5 comments about Garmin nüvi 270 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. I have only used the 270 a few days in the US, and it seems to work as advertised. They only suggestion is that you also purchase a necessary USB cable for the unit. Without it, you can't register it online, and receive any updated software. This is something that was missing in the Amazon description and needs to be added.



2. first i have an older Garmin i5 GPS. it was smaller in screen size, but bulky and you had to rotate a dial to spell addresses out, etc. that was really crummy. but the nice thing about it is that it could acquire the satellites very quickly -- perhaps within about 30 seconds. the Nuvi 270 is slow to acquire satellites. i regularly drive about 2 minutes before it finally figures out where i am to give me directions. if i know i am going to be using it i guess i should turn it on before i start the car if i really don't know which way to go from my starting point.
   
   that being said, everything else is really, really well done. you can type right on the screen and you can do it while driving. i purchased the weighted stand for keeping it on the dash and the combo can't be beat. we're off to Europe for a few months soon so i'll likely have more to add to this review once i've tried this GPS from Italy to Amsterdam.



3. I used my Garmen in centeral and northern germany this summer and could not have asked for anything better it found all locations I asked for and listed all roads. It found places to eat and gas stations and hotels. Absolutely fantastic



4. Works wonderfully except in tight places where the traffic is awful- no fault of the navigator though. We loved it in England and Ireland. It even backroaded with only a few mistakes which could have been our fault in programming. Very helpful on roundabouts!



5. I bought this nuvi mainly because my wife is from Germany and I always have a terrible time navigating around these towns. I didn't want a unit that I would only use for a few weeks a year when we are in Europe so I sought out something with a database in the USA as well.
   
   This is a simple unit. It doesn't upload traffic or current construction delays. It doesn't play music. It doesn't bluetooth. It doesn't play videos. It doesn't wash your socks. It just navigates and it does it very well.
   
   We travelled all over Germany, over to a small town in Poland, back to northern Germany, over to Norway (and all over the country), and then back to Germany. It found everything without a hitch. It even found these obscure little dirt roads in the wilds of Norway. Took us directly to airport terminals and ferry terminals. I am hugely impressed by this little unit. Nothing but good to say so far...

5 comments about Garmin StreetPilot c340 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. Will get you anywhere you want to go with ease!! Great product, would highly recommend..



2. 
   This is my 3rd GPS.
   
   I owned a Garmin c230, Tom Tom one, Navigon 2100. Each has found a home with other members of the family, not by my choice just Dad is apparently a soft touch. I research purchases to no end for fun and to determine value.
   
   The C340 is an older style and while the form factor is a bit bulky by todays standards, the performance and price is great.
   
   It acquires a signal fast, it's display and volume super, the software is among the best as is the Points of Interest data base.
   
   The Maps are as good as any GPS and there is no way any GPS system can be 100% current.
   
   I decided to use the same approach as I do with laptops, no sense to strive for the newest when you can get great performance from a legacy model.
   
   This unit sold for almost 3 times the price 2 years ago and is still a solid performer.
   
   All GPS devices are a useful tool, the software and POI's on the Garmin is something I have found to be of high value.



3. The GPS unit itself works great, and is intuitive and easy to use. HOWEVER, it is a horror to set up if you have a Mac! Even though the website claims they now support Mac, they are really useless when it actually comes to it. I initially had to set it up with a borrowed PC (predictably, the software was ridiculously unintuitive; when the so-called mac update, was announced--many months after it was supposed to come out--I ordered my free update CD, having finally figured out how to get it from their unwieldy website. Forget downloading the files or maps directly from the site, even with the various and confusing unlock codes you have to use! The CD arrives in a few weeks: no Mac update on it, no help on the website. You would think that nowadays any big and well known company would in this day and age provide Mac support (not to mention web downloads of additional programs/maps!). Very disappointing.



4. I love this product. I like the fact that it tells you the name of the road you are turning on. It is easy to use, very self explanitory.



5. Waited until the price dropped to pick up this garmin GPS. Easy to use and came with updated 2008 maps. Friction mount does not stay put on my Tahoe dash but makes it for easy storage with a suction cup ring or dash mount.

