 | Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Usually OK, but beware rural areas -- 2010-09-03
I bought the Nuvi 255W in February and had no problem with it when driving the the Metro NY area. The problems started when I took it to Nova Scotia for a driving vacation. On the first morning the unit just died. I called tech support several times and was given a waiting time of over 45 minutes. Since this would have cost more in cell phone roaming fees than buying a new unit, I bought a new Nuvi 255W. The driving directions in rural Nova Scotia were quirky and downright dangerous at times. Many times the unit directed me to turn onto "unpaved (and unnamed) road" which sometimes was only a hiking trail (no, the unit was not on pedestrian setting). Even some of the named roads it chose were unpaved. I stopped trusting it altogether unless I was driving within a built up area. I would buy Garmin only if you don't plan to drive in rural areas.
USB mini cable to register product -- they don't supply -- 2010-09-03
I was surprised that Garmin didn't include a mini USB cable that is needed to register their product. They want to sell you one for $15. That's my only gripe.
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 | TomTom XXL 540S 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
not that great but usable -- 2010-09-01
I've been using an OnCourseNavigator 8 on my PDA before, so this would be the basis of my comparison. The problem with PDA is that it requires carrying around too many components (PDA, mount, GPS receiver), and without power PDA discharges the battery and loses the information after a few days even when turned off. And PDA really is not intended for the in-car use, I've had a few failures with the cables or contacts. So I've decided to get a dedicated GPS unit. I've had a pretty bad experience with my old Garmin and would never buy a Garmin product again, so this time Tomtom it is.
It turns on fast. It acquires the satellites fast (beats that old Garmin i've used for the receiver by a long way). The screen is bright and I've never had an issue with seeing it even in the bright sunlight, unlike the PDA. And obviously the 5" display is much bigger and better than 3.5" in the PDA.
There is a choice of the pre-recorded voices but only one computer-generated US English voice "Susan". People who complain that it's hard to understand are probably from places where they speak slowly. If you're from say New Jersey or Virgina, there is no problem. It's not great, I'd like it to be a lot more high-pitched and thus clearer, but it's acceptable. The pre-recorded voices aren't any better. The directions given with the pre-recorded voices and with the computer-generated voice are different. With the pre-recorded voices they suck, with computer voice they're OK and compensate for the deficiencies of the on-screen information. The volume changes with the speed, and I find it annoying. By comparison, in OCN8 the voice is much better, and the voice directions are somewhat better, even than the computer voice version, even without text-to-speech in OCN.
I don't use the 3D view since when the GPS determines an incorrect position (between tall buildings in a city, or just thinking of a parallel road, it goes crazy and unusable while the 2D view still gives the good idea. The 2D map view in Tomtom has a bunch of issues. First, almost all of the streets on it are left unlabeled. Second, there is no way to make it keep the same zoom. It rescales automatically after a little while. The zoom buttons don't work continuously, they require the repeated poking. And the map redrawing is just glacial slow. There is also no way to drag the map on the screen, zooming in and out are the only options.
There is a separate "map browse" mode where some of these issues go away: the streets get labeled, the scale stays fixed, zoom can be adjusted smoothly, and the map can be dragged. However getting into that mode takes 3 clicks. Every time it returns to the last browsed place, and getting to the GPS position takes one more click, and it doesn't track the GPS position automatically. The redrawing is still hugely slow, both on zoom and on dragging, and very annoying. OCN8 is light years ahead here.
There are multiple color modes for both day and night, all of them not that good. There is not enough contrast between the plotted route and the roads in general, especially interstates tend to be too close to it. For the day mode the best I've found is with red-brown route and greenish interstates. The night modes are all poor, with shades of the same color used for both the roads and the route. (OCN8 day mode is even worse but I use it always in the night mode with the roads blue and the route bright white).
The routing is OK, about the same in Tomtom and OCN, both of them sometimes looking strange if you know the area. The route summary is much better in Tomtom, since it includes the interstate exit numbers. The driving instruction display is better in OCN, since it shows two steps ahead, not just one, but with the computer voice Tomtom at least tells the second step vocally. I still haven't found a way to adjust the route manually in Tomtom. In OCN it's a little awkward but doable and obvious.
The battery life is not that good, about 90 minutes or so. The user-friendliness of setup is great, giving the explanations at just the right time during the initial setup.
the map is really bad -- 2010-09-01
I bought this GPS a month ago. The screen is good, as well as personlized settings. However, the map, which is a key point for a GPS, is not good at all. I could not find my destinations no matter which way I searched them. This situation happened quite offen. I think that's why this 5 inch screen GPS is so cheap. Money never goes to the wrong way.
