Garmin Nuvi 255W - 4.4 in. Car GPS Receiver

I had wanted a GPS device for sometime, but really could not justify spending money on something I didn't really need. So I was thrilled when I received the Garmin Nuvi 255W as a gift. We have affectionately dubbed her Annie.

What You Get
The Garmin Nuvi 255W is an entry level wide screen model, 4.3" diagonal. The Nuvi comes preloaded with United States maps, a power cord for your vehicle and a suction cup mount for your car's windshield. There is a quick start guide; my box did not come with a complete users guide, but I had no trouble finding it online. Upon registering the unit on line you are entitled to one free map upgrade and others can be purchased and loaded into the unit's memory.

Initial Set Up
As with many battery operated items you need to charge before use. That means plugging it into the car, buying the option AC adapter or charging it using your computer with the optional mini USB connector. Since even my low tech house had a mini USB cable that is the option I chose. Once it was plugged in I was able to turn the unit on and begin the set-up by entering local time and home address. The input interface is a full QWERTY keyboard on the touch screen. Once that was done the unit did the rest by acquiring a satellite signal. The setup took less than five minutes and the initial full charge about an hour. The suction cup sticks firmly to the interior window with a small lever to ensure enough pressure is put on to keep the mount secure. The unit snaps in and out of the holder easily without needing to remove the suction cup, which also removes easily should you not want to leave it attached to your window. The ball socket means you can position the unit in any direction to be easily viewed while driving.

Entering a Destination
From the main menu you can either choose to just view a map of where you are driving or you can enter a destination. You can enter a specific address, store a list of favorites or search for a destination such a food, fuel, shopping or search by a name. The touch screen interface is easy to use and the icons are large enough so you are unlikely to fat finger an entry.

However, I wouldn't trust the Nuvi's ability to find you a destination. Of course my first tests were done around home. When I went to the entertainment menu and looked for movies, it found every movie theater within a 15 mile radius, except the one 2 miles from my house. While it found the Showcase Cinemas in several neighboring towns, the one that has been in my town for 20 years wasn't an option.

While traveling to New York with just my six year old, I really needed to be able to rely on the Nuvi, as my copilot. The directions were good, although I was puzzled that I took one highway route to get to my destination and a different one to come home. However, trying to find a gas station was an adventure. I selected fuel as my destination and chose the closest one; Annie brought me to the entrance of a school that looked like it had been their at least 50 years with no gas station in sight. The second one has been closed for at least a year but I was finally able to get gas at the third station. While the directions are good, don't rely on the Nuvi to find your destinations. Around town, we are directed to restaurants that have been closed for years. With 7 Dunkin' Donuts in town (one within a 10 minute walk) the closest donut ship is identified as being 23 miles away and it found only one of the five Subway restaurants in town. In Florida we followed the directions to a Taco Bell, and actually passed another one on our way. The destinations are marginally useful at best.

Directions seem much more reliable when typing in an exact address. It gets me around town for play dates when I can't quite remember which street is which and to parties when I know the address. But I really don't need a navigation system to get around the town I've lived in all of my life either. So far, when I have really needed the system to find me an unfamiliar address my Nuvi hasn't let me down, although I have no way of knowing if I go there the "best" way. In some unfamiliar city driving the Nuvi did seem to know and be able to adjust driving directions for one-way streets.

As you would with any internet type map, use caution and don't follow the directions "blindly." Testing the unit locally I have had it try to send me down streets that haven't existed in more than 10 years. Also, since the Nuvi does not take local traffic into account, you may not always get the best route. You can program the Nuvi with your preference such as avoiding u-turn, tolls, ferries and traffic, but I have not found those settings to be well adhered to by the unit. You can also select a route for faster time or shorter distance, but I have no idea what difference these settings really make.

The Screen
I find the screen easy to read, but I can't imagine having a unit with a smaller screen, it would just be too small to read since Nuvi packs a lot onto the screen. Across the top is the mileage to your next turn with an arrow showing what type of turn; sharp right, left exit, U-turn. The top also tells you what road you are looking for next. Along the left is the speed limit and the right has buttons to zoom in and out of the map. The bottom includes your instant speed, a menu button and your estimate arrival time.

In the center of the full color screen is your route. The standard calculated path is 3-dimensional in magenta, major highways and interstates in maroon, state roads in orange. Roads are labeled with their names, depending on the zoom level you use. During the day the background is white with black roads, but as the sun sets the screen automatically changes to a black back ground to reduce light in the car and the local roads are white. The screen is plenty bright enough to be seen even on the sunniest day and the color switch at night is enough perfect for night driving; still easy to read without being distracting.

