You should find one at 6300 Central Ave about 6.4 miles away. Select it and "Go". The route basically uses E Capitol St NE but in the end it goes past the Safeway, makes a right turn about two blocks away and comes back using Addison Rd S. In reality all you have to do is to turn left at the signal in front of Safeway. Because we were blindly following 255w, we completely missed this and had to do exactly what 255w told us. We tested this with Google map after we came back home. We find that Google gives an obviously more natural route. (2) Our hotel was in Capitol Heights. Set current location to be at the intersection of Central Ave. and Hampton Park Blvd, Capitol Heights, MD. Go to POI/food/All food and spell-search for nearest Old Country Buffet using spell 'buffet'. You will find one 14.2 miles away at 9608 Fort Meade Rd. We went there. However, next day we accidentally found a nearer one, only 5.1 miles away at The Centre at Forestville, 3443 Donnell Drive, Forestville, MD 20747. Google finds this one with no problem. This location seems to be open as early as 2007 as we find a review in that year, so the older database is not an excuse. (3) The third one is about avoiding toll roads. We know it is next to impossible to avoid all toll roads to enter New York from New Jersey, but it shouldn't be an excuse to give a complete nonsense. Set current location, say, to the intersection of Port Imperial Blvd and Baldwin Ave., Weehawken, NJ. Then from tools/settings/navigation/Avoidances, select toll roads in addition to default selections. Then from POI/transit/Ground transportation, spell grand and select Grand Central Terminal which is a mere 2.5 miles away if Lincoln tunnel is used. The result 255w gives is stunning 3319 miles, asking you to go all the way around Great Lakes passing through Kansas City, Mineapolis, Ottawa and Montreal. This is a total nonsense. Do the same in Google map, then you will be given the same route regardless of toll road setting. The only difference is that if you check 'Avoid tolls' then you will be warned that the route has tolls. Because of this I have no trust in 255w's capability to avoid tolls and use it as if it does not have this capability. We updated the map of our 255w only a week ago, so we should have about the latest map available. Map update is not an excuse. Because routing is so fundamental to this kind of GPS, I was somewhat surprised to find the level of maturity the 255w has today. It seems so much weaker compared to Google Map.

Reviews

Good GPS,used on trip did just fine.Only thing is theirs a thin blue line at the very top of screen,has any one seen this also,or is something going wrong.Would like to fine out while still under warranty.If any one knows something I would be most thankful.

I've had a Garmin over 4 years and feel that it's the most accurate & easiest to use GPS in the market place

I love my Garmin GPS. It is very easy to use. She tells you in advance where you are going to go then she tells you again when it is time to make your turn. I would recommend this Garmin. I like how it saves your previous addresses so you can choose it if that is where you are going. Also you can put your home address in the home spot so you can just choose home if that is where you are going. This Garmin has nice features on it. I had a Magellan and I did not know if I wanted to try a Garmin but I am sure glad I did. I use the features on this for finding restaurants. I never did with my Magellan.The price was a great deal.I would buy this product again.

Well I received my Garmin 255w today. Shipped overnight. I did all the updates, registered my device, and added extra features and new icons and voices. That aspect was somewhat difficult for people who aren't too good with technology and gadgets. But for myself I got it done fairly simple. Took about an hour maybe. I have to say that having a GPS for your car or bike is VERY convenient and fun lol. The screen size is perfect, and the volume is actually quite loud and I am hearing impaired! The touch screen is very basic, therefore easy to use. You can save your home address on the device, and if you're out somewhere far just click on Where To? then Go Home and you'll get instant directions from wherever you are straight back to your home. You can transfer maps and/or directions from google maps or mapquest to your gps. So if you are in your car headed to a new place or area and you want directions just type an address it'll search and go from there, wherever you are. The signal and time it takes to display and say stuff is pretty good for me. The Points of Interest feature is handy but has flaws. We searched for Food/a place to eat, and chose Bamboo Garden, it gave us directions but the place was closed down and another business was in its place. Nothing's perfect. But overall my wife and I really like having a GPS with us. I don't regret my purchase. Oh, one more thing: You might need to buy a mini usb cable, as mine didn't come with one. Luckily I found one in my closet from an old device.