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 | Garmin Portable Friction Mount
Best Portable Mount Anywhere -- 2010-09-03
This is our second Garmin Portable Mount purchase. This one was purchased as a gift along with an new Garmin 265WT for our adult daughter and spouse. We have used OUR Garmin Portable Mount for more than 2 years and have NO issues or complaints. It stays put on your dash regardless of any radical driving manuevers, and does not mar the dash surface.
Since thieves look for the permanently mounted GPS elbow or the telltale suction cup circle on the windshield to identify what cars have GPS units, the Garmin Portable mount is easily stowed in the glove box, console, or trunk.
I highly recommend the Garmin Portable Friction Mount.
Garmin Portable Friction Mount - Awesome!!! -- 2010-09-03
The Garmin Portable Friction Mount is awesome. It is stable, durable, and does not slide on the dash board on turns.
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 | Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
Usually OK, but beware rural areas -- 2010-09-03
I bought the Nuvi 255W in February and had no problem with it when driving the the Metro NY area. The problems started when I took it to Nova Scotia for a driving vacation. On the first morning the unit just died. I called tech support several times and was given a waiting time of over 45 minutes. Since this would have cost more in cell phone roaming fees than buying a new unit, I bought a new Nuvi 255W. The driving directions in rural Nova Scotia were quirky and downright dangerous at times. Many times the unit directed me to turn onto "unpaved (and unnamed) road" which sometimes was only a hiking trail (no, the unit was not on pedestrian setting). Even some of the named roads it chose were unpaved. I stopped trusting it altogether unless I was driving within a built up area. I would buy Garmin only if you don't plan to drive in rural areas.
USB mini cable to register product -- they don't supply -- 2010-09-03
I was surprised that Garmin didn't include a mini USB cable that is needed to register their product. They want to sell you one for $15. That's my only gripe.
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 | Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor
Awesome!!! -- 2010-09-01
I am a triathlete and I will say this is by far the best purchase I've made yet. Never had a single problem with it. Love the quick release to mount to my bike or wrist. Also, the free software is wonderful to keep track of all your workout/race data. I would definitely recommend this device to anyone who both cycles and runs.
Mixed Results -- 2010-09-01
I've had the Forerunner for over a month now, and have mixed opinions. The features seem fine, and performance (when the GPS finally boots up) is great. Four main criticisms: (1) the GPS will sometimes take several minutes to locate satellites, and sometimes does not at all; (2) battery life not so hot - supposed to be ten hours, but hasn't worked that way for me, even w/ a new unit (and charging on USB does not seem to work); (3) controls are not very intuitive; (4) it's a bulky unit, but I knew that when I bought it.
On the other hand, the computer software was easy to install, easy to use, and informative. It's my first GPS trainer, but my high hopes have been let down a bit.
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 | Garmin Portable Friction Mount
Best Portable Mount Anywhere -- 2010-09-03
This is our second Garmin Portable Mount purchase. This one was purchased as a gift along with an new Garmin 265WT for our adult daughter and spouse. We have used OUR Garmin Portable Mount for more than 2 years and have NO issues or complaints. It stays put on your dash regardless of any radical driving manuevers, and does not mar the dash surface.
Since thieves look for the permanently mounted GPS elbow or the telltale suction cup circle on the windshield to identify what cars have GPS units, the Garmin Portable mount is easily stowed in the glove box, console, or trunk.
I highly recommend the Garmin Portable Friction Mount.
Garmin Portable Friction Mount - Awesome!!! -- 2010-09-03
The Garmin Portable Friction Mount is awesome. It is stable, durable, and does not slide on the dash board on turns.
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 | Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
Garmin nüvi 265W/265WT 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic -- 2010-09-03
I bought this product as I was planning for my road trip to Canada. This product was very useful during my trip. As I was travelling with little one, I have to make some unscheduled stops but GPS was able to put me back on track without any mistake.
Free traffic information was useful but not accurate enough. Now having so many free traffic information websites and resources available, there is definitely room for improvement in that area.
Routing overall takes you to the destination but sometime those are questionable. Bottom line I did not get lost may have burned more gas :-) It could be good to have a feature where you can navigate the whole route map. As of now you can zoom in and out.
Overall, this product is user friendly, easy to configure, POI works great. It is very easy to mount on windshield. Traffic information is good to have. Re-routing calculation is fast and quick. I like this product by having the peace of mind, no matter were you are going.