5 comments about Garmin nüvi 750 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

1. Garmin 760 GPS - It's wonderful. Got us through local streets and unnamed roads to our destination with no problems. Simple to install and use, and the owner's manual is understandable. I love it!



2. Great Product. Does all that the manufacturer claimed it could do and does it satisfactorily. With my additional house charger and external antenna, I can't ask for more.
   
   Only disappointment was that it was not loaded with the 2008 maps - comes with 2007.



3. Just got back from 1st trip with a Garmin 750. Locked on to sat. with in a few seconds (20 sec longest). very clear voice with directions(and I am hard of hearing). I tend to take side trips the unit rerouted me back on track every time very fast. I had no problems and was very pleased with the 750.



4. I have had the unit for 6 months and bought it for a move to a new place where I would have to be driving to many unfamiliar locations. For the most part, the multipoint routing and such works OK, although the steps to program all the points seems more tedious than it needs to be. And then I started finding strange things, like a major Southern California post office that had been built seven years ago in a large town is not in the database (the post office on Hovely in Palm Desert). A 5-year-old home address I tried to find was not to be found -- not even the street it was built on, and that was in central Tucson.
   
   To make matters worse, after owning it for only 6 months, I get an email that to get the updated 2009 database, presumably containing all the points that should have been there all along, I am supposed to pay another $70 on top of the $430 I paid when it came out? C'mon! At least give free updates for a year!! At least it costs less to buy the upgrade from Amazon than from Garmin.
   
   Satellite reception definitely improved with the software updates, but is still sluggish sometimes even with sunny, unrestricted skies - or can't locate satellites at all. And strangely it often asks me to do unnecessary things like drive past my destination, sometimes half a mile farther, do a U-turn and return a half a mile back again to turn right into a parking lot -- when a simple left turn would have done just fine.
   
   Now that the first excitement of the device has worn off and I have had enough time to see all these quirks, overall I am underwhelmed. The device itself (hardware, aesthetics, durability, etc.) is good but the software is not up to par, and a GPS is only as good as its software. A price of $250 with at least a year of free upgrades would seem a better value.



5. Yep, With the Nuvi 750 I travel with confidence and no longer get lost in the parking lot. I do a lot of disaster work and travel in unframiliar areas with out stress and with confidence that I will reach my destination. I have four GPS units and for travel this is by far the best.
   The Nuvi is easy to operate and I have no reservations reccomending this unit to all my friends.

5 comments about TomTom GO 920 Portable GPS Vehicle Navigator.

1. Everythig was clear and fast. I have recieved that, what I expected. Original pack without any damage or opening. Everythig what was suppose to be inside, was there. I am satisfied with this product. It is workng without any problems.



2. I'got previously a Viamichelin (many mistakes and long time to acquire gps) and now Viamichelin has left the gps market (no more support, no new maps). I tried Mio (no comment, forget it, you will never be able to read the screen on sunny days). I finally go to Tomtom in order to get North American and Europe maps. Good product, very short waiting time for gps acquisition, accurate and precise. I've bought the 920. Important things to mention :
   - after updating a 920 with v8 maps, you have got a 930 !
   - if you buy the T version (with TMC) in US, your antenna won't work in Europe and vice versa. If you want to use TMC on both sides, you need 2 antennas (which are physically identical, so don't mix them or it will be a mess !).
   - I travel a lot. I can use it in Singapore, Hong-Kong, Australia etc. but you don't have maps of Mexico and Malaysia (that Garmin has). It's a pity.
   - remote control is a gadget except if you have a very big car...
   - no home charger, no case provided. It's a pity.
   - software is very simple to use. You will never be lost !
   - some map mistakes, but very good improvements with map share. These improvements are depending on the size of the community : in Europe, maps are perfect due to the large number of users (TT is #1). In US, maps are perfectible and it will take some time which could be short if their products are well sold. No need to buy an updated map, sounds good !
   - bluetooth hands free works very well.
   - voice recognition exists but forget it (gadget which doesn't work while driving).
   Conclusion : quite perfect, reliable, always working (no bugs)... Only one improvement for future : Mr Tomtom, provide more maps, please !



