Name: Lawrence H. Bulk
Location: New Jersey USA
Date: 2007-12-15
Customer Rating: -
Summary: A Superb Basic Personal Navigation (GPS) Device
Comment: This Garmin nüvi 250W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator is my first GPS unit. Having now owned it for several days, and with my wife and me putting it through its paces, I can definitely and honestly say that it is an excellent unit, one of which Garmin should be proud.
It is considered to be a "basic" GPS device.
This unit does the job, does it very well, and does it very simply.
It gets you there and it gets you back! You won't ever be lost when you use this device.
That is the reason for which you purchase an item such as this. This particular unit functions much like its competition except that, from what I have read, it really works much better than most of them. And from my own experience with it I can say that I could not be more satisfied.
The nüvi 250W (as well as the nüvi 250) come pre-loaded with maps of all of North America, including Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The nüvi 200W (and the nüvi 200) have maps only for the "lower 48" states including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. While that may be sufficient for many (probably most) people, I think the 250W offers much more for a relatively small difference in price.
To add Canada and Alaska maps to the 200/200W costs more than the price difference between the 250/250W and the 200/200W. The choice of which device to buy, of course, depends on where you plan or may plan to travel. Otherwise, the 250/250W and the 200/200W function identically.
The wide screen of the "W" units is, in my opinion, not a frill but rather an extremely useful upgrade in terms of visibility and usefulness. You can see much more of the surrounding area and this can be of great help when you're in an unfamiliar place.
Its wide screen is very bright in daylight, does not wash out, and can be set to automatically dim at night. This auto-adjust feature works very well indeed and is really welcome. Once set, you need not adjust the brightness any further. The sound volume control is fully and easily adjustable; I personally have found that the best setting for me is 70%. This level can be heard clearly over my radio/CD that I may have playing without "blasting," so I have left it at that level.
Obviously, in only a few days of ownership, I have not been able to explore all its capabilities, but I have found the Garmin web site to be of great help. (If you don't already know the URL of Garmin's site, just do a search. For some reason Amazon does not allow the URL to be posted here.) There is a wealth of information there. I was even able to update my firmware from version 2.60 (supplied) to the latest version 2.90. This was quite easy to do. (Of course, to do this you need a 6ft USBa/mini B Device USBa To Mini B 2.0 Compatible (#27005) or similar which, incredibly and disappointingly, Garmin does not include in the package. This particular cable, at Amazon's very low price, is well-worth buying, even if only as a spare. However, you may have one or more of these cables from other applications lying about your house, as I do.)
Garmin's site supports Apple Macintosh computers as well as Windows computers.
Entering addresses, saving them to if desired, and actually driving to a selected location is straightforward. I found the directions selected to be quite accurate. So far, I have tested the unit only locally and on locations known to me. But in every case it took me the same way that I would have gone myself. Distances tested have been up to about 20 miles. This unit also features a bicycle mode and a pedestrian mode, but I have tried neither as yet. (I understand that if you are parked in a crowded parking lot, you can switch to the pedestrian mode, mark the location of your automobile, and, after you are finished shopping or whatever, the unit will walk you right back to your car!)
I tried the function a couple of times, just for testing, and it worked flawlessly. The function also worked flawlessly.
If you miss an indicated turn, which I did deliberately, the device recalculates extremely rapidly. I am amazed as to how well it works in this regard.
Of course, NO GPS device is a substitute for local knowledge. None of them can know of, for example, closed roads, seasonally affected roads, or roads under construction. None can know that a "back road route" to a place which, even though slightly longer in mileage, avoids heavy local traffic, during local rush hour, for example, and so is actually much shorter in time.
Sometimes you may still have to ask!
But, in general, these devices, and this one in particular with its superb detouring ability, function very well indeed. Note that there is no limit on the number of times you can press . If you feel that the unit is taking you a way on which you do not want to travel, merely press the button again.
The number and extent of the pre-loaded "Points of Interest" is just staggering! There are 6,000,000(!) of them! I just can't imagine anyone not being able to find just what he is looking for! AND, additional customized points of interest can be added quickly and easily and mostly for free (see Garmin's site for information). This is amazing!
