Garmin Nuvi 255W - 4.4 in. Car GPS Receiver
- Brand: Garmin
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Mostly usable, but a few design flaws.
Pros
TTS, fast startup, free traffic reports, <br> speaks 60 languages, loud, bright.
Cons
Outdated POI and road updates, mistakes, no mute, ads, robotic voice, clamshell.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
I'd buy if could get a great deal, but wouldn't pay the regular price. Too many design flaws need to be addressed.
The unit does the job- spoken street names are accurate but robotic sounding, Free lifetime traffic reports are ad-sponsored but this isn't indicated on the package.
My street is a small street and doesn't seem to be on the Garmin or TomTom devices. However other GPS brands have it.
I was amazed to discover the unit speaks 60 languages and variations, such as Brazilian/European Portuguese, Candian and European French, and 4 dialects of Chinese.
However, only a few of the supplied languages support Text-To-Speech (TTS) for reading street names and have male/female voice options. These voices are robotic sounding. The voices that do not support TTS are natural sounding. So if you want to enjoy the street-name feature you have to listen to a robotic voice.
This unit doesn't give lane guidance. However, since it has already been developed for other models, I don't think it would cost the company more to add it to their software across their product line.
There is a manual available in PDF for download. This is not done to save paper, it is done to save money! If the company were environmentally concerned they would not be using CLAMSHELL packaging.
Speed. The time required to find a GPS signal is fast, and routing logic is fast. However the screen redraw rate is slow. You can see the road lines and landscape being drawn. The graphics are too slow.
The POI data is thorough, and categories are helpful but it is loaded with mistakes and even with the latest update it's a few years old.
All "favorite" destinations may be saved and categorized. But once you save a favorite its name will display in the overview map, and this takes up a lot of precious screen real estate. More than a few names will cover up the mapping data.
The road updates are also about 3 years old, and they are expensive.
I would like it easier to be able to temporarily override the settings. For example, sometimes I would want to temporarily avoid a toll road, without always going into the setttings panel to change the setting and go back to its original setting. Also, there isn't an easy way to tell the unit that you would like it to suggest alternate routes, for example, if you want to avoid road construction or a traffic jam.
The car power cord is well-built. However the plug sticks out below the unit, making it impossible to stand the unit up. If you simply want to stand the unit up in front of you it will fall over. Major design flaw!
Another major design flaw is trying to shut the unit up. If you want to mute it and get back to your route view you must press 4 different places on the screen!
My street is a small street and doesn't seem to be on the Garmin or TomTom devices. However other GPS brands have it.
I was amazed to discover the unit speaks 60 languages and variations, such as Brazilian/European Portuguese, Candian and European French, and 4 dialects of Chinese.
However, only a few of the supplied languages support Text-To-Speech (TTS) for reading street names and have male/female voice options. These voices are robotic sounding. The voices that do not support TTS are natural sounding. So if you want to enjoy the street-name feature you have to listen to a robotic voice.
This unit doesn't give lane guidance. However, since it has already been developed for other models, I don't think it would cost the company more to add it to their software across their product line.
There is a manual available in PDF for download. This is not done to save paper, it is done to save money! If the company were environmentally concerned they would not be using CLAMSHELL packaging.
Speed. The time required to find a GPS signal is fast, and routing logic is fast. However the screen redraw rate is slow. You can see the road lines and landscape being drawn. The graphics are too slow.
The POI data is thorough, and categories are helpful but it is loaded with mistakes and even with the latest update it's a few years old.
All "favorite" destinations may be saved and categorized. But once you save a favorite its name will display in the overview map, and this takes up a lot of precious screen real estate. More than a few names will cover up the mapping data.
The road updates are also about 3 years old, and they are expensive.
I would like it easier to be able to temporarily override the settings. For example, sometimes I would want to temporarily avoid a toll road, without always going into the setttings panel to change the setting and go back to its original setting. Also, there isn't an easy way to tell the unit that you would like it to suggest alternate routes, for example, if you want to avoid road construction or a traffic jam.
The car power cord is well-built. However the plug sticks out below the unit, making it impossible to stand the unit up. If you simply want to stand the unit up in front of you it will fall over. Major design flaw!
Another major design flaw is trying to shut the unit up. If you want to mute it and get back to your route view you must press 4 different places on the screen!