3. Most place names are spoken understandably, but both US English readers frequently say "thord" or "thorth" for "third", as well as "thorteenth", "thortyninth", etc., which can be confusing.



4. If you're new to an area, the TomTom GO920 is the near-perfect companion. Expect issues in urban areas amidst high buildings (probably the case for all navigators, though), and in very remote areas: had a very dangerous experience in Yosemite Park, when it directed me to a road that doesn't exist on the local maps: it didn't warn me that the road was unpaved, very steep and only suitable for 4x4 vehicles. But then again, it was my decision not to make a U turn - so not sure how much of it I can blame on the navigator.
   On several occasions, the route suggested from A to B changed: one day it suggested one highway, another day another one; sometimes the return leg was completely different from the outbound leg.
   The commands are easy to use, with sufficient features and settings.The hands-free feature doesn't work with my business cellphone, looks like the phone overrides the navigator's bluetooth commands. No problems however with my private cell: once it works, it's great!
   I travel a fair bit for work, both in the US and in Europe; this machine came with maps for North America and Europe.I worked out the daily rate Hertz charge us for their Neverlost system: the GO920 pays for itself after 32 working days.
   Some aspect need improving but all in all very happy with the product.



5. While this device has some positives, the biggest disappointment is that the maps are clearly many, many years old. This becomes evident at unfortunate points in time, e.g., two weeks ago when I was attempting to reach the car rental location near Philadelphia airport, Tom Tom led me astray (after telling me to exit the highway on a non-existent off-ramp into a field) into a rather seedy neighborhood.
   
   I was very near my destination it turns out, but after Tom Tom realized I was lost it rerouted me into a traffic jam on the highway (fastest route does not take into consideration time of day/highway rush hours) instead of the mile or two through back streets. After I took the first exit and used the "avoid highways" route, Tommy got it. Luckily I still made my flight.
   
   Another example is that the Tom Tom 920, sadly, isn't aware of the traffic routing in Manhattan since 9-11. I wasted 45 minutes going in circles because Tommy wanted me to go through streets that have been closed off since that sad September day.
   
   I suspect that Tom Tom loads the old maps on the device intentionally so that, after your frustration mounts, you will pay the $50+ for the "update" for one map region - which is pretty steep considering this device costs so much new.
   
   Russian, Slovak and other Eastern European maps are included in the Western Europe pack, but for some odd reason Greece is not.
   
   Other than this major shortcoming(the maps), the device functions fairly well and the menus etc are reasonably intuitive (although after 4 months of use I recently discovered the shortcut to the volume - which I previously thought was only accessible in the 4th sub-menu. Trust me, it's not obvious).
   
   There are other quirks, for instance, the American voice actors didn't record the words "meter" or "kilometer", so even though you switch to metric (e.g., when in Europe) it still says "miles" and "feet" even though it is written "meters". Confusing, and could have been easily avoided.
   
   The touch screen is nice, the display is nice, and about 80% of the time the maps are accurate - consider how much the roads in your area have changed since 1999, and that's what you'll get.
   
   Still not sure why they didn't include a "scenic route" option, it would have been a nice addition to the "avoid highways" etc., choices.

5 comments about Magellan Maestro 3250 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. Perfect!! Just Perfect!!! Because of the mounting arm the 3 X 5 screen is easily read, the directions are easily understood, it's Bluetooth capable, It's easy to navigate through the system, it does everything I need it to and then some, AND the price was perfect also!!



2. Visually easy to see in all light but ran into 2 problems on our first trip-an exit to an expressway ramp is on right but voice kept saying 'Take ramp on left' and one route sent us the long slow way through a very bad part of town (recent new roads seemed to be missing). At highway speeds the voice would lag and announce a turn right at the intersection-too late to turn safely. Also, when not in 'guide me' mode, did not show all of the upcoming road road names. Tech support hard to understand - strong accent. I returned unit for a Garmin 260



3. Urgh... Another technically great product undone by design decisions that can only be explained by assuming that a disgruntled designer managed to sneak through a major flaw when no one was looking.
   
