Garmin nuvi 255W

[camera_man]

I decided that I wanted to invest in an inexpensive GPS nav unit for my car, mostly so I could explore more of the fantastic back roads up at school without the fear of getting lost. After talking with a friend of mine (who recently purchased the Garmin nuvi 205W), I decided that the 255W would be the right one for me, and after finding it for $100 of the retail price, brand new, I couldn't pass up the offer. The only other systems I have to compare this to are the built-in system in my mom's 2006 Mazda 6 and an older Garmin that my roommate has. I've never used anything that's considered to be "high-end" so I can't make any comparisons there. On with the review...

Looks

The unit itself is all black with a 4.3" widescreen color touch screen. There are no external buttons (except for the power switch), so the entire unit has a very sleek look to it. I really like it. The suction cup mount is very straight forward to use, looks good, and provides a very secure mounting hold. Should stay on for however long you want (my roommate's falls off after like an hour). There's a slot for an SD card and a USB port for charging and uploading new content to the device.

Software (menus, address input, POI, etc.)

The large touch-screen makes using this GPS very easy. Entering addresses or locations is simple, thanks to a full keyboard and clever programing which knows the rest of what you are typing before you've even finished entering it. The menu system is really easy to understand, and there are no complicated settings that you have to go through. In fact, there are very few settings that you CAN actually change, but that's alright, because it works wonderfully right out of the box. Saving address is easy, and I believe that you can store up to 1,000 custom points of interests/addresses.

On the road...

The first time you power up the device, it takes about 2 minutes for it to acquire it's satellite location, but after that, location acquisition is almost instantaneous as soon as you turn it on. It also has very good signal coverage, even indoors. When not being used to follow a given route, the GPS map is very clear and easy to read. There are two options for viewing the map, a 2-D flat map, and a more 3-Dish representation. The 3-D is kind of cool, but it really comes down to personal preference as to which one you would want to use. One thing I was very impressed about was how quickly it was able to refresh and redraw the map as I was driving. It's much quicker than either of the two nav systems which I've used before, and seems to refresh a few times each second. The main screen display shows you what direction you're heading, what speed your traveling at, and the speed limit for the current road that you're on (which is pretty neat, but thankfully doesn't show a warning or flash or anything if you are speeding). It will also show you what road you are on, as well as the next cross street coming up (in some cases, mostly when on the highway). In guidance mode, it works as expected. As I said, destination entry is easy (either via address, intersection, or one of millions of preloaded points of interest) and following the route is very clear. Turn-by-turn guidance is provided (with the lovely lady and her British accent), and it will even pronounce the street names as you drive. You can set it to avoid things such as highways or toll-roads, and you can add a traffic receiver to get real-time traffic updates so you can avoid the congestion. Also, if you miss a turn, rerouting is almost instantaneous, which is nice. There are three screens which you can drive with: map, turn list, or dashboard. The map is just that, the map. The turn list doesn't have a map, but lists the next three turns for your route (only when in guidance mode). Dashboard is kind of like an expanded trip meter. It shows your speed, average speed, max speed, distance traveled, time moving, time stopped, direction, and time of day. Pretty handy, and kind of neat to look at. All in all, it does what it's supposed to do, and does it well.

ecoDrive

So, it's got this goofy little mode which it calls ecoDrive. Basically, you input the current gas price, and the MPG rating for your car, and it can calculate your approximate MPG based on what speed you drive and what roads you are on. It can also roughly calculate your fuel costs. I have not actually been able to test this, since I just got the thing today, but when I head back to school, I see how accurate it really is. In addition, there's a display on the main screen which shows (based on speed and acceleration) how economically you are driving. This whole mode can be turned off, and is pretty trivial (unless you don't know how to figure MPG by hand), but I thought it was kind of neat.

In the box...

You get the unit, car power cable, suction cup mount, dashboard mount (haven't looked at this real closely, but I'll need to since apparently it's illegal in Minnesota to have any thing mounted via suction cup on your windshield while driving...), and quick guide. It would have been nice if they included a USB cable, but I've got so many of those lying around it's no big deal.

Expandability

You can download different maps and more points of interest from Garmin. Not sure why you need them, but the option is there. Also, you can upload picture of locations to the device, and then associate those pictures with a GPS coordinate. Basically, you can have pictures of what you are navigating to, if you want. I don't care, but some may find it cool.


Overall, this is a great little device that offers simple, straight-forward GPS navigation at a very reasonable cost. Performance on the road is excellent, and it's very user-friendly.

Highly Recommended, 5/5

[buster]

I've used Garmins, TomToms, Magellens, and Navigons. I'd definitely have to say that Garmins are BY FAR the best, with ease of use being top notch. I found TomToms to be the absolute worst - simple input of an address can be infuriating, and menu items are ridiculously buried behind layer after layer. Magellens and Navigons were okay, but I'll always stick with Garmin...at least for now.

[theholycow]

You forgot to rate it on feasibility of sexual encounters...

[camera_man]

I've used Garmins, TomToms, Magellens, and Navigons. I'd definitely have to say that Garmins are BY FAR the best, with ease of use being top notch. I found TomToms to be the absolute worst - simple input of an address can be infuriating, and menu items are ridiculously buried behind layer after layer. Magellens and Navigons were okay, but I'll always stick with Garmin...at least for now.

I went with Garmin on the recommendation I received from a friend about just this issue. He said they were the best, and I'd have to agree with him at this point.

[padauk_dust]

Thanks for the review, I've been considering getting one of these.

[camera_man]

It's pretty cool, I'm excited to use it for the drive back to school.