Garmin Nuvi 205W - 4.4 in. Car GPS Receiver
- Form Factor: Fixed
- Map capabilities: Internal, Map cartridges / Data cards
- Screen Size: 4.4 in.
- GPS Type: Automobile
- Input Method: Touch Screen, Keyboard
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A Very Good Car GPS for the Price
Pros
Screen, menus, easy of use, price
Cons
Slow satellite linking, limited free map update, goofy power cord attachment
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
For $100, this is a good GPS unit.
We bought this GPS (205W version, W=widescreen) for finding businesses/restaurants/etc. in our city and also for finding food/gas/hotel stops while driving cross country over the holidays.
The menu and control system for this generation of Garmin Nuvi's is excellent and much better than I've seen on other GPS systems. The menu/button structure is intuitive and usually does not require more than a few presses to get where you want to go. There are also several shortcuts from the main navigation map screen, so reading the manual is worth it.
The screen and map quality are excellent in both bright and dark conditions. The W-series widescreens are the only way to go.
Battery and charging performance is quite good - again, much better than previous generations. A full charge doesn't seem to require more than about an hour, and we've driven for about 4 hours on a charge. One thing I don't like is the position of the power cord connector - it's on the rear of the unit, instead of the side - so you can't lay the unit flat, and you have to remove it from its mount to plug it in.
The point-of-interest database seems fairly up-to-date, although recently we were surprised that a Lowes in a nearby suburb was not in the database! This is the first time it failed to find a business that we were looking for.
One other complaint I have is that sometimes it seems to require a very long time (several minutes) to find the satellites. Also, it doesn't seem to work indoors at all - probably due to reception. This issues seems to be getting worse, which suggests I might have to return it for an exchange - but I'll have to watch it.
The Garmin website has lots of cool free uploads, which are kind of fun. Driving home for Christmas, we turned our car icon into a reindeer, and the voice giving us directions was an elf.
One other complaint - when you register your unit on-line, you are entitled to one free map update, but you have to use it within a month or so - which is pointless. I'd rather use it in a year or so after the database is out of date. Plus, new databases are really expensive.
The menu and control system for this generation of Garmin Nuvi's is excellent and much better than I've seen on other GPS systems. The menu/button structure is intuitive and usually does not require more than a few presses to get where you want to go. There are also several shortcuts from the main navigation map screen, so reading the manual is worth it.
The screen and map quality are excellent in both bright and dark conditions. The W-series widescreens are the only way to go.
Battery and charging performance is quite good - again, much better than previous generations. A full charge doesn't seem to require more than about an hour, and we've driven for about 4 hours on a charge. One thing I don't like is the position of the power cord connector - it's on the rear of the unit, instead of the side - so you can't lay the unit flat, and you have to remove it from its mount to plug it in.
The point-of-interest database seems fairly up-to-date, although recently we were surprised that a Lowes in a nearby suburb was not in the database! This is the first time it failed to find a business that we were looking for.
One other complaint I have is that sometimes it seems to require a very long time (several minutes) to find the satellites. Also, it doesn't seem to work indoors at all - probably due to reception. This issues seems to be getting worse, which suggests I might have to return it for an exchange - but I'll have to watch it.
The Garmin website has lots of cool free uploads, which are kind of fun. Driving home for Christmas, we turned our car icon into a reindeer, and the voice giving us directions was an elf.
One other complaint - when you register your unit on-line, you are entitled to one free map update, but you have to use it within a month or so - which is pointless. I'd rather use it in a year or so after the database is out of date. Plus, new databases are really expensive.