   In this unit, the map background is all green (at least in urban areas), and the line showing your route is green. (see the picture for a example) Pale green and darker green, for sure, but when using the product in direct light, it's pretty much impossible to distinguish. Even at moderate light I found it hard to tell apart, meaning that I could not just flick my eyes over to the display and see where i was supposed to go.
   
   I called tech support immediately, but was told that there is no way to change the map colors. Returned it the next day.
   
   Oh, also - the max volume is ridiculously low. In my convertible I could not hear anything even at max volume. (Both Tomtom and nuvi worked fine in the convertible.)
   
   All in all, I recommend the nuvi instead.



4. I was so impressed with this Magellan 3250.."She" and I had quite an adventure going to Florida and back. We made it through the mountains, the forests, road closures, construction zones, and potty stops. The only question I had for Magellan was, "Why did you want me to take a detour when I was at a complete stop in one-lane traffic and inside a mountain tunnel?"
   I don't know how I could have accomplished that! I would highly recommend this model to anyone...my only complaint, it can't tell you where the closest potty is!



5. Got this for my daughter a month ago.
   She has used it several times with good results. I had heard from friends that the Garmin units lack a little in accuracy and plot some strange routes.
   We had a good experience with a Magellan unit in a rental car 8 yrs ago on a vacation.
   Before we did anything, we registered & updated the firmware to the latest version. Following the directions, we set up the bluetooth easily. The bluetooth works with my daughters Virgin Mobile phone, even though it is not on the list of supported phones.

5 comments about Garmin nüvi 200W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

1. the navigation is fine, but sometimes take a long time to locate satelitte when power on the gps. another pity thing is it doesn't have the function of searching by zip code.



2. Navigation is easy to use and always gets me where I need to go! It won't always take me the fastest route though. The screen is large enough to type in street names and whatnot with my fingers, yet small enough to fit in the palm on my hand. Great product for the price! Can't get much better!



3. the nuvi 200w worked great right out of the box. I just put in where I wanted to go, and it started giving directions.



4. This has been wonderful. went to tennesse and had no problems getting around. it worked great, widescreen is killer. friend has normal screen and im glad i purchased wide. i love the screen that gives overall details of trip, used it the most. this is a great product and would recoommend for everyone. only thing you don't get is name of street to turn on but i didn't need that feature so bought this one and love it.



5. A nice wide-screen unit to use at an affordable price. It does not have all the "bells and whistles" of the more expensice units but adequately does the job. We have used it several times since purchasing it and found it to be simple to use. However, you must be patient as it does take some time to find satellites to access your route.

5 comments about Garmin nüvi 370 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech, North American & European Maps.

1. Wow. Just back from a 1000+ mile journey through Italy and this GPS saved my butt a gazillion times. It navigated us through some of the smallest and hardest-to-find country roads without ever getting lost. It was easy to use, intuitive and worked like a champ right out of the box. Now, I just need to get back to Europe to try out some of the other countries, but on this journey, Italy and Garmin scored an A+. I used to have a Tom Tom (that TSA stole from my luggage on a recent trip) and this thing smokes Tom Tom in every way.
   
   s



2. I recently took my GARMIN on a trip all across Ireland and I would not have been able to travel without it. The GPS was fantastic in all areas country and city and allowed us to take our time and wander more than have mapped out destinations. This is highly recommended for international as well as domestic use.



3. This is my 5th GPS. I bought it because I want the European Map. Everything works as expected and better than my three previous Garmin units. However, there are at least two things that can be improved. First, the text-to-speech sound is very tinny and not loud enough if you are over sixty years old or your radio is playing. Next, it cannot pronounce Spanish names correctly. This is very annoying living in Southern California. It will be fun when I go to France or Germany. By the way, if you want a lot of POI, you will be disappointed. In my opinion, Garmin has never been great on POI, but they excel on the important things on navigation.