Pressing the speed button also brings up the trip calculator, which includes overall speed, moving average, miles gone and left for the trip as well as moving time and stopped time. For our trip from Connecticut to Florida, we really liked having the trip calculator to be able to answer "how much longer" with some real numbers. We know we lose a lot of time while traveling due to stops, and the Nuvi really shows that. Three bathroom and gas stops added 1:10 on our first travel day.

The Voice
In addition to being able to read and follow the directions on the screen there are voice prompts every step of the way. For most turns you get a ¼ mile or so warning another at about 100 yards and then the final prompt as you need to turn. The female voice for American English is clear, easy to understand and the pronunciations are generally accurate. From a quick scroll through, any language I could think of was available. There is a large volume range, with the loudest being not only too loud, but there is some distortion and crackling at the highest setting. Just one click down is plenty to overcome my extremely loud Toyota Yaris and mid level is fine in our Chevy Silverado, which has a much quieter cabin.

However, most of the time, unless I really need the voice prompts, I mute Annie. The constant reminders to turn annoy me. And don't you dare take a different turn because you will repeatedly hear "recalculating" until the Nuvi figures out another router. While it generally doesn't take long for the satellite to come up with another route, even one "recalculating" is more than enough for me. When I am in an unfamiliar area I do like that she speaks the name of the street I am supposed to turn on and not just to "turn left"; it gives me an opportunity to double check the directions.

Other Features
The Nuvi 255W is full of additional features, not all seem particularly useful. You can upload pictures for a slide show, but somehow I think that would be distracting and potentially dangerous. There is a calculator should you need one for figuring out fuel economy, although your cell phone probably has one as well. You can actually enter your vehicles average city and highway fuel economy and gas price and the Nuvi will keep track of your fuel costs; of course your gas receipts will do that too. My kids got a kick out of the map coordinates and elevation changes. You can also change the mode to use while walking or for off road driving.

What the Nuvi 255W Lacks
Despite all of the features packed into this unit, for me it lacks one important feature, the ability to easily customize a route. We drive regularly from Connecticut to Florida and to do this we have to cross the Hudson River. While every set of directions I have ever looked up clearly shows that taking the George Washington Bridge is the shortest route, experience has taught us that the Tapan Zee Bridge typically saves us a frustrating half hour of sitting in traffic. At every opportunity for the first two hours of our trip Annie kept searching for routes that would have us traveling through New York City at about 8:30 in the morning. The Nuvi also seems to spurn beltways, although I have checked the preference to avoid traffic. While going a round a city may add miles, we typically find the time to just about even out and the driving is almost always easier.

You can select options to avoid tolls, highways and ferries, but one option missing from the list is to avoid tunnels. Since we pull a trailer with propane we cannot go through the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore. I used a traditional map to take us around Baltimore, but at every exit Annie tried to get us to turn around or take state and local roads to get us through that tunnel.

You also cannot easily preview the route the unit calculates before leaving. By zooming out far enough and dragging the map across the screen I could see the potential problems on our familiar route from Connecticut to Florida, but it certainly wasn't easy to do. You can also tap on the top banner to read the text directions, which is only slightly easier. If I didn't know the route so well I would have had to pull out the map and try and compare the small screen to the map. So then what do I need the Nuvi for? You can also tap on the top banner to read the text directions, which is only slightly easier. There simply isn't no easy way to preview a route, so be prepared to just trust it.

The only way I see to customize a route it to pick destinations along the desired route to force the Nuvi to calculate those directions. I gave it a try, but it was much too complicated of an endeavor since you need an address for the unit to navigate to, I could not find a way to select a particular highway. You can also purchase additional software that will allow you to customize a map, but I just don't foresee using the Nuvi often enough to warrant $30 for additional software. Instead I pulled out our AAA Trip Ticket to keep handy for the exact exit numbers through New Jersey and ignored Annie. Good thing there is a mute button so we didn't have to listen to her constantly "recalculating."

Final Thoughts
While the Nuvi 255W is a fun toy, I would be hesitant to rely on it for any special circumstances. For city driving to local address the Nuvi does seem reliable, but if you want or need to avoid particular driving conditions you will still need to carry a map and know how to read it or purchase additional software and preplan your route.