We used this for our vacation for a week in Washington DC area visiting from greater NY area. It turned out Garmin 255w was an indispensable tool for our trip. It helped us to find POI and get there in a way never possible without it. However, we find the navigation was not always perfect. I itemize the problems: (1) Driving back from central DC to our hotel, we wanted to drop in to a grocery store. We picked a Safeway as the name was familiar to us. It gave us a weird route to get into it. It can be reproduced by turning GPS simulator on (all other examples presented in this review can be tested in this manner). Set current position to, say, the south side of National Air and Space Museum in downtown DC. Then go to POI/Shopping/Grocery and Spell Safeway. You should find one at 6300 Central Ave about 6.4 miles away. Select it and "Go". The route basically uses E Capitol St NE but in the end it goes past the Safeway, makes a right turn about two blocks away and comes back using Addison Rd S. In reality all you have to do is to turn left at the signal in front of Safeway. Because we were blindly following 255w, we completely missed this and had to do exactly what 255w told us. We tested this with Google map after we came back home. We find that Google gives an obviously more natural route. (2) Our hotel was in Capitol Heights. Set current location to be at the intersection of Central Ave. and Hampton Park Blvd, Capitol Heights, MD. Go to POI/food/All food and spell-search for nearest Old Country Buffet using spell 'buffet'. You will find one 14.2 miles away at 9608 Fort Meade Rd. We went there. However, next day we accidentally found a nearer one, only 5.1 miles away at The Centre at Forestville, 3443 Donnell Drive, Forestville, MD 20747. Google finds this one with no problem. This location seems to be open as early as 2007 as we find a review in that year, so the older database is not an excuse. (3) The third one is about avoiding toll roads. We know it is next to impossible to avoid all toll roads to enter New York from New Jersey, but it shouldn't be an excuse to give a complete nonsense. Set current location, say, to the intersection of Port Imperial Blvd and Baldwin Ave., Weehawken, NJ. Then from tools/settings/navigation/Avoidances, select toll roads in addition to default selections. Then from POI/transit/Ground transportation, spell grand and select Grand Central Terminal which is a mere 2.5 miles away if Lincoln tunnel is used. The result 255w gives is stunning 3319 miles, asking you to go all the way around Great Lakes passing through Kansas City, Mineapolis, Ottawa and Montreal. This is a total nonsense. Do the same in Google map, then you will be given the same route regardless of toll road setting. The only difference is that if you check 'Avoid tolls' then you will be warned that the route has tolls. Because of this I have no trust in 255w's capability to avoid tolls and use it as if it does not have this capability. We updated the map of our 255w only a week ago, so we should have about the latest map available. Map update is not an excuse. Because routing is so fundamental to this kind of GPS, I was somewhat surprised to find the level of maturity the 255w has today. It seems so much weaker compared to Google Map.

Reviews

This is my first navigation device. I have taken it now to the following states- CA, AZ, WA, CT, RI, MA, NY and it has worked beautifully in every situation. Simple to use, super accurate, and just plain awesome. In fact, I am looking at new cars at the moment and everything I am considering has a built in navigation system. None of these car brands (Jaguar, Porsche, MBZ and BMW) have navigation systems as good as this little Nuvi! It is incredible that for $100.00 you can get such a useful and high quality product. I have the Nuvi voice set to "Samantha" with an "Australian" accent. She is my little companion as I drive and, don't tell my wife, but I think she might have a little crush on me.

Good GPS, big screen and easy to use, but I just learnt about a recall because of battery issue from [...] on this model and several others, here is the official site [...].

we love our garmen. it saves time and fights. there are so many reviews about the details that i won't elaborate on them. just that it's not only reliable but fun, and like others, we gave our "recalulating" lady a name. the price is right on amazon. do get the beanbag friction holder extra. it's worth it for easier moving and makes the garmen much more accomodating to both people in the front seat. we didn't like the way the suction would suddenly come apart on the windshield and the garmen would drop off. to avoid this, the beanbag holder is the ticket.

Christmas gift for my husband. Gets us where we are going without a heated discussion!

When I first started looking for a Garmin, I thought that "the more you pay for it, the better it must be" - wrong! As it turns out, this Garmin is a discontinued item, and unfortunately there was nothing to indicate this when I purchased it. It does not have some of the features that the more current Garmin's have for less money. My biggest complaint is dealing with this seller. They have a very strict, no return policy, which I should have investigated before I bought this, but they would not even respond to my email. As it turns out, I could have gotten a cheaper Garmin that has more features that this one that is discontinued. Very disappointed...