4. A poor GPS experience. Poor battery life (max. 3 hours, which makes day long navigation in Europe by mass transit/foot obsolete). Not very accurate - I have found mine to be as much as 150 yards off, which isn't very convenient when you get off on the incorrect exit and it doesn't alert you until it's much too late. You can not mute the voice commands and have to go through the menu settings just to change the volume. Very obnoxious to be on a business call and the voice command interrupts your conversation and you can do nothing. Takes a long time to "boot" up and recognize my new location - as long as >5 minutes. I have also had it tell me I was in a location that was 750 miles away. Kind of tough to navigate somewhere in Atlanta when it tells you you're in Baltimore. England country roads very poor; Venice, Italy navigation impossible. We bought Garmins and TomToms for our employees and have found the TomTom to be a far superior GPS as far as functionality and in each and every side-by-side test. I have used Magellans in rent cars and found them also to be more accurate and far more intuitive.



5. 
   I have the Garmin 670 for routine local use in my car, got it for the larger screen etc. Got the 370 for travel-it packs easily, great for walking, bicycling or driving. The screen is terrific, easy to read-bright and clear and the directions are fantastic-the voice is easy to understand, thorough and prompt. I would highly recommend this product to anyone, family members or close friends. You won't go wrong. In addition, the coverage for Europe will be very handy when I return there. With the 670 and the 370 I am very well covered locally and abroad. While both cover Europe I prefer the 370 for travel outside the U.S. just due to the fact it takes up less space. I could not be happier with this combination, both are ideal.

5 comments about TomTom ONE XL 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator (Map of US and Canada).

1. I purchased this unit to use on the road. I have been using a GPS system for about 4 years. I have one built in to my Jeep, have been renting from Hertz when traveling. While I do not consider myself a GPS expert, I have enough experience in using one to understand the operation. Due to the expense of renting when traveling, I decided I would purchase a unit to save the rental fee everytime.
   
   I hope that the unit I purchased, new in the box, was defective and not the norm for TomTom. I took it on the road. I tried to route 7 different locations over a period of several days. It failed miserably.
   - I got off the plane and turned it on. It never found my location, despite laying on the dashboard for over an hour.
   - I went online for tech support, found suggestion to reset.
   - I reset it, did not make a difference, still took a long time to find location (20 - 30 mins) if it did find it. I was with someone walking around down who had a Garmin Nuvi, it always knew were we located, the TomTom never found the location, even when searching for over 2 hours.
   - Over the 7 attempts I tried, it worked one time.
   
   When working, it does a good job of recalulating route, announcing turns. When I returned it, the sales person asked me if I want to exchange it, I chose not to. Did not want that frustration again. So as I said, I hope it was only defective, because if it is normal, it is terrible.
   
   Last but not least, their website is less then user friendly. I was told by tech support to just look on the web. Links given were non-working.
   I returned the unit after and purchased a Garmin Nuvi 360.
   
   Hope this helps.



2. Very frustrating to use. Doesn't like to connect to the computer on the first try. The software that allows you to operate it via the computer won't always launch. The unit sometimes has a hiccup and won't respond to a touch command, so when it wakes up after the second or third try, it does the command...you got it, three times. I bought it for the larger screen. But overall, it has not been an enjoyable thing to use. UPDATE: I gave up and threw it out. By this time, I didn't want to exchange it for the second time. I'm washing my hands of TomTom.



3. It barely worked for 1 month, and then turned to a nightmare. The whole unit ended on the side of the Florida turnpike.
   
   Stay away from it!!!



4. So far so good. I think it's great. The size is perfect and the screen can be easily visualized.



5. This Tom Tom arrived very quickly, and we are quite pleased with the product.
   Easy to use and self explanitory. Especially for the elderly.

5 comments about Magellan Maestro 4250 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator.

1. This is a great GPS and loaded with features. Only had one problem when
   the unit failed to respond to bluetooth devices. Simple reset took care
   of the issue. Very accurate...called turns right on time.