If you are moving to a new town, or are visiting an unfamiliar place, this "Points of Interest" function will show you just about every store, business, or place of entertainment you could desire. The unit can even indicate when you are near a "Point of Interest" which is contained within or programmed into its memory.
This unit also points out "speed zones" - both visually and audibly. The usefulness of this particular feature in unfamiliar locations goes without saying!
Unfortunately, the low price currently being charged precludes Garmin from supplying as standard certain items, in addition to the USB cable mentioned above, which, in my opinion, are necessary. While this may seem as though it's annoying "nickel-and-diming" (and it is!) the additional necessary items are, fortunately, not very expensive.
These are the several optional accessories that I should recommend (I purchased them all): the first two are the Garmin Portable Friction Mount for Nuvi, StreetPilot I Series & C530, C550 (010-10908-00) (it is much, much better than the included window-mount suction cup - believe me, this "bean-bag" is a superb item - and it is mandatory in certain states), and the Garmin Carrying Case for Nuvi 660 (010-10823-01) (which I really wish were supplied as standard).
Amazon carries both of these items as well as the unit itself and this season I have found their prices to be better than that of any other retailer. Their shipping service is top-notch as well.
There are two other accessories I recommend: 1) do NOT buy an AC Adapter for this unit; it is very expensive. Instead, buy an "AC Travel Charger with 12V Accessory Outlet" (formerly available from Amazon but now only available from PartsExpresscom); this alone will be all you need to allow the DC Power Adapter that comes with the unit to be used from any AC source. Merely navigate to PartsExpress' web site and enter the above description (in quotes) into the search box (without the quotation marks, of course). It is far less expensive (only $6.78) than an AC Adapter, and, of course, can be used with other DC-powered items as well. And 2) buy a soft side (padded) lunch box or fishing tackle box (I bought a cheap one at Wal-Mart) of suitable size to store the various accessories. This can be left in the trunk of your car out of sight when the GPS is not in use.
Obviously, you should NEVER - NEVER! -leave the unit itself anywhere in your car, at ANY time when the car is parked and you're not there, even if it's hidden away.
And you should NEVER - NEVER! - leave ANY of the attachments or accessories visible in your car when it is is parked.
In fact, you should NEVER leave any clue whatsoever that you have one of these devices. Thieves can be very clever! ALWAYS take the unit with you when you leave your car - every time!
It is probably safe to leave just the accessories as long as they are all carefully hidden away in the trunk or otherwise camouflaged (and no one has seen you hide them or place the items in your trunk! Be VERY careful!). I have heard that thieves even look for suction-cup marks on the windshield and, if they see one, they break into your car, figuring that you have a GPS device hidden in your glove box! GPS units are today's "hot" item to steal and sell.
You must employ common sense when using one of these devices, at least at the present time. You also want to make your car less "inviting" to thieves.
As a further aid in making theft somewhat less attractive, this Garmin unit has a feature that I really like - a security feature. One sets a 4-digit PIN AND sets this up at any particular desired location (generally your home). When you start up the unit, if you are at your starting point, the unit comes on automatically. If you are at any other location, you must enter the PIN. (DON'T let anyone see what you enter.) This security feature, once enabled, cannot be defeated (though you yourself can disable it). If it were operational and you were to forget (or a thief did not know) your PIN or your starting location, the only way to get the unit to work again requires sending it back to Garmin! (If a thief were foolish enough to send the unit back to Garmin and you had registered it with them - HIGHLY recommended - Garmin would know to whom the unit truly belonged.) You yourself can change the security location and/or the PIN at any time (for example, if you were away on vacation and staying at a particular hotel, that hotel could be your new starting point. Touch from within the menu, and, from wherever you happen to be, you will be taken right back to your hotel).
This particular Garmin GPS device, positioned as a "basic" or "entry-level" unit, does not feature text-to-speech (though it does speak turning instructions such as "turn right" and/or "turn left" - it repeats these instructions at least twice - and the direction of entrances and exits, so you know the side of the road on which you need to be well in advance, and it does so with excellent volume and clarity), does not have an FM transmitter, an MP3 player, or Bluetooth capability and does not include a few other features available on much-more-expensive GPS devices, but, in my opinion, those additional features which are not present on this particular model are mere frills. Functions such as those just mentioned, or even speaking the actual name of the street on which you are to turn - this last is very easy to read on this unit and the price differential from those GPS units that do offer that function is considerable - are, again in my opinion, unnecessary. They do nothing to enhance the actual performance of a GPS device in doing the job for which it was purchased.
