Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 266
 Saved our vacation and a bargin at twice the price November 26, 2008
KTFaye (Orange County, CA)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful
I've never used a GPS unit before, but with a two-week driving trip to the UK coming up, I thought it would be a useful tool. I was wrong; it was an INDISPENSIBLE tool. Seriously, if I could give this thing 10 stars I would.
It saved my life on numerous occasions and lowered the stress level of driving in an unfamiliar country, on the left side of the road, with roundabouts instead of intersections, driving late at night on rural roads to a minimum. We also purchased the UK map add-on, popped it in and we were ready to go. We changed it over to the British voice for fun and it was a god-send.
Especially helpful was the ability to download locations and addresses directly from Google Maps into the Favorites folder. We did this each night as we planned the next day's journey. It allowed us to be more flexible.
We ran into an issue with our rental car where the aux output failed and even though the Garmin was plugged in, it was not getting any charge. This, of course, was not the Garmin's fault but it left us kinda stuck until we could get the car fixed. To get more out of the battery, we simply turned the Garmin off when it would tell us there was a long stretch of driving (five or more miles) with no road changes and then turned it back on just before the change (using the trip meter). We also turned down the brightness. Each time it reacquired the signal quickly and we were able to get over 8 hours driving out of the four hour battery charge. But once it was plugged in and getting a charge as it should, there were no issues. But it was good to know that in an emergency, with a little tweaking, you can get several more hours of use.
One time we ran into some emergency construction work in Cardiff and we were unable to turn where it was directing us. However, it recalculated quickly and we arrived at our destination only a few minutes later.
I especially liked how easily it found gas stations as for the most part we were in rural areas and countryside. We never lost a signal, although on occasion in a dense and close city like Edinburgh it took some time to acquire the signal when first switched on, probably because of the very tall buildings. But once acquired, it never went away.
The voice was easy to hear, we had no problems even in loud driving conditions (radio on, noisy road, rain sounds). The screen was plenty bright, even in daytime. The touch screen was very easy to use and very easy to change. Having the volume right on the first screen was great because we didn't have to go hunting for it when we did want to turn it down.
It was easy to dismount, pop in my bag and take with us. Apparently, these little gems are stolen a lot in the UK, when we entered Stratford, there was actually a sign that said Welcome to Stratford, be sure to take your SatNav out of your car if you don't want to lose it!
Upon my return to the states, it's functioned perfectly with the US Maps. I don't write that many Amazon reviews, but this product was so good and such a life saver that I really wanted to tell others. This particular model suited my needs perfectly and while I know there are fancier editions available, for my purposes, I didn't need Bluetooth, to pick up email, an MP3 player or anything else like that.
All I just needed something to get me from A to B in one piece with a minimum of stress. This did the trick and then some. Considering that without the Garmin we would STILL be wasting our vacation time arguing over maps and missed turns and trying to figure out the unfamiliar UK road system (ie, sucking ALL of the fun out of a vacation!) this little guy was worth twice the price I paid for it.
I love it and I'm going to buy a couple as Christmas presents.
No complaints so far... October 31, 2008
K. Smith (Nebraska)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I am very satisfied with the Garmin 205W. It's very easy to use as Garmin makes one of the best user interfaces on the market. The screen is good sized and bright. I have never had to wait more than 10-15 seconds for it to acquire satellites. It redraws (refreshes) often and quickly. I also LOVE that the speed limit is displayed for most streets and highways, especially when in unfamiliar territory.
Even with the new changes/upgrades, I don't know if it's worth the cost to upgrade from a 200, but if you're considering getting a cheap 200 now that it's the old model, I would pay the extra for the 205.
I was also strongly considering the 255W, but decided that having maps of Canada/Alaska and spoken street names weren't that important to me. The instructions are clear enough, and if I really need to know the street name I can easily glance down and check.
Any negatives? It would be nice if it came with a wall AC adapter (along with the car one) and an appropriate USB cable, though that's cheap and easy to find. The screen was poorly calibrated out of the box and it was a hassle to figure out how to recalibrate it (turn it off, slide and hold the on/off switch to the left for 30 seconds, follow the on-screen prompts). The problem is that most of the instructions are actually contained on the NUVI itself rather than a manual. This is great most of the time, but when the problem is that the unit thinks you're touching the screen in a place different from where you actually are, it creates problems trying to find the info.
Overall I am very pleased with this purchase. I also highly recommend the corresponding Garmin friction mount.
Note: I see a lot of people complaining about it not being any faster at acquiring satellites than the 200. The way that Garmin tried to fix the problem with the 200 taking several minutes to acquire was to have the 205 "track" the satellites even while off. When you shut down the 205, it knows its location and that of the satellites. When you turn it back on, it "knows" where to look for the satellites by calculating where they were, where they were going, and how much time has passed. If you only turn your GPS on once a week or turn it off and then turn it on again in a new location, it's going to have to search from scratch, which takes longer (though it has never taken more than a few minutes for me... maybe 3 at the very most).
