Garmin nьvi 205 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Garmin nьvi 205 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Garmin nьvi 205 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
Update 1/21/11:
The unit is still giving excellent directions but there are three problems I thought were worth mentioning. The first is that the battery does not take a full charge anymore. This could, however, be due to the fact that we store the unit in the glove box and the heat in the summer may have diminished the battery capacity. The unit will still run for a couple of hours on an overnight charge and still works great from the car adapter.
The second issue is that it now takes several minutes to acquire satellites when first turned on. It keeps a signal lock once acquired and is very accurate but it seems as if its almanac may be faulty as it has to search a long time whenever it is turned on so we tend to keep it on when we stop at a gas station or restaurant on our trips to keep from having to wait for it to acquire again.
The last thing is fairly minor but I have noticed especially on the data entry screens where a keyboard is being used that the display kind of "fuzzes" out a bit. It seems to lose resolution or to fade out every other line on the display. This happens only momentarily and does not affect the function of the device but it is something to note.
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My wife was skeptical about getting a GPS because we "don't travel that much" which is somewhat true. However, I kept asking and finally got this one as it is a brand I trust and was inexpensive. I couldn't be more pleased with the price / feature set ratio.
The touch screen is fast enough to respond that it's easy to quickly set via points and detours. It's not though and that can be felt with text entry. Not slow by any means but not instant.
The directions were excellent and dragged me around Los Angeles, CA almost as if I knew what I was doing.
Features I like: automatic rerouting is quick; lots of speed, cost, and remaining distance stats available on one easy access screen; directions can be seen in a "google" like format by tapping the top of the screen (this is very helpful in busy cities because you can quickly see when a left turn will be followed shortly by a right and begin merging quickly or start off from an outer left turn lane); easy switch between 3D and 2D maps; speed limit is shown for many roads; with it's extreme portability you can loan it to friends or family if you feel you're the type who doesn't "travel that much."
Features I didn't like: multiple turns in rapid succession are related as "turn left then turn right then turn right" and that gets confusing; navigation sometimes rapidly recalculates when you are approaching a via point (I just mute it until I'm back on my course); no speed limit display in 2D map (I found using the 2D map was easier in the city (where speed limit is important) as you could see the next few turns in street map form whereas you can only see the next turn in 3D mode)
Features I couldn't care less about: fuel cost estimation; eco challenge mode; GPS simulation mode
All in all this is a great item. We found food, shopping, gas, hotels and airports with absolute ease. We felt confident taking an unknown off ramp when the dog needed to potty knowing we would be redirected back onto the freeway regardless of where the off ramp took us. We also knew when we could afford to stop for a quick bite or leg stretch and still not be late due to the constantly updated ETA.
One word of warning is that when it's fresh out of the box and you're playing with it make sure you turn off any avoidances you may have activated. I saw one terrible review for this unit saying it told the person to take every single freeway off ramp they went by. It sounds to me like they had "avoid highways" selected. And if you have "avoid u turns" selected be prepared to be directed around a whole city block if you miss a turn. I chose to keep that on though since I wasn't going to trust the unit to know where U turns were legal or not.
Garmin nьvi 205 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
BUY Now Garmin nьvi 205 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Electronics)
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