Of course, the Garmin nüvi 250W, in common with most current electronic devices, does come with a few useful additional features which are in addition to its main function. There is a calculator (quite useful in, for example, a restaurant), a clock (which can be set to automatically switch between standard and daylight-savings time as well as show various time zones around the world), a picture viewer (to be used in conjunction with an SD card), a currency converter (that can be manually updated), and a units converter. (Even a so-called basic GPS such as this one would have been undreamed of just a few years ago!)
This GPS unit is VERY sensitive. I have routinely locked onto the satellites from within my house, even on the first floor. The very first time I turned it on, it took about three minutes to find the satellites (this was outdoors) but since then it takes but a few seconds before getting the signal no matter where I am.
I carefully researched GPS units for some time before deciding to buy this one. Frankly, I was particularly interested in Magellan's units because of their association with AAA (I have been a member for over 40 years), but, after reading on Amazon's sites and a few others about the very poor telephone support given to owners of Magellan GPS units (from India, no less), and, after researching TomTom units and reading the various user complaints about them (mostly about odd directions and poor map support), I bought this Garmin nüvi 250W and, so far, I'm glad I did. (I did call Garmin's support center with a couple of minor questions and I found the experience to be totally satisfactory. Their support is excellent.)
I think this Garmin nüvi 250W would be a safe recommendation for anyone wanting a basic Personal Navigation Device which is priced fairly, is well-made, and does its job very well. The wide 4.3-inch screen on this "W" unit, which allows much more information to be seen, is well-worth the small extra cost over the "plain" 3.5-inch Garmin nüvi 250, which, as indicated previously, is otherwise the same.
In short, I think this particular unit is a superb performer and offers excellent value for money.
And buy it from Amazon. You just won't go wrong with them!
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Update - February 24, 2008:
I like this unit so much that I bought one as a gift for my son. I also bought all of my recommended accessories for him as well. I ordered everything on February 18, "President's Day."
Though Amazon had stated that their shipping estimate was not until approximately the middle of March, one item arrived at his house a couple of days ago (February 21) and the balance all arrived yesterday (February 23). Five days! That's great service!
He telephoned me this morning to thank me for the gift. He was using it as he was speaking to me. He is as pleased with it as I am.
And again I recommend that anyone contemplating purchasing this Garmin nüvi 250W STRONGLY consider buying it from Amazon. Not only are their GPS prices better than any I have seen elsewhere, their service is first class as well.
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Update - March 11, 2008
We have friends who live about 35 miles away. We have always followed direction supplied by both MapQuest and Rand McNally and we used these (both were just about the same) to direct us to our friends' house. The trip has generally taken us from 50 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic).
Yesterday, we went our usual way to their house but we decided to let the Garmin "take us home." It took us an entirely different way than we had ever gone before - and the trip took less than 40 minutes! (It was late and there was little traffic, but even so - this "new" way is much, much better.)
The most amazing thing was that, when we started, the nüvi 250W showed an "estimated" time of arrival home as 11:00 PM. Guess what time we got home! Exactly 11:00 PM!!
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Update - June 30, 2008
Wow! What a price! $216.58! I haven't checked this item in some time and I am astounded at Amazon's price for this unit. When I bought mine in December, the price was $264.99. Who would have ever thought that the price would come down so far so fast?
I see some people complaining about slow satellite connection. I have found that if you're running the unit on its internal battery, sometimes - only sometimes - it takes a few minutes - sometimes quite a few minutes - to lock onto the satellites, especially if you have not used the unit for a while. But, if you use the unit in your car connected to the car's battery (or you have your unit outdoors plugged into an outdoor AC wall socket), the connection time is minimal even if you haven't used the unit in a long time.
For those having this problem, try using the unit as I suggest above and see if this is a good remedy. If, after trying it as I suggest, you're still having the problem, contact Amazon for an exchange. I believe that, overall, and especially at its extremely low current price, this is still one of the very best buys in a portable GPS unit.
