Garmin nüvi 255

The Garmin nüvi 255 is a pocket sized GPS navigator, slim form factor designed with a 3.5-inch diagonal (8.9 cm) touch screen QVGA anti-glare colour TFT display with white backlight, 320-by-240-pixels high resolution, voice prompts of street names and location, plus high-sensitivity 12 channels GPS receiver for fast satellite lock. This GPS gadget is fitted with 2D maps and 2D views, 3D maps and 3D views, 6 million Points of Interests (POIs) with 1000 way points (favourites or locations), and FM transmitter. It features photo navigation, Auto re-route (fast off-route and detour recalculation), Choice of route setup (faster time, shorter distance, off road), ecoRoute (calculates a more fuel-efficient route), speed-limit indications, Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest), and route avoidance. Besides that, it also support PC connectivity with its USB mass storage device, comes with 333 MHz processor for faster connectivity, microSD card slot for additional storage, and has a built-in internal speaker.
The Garmin nüvi 255 offers a high-sensitivity; WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and HotFix satellite prediction which allows user to quickly locate a particular location and precisely maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. The receiver has positioning accuracy of between 3m to 15m, depending on the availability of the satellite signal strength indicator. Once the indication point is pressed, user will be able to receive detailed information and a map with active satellite positions and its precision at the exact time. It also features an emergency locator, the “Where Am I?” function which enable you to always know your exact location by simply tap on the screen for getting the precise latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address or intersection, closest hospital, police stations and petrol stations. Its Multi-destination routing function allows you to plan your trip with multiple stops in the order for you to optimize the journey with the most efficient route which will also be a cost saving factor in terms of time and money. Some of the navigation features that can help users during their journey include information of current speed, least use of freeways, which road to use to avoid toll, route recalculation, shortest distance routing, quickest time routing, and speed limit indicator (displays speed limit for most major roads). It also allows users to search for specific destination according to State, Suburb, Street or, Point of Interest (POI), plus it allows customize POIs to be added to the GPS, such as school zones and safety cameras enabling you to set proximity alerts of the specified upcoming POIs. In addition, the system also provides Text-to-Speech feature which enables users to hear a voice announcing the street names along the journey enabling you to know when to make the next turn and stay focus on your driving.

Other Features
Other features include pre-loaded with City Navigator NT maps for North America or Europe provided by NAVTEQ, high-sensitivity internal antenna and pocket sized which is also usable for on foot navigation, built-in 3D DEM (Digital Elevation Model) layer basemap which displays a basic topographical information in the form of shaded relief that helps navigation through hills or mountains, Garmin Lock anti-theft feature (with a specific 4-digit PIN security), plus the system is compatible with Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ that can run on Windows 2000 or later and Mac® OS X 10.4 or later. Besides that, it is also equipped with JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, a calculator and also includes a wireless FM transmitter which enables you to enjoy listening to the audio, including voice prompts, MP3s and audio books, through the vehicle’s sound system. This feature is also compatible with optional FM traffic alerts or optional MSN Direct content (which is available through MSN Direct data subscription service) where it will enable users to view updated road conditions with real-time traffic assistance, search for movie times or find the nearest petrol stations, restaurants, and auto teller machine. With the photo navigation function provided by the device, users will be able to download Google Panoramio pictures via Garmin Connect Photos website where you can choose from millions of geographical-located photos through its photo sharing community for much easier navigation throughout your journey. It is also compatible with Garmin Garage vehicles and Garmin Garage voices where you can download car-shaped icons and voices to your device. In addition, transferring of addresses can also be done directly to the GPS navigator using Google Maps or Mapquest, and also using the USB 2.0 mass storage device. The Garmin nüvi 255 has a dimension of 3.9-inch in width, 0.8-inch in depth, 2.9-inch in height, weighs in at 5.2 ounces (147.42 g), and it is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that has an average battery life up to 4 hours of usage.
The device represent value for money due to its advanced technology for the usage of in-car navigation or hiking (on-foot navigation) systems that offers various kinds of features such as touch screen display, a high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and HotFix satellite prediction, plus an innovative text-to-speech announcement for turn-by-turn directions. With all those features incorporated in the GPS navigator, users will definitely be driving or even hiking with full of confidence.
Reviews

“The Nuvi 205/255 are really entry level units from Garmin, but hardly feel like it. THey have solid navigation, and with the added Text to Speech feature of the Nuvi 255, I think that its the best entry level unit on the market. Let’s face it, at the base, you are buying into a quality brand with all of the makings that got Garmin to be the #1 GPS maker in the US. The routing is very good, the interface is better than ever and the prices are very reasonable. I believe that when you are considering a GPS, a top notch brand is worth the extra money; after that, invest in Text to Speech. The Nuvi 255 offers Text to Speech, and for me, the text to speech is a very worthwhile investment for almost everybody. This is sometimes only $30 – $40 more, and it is money well spent. You’re going to use this GPS hundreds of times, across thousands of miles, and many thousands of turns; the added confidence that Text to Speech will cost you pennies a trip, it’s worth it. If you are shopping for a Nuvi 205/255, you may want to consider upgrading to the widescreen versions of these; the Nuvi 205W/255W – bigger screens give 70% more screen real estate, a better view of the maps and easier data entry with larger buttons on the keyboard. Widescreen is a tougher case to make than upgrading to Text to Speech.” (GPSLodge, 2008)