Garmin - nüvi 255WT GPS

One drawback and it it is probably not limited to this model - I bought this unit to navigate roads in North Dakota since I was moving there and had never been there before. The roads in northern ND near the Canadian border were 2 miles off. If I was looking to turn on 129th ST; I would actually be at 131st by the time the Nuvi instructed me to turn. There seems to be no way to correct this (I tried updating the maps online - not fixed). That was the ONLY issue I had with this unit; otherwise it is wonderful.

This is a very nice GPS. It works well and is easy to use. I recommend it to anyone who asks me about GPS's. Things you need to know: 1. This is a "wierd" model from Garmin. You won't find the 255WT on their website. The box is labeled 255WT, but it's marked 255W on the unit itself. It's basically a 255W with the traffic option built in. 2. If you buy from an auction site, Garmin will not warranty it. (It can be registered, though.) 3. You need to register it. The problem is, it does not come with a USB cable to connect it to your computer. The cable can be picked up any where like Best Buy, Radio Shack, possibly Wal-Mart, etc. Once you've got the cable and the unit connected to your computer, go to http:my.garmin.com. Once registered, click the My Dashboard tab, this will tell you what's available to update. This will enable you to install the latest software update and map updates. 4. One of the biggest advantages of this unit vs. the 255W is the free lifetime traffic. A lot of GPS's offer traffic information, but charge quite a bit more for that option. This unit comes with FM Traffic Message Channel (TMC) which it uses to get information broadcast over FM radio frequencies. Important things to know about the traffic feature on this GPS: You must have the GPS connected to your car charger for it to receive the traffic information. The power cord doubles as the traffic receiver. While a bit annoying, at least it doesn't require an additional antenna. I have a Sony GPS that requires the power cord, plus an additional antenna to get traffic, so there's cords dangling all over the place. You do not have to "activate" the traffic; it's automatic. You'll know you're receiving traffic information if you see a little car icon in the upper left portion of the screen. There is MSN Direct traffic available for this unit as well. It costs extra, but has more features. But, according to their website, MSN Direct will cease operations on Jan 1, 2012. 5. Once registered you can go to Garmins website and download customizations like different vehicle icons, voices, etc. Most custom voices don't speak street names, though. They simply say, turn left in 200 feet. Look for the ones labled TTS if you want the street names spoken. You can also download a free program from Garmin that allows you to record your own voice. Or, you can use this to edit the Text to Speech (TTS) file in the unit. This allows you to keep the factory spoken street names but still change what the unit says: http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/TTSVoiceEditor 6. You can create/download your own POI's. This allows you to create a list of custom business, etc, that you want to search on. An example would be BBQ restaurants, WalGreens, etc. There's a very nice site where people build these files and you can download for free: http://www.poi-factory.com/ This is a very handy feature. The only thing I don't like about it is that the custom POI's are not "imbedded" into the factory POI's, so searching for them requires a few more "clicks", but no big deal.

I'll preface this review with a quick comment on many of the posts I've read pertaining to this particular product: Let's not forget that this device is intended to supplement driving skills and navigating acuity, not replace them. That said, the 255WT is a good product for the price. Like any GPS unit, it can sometimes be off by a couple hundred feet or so, but this is relatively unimportant. If it's an issue to you, you can always save your true location upon arrival via the "Where Am I" function. To date, I have had no problems with accuracy. I think that what many of these reviewers don't understand is that when real-time traffic is enabled, by default the unit attempts to route you around any significant traffic delays. Two complaints: One is with the quality / reliability of this product. It does freeze up, sometimes frequently, requiring restart. Sometimes it will shut down and restart when the processor appears to be overworked. However, this only happens when the traffic receiver is attached and traffic is enabled. No real-time traffic, no problems....unit works fine. Second complaint is that this is a known issue, discussed here and in many other forums multiple, multiple times, yet as of this writing, still no firmware updates or any other resolution from the Garmin camp. C'mon guys....dip into that co-op money you receive from the onslaught of advertisement pop-ups we're exposed to when traffic is enabled and fix this problem! If you're considering this product, I would absolutely recommend it. However, my advice would be to put your money towards the 255W.....you'll save about 10.00 and alot of annoyance.

I have owned a 255W for a year and bought another one instead of buying a software map upgrade (2010 maps to 2011). I am very happy with its performance. Easy to learn. Clear screen. TTS voice clear but a little fast for my ears. Instructions for moving Favorites to new machine poor. Found them on Google. 2011 maps definitely worth the update. With 2010, the unit was always treating places such as highway splits as way points even if you never got off the main road and the other road was an exit ramp. Too much unnecessary talking. You never knew the distance to the real way point. This is gone now. I still think map updates; either purchased separately or bundled with the unit are way too expensive. One final thing. To this day, I cannot figure out the differences amoung the 37 versions of 4.3" Garmin units. They all seem to do the same thing except maybe the new ones are thinner and some have bluetooth and speech recognition. Do the newer models have faster processors?