Good value for the Money -- 2010-09-02
Got the 265WT two weeks ago. It worked well on my road trip to Maine. Picked up satellites quickly. Routing was fairly quick and traffic information was helpful. One issue involves updating the information on the points of interest function. We found a few of the points of interest were either closed or no longer exist. After my purchase I did see that Garmin started providing the traffic function on one of the lower models (255, I believe) and would have considered that model if I had seen it at that time which is 20 - 30 dollars cheaper.
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 | Garmin nüvi 855 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Speech Recognition
Garmin nuvi 855 is a DISCONTINUED product... -- 2010-09-03
...but it wasn't when I ordered it 4 days ago! Still debating to send it back if the price drops alot.
Faulty Product -- 2010-09-02
Do NOT purchase this Garmin product. I previously had a Garmin 250W and LOVED it. But the price is so low on this model because it's apparently hit or miss on weather it will actually function. The one I received powers off as soon as the voice tries to speak the first direction. Does NOT function. Will be returned immediately.
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 | TomTom GPS Dashboard Mount for TomTom GPS Navigators
Excellent quality... -- 2010-09-03
The item is durable and looks good. It blends in well and stays where you want it while driving down the road.
Stable Dashboard Mount -- 2010-08-28
I was slightly skeptical about the TomTom GPS Dashboard Mount, since other reviewers reported that it slides off the dash. That may be why it now comes with an adhesive tab that sticks to the dash; a hook grips a loop on the mount. I did not use this feature since I want to be able to move the GPS between cars.
We used the TomTom Dashboard Mount (w/o the adehesive) on a Philadelphia to Chicago trip. Positioned on the dash of our Traverse it did not budge at all during the trip. Worked fine.
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 | Garmin nüvi 205W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator
Not the best one out there -- 2010-08-30
I think it is time to buy a new unit. I Connected unit to satellites OK. Changed home and voice settings OK. Screen menus very intuitive. My most significant probolem came when I registered the thing. Had to download software. OK. Then they suggested a map update (good for 60-90 days from purchase). My mistake was when I went for the upgrade. Since then I've spent about seven hours on the computer, all downloads "successful", mymaps says all's OK, but my little garmin says "No detailed maps found that can support routing". Thank you, that's why I bought it. I've tried everything, it doesn't work any more. When I try to send Garmin an email inquiry, it won't send it because my "browser is not supported." I bought this computer in Feb of 98. What's for Safari not being "supported"? I have to wait for the service M-F in the morning.- so I have to lose work to get support? Thanks I've been using computers for 8 years. Can't recommend this model. And Garmin gets a big F for support. I thought it was sweet as the voice accompanied me to work.
Bad luck? -- 2010-08-29
I purchased my Nuvi 205w on May 12, 2010 from Amazon. Everything was great, price, shipping, etc, however, this review is not about the service, but the product.
I knew this was a super basic product, but all I was looking for was simply a moving map that let me know how and where I'm going.
Sadly, after 1 week of excitement putting my tomtom in the drawer, Nuvi had failed me with a common problem that many customers had addressed: Freezing at start up.
This Nuvi 205W had frozen at "load map" at least 15 times over the past 3 months of usage. What it means is, usually when you turn it on, the system requires the GPS to load the maps on the device, and after the maps are loaded, the GPS will show the menu and start looking for a signal. However, on this Nuvi, it's either loading the map forever, or it just turns itself off after the map is loaded(after the loading bar is full).
And that wasn't the end of it. According to the support, I should be able to back-up my GPS if this happens, so after I do a hard-reset, I can import the back-up back to the device. So I tried and tried with my Mac and my PC, but evidently it didn't like my computers. Not only it was dead silence, it stayed on the "load map" section and never went on. So I decided to just do hard reset every time and erase all the data on it since connecting it to my mac/pc did not help at all.
Last but not least, starting a month ago it wouldn't even allow me to do a hard reset anymore, so now I have a GPS that won't even turn on. And since I had to go out of country for a while, I didn't bother to have to deal with it.
I definitely didn't expect to pay about 100+ dollars to have a nice looking black screen suck to my windshield. I realized it has passed the return date on Amazon, so I contacted Garmin's support agents, and hopefully I'll hear from them soon.
Maybe it was just my bad luck. After all this is an item I've been looking at for a few months before finally decided to get it, which has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon... I guess for now I'll stick to my Tomtom which saved my life the first time that Nuvi backed on me.
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