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Garmin Nuvi 255 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
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List Price:
$299.99
Bugarin.info Price: Too low to display
Subject To Change Without Notice
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Garmin
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Batteries Included: 1
Binding: Electronics
Brand: Garmin
Display Size: 3.5
EAN: 0753759077402
Feature: 3.5-inch Touch Screen Navigation with Turn by Turn spoken Directions
Includes Mp3 Player: 1
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Garmin
Manufacturer: Garmin
Model: Nuvi 255
Native Resolution: 320 x 240
Publisher: Garmin
Special Features: nv:Type^Receiver|Waypoints^1000|Display^TFT|Display^Backlight|Touch Screen^Yes|Expansion Slots^microSD Card|Battery Type^Rechargeable lithium-ion
Studio: Garmin
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Features
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3.5-inch Touch Screen Navigation with Turn by Turn spoken Directions
Pre-loaded Maps for all North America, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico with 6.5 million searchable points of interest
FM Traffic or MSN Direct Traffic/Content compatible (with optional GDB 55 receiver)
Easy to Use Interface; slim, pocket-sized form factor; 4-hour rechargeable battery
Automatically Adjusts Your Time Zone While Navigating
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Editorial Reviews:
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With easy-to-use Touchscreen displays, the nuvi 255 can route to addresses, restaurants, hotels and more with turn-by-turn directions and voice guidance. nuvi 255 will include text-to-speech, which will prompt you to "Turn right on Main Street." New appealing features include MSN Direct compatibility, HotFix, Garmin Connect Photos, digital elevation maps, automatic time zone updates and smoother map updates. nuvi 255 is compatible with an optional MSN Direct receiver (GDB 55). This optional MSN Direct receiver provides premium content such as traffic updates, weather, gas prices, enhanced movie listings, stock info, news, local events and a send-to-GPS feature for trip planning. nuvi 255 has broader map coverage and comes preloaded with City Navigator NT road maps for North America and 6 million points of interest. The map data is provided by NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping. Bright 3.5 diagonal color display; 320 x 240 pixels; QVGA TFT display, with white backlight High-sensitivity GPS receiver for improved performance and reception Trip computer records mileage, max speed, total time and more Built-in travel kit includes features such as picture viewer, world clock, currency and measurement converters and calculator Configurable vehicle icons - allows users to select a fun, customized car-shaped icon; users can download additional choices Offers a three-dimensional mapping perspective or 2D overhead view Built-in lithium-ion battery - lasts up to four hours depending on usage Dimensions - Width 3.8 x Height 2.8 x Depth 0.8 Weight - 5.2 ounces
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wow. Stunned at how great a GPS is. My first.
Comment: Purchased 2 weeks ago, and used to drive from Ohio to Boston. 1600 miles RT. My first GPS. I was totally blown away with these fantastic devices. Great voice quality, easy to read graphics. Shows shortest and best routes. Mapquest can't compare. I exited an interstate that didn't have a return ramp. The GPS saved me. Back on in 5 minutes. Can't believe how instantaneous the transmission is. It made one mistake (twice), the entire trip. Told me to turn right, when it should have been left. Repeated the mistake on the same off ramp turn, on the return trip. It instantly recognized the error and gave accurate directions to get to my hotel. It gave me the exact speed limit of each road I was traveling. Instantly recognized changes in the speed limit. I passed on the factory Nav on my new Honda Ridgeline, after several friends told me the Garmins are better. One uses a portable Garmin, even though his new BMW has factory Nav. Incredibly easy to program. Thought they were an extravagance, when you can get a mapquest printout for free. Boy, was I wrong.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent GPS
Comment: This is a great GPS unit for the first-time owner. It is very easy to use!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great GPS that's a tiny bit short of awesome
Comment: Invariably, the 200-series will be compared to the super-popular 350, and I can't help but do the same. The 350 was a true pioneer, but I always found myself waiting a half-second for it to get back to me, and overall, the experience was sluggish.
The 255 is plenty fast, and brings the GPS interactive experience to a new level. My purchase was based on Consumer Reports' ratings.
The 200-line is certainly confusing in terms of number increments not matching up to features, but I would strongly recommend the TTS feature, which is only available on the 260/260W/255/255W. Despite the numbering scheme, the 255-line is newer/faster than the 260-line, which is why I chose the 255, though others may have chosen it for the FM/MSN traffic/info features.
Pros:
Size/Build:
Very small. Smaller than a hockey puck, and completely pocketable.
GUI:
The interaction with the menu is very fast, and without delay. Searches, map refreshes, etc -- they're all a lot faster and I don't find myself waiting.
Map:
The 3D GUI updates at what appears to be 3-4fps, which may not sound like much, but compared to 1fps for older models, this is a significant improvement, and is the difference between missing an exit or not.
3D Terrain:
This is surprisingly useful when going up/down hills, as it gives you an idea of not just a left/right turn, but also the incline. Sudden, steep climbs/downturns (think Laguna Seca) were reasonably well-indicated, which allowed me to slow down a bit more than had I assumed it was a level turn.
Antenna:
I personally like that the flip-up antenna in the 300-series is gone. It makes it much more usable when holding.
Display:
The display packs a ton of information, including next turns, speed limits, and all things that were typically a few clicks away. Surprisingly, it does not seem cramped at all.
Routing:
Routing is very fast -- maybe 1-3 seconds? It's fast enough that I don't need to count, sweat, and worry that I won't get directions before the next intersection.
Re-Routing:
Most importantly, *re-routing* is fast. If I take an incorrect turn, it will re-route within seconds, and will prompt me with a turn direction half way down the block. In previous models, I would have to slow down or pull over.
Overall:
Size, build, battery life, screen, volume, TTS, etc... all wonderful. As a standalone GPS, this is quite impressive.
Cons: (this is where it gets knocked down to 4 stars)
Dock:
The 350's dock housed the power cable, which made it a one-handed motion to get it back in the dock with power. With the 255, you need to plug in the power, then place it in the dock. Not a dealbreaker, but it's too bad they couldn't engineer it like the 350.
No QWERTY:
It amazes me that even with a touchscreen, Garmin still can't give me a QWERTY keyboard. It's not as if there are physical key limitations... This makes inputting text considerably slower.
Shortage of accessories:
No USB-A to USB-Mini cable, no AC adapter, no case. Not that *I* need any of those things, but someone who's not a computer geek may not have those things handy.
Average Web Tools/Content, Photo Bookmarking:
I can see they're trying to beef this up, but as of this writing, the on-line, web tool and photo-based location bookmarker is average, at best. The downloadable content (new vehicle models, and the one custom voice) offers considerably less than the competition (eg: TomTom).
Other: (Not pros or cons, but FYI)
- no mp3 playback
- microSD slot, not SD
- sorry, no feedback on MSN traffic, as it doesn't fit my usage style
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very pleased
Comment: I am very challenged when it comes to directions. The product has been very helpful. There were a few newer places that could not be found. No problems finding a satellite and it located most of my places of interests as well as rerouted me when I missed turns (due to my own mistake).
Customer Rating:
Summary: excellent gps
Comment: I recently had to replace my Streetpilot 2610 and wanted something without some of the new bells and whistles that a lot of the new gps' have. This has all the features I need and not much else.
I especially like being able to download locations from Google Maps and Mapquest.
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