This is my first GPS unit and it works very well. Overall, I'm quite pleased with it. I would imagine it's a good value for this type of item, but as I've never seen or used another GPS unit before...I'm obviously limited on my ability to compare such items. I will tell you that it had a few difficulties locating the satellite while trying to use it in the downtown district of Chicago, assumably because there are so many skyscrapers blocking a direct view of the sky...but elsewhere, it worked just fine. My only real complaint is not with Best Buy, but that I was under the assumption there would be free map updates for as long as I own the unit. You do get the initial one free (if you update your maps within 60 days of your first use of the product), but afterwards there's a cost. You can choose to update only when you need to and pay a price for that, or you can subscribe to lifetime updates (maximum: 4 times a year) at a higher price. That was a little disconcerting to me. Otherwise though, the unit's worked out fine and I'm pleased with my purchase.

After doing some research, I decided on this model for the following reasons: wide screen, spoke street names and had real time, free traffic. The colorful screen is very easy to read. Along the top, it shows you distance to next announcement, the street of the next announcement, and, what I think is invaluable, a picture of what the next turn will look like. This is very helpful when the official name of a street (what 255WT calls it) and the road sign is different. (See below for more info on this.) The main map is very accurate (I downloaded the free 2010 map. Took 3 hours to download and 3 hours to install, unassisted.) Map page also has zoom in, zoom out, menu button, trip info button, estimated time and icon for traffic. What’s missing is a quick mute function. To mute or unmute the system takes 5-6 taps of the screen. The system will reroute you when you’re about ½ block off the suggested map, unless you’re on a non-street, such as a parking lot. It does a good job giving you a reasonable route (for example, I’ve chosen different routes because I, personally, know the traffic lights are timed better than the one the 255WT suggests). One time, it didn’t recognize an existing street. If it’s surrounded by tall buildings, it can get a little confused, trying to get a satellite. The system will speak the street name along with the next turn 2 or 3 times, as you get closer to your turn. Example: “in one mile, turn right onto Main Street; in 200 feet, turn right onto Main Street; turn right onto Main Street.” If the exit is local lanes for the road you’re on prior to the actual turn (what the exit sign might read), the system will tell you to exit, but will use the access road name before using the exit sign name. That’s where the picture of the exit is helpful (see above). It does a good job with pronunciation. Hearing street names is invaluable when you’re in an area that has streets close to each other and a plain “turn right” isn’t enough information. The real time, free traffic is great is you’re in a covered area. The system icon shows green (no problems), yellow, or red, along with estimated delay. If you’re driving and icon changes to red, system announces “traffic ahead” and automatically changes to the traffic map. The traffic map, which you can get to at any time, is similar to the regular colorful map, but will mark your route and side of the street with green and yellow, rather than the standard colors. Other traffic options are to see a list of current traffic instances and to see map of larger area with traffic instances. In the setup area, you can choose to have the system automatically reroute you around delays or you can choose this at will. The cost of “free traffic” is that you get small advertisement notices. They are about 2 inches wide and ¼ inch high and appear either on top or on bottom of screen. I thought they’d annoy me, but they are innocuous. They come on when you’re stopped, but only sometimes, not every time.

My old Garmin nuvi 370 had a smaller display and I did not like how it mounted to the docking device from windshield. This new Garmin nuvi 255WT has a larger display and it mounts much better on it's docking device to windshield. The GPS loads maps much faster then my old 370, and because my maps were far out of date on the old 370, it was a better deal to just buy a brand new unit. It's easy to put address's in the system, and it tracks the streets quickly. it even posts the speed limits on streets your driving. If you know Garmin you know they sell quality built systems, the 255WT is solid and shows it's quality of build. The display is sharp with great colors. being larger it's much easer to view. As it was on sale last week it was great find. My older nuvi 370 did come with a battery charger that the 255WT does not include, it's now and after market item. But most will use the Auto power cord that is included so you really won't need the battery charger. Trust me this Garmin is a really nice GPS, you just can't go wrong buying one.

This is a decent navigator at a good price. It has yet to fail me like like other reviewers have said (if that changes, I'll let you know). The traffic feature is ok, but I haven't found it exceptionally helpful except being able to see how far the traffic stretches in front of you. Sometimes there is no traffic and other times it points out that there is traffic ahead as you pull to a stop on the interstate (thanks for the update). It does let you know about how long you will be delayed, which has proven to be accurate on most occasions. I was able to upload all speed and stop light cameras in Maryland from a POI website and now I'm alerted each time I approach one with a "bing" sound. I suppose that may have saved me from a few unwelcome tickets, so it's paid off. It's on sale, it's cheap and it works (for me). I recommend it.