2. Bought this to accompany me on a cross country road trip that went through Chicago, Black Hills, Colorado, Utah, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. All of this took me through a variety of locations including city, isolated, and national parks. Entered approximately ten destinations into my trip planner and took off. Found the device extremely accurate including in Wisconsin where street names were like XY, and in getting me into and out of Chicago and Las Vegas. It was great in computing my distances between current position and destinations. It was amazing to be in the middle of no where and hear the bip indicating a turn within feet of the correct location. The voice directions were helpful in that they gave you a good feel for your next action with sufficient time to get in the correct lane.
   
   I bought this because of its relationship to the AutoClub including incorporation of its tour guides. The Points of Interest features and AutoClub information were excellent. The Exit POI features to find next gas or restaurant off turnpikes were also helpful.
   
   As with anything, we did encounter some situations where we needed to improvise. However, I would say that most likely any other GPS device would have had similar problems. In Chicago, we found ourselves in an extended tunnel where we lost reception. In the mornings, we realized that it took some time for the unit to "wake up" while it was finding the satellites. Once that happened, it worked as intended. And every now and then, we found a closed restaurant or gas station. But overall, I would rate those experiences as a matter of getting used to working with a GPS device rather than a deficiency in this product.
   
   There were four of us in the car, and all of us were very pleased with the unit, to the point that they started referring to the female voice as "Maggie." The price is excellent and I feel that I got excellent value for what I paid. The Amazon price was excellent compared with retail outlets.



3. After a short live intro to a Garmin Gps System, four days Touring in Tampa, Florida; I researched Amazon and decided for this one. The reviews are on he money, this one takes you to your destination with more precision and costs less. I could not be more impressed or happy. This one is a Gem. I reside in NJ, travel daily to the NYC area and love to simply venture out. Enjoy!!!



4. Very nice unit, had to upgrade the firmware, but other than that, it is very nice. A friend at work ask me about a GPS, I told him about this one, he ordered one for himself.



5. I was severely disappointed in the performance of this unit. On a typical 300 mile trip it chose a 1180 mile route for "Fastest Time" and then on "Shortest Route" it would choose off ramps only to route you back on the next on ramp. In San Antonio,Tx it didn't know some hwys also had a street name, sometimes it would forget where you were. Voice is very sketchy, sometimes it would kick in by itself, most of the time would only respond to "Magellan" and thats all. Finally the "death sentence" was the screen developed a black worm-like anomaly. I'm going back to TomTom which is also Mac compatible, the magellan is not.

5 comments about Garmin Streetpilot c550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

1. After much research, I believe this Garmin to be the best buy for the money. I purchased one for my son, then, after finding it cheaper on Amazon.com, I purchased another for my daughter. They absolutely love the Garmin and have sold me on it. I am going to purchase one for myself. My daughter said the directions are given before you need to make a turn, not right as you are passing the street as most do.



2. So far, the GPS has been accurate and we have not gotten lost! It is so easy to program. Almost idiot proof!!! For someone like my husband, who is technically challenged, the GPS has been a dream come true.



3. its been only 2 weeks, it is broken already ( not physically), I mean not working properly. yesterday it mislead me and made me travel 20 miles extra unnecessarily. FInally I had to shut it down and find my own way to the destination. It was not a remote area, i picked up a friend of mine from boston logan airport and had to drop them off at boston downtown but I ended up going to revere. I restarted it and tried again still it didnt work properly. I dont know if the amazon is gonna replace it, i ahve to call them today and find out.



4. I bought this one for my daughter as a graduation gift for heading off to college this fall that is 3 hrs away. But first I had to try it out before giving it to her. I loved it, had no clue what I was missing till I just took it out of my car and moved to my daughters car so that she has it for college.
   
   I have yet to not have a signal except when going through the tunnel on the way to VA Beach but what did you expect in there. This is so easy to set up and use and stores all the locations that you want to save.
   
   I think now I will go and buy one for myself.



5. This is a great item. Well worth the money - and I have enjoyed using it. It is easy to use.
   
   It does - sometimes - take a little long to load the satellite connection, but for the most part, I have NO complaints!!