I didn't get lost! September 7, 2008
S. Eck (Motown Philly)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Everything that you would want in a GPS and nothing more. I don't need an mp3 player, that's installed with my car stereo. Don't need bluetooth, that's covered also. A large, bright screen. Voice is more than loud enough and more importantly understandable. Fast, great features, stop reading this and buy the freakin' thing already.
No Longer Scared LOL November 14, 2009
Christopher Carlson (Portland, Oregon)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
After many years away from my native area, I returned to find that the entire area had changed. It's huge and I was lost. I was so lost, in fact, that I was extremely nervous to go drive around, try to find stores, go out on the weekends, etc. Google maps are not the most reliable and I've gotten lost a few times when I did use them. I joked to my husband "I need a GPS system or else I'm going to become a shut-in".
I didn't know squat about GPS systems. I somehow navigated my way over to Best Buy last week and right when I entered the store, there was a whole display for the Garmin GPS. I saw the price...it was about $160.00. I thought that was a pretty good deal until the salesperson told me that a wider screen version in the back of the store was actually cheaper by twenty bucks. Because I got a good price I opted to get the two year full protection plan from Best Buy. I never bother with them, but I was a bit intimidated by the device and I wanted that coverage.
A Best Buy worker came out to my car and set it up for me within five minutes. He programmed my home address and said "Just follow the directions". Wow...so easy! The directions were spot on and I was SO comforted that it had voice commands as well as the visual display.
I've had it for about a week now and I've used it MANY times...the hubby who never gets lost even loves it. He has discovered that 9 times out of 10 the route that Garmin gives us is shorter than the one we would normally take.
I only have three negative things to say about it:
1. When you register the product at the garmin site, you are offered a free download of the most updated maps. Cool eh'? Well not if you're computer is a 64 bit. I could download it, but I couldn't install it. Luckily the hubby has a 32 bit system and we got it done eventually. So just be forewarned that if you have a 64 bit computer, the freebie updated maps might not happen. I actually don't think it would have been a big deal because the maps already loaded were VERY current. I live in a new complex and it had all the streets in it already.
2. When you download the maps from the Garmin site and you upload them to the GPS, you need a cord which is NOT included. Luckily I had the kind of cord needed to fit, but it was from my Cannon digital camera. Not a big deal, but if I didn't have that cord I would have had to go out and buy another one. The ones they sell on the Garmin site are absurdly expensive!
3. If you want the cute extras, you have to upgrade at the Garmin site. For example, if you want to be able to pick out a different vehicle that looks like the one your driving (so that it reflects that on the display screen) you have to pay extra. ARGG...I want the cute stuff! LOL. The standard car it shows is a little blue compact car. So if that is the kinda car you drive...you're in business lol. Also, you have to upgrade in order to get access to more photo's. The photo's can be used to assign to various locations. For instance, one of the stock photo's (there's only like eight I think) was a bunch of flowers. I chose that one for my mother in law because she's a gardener. The other pictures had no relevance to anything. It would have been cool to have like a grocery bag icon for the grocery stores, blah blah blah. See how nit picky I'm being? Well that's only because there's very little to complain about with this system.
I love it and it truly is the best electronic item I've ever purchased that cost only $219.00 (that's with the Best Buy two year protection plan too). I now feel confident to leave the house, explore the area (big city) and not have to rely on when the hubby is going to be available to take me around town. So for me, this has DRAMATICALLY increased my sense of self reliance and thus, self esteem.
Ooooh....another thing I love about it is this: Let's say you got to your destination and you have a sudden craving for Thai food. With just a few pushes of a button it locates several for you, let's you pick (I dunno..maybe based on distance or just how the name of the place sounds to you lol) and it takes ya there. If you somehow miss a turn (go off the route) it will immediately recognize that and accommodate your mistake and get you where you need to go!
FIVE STARS!!!
Everything I expected November 30, 2009
Jake Hazan (Miami, FL)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
After a long wait I decied to go ahead and buy a GPS for the car. I had some experience using a friend's system as well as in a rental car and knew what to expect. Size of screen, simplicity and ease of use and price were the factors which drove my evaluation process. Features like interface with a cellphone, displayig photos, etc. where of no interesto me. I just wanted a navigation system. From the start I was leaning towards Garmin with whose marine and air GPS and other products I was already familiar. So, based on the above, I decided to go on the second to most basic Garmin unit, the 205W. The reasons for not going for the cheapest was screen size. Shipping from Amazon was great as always. When the unit arrived I took it out of the box, mounted it in the car using the supplied suction cup and powered it up. The set-up was easy and straight forward - I didn't have to look at the instruction booklet even once. I then comenced to test drive it. It worked right away, knew where it was(...) and got me back home. I have since used it on many trips in different cities and states and it is working as advertized. The best use for the system is in city driving - makes life so easy! (how did I live without it?...)I am very happy with it.
Showing reviews 6-10 of 266
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