Also - FYI: After reading the reviews on Amazon of the new 2009 updated maps, I am NOT going to buy them. (Newly purchased units may already come pre-loaded with the 2009 maps.) Even CONSUMER REPORTS magazine states that owners need only update their maps every few years and, according to many reviews, Garmin has not added some roads and stops even though they've existed for several years. And, with the prices falling the way they have been, it will probably be cheaper to just buy a new updated version of this GPS model several years from now. Who knows what they will be offering at that time and at what price?
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Update - July 29, 2008
Today its price is $189.99!! How low will it go? At this price, buying this particular unit from Amazon is practically a no-brainer!! And certainly it is not necessary to buy a $50.00-60.00 map update. If these prices keep coming down the way they have, why you can just buy an entirely new unit three or four years from now and you'll be money ahead!
Amazon definitely has the absolute lowest prices anywhere for GPS units and this particular one, the Garmin nüvi 250 is priced lower on Amazon than anywhere else, even lower than lesser units are priced elsewhere. Amazon is truly amazing!
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Update - August 13, 2008
Last week we took our first "long" trip (about 300 miles) to Rome, NY and we used our Garmin nüvi 250W to get us there.
We had printed directions from MapQuest and Rand McNally "just in case" but the Garmin got us to our destination perfectly. It took us via an unusual route; both MapQuest and Rand McNally wanted us to use the New York Thruway (a toll road). Even though I did NOT have "Avoid Toll Roads" checked, the Garmin took us instead north on Route 12, a two-lane highway. This route was FAR more scenic than the Thruway would have been and, though a bit convoluted, our actual travel (driving) time was exactly the same as MapQuest and Rand McNally had claimed that their times would be.
Route 12 in New York is an absolutely beautiful drive and, I might mention that if you ever drive this way, when you get to the town of Sherburne, make certain that you stop for a meal at the Gilligan's Island Restaurant (it will be on your left as you're heading north). My wife and I had hamburgers and, while you may find hamburgers somewhere in the USA that equals the ones found here, you will NEVER find any that surpasses them! And their locally produced and FRESH ice cream is just a thing of joy. If the Garmin hadn't taken us this way, we should have never known about this restaurant.
I have to mention that, the more I use the Garmin nüvi 250W, the more I like it.
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Update - October 5, 2008
My wife and I recently attended a convention held in Massillon, Ohio. We relied on the Garmin nüvi to get us there (and back) and it did not let us down!
Massillon is about 470 miles from our house and the usual way that online services such as MapQuest and Rand McNally, as well as the Garmin, would take us would be via the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a road that neither my wife nor I like. We feel that it is a very boring road and the restaurants on it are of mediocre quality and poor value.
We much prefer to take Route 80, a much more interesting road with many good restaurants close by (and only very slightly longer in distance but actually the same in time as the Pennsylvania Turnpike route) so we "fooled" the Garmin by adding, as a "way point," a restaurant which we knew and liked and which is located just off an exit from Route 80. (We had traveled to Massillon several times previously.) Thus the Garmin "had" to take us that way. (We did not wish to merely activate the "Avoid Toll Roads" as we still had to take the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to get to Route 80 and telling the Garmin to avoid toll roads might have led to some problems.)
But our "fooling" the Garmin worked perfectly and it took us to our destination with accuracy and convenience. As I mentioned, we had been to Massillon before but, again, as in or Rome, NY trip mentioned above, the Garmin took us via roads on which we had never traveled previously. And, as on our Rome, NY trip, these local roads were very beautiful and interesting.
By following the Garmin's directions, we made our trips in excellent time, approximately nine and one-half hours (including all rest stops) which was actually less time than it had taken us in previous years.
This Garmin GPS works! Frankly, it never ceases to amaze us. I can say only that, unless we are traveling locally to known destinations, we shall never go anywhere without taking this little Garmin nüvi 250W along.
It is certainly among the best purchases I have ever made and I again (and still) recommend it highly to all who are interested in a unit of this type.
You won't regret the purchase!
Name: Brett G
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Date: 2007-11-10
Customer Rating: -
Summary: It's a yellowpages and GPS in one!
