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08-26-2011, 02:52 PM
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2,186 posts, read 7,866,773 times
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Rating: 4 out of 5
When I first moved to a new city a year ago I got lost going home my first day there and drove around my neighborhood for an hour looking for my street. And the fact that the entire subdivision consists of townhouses that all look the same didn't help. Soon after, I bought the Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS device so that I would never get lost around the city, or my own neighborhood, again.
This GPS device does come pre-loaded with maps all across the United States and North America, and Europe too and it's ready to use right out of the box. Just power it up and you're ready for your next road trip. Once you turn this Nuvi on, you'll be given a whole list of ways that you can search for your destination. You can select general categories, in case you're looking for a place to eat or a gas station; you can search for cities or for different places of interest; or you can type in the exact address you need. While you're typing, it will even give you automatic options which can save you from having to type the entire address. And where do people go most often? Home! For this reason the Nuvi has a special "Home" button. Type your address in there just once, the first time you use it, and any time thereafter you'll be able to get back home with just a push of a button - something that would have been very helpful to me my first day in the new city!
One of the things I liked best about the Garmin Nuvi 255W was the fact that it was voice-operated. While you're driving it will tell you what road you need, and will even give you advance warning that you're about to come to it, so you don't miss your turn! And if you don't like the voice, you can even change it with the settings to something that's more pleasant for you. But if you do need to look at the map on the screen, or just type in an address, the large screen makes it very easy and was one of the reasons why I purchased this particular model.
This Nuvi model also has a "Detour" button which I usually find to be more aggravating than helpful. I dislike driving on the highway so much that I avoid it all costs. When the Nuvi tells me that I have to turn on the highway, I press "Detour" so that it will take me a different way. Usually it will just take me to the next highway exit, even though I know there are different ways to get around it. Other than that the only thing that I didn't like about this GPS device was the holder that came with it. This holder consists of a plastic arm which is attached to a suction cup that attaches to the windshield. I've found ever since I bought it though that this attachment is always falling off, leaving me to search for the GPS on the floor of the car.
When I bought the Garmin Nuvi 255W in 2010 it was $250 and was one of Garmin's top of the line products. However with all of the new products that Garmin has come out with since that time, you can now find it for under $200 online.
Review by professional reviewer, Aug. 25, 2011
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