Comment: This is my first GPS unit and I did quite a bit of research before deciding on this particular Garmin model. For the money, it's the best deal as I don't need an mp3 player or anything like that and text to speech is an option, while nice, I'm not willing to pay another $100 or so for. I have used this unit in Los Angeles and now in Las Vegas and it has been excellent! In some locations it can take a minute to three to acquire a satelite, with it taking noticeably longer in Los Angeles (near LAX). The directions are spot on and correct quickly if an error is made. I was also impressed as I was stuck in traffic on the strip, hit the detour option, and it took me on some backroads and onto the freeway saving about 20 minutes of Friday night strip traffic! The only problems I have noticed is the unit gets kind of wacky when you set a destination for a store in a mall or average sized shopping center. It takes you in roundabout ways to get to them and has led me on more then one occassion to just turn it off when I got near the address and use good old human intelligence to finish off the trip. The biggest benefit, which I didn't envision when I bought it though, is the points of interest. I am seriously amazed at how much stores they have on this thing (and amazed more when I think that it has the same info for every US city)! It's like having a yellowpages in your pocket. I just type in a store name (Walmart, Panda Express, Fantastic Sam's, Ross's, you name it), and it finds it! If you are new to a city, or moving to a major one, the points of interest alone make this a must! Lastly, the only other negative is there is no AC charger. These things get jacked if left inside the car and I don't have an enclosed garage and I don't want it hooked up to the car charger every trip out killing the battery (probably good for 300 cycles). Don't hesitate to buy this!
Name: tipotexas
Location: McAllen, TX
Date: 2007-11-04
Customer Rating: -
Summary: What a wonder!
Comment: This is my first GPS and I love it! I bought it because of the price and then because of the versatility (car/walking). So far, I have just used it around town picking up and dropping off teenagers. I love knowing I can find the houses on the first go around, what a time saver. I thought not having the street names announced would be a hindrance, but it is no big deal. The Garmin GPS tells me exactly when to turn and the street is completely obvious with the purple line directing you. You won't be sorry you bought this.
Name: Peter Jackson
Location: Spring Lake, MI USA
Date: 2007-08-14
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Perfect first time GPS
Comment: I bought this GPS system because of some upcoming long distance trips, one of which was to and thru Chicago (read I hate Chicago traffic and the irrational fear of getting forced off the highway on the south side). The thing performed very excellent as far as directions go, and even re-routed us thru south side Chicago on a detour to get us back on the right track. I was looking at the Nuvi 200, but went with the 200W because of the wide screen and because the 200W had the new up dated maps. I much prefer the wider screen and am very glad I got it. While driving it shows speed and direction of travel (N, S, E, S, etc) but when you program in for it to take you somewhere, it shows time of arrival and when to turn next. When you turn it on, it takes a couple of minutes to find the satellites, it is not instantaneous. I would buy it again in a second, and would never take a long trip to an unfamiliar place without it. The only thing I will do next time is to take a paper map to get a general layout of where I am going and generally stick to where I feel comfortable, or know that I want to go. For example, coming back thru Chicago we lost 2 hours in traffic on 90 on a Sunday afternoon. If I would have taken a paper map, I probably would have headed south to 80 and then back to Michigan. I know it would have redirected me fine. Note: you can scroll the map around to see the whole area, it is just that a paper map is all there, intstaneous, you can see the whole layout at once with having to zoom out. So far, the Nuvi200W gets my vote for an excellent GPS.
Name: ella.rogue
Location: Cleveland, OH
Date: 2007-11-09
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Great GPS at a great price!
Comment: This is my first GPS and I absolutely love it! Great price, very sleek/portable, bright screen, great graphic, clear instructions - all around great product. I was a little worried that the GPS would not say actual street names, but it's not a problem at all. The GPS lets you know how many miles are remaining until a turn, and then keeps warning of the upcoming turn as it gets closer - it's pretty hard to miss. There are also instructions at the top of the screen that tell you the name of the street to turn on. I mounted mine on the windshield, and the directions are very easy to follow and do not distract me from driving carefully.
So far, all the maps have been accurate, as well as business locations. I've had no problems with acquiring the satellite signal. The mounting device that comes with the Garmin works well; the car charger has a long enough cord to allow you to place the GPS wherever you like. If you'd rather mount the GPS on your dashboard, I'd suggest purchasing something else since the adhesive that comes with it has a warning saying it might be extremely hard to remove.
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